Big Changes, Big Magic: A Review of Bookburners Season 4

Bookburners: Season Four (2017)
Written by: Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Brian Francis Slattery, Andrea Phillips, Mur Lafferty
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 463 pages (ARC)
Series: Bookburners
Publisher: Serial Box

Disclaimer: I received a copy of season four of Bookburners from the publisher, Serial Box. The fact that I received it for free will not impact my opinion/rating of the book.

Why I Chose It: Having enjoyed all three previous seasons of Bookburners, I was excited to dig into season four.

The premise:

Everything in the Bookburners’ lives falls into two categories: Before London and After London. Before London, things were strange, sure, but After London . . . “strange” doesn’t even begin to describe it. Magic is everywhere—and the Bookburners can only be in one place at a time.

Having cut ties with the Vatican, the members of the former Team Three are a little at a loss. Their old roles don’t feel right anymore; their old job seems almost quaint, considering how much magic flourishes in plain sight. But with the return of an old enemy, they find a renewed purpose. And this time, they know that the only thing they can depend on in this world is each other.

There are no spoilers in this review for season four of Bookburners. There are some spoilers for previous seasons of the serial.

Discussion: The world has been changed forever. The final episode of season three of Bookburners saw dangerous powers let loose in London, exposing the existence of magic to the wider population. The world has begun to pivot towards apocalypse, and Team Three must figure out a way to stop its decent into chaos. These mark some pretty big changes for the Bookburners universe, and one of the things I enjoyed the most about season four was seeing the characters grow because of these changes, as well as smaller, more personal developments. Relationships have blossomed, roles redefined, and faith transformed. It was fascinating to see the different ways this impacted each character.

The characters that thrive the best in season four are Grace and Sal, who experienced a significant personal change at the end of season three by starting a new romantic relationship. It was interesting to see, having learned about Grace and Menchú’s past in season three, how Grace handled her relationship with Sal differently, and some of the snags that arose when their relationship came into conflict with their roles as Bookburners. Season four also sees Team Three officially separated from the Vatican (and taking up the name Bookburners officially, albeit somewhat begrudgingly) and I liked watching how Grace, whose existence is tied to a candle flame, see herself less as a tool whose use must be maximized, and more as a person.

Sal must juggle multiple roles. In addition to her romance Grace, she finds the other central relationship in her life, that with her brother Perry, challenged when it’s revealed that his connection with the angel Aaron has had dangerous side effects. On top of this, Sal sees her role within the team change, as Father Menchú passes on his much of his leadership responsibilities to her. Given how the series started with Sal as the newest member of Team Three, it’s been interesting to watch her grown and develop from “the new guy” to the leader of the Bookburners.

Season four of Bookburners is the shortest season of the serial. While season one was sixteen episodes long, and season two are three were thirteen, season four has brought things down to ten episodes. Because of this, season four ends up feeling more focused than previous seasons, with little time spent on side quests and more on the main plot. And while that worked well for me, I also couldn’t help but notice that season four appeared to be missing in some of the more in-depth character work present in last season, like when we got to explore Grace and Menchú’s backstories. I couldn’t help but feel as if there were also some characters (mainly Menchú and Frances) that felt underutilized. Perhaps an extra episode of two may have helped with this.

Another thing I found a little underwhelming when compared to season three is this season’s Big Bads. Don’t get me wrong, the group that emerges are still solid villains, but they felt a little underwhelming with compared to Hannah last season. Fortunately, the season totally makes up for it at the end with a strong finale that shows off some big magic, gives everyone time to shine, and does a great job of setting things up for season five.

In conclusion- While season four of Bookburners wasn’t my favorite (that goes to season three!), it has a lot of offer as a continuation of this great series. I loved seeing the characters continue to grow and develop as the world changes around them (especially Grace and Sal), and found the finale to be nail biting. I am totally on board to see what happens to our brave team of heroes in season five.