Morrigan finally gets to learn how to be a Wundersmith by learning the Wretched Arts. Wunsoc sets up a classroom in the lower levels of the school, one that opens only for her, and the top professors give her a special book, one that replays moments in the hall's time, from which Morrigan can sit in and listen to lessons taught by previous Wundersmiths (who're all dead, now). It's a little like watching recorded lectures, as none of the participants can see her and she can't interact with any of them.
As she learns more and more, finally harnessing the Wunder that gathers around her and flexing her new skills, she stumbles upon the same student multiple times, a young man who can only be the despised and banished Wundersmith Ezra Squall, the one who killed all the others. Can Morrigan learn anything about what made him into a mass murderer by watching his younger self? Something she could use against him, perhaps, in the battle between them that is sure to come?
At the same time, a strange disease, the Hollowpox, strikes the Wunimals, stripping them of their human-ness and leaving only animal instincts and behaviors behind. Worse, if left untreated, it's a permanent change.
Strangely enough, Morrigan can see the Hollowpox gather around Wunimals and infect them. Where did it come from? How do they stop it? And how do they find a cure?
None of the answers are what Morrigan was expecting. Hollowpox is not from Nevermoor; it was engineered in the realm she escaped, by none other than Squall, for the express purpose of…
I won't spoil it, but know, it's got some sophisticated political twists and turns, and a very unlikely apprenticeship at the end, that were a delight to read!
Enjoy the third book in Morrigan's saga to become a Wundersmith!
