The Magus Conspiracy

Assassin's Creed

By: Kate Heartfield

Narrated by: Moira Quirk

Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

The war between Assassins and Templars wreaks havoc in the Victorian era, in this breakneck thriller which opens up a whole new chapter of the Assassin’s Creed universe

London, 1851—When Pierette, a daring acrobat performing at the Great Exhibition, rescues the mathematician Ada Lovelace from a gang of thugs, she becomes immersed in an ancient feud between Assassins and Templars. But Lovelace is gravely ill, and shares her secrets with Pierette, sending the acrobat in search of a terrible weapon–the Engine of History–which she’d been developing for a shadowy figure known as “the Magus”. Pierette’s only ally is Simeon Price, Lovelace’s childhood friend who belongs to a Brotherhood devoted to freedom. With Simeon’s aid, they uncover a startling web of political assassinations destabilizing Europe. As they race to foil the Templars’ deadly plot, murders and bombs are everywhere they look, but hope is nowhere in sight.

©2022 Kate Heartfield (P)2022 Recorded Books

Nice original story

I enjoyed it. Mostly standalone from the games save a name drop or two, but that's totally fine. The twist was easy to see coming imo, but it made sense for the story. I'll definitely give the other two a listen when they come out.

Slow, but interesting

I cannot quite give this book an excellent review. However it is very interesting and kept me reading because of the unique tale that it tells.

First my grievances, I only have two and I just want to get them out of the way. One grievance is the pacing of the story, it is slow without much action. If you were looking something akin to the video game then this is not the book for you. That being said the story has great depth and it's very compelling in it's uniqueness. I enjoyed the setting and the time which is during the Crimean War in Europe the 1850s.

My second grievance is with the protagonist Simeon Price. It seems that in the first half of the book he has all of these internal struggles brought on by his own insecurity. He seems like a beta male desperately trying to be an alpha male and he's not pulling it off. I understand that archetypal Hero has a journey but this guy seems rather whiny and about a solid as wet spaghetti. I could think of a thousand different other character types to replace this guy with that would make the story much more compelling to counter and enhance its slow pace. in terms of the video game if Simeon Price ever came up against someone like Shay Cormac, Price is dead meat.

What I like about the book is the setting. The 1850s are unique time with the Crimean War the changes going on in Europe and the author using factual events such as the 8 who were killed and 142 wounded in Paris in a failed assassination attempt on Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (1858).

The authors use of description and the care she takes it crafting a unique story to the Assassin's Creed canon is unique and I am glad that I read this book despite my two criticisms.

Overall I will recommend this book if you like Assassin's Creed especially if you are looking for interesting and compelling storytelling. if you were looking for an action comic book type story this will not be for you. it reminds me of the StarWars Andor series and the criticisms around that. Andor is a well-crafted albeit slow story that is unlike the regular Star Wars movies but it's depth and pacing are similar to Assassin's Creed Magus Conspiracy.

I give the book a B-.

Great Book

This was a great book, both as an edition to Assassin's Creed lore and as a standalone story outside that universe. It fits everything a good Assassin's Creed story has, including some nice little tie-ins to some other games and stories.

The narrator is exceptionally good! She was fantastic in Sword Of The White Horse, as well. I am positive that her performances on any book she does will be top notch.

Great addition to the assassins creed universe

Simion and Pirret are one of the greatest AC protagonists to date. A great listen to any fan of Assassins Creed.

interesting, but slow original AC Book

As a avid AC fan, and it's multiple medias it crosses, this was a pleasant but slow surprise. The characters interesting and rounded, Due to it being slow, normally I harp on characters and plot, but this time, I did not. the pace helped things develop naturally. although the time skips seemed out of place. thoroughly enjoyed this!

A fine addition to the canon

This story doesn't break any new ground, but it's a fun enough stand alone story. The narrator is quite good.

dull and boring.

I listened to other books im the series which was exiting and unique on its own. This Aufio book is the first ever I couldnt finish, even at 3 hours left. Story teller isn't bad, I dont think this is the kind of book to for her either. The story was slow and felt like it had no personality or growth and doesn't get to the point. This Assasins Creed book was unfortunately dissapointing while many others are fantastic.