So the book starts out, and there’s some swords, and then it’s like BOOM BOOM BOOM with some skeletons, and then some casual backstabbing, and a necromantic field trip, and wait now it’s a whodunit? And life siphoning happens, and some REAL BIG BONE MONSTERS and more swords: CLING! CLANG! Y’girl gottem! And then some more stuff happens, and I ship everyone with the main protagonists, including each other, and then it ends.
Ahem!
I don’t know how this book channels my inner twelve-year-old so well and still manages to be a pretty good story, but congrats to the author. This one’s a really fun read without insulting the ol’ grey matter. Its world of sci-fantasy necromantic galactic empire conquering the galaxy for ill-defined reasons would feel a whole lot less real in unskilled hands. Which is not to say that the book feels grounded, but it doesn’t fall apart at the touch, and that’s all that matters in a work that so channels the id. If I had a complaint, it’s that all the most interesting story threads are still open by the end of the book. But hey! There’s a sequel out; maybe they’re closed there.
I like this swashbuckling, sword and necromancy, sci-fantastic, romantic, whodunit dramady, and wholeheartedly recommend it to you, theoretical reader.
Content warning: blood, guts, and minor gore; implied mass murder
Plot: 5
Characters: 8
Themes: 6
Prose: 6
Overall score: A sword, a knuckle, and an assortment of bone fragments.
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