Adrian Collins's Blog, page 51

REVIEW: Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang

Murder at Spindle Manor is an ingeniously constructed murder mystery by Morgan Stang and winner of Mark Lawrence’s ninth Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO9). Set inside a creepy mansion in a dark gaslamp fantasy world, Murder at Spindle Manor offers plenty to love for dark fantasy fans. Think of it as Agatha Christie meets Neil Gaiman, with a quirky sense of humor that rivals Knives Out.

Isabeau Agarwal, the lead protagonist of Murder at Spindle Manor, combines a sharp intellect with the fighting skills and marksmanship of a professional sniper. Isabeau is a Huntress, tasked with tracking and exterminating a terrible monster known as the Doppelvyrm:

“Allow me to speak of the Doppelvyrm. They fear no light, for their only dream is to become human, and in the pursuit of that dream, they will kill countless men and women…The Doppelvyrm is a parasite. A grisly, ghastly parasite.”

The Doppelvyrm can perfectly mimic its human victims, adopting their physical form and absorbing their memories. Isabeau’s hunt brings her to Spindle Manor, where she suspects that one of the ten guests is actually the Doppelvyrm in disguise:

“Ten little guests, all collected and sat, met and filed away. Ten souls in one room, one of whom was not who they said they were.”

The influence of Agatha Christie is obvious from the quote above and from the general setup of the novel. Morgan Stang gleefully embraces and/or subverts a range of murder mystery tropes, including a mentor-mentee relationship reminiscent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s pairing of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

Playing the role of Watson in Murder at Spindle Manor is Evie, an apprentice of sorts to Isabeau who gives our protagonist the opportunity to explain her thought process out loud as she considers various hypotheses. Evie herself is an interesting character who becomes more intriguing over the course of the novel.

With its large cast of characters and fast-paced plot, I was pleasantly surprised that I became emotionally invested in several of the characters, especially Isabeau. Morgan Stang did an outstanding job bringing each of these characters vibrantly to life and building sympathy for several of them.

The fantasy world of Murder at Spindle Manor is also a treat, featuring necromancy, a variety of bizarre and frightening creatures, and a healthy dose of steampunk. There is plenty of humor here as well, such as the author including herself on the guest list at Spindle Manor.

Murder at Spindle Manor has it all: mystery, fantasy, horror, comedy, and even a touch of romance. All of this comes together to make a perfectly plotted whodunnit amounting to the craziest game of Clue that I’ve ever played.

I originally reviewed this novel as part of the Before We Go Blog team with SPFBO9.

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REVIEW: When the Blood Has Dried by Gary Moloney (W) and Daniel Romero (A)

When the Blood Has Dried #1 wants you to realize that being an adventurer sucks. With gorgeous colors and a solid first look into what could be a fun fantasy romp, When the Blood Has Dried #1 is an interesting take on what adventurers do once the adventuring is done, and that the past never stays buried.

Meabh is a retired adventurer, once a member of the so far undefined Adventurer’s Guild. Her tenure with the Guild ended in blood when her former ally Darius left her for dead. Years after her escape, she’s the barkeep in a cozy little tavern – Traolock’s – in the peaceful town of Carraig an Bhun. This issue evokes traditional fantasy tropes with a bit of Irish flavoring to it. Those who start their Dungeons & Dragons campaigns in taverns will find themselves quite at home at Traolock’s. With the threat of a possible Adventurer’s Guild outpost being built right in Meabh’s own front yard, we see that Meabh’s past is going to come back in possibly violent ways. When the Blood Has Dried #1 boasts a little bit of Western vibes in there too. One could easily predict this turns into a bloody revenge tale when someone from Meabh’s past arrives in Carraig an Bhun.

Daniel Romero’s art is expressive and animated, especially in the character’s facial expressions. The colors in the opening sequence are especially brilliant, with moody blues and reds giving When the Blood is Dried #1 a very dark introduction. The town itself is bright and colorful; Meabh’s new world, the one she’s escaped to, is a much more peaceful one than she seems used to. Becca Carey’s lettering helps add to the atmosphere and really helps the story pop.

Gary Moloney’s script introduces us to characters you could fall for, given enough time. Meabh is someone trying to start over, who’s generally trying to put the past behind her and make something good in the world. When the Blood is Dried #1 introduces us not only to Meabh, but the various townsfolk who add some color to her day-to-day. Fergus Dregspire, your average ale-swigging dwarf, is Meabh’s constant companion, but I hope we get to see him do something other than drink and call everyone “lad” or “lass”. By contrast, the young bard Nicolai Spring, a newcomer to town, could be an interesting look at an upstart – and very naive – adventurer who has no idea what he’s probably getting into.

 When the Blood Has Dried #1 is a great first issue, promising some good stuff in the future. I look forward to seeing why the Adventurer’s Guild is a sore subject for Meabh, why she left them in the first place, and what skeletons lie buried under her tavern’s floorboards.

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REVIEW: Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

I stumbled upon a signed, limited-edition copy of Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman during lunch at a café/used bookstore a few months ago. I wish I could say I found the book, but I think the book found me.

Anansi Boys is the American Gods spinoff I didn’t know I needed. Although it’s been many years since I read American Gods, Neil Gaiman immediately caught me in this web of a tale, a contemporary low fantasy steeped in West African folklore:

“Stories are webs, interconnected strand to strand, and you follow each story to the center, because the center is the end. Each person is a strand of story.”

Why are there so many trickster gods? Whether it’s the Norse god Loki, the Greek goddess Eris, or the Monkey King from Chinese mythology, it seems like every pantheon has a resident trickster. While I’ve personally grown weary of this trope, Neil Gaiman successfully converted this unbelieving arachnophobe into a fan of Anansi, the West African spider god of mischief.

We already met Anansi as “Mr. Nancy” in American Gods. Unfortunately for Mr. Nancy, he expires quite quickly in Anansi Boys, and in a rather embarrassing fashion, leaving behind two sons who never knew each other:

“Of course, everyone’s parents are embarrassing. It goes with the territory. The nature of parents is to embarrass merely by existing, just as it is the nature of children of a certain age to cringe with embarrassment, shame, and mortification should their parents so much as speak to them on the street.”

Charles Nancy, dubbed “Fat Charlie” by his father, didn’t inherit any of his dad’s divine powers. He works at a boring job in a shady investment firm in London and is preparing, rather unenthusiastically, to be married to his girlfriend Rosie.

But Charlie’s life is shaken up when his brother, Spider, enters his life. Spider shares his father’s mischievous nature and magical powers. He assumes Charlie’s identity—just for fun—inadvertently ruining his job and stealing his girlfriend in the process.

Charlie must seek supernatural help to fight back against Spider and reclaim his life. However, the help he receives may be more than he bargained for, as a spider’s natural enemy threatens even his own life.

Neil Gaiman proves once again to be a master storyteller with Anansi Boys, a delightfully dark tale that is also full of heart. My only regret is that the story took this long to find me.

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REVIEW: A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock

A Botanical Daughter is the debut horror novel from writer Noah Medlock. A sort of cosy horror, I think Medlock’s tale will appeal to fans of T. Kingfisher and A.G. Slatter. I will say, I do not normally gravitate towards horror so A Botanical Daughter was a slight departure from my usual reading choices. However, it was still an enjoyable read and is definitely macabre enough towards the end to appeal to gothic horror fans. The cover of A Botanical Daughter is also worth a mention, as it was the beautifully disturbing artwork which really drew me to the novel in the first place.

The story follows two Victorian gentlemen, Simon and Gregor, taxidermist and botanist, lovers, living in a giant greenhouse sheltered from the prying eyes of their community. Both gentlemen explore their professions hidden away without interference from the outside world and are keen to keep it that way. Their lives seems set to carry on in this quiet isolation until Gregor’s latest exotic acquisition – a fungus which demonstrates signs of intelligence, sets them down a dark and dangerous experimental path. In A Botanical Daughter there is love, loss, murder, betrayal, and more plants than you can shake a stick at.

There were a lot of elements at play in A Botanical Daughter. I do enjoy a cute dark fantasy, and earlier on in the novel the juxtaposition of the cosier parts to the darker ones was great to read. The queer representation of Simon and Gregor, and their idyll of the Grimfern glasshouse, was also one of my favourite parts of A Botanical Daughter.  The setting of Grimfern felt very well researched (though I would fail at keeping a plastic plant alive so mine is hardly an expert opinion on such things) but the vivid descriptions of the flora which created their home were very good and created a beautiful setting in my mind. As the narrative progressed, it became less whimsical and more and more gruesome and disturbing.

Unfortunately, A Botanical Daughter did not quite hit the mark for me and I think there were two main reasons for this. Firstly, as I have said I do not tend to pick up horror books, so the later body horror elements of the novel were not my thing. For me personally there were parts that went beyond the enjoyably disturbing of a dark fantasy. However, each to their own and if you as a reader lean towards horror, gothic or otherwise, this may well feel fine for you.  The second reason was that I felt like I was left wanting in terms of characterisation. Although not all characters (Jennifer in particular felt very well formed and I genuinely cared for her), but certainly for our protagonists I often did not believe the plausibility of their choices or actions which jolted me out of the story somewhat. It is not even that I had to like them as characters to enjoy reading A Botanical Daughter, but not understanding their decisions as the novel progressed made it harder to enjoy the story.

A Botanical Daughter may not have been quite the right choice for me, but it was an interesting narrative and the premise of the story, Gregor and Simon’s unconventional found family, kept me reading until the end. Thank you to Noah Medlock and the team at Titan for sending me an advanced reader copy to review.

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REVIEW: Conan the Barbarian #10 by Jim Zub (W) and Roberto De La Torre (A)

After inexplicably and violently turning on his most loyal companion Brule (Conan the Barbarian issue #9), a prophetic dream returns King Kull to his senses. He rescinds the death sentences placed on Brule and Conan, and after apologizing for his episode of “mania” he urges both men to accompany him on an immediate ocean voyage to stamp out the threat posed by the black stone. An experienced pirate, Conan returns to shipboard life with gusto: rowing, drinking, sparring, and even dallying with an alluring archer in Kull’s employ. As Conan’s spirits improve, however, Kull’s mental state darkens. The closer Kull and his band of elite Red Slayers come to their destination the moodier Kull becomes. Brule and Conan worry that Kull may be “courting darkness” and becoming susceptible to the black stone’s corrupting influence.

This issue was a transitionary one within the current story arc, mostly dominated by the ocean voyage. The cancellation of Conan and Brule’s executions and the speed with which any hurt feelings on their behalf melted away seemed abrupt. The sudden reversal makes the Conan vs Kull battle at the end of Conan the Barbarian #9 feel forced and artificial in retrospect, as if it were wedged in to give the previous issue a shocking climax rather than as a natural development within the story. It also could have been made more explicit that the seafaring expedition’s ultimate destination was revealed to Kull in his dream. How Kull knows where to head is underexplained, and the other characters seem remarkably pliant, signing on for a vaguely proposed ocean journey under a capricious, mentally unwell king.

On the positive side of things, the contrast between Conan and Kull is handled skillfully. Conan is significantly less morose than he was during the “Thrice Marked for Death!” storyline. While it’s not stated outright, perhaps seeing Bêlit one last time (Conan the Barbarian issue #8) gave the barbarian a sense of closure, helping him move past his grief. King Kull, on the other hand, is depicted as someone constantly feeling the immense weight of his royal position. Amusingly, given Conan’s eventual destiny to become king himself, Conan views Kull’s court as a “gilded cage,” quickly concluding that he would rather live and die a free man rather than accept the demands and responsibilities that come with the royal crown. True to his depiction in the original Robert E. Howard short stories, Kull is a more cerebral individual than Conan. Where Conan’s depression throughout the “Thrice Marked for Death!” arc is unusual for him, readers are given the sense that Kull often tends towards melancholy and self-imposed isolation. It will be interesting to see if Jim Zub manages to communicate that Kull’s dark moods and ambivalence to the throne are inherent to the character and not just due to the warping corruption of the black stone.

This issue’s essay by Robert E. Howard scholar Jeffrey Shanks provides additional background for King Kull and the publication history of stories featuring him. While the Kull stories were never as popular as the ones starring Conan, they have their ardent defenders. Howard’s Weird Tales contemporary H. P. Lovecraft is noted as being particularly fond of Kull among his friend’s creations, preferring him to Conan.

Instead of the usual letters page, the issue concludes with a brief interview with artist Rob De La Torre. None of the questions are particularly deep or penetrating, but as De La Torre’s art has been a highlight of Titan’s Conan the Barbarian comic readers may appreciate the insight into his influences and hopes for the future.

This was a solid issue that effectively contrasts Conan with his literary predecessor Kull. Conan may have been thrown millennia into the past, but as a barbarian-turned-conqueror Kull is also foreshadowing for Conan’s own future as king. Conan the Barbarian issue 10 ends on a strong note and I look forward to the next issue, but I am also growing slightly uneasy at the weight Zub is giving to the ongoing black stone storyline. I wouldn’t mind seeing Conan’s adventures embark on a different direction after the current arc concludes.

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REVIEW: Trial of the Alchemist by Trevor Melanson

Trial of the Alchemist is Trevor Melanson’s dark murder mystery set in a gaslamp fantasy world drenched in alchemy. The novel opens in a packed courtroom, with Alchemist Ortez on trial for murder. Ortez is accused of poisoning Everett Day, the greatest mind and most successful entrepreneur in the mining town of Aurora. Also a generous and beloved philanthropist, Everett Day strikes me as a fantasy version of Andrew Carnegie.

Trial of the Alchemist alternates between third-person narration of the present-day trial and Alchemist Ortez’s first-person account of the events leading up to Everett Day’s untimely demise. Ortez recounts how he was initially called to Aurora to investigate a serious accident during the mining of cobrium, the key ore enabling Aurora’s recent advances in electricity and other modern technology.

The magical elements of Trial of the Alchemist are alchemical in nature. There are three kinds of alchemists presented in the book: psycho-alchemists such as Ortez, legal alchemists who assist with the integrity of the justice system, and research alchemists working toward the next alchemical discovery. During the trial, Ortez is forced to take an elixir that allows Alchemist Freya, a legal alchemist, to access Ortez’s mind in a lucid dreamlike state to ensure the veracity of his account.

Trevor Melanson’s background in journalism shines throughout the novel. Melanson’s straightforward writing style is the perfect vehicle for unraveling this complex murder mystery which is full of political intrigue and unexpected plot twists. The ending was a complete surprise for me and very well done by the author.

Trevor Melanson impressively blends fantasy and mystery genres in Trial of the Alchemist, delivering a story that will keep readers glued to the pages until the final twist is revealed.

I originally reviewed this novel as part of the Before We Go Blog team with SPFBO9.

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REVIEW: The Fall Is All There Is by C.M. Caplan

C.M. Caplan’s frenetic grimdark novel, The Fall Is All There Is, blends fantasy and science fiction in a brutal post-apocalyptic world dripping with familial drama.

The first-person protagonist, Petre, is the youngest among quadruplets, born just minutes following his older siblings, Anoïse, Edgar, and Desmon. The death of their ruling father sets off a battle of succession that takes sibling rivalry to a whole new level.

Petre is a junkie of sorts, taking frequent Intramuscular Memory Injections and walking a thin line between maintaining basic human functioning and experiencing a terrifying overdose:

“…without Intramuscular Memory Injections I wasn’t even able to achieve basic competency in anything involving fighting, riding, sword work, sneaking, or court etiquette.”

Petre is impulsive to a fault and doesn’t hesitate to take extreme measures. He is also neurodivergent and struggles to understand people’s emotions and the subtext of conversations:

“I winced. I’d never been as good at navigating this world of double meanings as my siblings. They’d all found ways to adapt to it, and while I could manage it with the people I didn’t like much, I hated being so indirect with people I cared about.”

Although it’s difficult being trapped in Petre’s mind for the duration of The Fall Is All There Is, C.M. Caplan’s vibrant writing perfectly captures the mental anarchy of his protagonist. Caplan also shines in writing fight scenes, and The Fall Is All There Is also features plenty of grimdark action.

The Fall Is All There Is feels like Prince of Thorns on acid. Both C.M. Caplan’s SPFBO9 finalist and Mark Lawrence’s debut novel are told from the tunnel vision of an exceedingly violent, emotionally damaged protagonist with major family issues. Both novels skillfully combine fantasy and science fiction in the aftermath of apocalypse. However, in C.M. Caplan’s case, the world is technically post-post-apocalyptic, having suffered a First Annihilation caused by magic and a Second Annihilation caused by technology:

“After the First Annihilation, the survivors built strange tech on top of the arcane landscapes left behind. Until they got so good at it that they, too, blasted themselves back to the stone age, in the Second Annihilation. The tech they’d left behind died with all knowledge of how to use it.”

Although the chaos of The Fall Is All There Is felt a bit too much to handle at times, overall this is a highly worthwhile read and definitely recommended for grimdark fans.

I originally reviewed this book as part of the Before We Go Blog team for SPFBO9.

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REVIEW: My Throat An Open Grave by Tori Bovalino

My Throat An Open Grave is Tori Bovalino’s third YA horror novel. After taking us through dark academia and the Goblin Market, this looks at the ideas behind changelings. Leah’s little brother has been taken by the Lord of the Forest. And her small town community blames her – and exiles her to return Owen. Once she leaves, Leah starts to realise that maybe the Lord of the Forest isn’t quite as bad as he’s made out to be. And perhaps there are deeper secrets buried within her religious community. Leah has to learn that whether good or bad, she has to accept who she is and make her own way. The novel explores themes of guilt, sin, teen pregnancy and the dangers of small-town religious communities.

Overall, I do feel like this could have been more. The ideas and themes are great, as is the writing. It just… doesn’t quite fit together. Deeper themes are not explored in quite enough detail, used rather as set dressing for the story in the foreground. I wish there had been more scope to look at the mental impact of living in such a stifled community, hints of defiance, and the complexity of a system in which children get taken and young women disappear. And for me, this bled into the characters. My Throat An Open Grave almost hits the spot. Like a faded old photo, I found the characters slightly faded, not going as deep as I believe the story could have taken them, which made it hard to connect emotionally.

Without going into detail, the story in My Throat An Open Grave is woven around Leah’s trauma. It is the story of a young woman finding ways to handle her past. This worked well, giving her space to grow through the story. I found this element to be handled really well. The slow reveal of Leah’s past and secrets created tension as well as moments of tenderness. Within the scope of the setting, she has hidden who she actually is to everyone – even to herself. I loved connecting the dots as the reader gets hints and unravel Leah as a person. It is glorious to see a young woman grow and become herself, no matter how messy that might be.

I particularly liked how My Throat An Open Grave explored tropes and familiar stories. The idea of a Lord of the Forest who takes only what is offered to him is fascinating, especially when you consider themes of guilt and overwhelm. It works as a tool to force conflict within the story, to up the stakes. Objectively, Leah and the Lord of the Forest are both – to an extent – evil people who do bad things. What the story does well is to balance out individual actions with their background, creating complex morality within the story. One of Bovalino’s big strengths is to move within that selfish, grey, morality and show that good or bad aren’t really possible. People are messy, and so are their actions. And that’s a good thing.

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DISCUSSION: Fallout 76 – Six Years Later

Fallout 76 is a game that both frustrates me as well as invites me in. Six years ago, I was one of the early adopters of the video game and it was one of the worst experiences of my gaming career. The world was lifeless, empty, lacking in any real stakes, and most of all felt unfinished. Fallout 76 was set in my home state of West Virginia where I lived fifteen years and yet somehow managed to not only fail to capture any of the places’ uniqueness but didn’t really have any of the kind of hilarious dark humor that it’s just begging to have applied.

Part of the problem was the idea that Fallout 76 would be a playground for players rather than a single player campaign. The idea was that they would interact with one another, be vendors, and create their own fun. Never has a video company more misread what fans wanted from their games since the introduction of Diablo to cellphones in lieu of announcing a new game. Basically, the fans of Fallout wanted to shoot guns and do quests. The wildly divergent leveling and equipment also meant PVP was terrible too.

It didn’t help the excuse for a single player campaign wasn’t exactly inspired either. Basically, some genetic experiments have turned bats into dragons. Yes, they’re called Scorchbeasts but they’re dragons and even incorporate the programming from Skyrim. These dragons are also necromancers spreading a Resident Evil-style plague that turns people into zombies. The “Scorched” are basically feral ghouls who can use guns and want to kill all other life in the Virginia Commonwealth. Then the world. It’s a painfully generic plot that somehow makes dragonslaying boring.

But how does the game stand up six years later? The game has been patched, patched, and patched again with sixteen seasons having been released. A new season is released roughly every three months and they’ve added NPCs, new regions, hundreds of quests, new equipment, as well as personalized Vault dwellings that the player character can customize to their heart’s content.

The changes to Fallout 76 can’t be understated but can be summarized in a very simple statement: the game is fun to play now. The addition of NPCs is just the beginning of the reforms but adds a personal touch to the setting that was previously lacking. You have people to protect in the Foundation Settlers, Crater Raiders, Whitespring Refuge, and the actual living Brotherhood of Steel. The Appalachian Wasteland is no longer so empty, and you have reasons to carry out the various quests you’re given other than boredom.

There are also some good new locations added to the setting with Nuka World providing some fun local color to the otherwise dingy coal mine areas. We finally get to meet the Overseer in person, and she provides some extra places to craft weapons, armor, and materials while encouraging you to seek out inoculations for the new residents of Appalachia. That’s not even getting into the Expeditions system that allows you to visit The Pitt (from Fallout 3) and a New Vegas inspired Atlantic City.

The game has improved in some ways but not in others. The existence of the Vault dwellings (acquired during a quest) provides a nice solution to the hobo-like camps that most players are stuck with. I’d much rather exist in a nice, cool, and enjoyable Vault room to store all my crafting stations and decorations. However, most of the material is locked behind either the Atomic Shop or acquired in-universe plans that limit what you can build. The VATS system still is essentially nonexistent and best ignored.

The introduction of NPCs to talk to also allows your character to voicelessly respond with snark, psychopathic glee, or unexpected characterization like a fanatical loyalty to Vault-Tec. There are even skill checks like the fact I managed to persuade a Raider to take the vaccine against Scorchdom by pointing out various science facts that convince her I know what I’m talking about. These are all welcome and I hope Bethesda will keep adding these things.

The game has an unlimited leveling system where you cap your existing SPECIAL stats at 15 but get new perk cards every five levels. This allows you to experiment with more builds and gradually build up your character into exactly what you want them to be. The fact you can’t do this instantly is also something that’s designed to keep you playing. Leveling enough is fast enough, though, especially if you are part of the multiplayer events.

Do I have any complaints? Well, yes, the game is still a live service slot machine designed to take as much money from the player as possible. You must belong to Xbox Live to play, which is a monthly subscription, and yet there’s an additional subscription you can subscribe to to get in-game bonuses like the NCR Ranger Armor. The main quest is also the most boring one of them all. My biggest annoyance is you can’t acquire repair kits save in the Atomic Shop, which is again designed to take your money, but you can earn the points in-game, at least.

In conclusion, Fallout 76 is now a game that’s worth picking up if you’re on Steam or Console. If you have Amazon Prime, you can acquire a copy of the game for free because they’re being given away as part of the Fallout: The Series promotion. It’s available on Playstation but I note that Bethesda is very much on Team X.

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REVIEW: Soul Cage by L.R. Schulz

Soul Cage imagines a world where magic is powered by souls and transmitted through death. This new dark fantasy by Australian indie author L.R. Schulz is equal parts exciting and thought-provoking.

Soul Cage is told from three third-person perspectives, starting with the legendary Myddrin, who had once killed the most dominant mage in the land but has now retreated from the world. Myddrin lives a secluded life as he deals with his inner demons, in both a literal and figurative sense.

My favorite character is Will, a talented and possibly neurodivergent boy who sees the world in terms of unique patterns. Will wishes to protect others by becoming a Knight of Aen, developing his magical gifts to control and enhance his powers.

Finally, Tvora is a broken warrior on the verge of losing her sanity amidst the oppressive squalor of the fighting pits. All three protagonists experience great character arcs in Soul Cage, with Tvora’s development being perhaps the most satisfying of all as she struggles to choose sides in an ensuing war.

Notwithstanding L.R. Schulz’s excellent character work, for me the highlight of Soul Cage is the magic system. Souls are the source of magical power, and they can only be taken by killing others:

“A storm of intangible globes flowed from the corpse…He felt power, raw, unimaginable power. It coursed through his veins, centred in his chest. A power born only through death.”

One of the most fascinating magical abilities in Soul Cage is the power to summon beastly apparitions. More souls lead to greater power, including the ability to summon larger apparitions such as the monstrous image-dragons.

L.R. Schulz deals with universal themes of freedom, belonging, and finding one’s purpose in life. Religion also plays an important role throughout Soul Cage. The darkest elements of the book deal with the abuse of faith that can lead to subjugation of others.

Soul Cage’s focus on the collection of souls and its societal implications reminds me a bit of the great Russian classic, Dead Souls, by Nikolai Gogol. However, the harvesting of souls is taken literally in L.R. Schulz’s new book.

Schulz adeptly balances internal and external conflicts throughout the novel, especially pertaining to the trapped souls themselves who haunt their keepers as they struggle for freedom:

“I don’t just want the voices to stop. I want to dominate them.”

L.R. Schulz’s prose is compulsively readable, gripping the reader from the opening page. Although I found the middle part of the book to be overly repetitive, Schulz kept me flipping through the pages to find out what happens next.

Overall, I am pleased to recommend Soul Cage to dark fantasy fans looking for an innovative magic system within a well-realized, character-driven story. Soul Cage is Book One of L.R. Schulz’s new Soulbreaker series and will be released on May 28, 2024.

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