Shadecursed: A [quick(ish)] Review
Recently I picked up and read Shadecursed, book 1 of The Bestiary series, by Aeryn E. Christie. This isn’t SPSFC related, I just interacted briefly with the author on social media and decided her book sounded interesting.
And interesting it certainly was! As one would expect from an author who is also a pretty darn impressive visual artist, Shadecursed is a rich and insanely colourful tapestry of worldbuilding, characters and creatures. The series is well-named, because Kyrnis is filled with flora and fauna (no pun intended, there are fauns) of every fantastical kind, and they are all reimagined by the artist. Banshees and liori (liori are manticores [male] and sphinxes [female]), trolls and gnolls, gods and magic, and so much more. This is a huge story and it is crammed cover to cover with the sort of reckless, delighted creativity I crave.
Part of what took me so long to actually read this book wasn’t just its epic-level chonkiness, it was the pure enjoyment I took in finding something I wish there was more of – and it’s why I love indie books so much! Intricate world-creation and species backgrounds aren’t for everyone, and neither is the sort of combined fantasy and sci-fi on display here (it is an old world, but it’s had its technological revolution and feels like it’s found a balance … the mandatory bygone disasters and assorted gods notwithstanding), but for me it was just grand. When people complain that The Lord of the Rings is just people walking across a country and telling random stories about its prehistory, I’m usually the one who’s like, “yeah! I know! …why are you making that face?”
Am I comparing this book to The Lord of the Rings? I mean look, it’s not controversial to point out they’re both books, right? And you know what The Lord of the Rings didn’t have? A sick guitar solo, there I said it.
In short, Meadow the faun and his literal band of friends set out on a road trip to get their musical fame and fortune started, and also save the world because there’s a dread god-slaying force afoot in the mystical plane and it’s making the plants manky. And it’s impressive how seamlessly those two levels of story work together.
The story is interspersed with songs, not in a distracting or clunky way but as separate little chapters to break up the monotony of the table of contents. And they’re good songs! Could this author be the elusive triple threat? Writer, artist, songwriter? I mean, that’s a rhetorical question, she literally is. Anyway, that’s the synopsis, this was meant to be a quick review. Let’s check the meters.
Sex-o-meter
There isn’t really explicit sex in the story (mainly because all the characters are different species, not that that’s necessarily an issue), for all that there are definitely interpersonal relationships and admiration, and soupçon of horny. It’s fine. It’s not the point. Three fauns out of a possible three satyrs (if you know what I mean) for Shadecursed.
Gore-o-meter
While I wouldn’t exactly call this a grimdark in faefic clothing, it’s pretty solid on the violence and body horror. From people being turned into “monsters” against their will to an assortment of dismemberments and poisonings, it’s enough to register at three flesh-gobbets out of a possible five on the gore-o-meter, which is three and a half more gobbets than I would expect from a book with a main character named Meadow the faun.
WTF-o-meter
The WTF is strong with this one, and I love it. The world is so deliciously bizarre, and so lovingly detailed, I could picture it in my mind as the characters travelled through it. It was weirder without the map, which I only really took note of after I’d finished reading – and it really can’t do the world justice anyway (although it is an excellent map). The magic systems, the creature lifecycles, the spheres of mortals and gods and dreams, it is all extremely strange, alien and yet well-told so the reader doesn’t feel out of their depth. There is a ton of unanswered questions here and I look forward to seeing where the series takes us.
My Final Verdict
Four stars! Check this book out if you ever wondered how much of a fucking flake Mister Tumnus would be if he had a smartphone, or how a cross-country road trip can be improved by adding a large A.I. mechanical truffle pig (spoiler: it improves it by about 17%), or what Middle Earth’s central energy grid would look like if Saruman had gotten his military industrial complex off the ground without those eco-terrorist ents wrecking his shit. It’s my blog I’ll say what I like.
