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Spawn
The Seven Holy Virtues and Seven Deadly Sins abound in a world where the strength of one's personality births great beasts into the world. Those with these spawn are both revered and feared in a world where one's character is the greatest weapon of all.
Alice, the rare origin of two spawn, is a cocky, accomplished assassin who values beauty and art over all else. But when an unknown monster begins stalking her in the dark, she remembers what it is like to fear.
Alice, the rare origin of two spawn, is a cocky, accomplished assassin who values beauty and art over all else. But when an unknown monster begins stalking her in the dark, she remembers what it is like to fear.
- GenresHorror
20 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2013
About the author
Paige Reiring
6 books18 followersMy name is Paige Reiring. I’m a blogger, a reader, a writer, and a host of other things that you probably don’t care about. I hail from the “Nasty ‘Nati,” as my Columbus friends so eloquently describe it, and am a sophomore at the Ohio State University. I’m studying English while minoring in Creative Writing and Communications Technologies.
I love dark fantasy and quirky horror, as well as anything that destroys stereotypes – both people and media alike. My goal in my writing is to surprise the reader, exceed their expectations, and break down the tropes and archetypes that they’ve come to expect from genre writing. I aim to create compelling characters and engaging plots that rip emotion from the reader’s heart. I want to make people question their own expectations for stories. My goal is not just to entertain; it is to make you think.
I love dark fantasy and quirky horror, as well as anything that destroys stereotypes – both people and media alike. My goal in my writing is to surprise the reader, exceed their expectations, and break down the tropes and archetypes that they’ve come to expect from genre writing. I aim to create compelling characters and engaging plots that rip emotion from the reader’s heart. I want to make people question their own expectations for stories. My goal is not just to entertain; it is to make you think.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 23, 2021
"I'm not just a killer. I'm an artist."
5 stars out of 5
Oh man I LOVED this story. Good lord, I when I finished it I sat there for a good 10 minutes staring at the last page just to process what I had just read.
Raige Reiring, I applaud you.
To start with, I want to say that the concept was utterly unique and interesting. When I read the blurb, I was intrigued. But when I read Spawn it blew me away. The idea that vices and virtues could manifest themselves is amazing. And this brings me to Constraint and Mirror, Alice's spawn.
I loved Constraint and Mirror. It is like having a pet you could actually communicate with. If I could communicate with my Chihuahua the way Alice communicates with her spawn... I would be the happiest person ever.
Constraint and Mirror also leads me to this: I loved Alice's flawed nature. This right here is NOT a Mary Sue. Alice is vain enough to have spawned Mirror, and patient enough to have spawned Constraint. Alice as a character was such a well rounded character. Nothing with her was told to us; we discovered it. I would love to read a whole book on Alice (please, Paige?), she was just so amazing.
I loved how she seemed a bit disconnected to other people's emotions. Okay, not a bit, but a lot. And it wasn't just her being disconnected and unempathetic, it is more that her logic and way of thinking, her own emotional hierarchy, made it hard for her to empathise. I loved this.
I also loved how Alice is an assassin not because she likes killing, but because of the art and the beauty of death. So deep.
The writing was beautiful. It was a feast for my eyes and my mind. Everything flowed perfectly, sucking me in without me even realising it. Spawn is written in first person in the present tense, which can be very eugh to read and I know is difficult to write well. Paige Reiring has definitely hit the mark. Her style allows for the reader to experience as opposed to being told (as I have said before). And it made me feel so included, for lack of a better word. It was like I was along side Alice in her story, a part of the action and full of suspense.
It was almost poetic at times. One quote stood out so much for me that I had to include it:
"It's as close to heaven as I'll ever get. It's pure and beautiful, and I could never do something else."
God damn that is perfect.
This whole thing was perfect.
I also wanted to include a few other quotes that made me pause and think "holy cow that is f*cking amazing" but I am pretty sure I would just be writing the whole story. So just go read it.
"I deal with death daily, and I do not fear it. I do not run from it. But I do not embrace it, either. If my time is coming, then I must either fight or die. There's no other option."
Read as part of the "Paranormal, Fantasy, Dystopia and Romance Readers, Writers and Reviewers" group Read and Review thing.
April 2, 2014
When a person has too much of a vice or a virtue, they spawn it from their body into controllable little monster pets to do their bidding. Alice has one of each and they help her in her job as a ruthless assassin. But one of her victims has spawned a huge vice, bigger than anything Alice has ever dealt with and that monster is coming to kill her.
This was a great story! I was first attracted to it by the hellishly creepy cover which would give anyone nightmares and the story itself was really creepy and full of tense action sequences. Don't let the shortness put you off as this book was well crafted and the ideas in it were totally different from anything I've read.
First, the plot. I loved this idea that if you were very virtuous or full of a vice, you would basically spawn it out of yourself and it becomes a seperate entity, loyal to you, like pet monsters. This was a seriously cool idea and I loved both of Alice's pets, Constraint and Mirror. Growing up, I think I might have spawned a few vices out of myself in this way if I could! In her job, she has left many angry and sad people behind and now one is determined to get revenge on Alice and has spawned a huge hate filled Wrath spawn who might prove too much even for an assassin. Despite the shortness of the book, I was totally caught up in the story from page one and it was laid out perfectly for the reader to enjoy with tension, monster attacks and a look inside the head of an assassin who for once is afraid. There is great inventiveness in the plot, Alice's view of her murders and how she fends off the big monster's attacks. It was a fresh story in the paranormal genre and I enjoyed it a lot.
Alice is basically a ruthless and heartless bitch who views her murders as works of art and can't understand why victim's families hate her or don't see the artistic value in what she does. She should be a totally unsympathetic character but she isn't. In an odd way I liked her and kind of rooted for her even though she is evil. It is a tribute to the author that I can like Alice despite her lack of compassion or heart, and it shows a great skill for character development. You can't help but adore Contraint and Mirror and wish you had a few of these guys as your own pets!
The only complaint is that I wanted more! I hope that the author writes more about Alice and her world, especially a fuller novel or three! I will certainly be looking out for this author and anything else that she writes. Excellent debut short story! I recommend this to fans of horror, urban fantasy, dystopia and paranormal.
This was a great story! I was first attracted to it by the hellishly creepy cover which would give anyone nightmares and the story itself was really creepy and full of tense action sequences. Don't let the shortness put you off as this book was well crafted and the ideas in it were totally different from anything I've read.
First, the plot. I loved this idea that if you were very virtuous or full of a vice, you would basically spawn it out of yourself and it becomes a seperate entity, loyal to you, like pet monsters. This was a seriously cool idea and I loved both of Alice's pets, Constraint and Mirror. Growing up, I think I might have spawned a few vices out of myself in this way if I could! In her job, she has left many angry and sad people behind and now one is determined to get revenge on Alice and has spawned a huge hate filled Wrath spawn who might prove too much even for an assassin. Despite the shortness of the book, I was totally caught up in the story from page one and it was laid out perfectly for the reader to enjoy with tension, monster attacks and a look inside the head of an assassin who for once is afraid. There is great inventiveness in the plot, Alice's view of her murders and how she fends off the big monster's attacks. It was a fresh story in the paranormal genre and I enjoyed it a lot.
Alice is basically a ruthless and heartless bitch who views her murders as works of art and can't understand why victim's families hate her or don't see the artistic value in what she does. She should be a totally unsympathetic character but she isn't. In an odd way I liked her and kind of rooted for her even though she is evil. It is a tribute to the author that I can like Alice despite her lack of compassion or heart, and it shows a great skill for character development. You can't help but adore Contraint and Mirror and wish you had a few of these guys as your own pets!
The only complaint is that I wanted more! I hope that the author writes more about Alice and her world, especially a fuller novel or three! I will certainly be looking out for this author and anything else that she writes. Excellent debut short story! I recommend this to fans of horror, urban fantasy, dystopia and paranormal.
June 22, 2014
I’m finished! :)
- Spawn by Paige Reiring
- Rating: 4/5 stars
My review:
I really liked this book! It’s easy to read with average knowledge of English. The cover is beautiful, the story is creative and interesting – good basic idea. When we are young we materialize our Deadly Vices and/or Holy Virtues. They are in different sizes, we can name them, we can share memories, help each others and we live together. We are bond to them and feel it… but we can see other person’s spawns and they can see ours! It’d be irritating If 24/7 next to everybody there are standing a potentially terrible-looking entity (spawn). And, of course, with the first look they can see my Vices/Virtues…
E/1 – Alice, the assassin, who has 2 spawns. I like her, she’s an „artist”. This is the story what was good to read.
TUMBLR
BLOG magyarul
- Spawn by Paige Reiring
- Rating: 4/5 stars
My review:
I really liked this book! It’s easy to read with average knowledge of English. The cover is beautiful, the story is creative and interesting – good basic idea. When we are young we materialize our Deadly Vices and/or Holy Virtues. They are in different sizes, we can name them, we can share memories, help each others and we live together. We are bond to them and feel it… but we can see other person’s spawns and they can see ours! It’d be irritating If 24/7 next to everybody there are standing a potentially terrible-looking entity (spawn). And, of course, with the first look they can see my Vices/Virtues…
E/1 – Alice, the assassin, who has 2 spawns. I like her, she’s an „artist”. This is the story what was good to read.
TUMBLR
BLOG magyarul
November 27, 2013
This short story was fantastic. It kept me in suspense all the way until the end. I'm actually surprised it was this good, being a free download. It's well worth reading. I would happily read more from this author.
October 27, 2013
Such an amazing story. It was one of the best things that I have ever read. I'm not going to give any spoilers, I highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews