Symphony of Ruin: A Labyrinth of Souls Novel

by Christina Lay

Death is stalking The City. From out of the catacombs, a deadly monster has arisen. Unfortunately for alchemist's apprentice Remy the Rat Boy, his master is away and it's up to Remy to discover the nature of the monster and put an end to its killing rampage. His search for answers takes him high into the elegant chambers of the city's elite, and down into long forgotten ruins, into depths untraveled and unimagined for centuries. Lost in the ancient ruins with only ghosts and creatures of the darkness for companionship, Remy must use every ounce of wit and conjure every scrap of magic at his disposal in order to survive the labyrinth and save The City from its shadow self.

Genres: Fantasy

194 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 25, 2017

About the author

I knew I wanted to be a writer in second grade. I've been writing ever since, and I've had several of my short stories published in anthologies like Ghosts at the Coast and Dead On Demand. My first novel, Death is A Star, was released by IFD Publishing in 2013 and in 2017 my novella, Symphony of Ruin, hit the shelves. I've won a handful of awards, including first place in the Rupert Hughes Writing Competition at the Maui Writers Conference, First Place in the Authors' Venue Novel Competition at their conference in Lake Tahoe, 2nd Place in the Writers' Digest Short Story Contest, First Place in LaBelle Lettre's Mystery Short Story Contest, and I was a runner up in the PNWA Novel competition. I maintain my secret identity by working as a bookkeeper for three nonprofits. I have a dog, five cats, and my second love (after writing) is photography.

Reviews

[Stephen Vessels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Symphony of Ruin is a fantasy thriller par excellence. Young apprentice alchemist Remy plumbs the labyrinthine depths beneath an old Mediaeval city pursuing a murderer and riches, and runs into confrontation with Death and his own assumptions. This story hits all the high marks of well-crafted and well-conceived fantasy. The writing is superb, the depictions of a weird reality lucid even at their most mind-stretching extreme. It kept me on the edge of my seat to the end, and repeatedly touched my heart.

[Mary Lowd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful and compelling work of dark fantasy. The main character is a likeable rogue with real depth, and the world feels rich and atmospheric. Though, for my furry followers, I must point out that "rat boy," as the main character is described, is only a nickname. This is not a furry book.

[Lora Milton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghosts, Fae, magic, Alchemy and a monster from out of the catacombs bringing death to the city. It's all here! The story reads like a very well written Fantasy novel and got my interest right away.

Remy is an Alchemist's apprentice and with the Alchemist away, he is left to discover what is coming out of the catacombs to kill people. He encounters ghosts and other creatures in the world of darkness, effectively an underworld journey.

Despite being treated like a lowly ratboy by the local hoity-toity, he gets on with the job and seeks to discover why one of their class got buried with commoners. Remy is a likeable character who lets the class insults roll off and applies his own wits and knowledge to untangling some confusing clues to what's really going on.

The story is fast moving and leads into a dark journey beneath the city that brings out some of our most primal fears. At times it reminded me of the surreal worlds of Roger Zelazny or The Deathgate Cycle by Weis and Hickman, though not in as much intricate detail. It was an interesting read and I think a new author to watch.

[Eric Witchey · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was fun. Fast read. Good quest. Brava, Christina Lay. I love Remy, the rat boy alchemist’s appreciate. I want his next adventure now. I have only read the first two books in the Labyrinth of Souls line of short novels, but I’m hooked. I love how each book so far has used the underworld imagined by the author as a personal metaphor of self discovery for the main character. I think Remy had to look into exactly this dark place in order to become stronger in life, love, humility, and wisdom.

[Elizabeth Engstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remy the rat boy is left alone to his own devices when his employer, the alchemist, leaves on a business trip. What follows is an adventure in discovering the truth to the mysterious deaths around town. Remy, fancying himself an alchemist in his own right, bites off a little more than he can chew. A great read. The Labyrinth of Souls series of novels and novellas is based upon the solitaire game with Tarot cards, written by Matthew Lowes.