Greg Ruth
A brief sensation of intense heat swept over Karys’ skin, like her whole body had passed too close to a fire. Then it was gone. The man still gripped her arm, and now he pressed a finger to his lips. Unthinking Karys tried to wrestle free – the creature was right behind her, she needed to run – but he held tighter. His eyes burned with a feverish light.
Karys Eska is a deathspeaker, locked into an irrevocable compact with Sabaster, a terrifying eldritch being – three-faced, hundred-winged, unforgiving – who has granted her the ability to communicate with the newly departed.
This is all the information about the book, I’ll give you in advance. Part of the charm is not knowing more than this, as the author slowly shows us this world and the characters in it.
Both the worldbuilding and the characters are great, and as Ann Leckie says in her blurb: “Immensely enjoyable. Kerstin Hall’s writing is simply awesome”.
This is Kerstin Hall’s second novel – and it is a beauty! Her earlier publications (the two novellas The Border Keeper and Second Spear and her first novel Star Eater) made me yearn for more, and Asunder was even better than my already high expectations. This is one of the best books I’ve read this year.
This might be a standalone novel, but it screams for a continuation. I really, really hope for this, and I cannot wait to read it if the author wants to write it. Please TOR – beg her!