Synopsis
Legends say a dead god is buried under the stone city of Ishcairn, protecting its inhabitants by dashing enemy fleets into the jagged coast of Craeburn. Adjunct professor Corrie Ecksley doesn’t believe any of that, but she knows from her work excavating nearby burial sites that the ancient Craeburn people believed it enough to name the city after their dead god, Ish.
When the ripples of a great war finally reach Craeburn’s shores, a terrifying new weapon is unleashed on the city that not even Ish can deter. A bomb that tears souls from bodies, driving anyone who witnessed the blast insane. But it is not the living that Corrie fears. Displaced spirits are hungry for a body, and care not if it already plays host to a soul.
No bullets can stop them, no walls are thick enough to keep them out.
No help is coming.
No one left but Corrie to stop the carnage, if she even can.
Review
Shattered Spirits by Cal Black was a much anticipated novella where I loved everything I learned about it beforehand, from the cover to the keywords to the map and finally a full description. I didn’t think I’d be able to read it before pub day, but then I said screw it and dropped everything else to start this as soon as I received it.
I read No Land for Heroes and really liked the smooth prose that allowed me to read the story quickly without overthinking it. I really liked that here as well but despite the short length of the book, I felt there were more descriptions about the world. Or maybe her words were just really well chosen and allowed me to visualize it more easily than I usually do while reading.
I knew this story would be different for me from the usual (can I still say that when I’ve said it so often lately hahaha) and I was here for it. It had me glued to the screen from the first chapter on, with my heart racing and my mind wanting more, more, more. Just a couple of words here and there made me feel really creeped out but, like with a train wreck, I just couldn’t look away.
I liked that the ending took us somewhere completely different than I had first expected. You think you know what’s coming but you really don’t. That felt really well done. I also liked how some of the character development turned to places I didn’t think we would go.
If you want a dark read for spooky season that doesn’t do a deep dive into horror, then definitely check this one out. I’m really eager to see what Cal Black writes next because with her current trajectory, she’ll shoot up to my favorite authors soon.
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