Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews

Title: Sanctuary 

Author: Ilona Andrews

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Roman’s Chronicles # 1

Paperback, 152 pages 

Publication: July 30, 2024

Source: Personal Library
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It’s not easy serving the Chernobog, the God of Destruction, Darkness and Death…especially during the holidays; and especially when you’re out of eggnog and one of your pesky, freeloading mythic creatures has eaten your last cookie.

Roman would like nothing more than to be left alone, but when a wounded boy stumbles into his yard and begs for sanctuary, Roman takes him in. Now elite mercenaries are camped out on his property, combat mages are dousing the house with fire, and strange priests are unleashing arcane magic. They thought Roman was easy pickings, just a hermit in the woods, but they chose the wrong dark priest to annoy. For while Roman might be patient, he is the Black Volhv, filled with the love of his terrible god. For his adversaries, it's a fight to the death, but for him, it's just another day in the neighborhood.

MY THOUGHTS

I would like to preface this review by saying that I am one of Ilona Andrews biggest fan (says all of the BDH lol). I literally reread the Kate Daniels series every. single. year. It's my favorite comfort series. With that said, I like many others were counting down the days until Roman's novella was released. Roman has been one of main side characters in the Kate Daniels series and have grown to be one of the readers beloved side characters. But it saddens me to say, this novella was a letdown. 

Sanctuary is a fairly decent sized novella with approximately 150 pages but boy, did it feel like a dense read. There was barely any plot or character development. And before anyone says "This is a novella!"; I know! I've read plenty of novellas, some also by Andrews but this was just mediocre. Instead, readers were bombarded with info-dumping page after page...from beginning to end. I felt like I was getting a history lecture versus reading a story. Don't get me wrong I love history and mythology, but this was just not palatable, nor did it come across as interesting.  

There were a few good scenes but overall, I didn't connect to any of the characters. Oddly, Roman was more intriguing as a tertiary character in the Kate Daniel novels than here in his own story. Sanctuary was not enjoyable, and I felt like I had to push through to finish the novella. I am unlikely to continue with Roman's Chronicles. There may be a possible romance in future novellas, but from what I've seen of Andora...I just don't care. I wished the authors' put more focus on key novels than us getting anymore of Roman's novellas. I don't feel like this novella brought anything to the Kate Daniels world. To be honest, we could live without it. 

During-The-Event by Roger Wall

Title: During-The-Event
Author: Roger Wall
Genre: Young-Adult
Series: N/A

Paperback, 200 pages
Publication: May 15, 2019 by University of Alaska Press

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

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For D.E., only two certainties exist: his grandfather is dead and life will never be the same.

In the near future, climate change has ravaged the United States, leading the government to overcorrect through culls and relocation. Those who survive the mandated destruction are herded into “habitable production zones,” trading their freedom for illusions of security. The few who escape learn quickly that the key to survival is to stay hidden in the corners of the country. For seventeen years, During-the-Event, or D.E., has lived free in a pastoral life with his grandfather in North Dakota. But when death reaches their outpost. D.E. is forced on a journey that will change his life—and reveal surprises about his past.

During-The-Event takes places in a post-apocalyptic ravaged America where climate change wiped out more than half the population, while those that are left are indentured or in hiding. D.E and his grandfather, Otis are in the later camp; hiding in the obscured nooks of North Dakota.

Unlike many of the mainstream Young Adult Dystopian on the market today, During-The-Event doesn’t involve characters pitted against one another, a rebellion, or a deadly virus or A.I tech threatening humanity. Instead the novel focuses on a handful of characters and the protagonist, D.E.’s personal growth. It’s all about looking inwards; self-discovery and reflection.

During-The-Event is a short book, approximately 200 pages. Wall wasted no time setting up the world and introducing readers to the characters, and their beliefs and actions. Our protagonist, During-The-Event A.K.A D.E grew up in the aftermath of the climate change, he never met or knew his parents, and was raised solely by his grandfather. Everything D.E. knew was predicated off what was told by his grandfather. Due to a life-changing circumstance earlier in the novel, D.E is left to fend for himself as he journeys across the U.S. and discovers life outside the butte for the first time and how it challenges the beliefs ingrained in him his entire life.

D. E. is only seventeen-years-old and has many skills to help him survive the rough terrain of the U.S. but outside of that D.E. doesn’t know much else. Especially interacting with strangers/society. Wall pens a story of growing up and getting out into the real world, which I’m sure resonates with all of us in some way. Readers follow alongside D.E. as he navigates the world, finds himself and learns to adapt to his new reality all while dealing with foreign emotions such as loneliness and loss.

During-The-Event is a well-written coming of age story. D.E. is as pure as it comes, unaffected by the world and having little to no interaction besides his family. I enjoyed reading his experiences through a new lens and seeing how he reacts to all his ‘firsts’. I highly recommend checking out During-The-Event if you’re looking for a more introspective character driven story, a story with substance without all the loud and unnecessary noise.

Guest Post and Spotlight: During-The-Event by Roger Wall

Please welcome Roger Wall to the blog! Roger is the author of During-The-Event, a post-apocalyptic novel and coming-of-age story of a young man as he discover the world through a new lens. During-The-Event is out now wherever books are sold.

An introduction to the character of Otis

As a child, when our family moved from one state to another, there wasn’t always a house to move into. Often my father would start his new assignment and look for a place for us to live while my mother and sister and I stayed behind at my grandparents’ house. They had a big yard bordered by a corn field and woods—the wilderness in my imagination. 

My grandfather was newly retired and filled his life with nonessential projects. They were a type of play for him, and he was happy to have a laborer (me) to give them the appearance of importance. He taught me manual skills, like hammering, sawing, mowing the lawn, but not in the serious way my father did. His instruction was for amusement. Nothing we built relied on my abilities. He could figure out how to do most things, despite little formal education, and was a master at scrounging building materials and tools from auction, the trash, and yard sales and recycling them for projects that never seemed to take more than a few days.

My father, on the other hand, was a stern task master. An engineer by training, every project followed a detailed abstract logic that I rarely understood. There were drawings and lists of materials and tools. Work could drag on for weeks, steal precious Saturdays. I rarely had fun. I don’t think he did, either.

I think about my grandfather when I think about the imaginative aspects of Otis. Both share an earthy quality, a sense of make believe. Otis’s stern task master side, his rigidity, his adherence to complicated and illogical practices, on the other hand, is my father. 

Otis is a transitional character in a couple of ways. He’s lived through the collapse of society and the reinvention of it as climate change consumes the North American continent. At first, as an iron worker who helps construct the new North American capital, he benefits from the government’s policies. Then, as he learns of the brutality at the heart of them, he begins to resist the government—in an ideology way. The town’s government representative, a friend of his, tells him about the history of the Hidatsa people who originated in the area, and together they begin to practice what they believe are Hidatsa prayers and songs. Otis, who doesn’t know his ancestry, entertains his friend’s suggestion that he might actually be part Native American.

When government forces level his town in reprisal for murder of the government representative, Otis and his grandson, D. E. are the only survivors. Otis, desperate to give meaning to his life, as well as to hide lapses in judgement, courage, and honesty, begins to identify as Hidatsa. He believes he and his grandson have in fact returned to a pre-contact era—but one without the cultural integrity that actual tribes had and lost. 

To make sense of their life he constructs a creation myth and songs and prayers whose authenticity D. E., as he matures, questions. Then, on his deathbed, he confesses to what he’s made up, to his actual family relation to D. E., and to what he’s concealed about the fate of D. E.’s parents. 

It is here where Otis serves another transitional purpose. Not only is he literally transitioning to death but also, through his confession, forcing D. E. to transition from the life he’s known into a life he has yet to discover—his own life. Otis’s legacy to D. E., once all the constructs are stripped away, is an intimate knowledge of nature. In effect, as Otis sets the stage for D. E. to embark on a coming-of-age journey, this is the gift that he leaves him.

 

Purchase|Amazon|B&N|

In the near future, climate change has ravaged the United States, leading the government to over-correct through culls and relocation. Those who survive the mandated destruction are herded into “habitable production zones,” trading their freedom for illusions of security. The few who escape learn quickly that the key to survival is to stay hidden in the corners of the country. For seventeen years, During-the-Event, or D.E., has lived free in a pastoral life with his grandfather in North Dakota. But when death reaches their outpost. D.E. is forced on a journey that will change his life—and reveal surprises about his past.

Once taught that strangers are only sources of pain, D.E. must learn to trust the people he meets on his journey. During-the-Event is a soaring coming-of-age story that grapples with achingly familiar issues: coming to terms with loss and loneliness, finding what our identities really mean, and searching for love in an often strange and bewildering world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

via author's website

As a child I lived throughout the United States—east coast, Midwest, the South, west coast—before touching down at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I studied fiction writing. Writing and editing assignments let me explore the worlds of education, rural development in Africa, small town news, medicine, and grassroots environmental advocacy. During-the-Event is my first novel. I live in New York and the Catskills.

Connect with Roger! |Website|

Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Shifts
Author: Ilona Andrews
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Kate Daniels # 8

Mass Market Paperback, 375 pages
Publication: February 23, 2016 by Ace

Source: I received a review copy in exchange for a honest review.

Buy|Amazon|B&N|

After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate—former Beast Lord Curran Lennart—are adjusting to a very different pace. While they’re thrilled to escape all the infighting, Kate and Curran know that separating from the Pack completely is a process that will take time.

But when they learn that their friend Eduardo has gone missing, Kate and Curran shift their focus to investigate his disappearance. As they dig further into the merc’s business, they discover that the Mercenary Guild has gone to hell and that Eduardo’s recent assignments are connected in the most sinister way…

An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it—before it takes their city apart piece by piece. 

Magic Shifts is the eighth installment in the Kate Daniel series and certainly a big improvement since the last book. Which I previously stated was the weakest book of the series. Kate and Curran have left the pack and are adjusting to living on the outskirt of town; trying to figure out what their next steps are. But there’s no rest in sight when Eduardo, a pack member goes missing and all signs points to the sudden emergence of ghouls and a deadly ancient creature.

Andrews are always tackling new mythos in their books and in this latest book Andrews put their own unique spin on ghouls and Djinns. I have always been fascinated with Djinns and this is probably the second book I’ve ever read that featured them. These Djinn aren’t like your friendly genie from Aladdin, they’re tricky, volatile, and dangerous.I liked how the authors Incorporated the Djinns into the already complex world and plot…it was done seamlessly. Speaking of world, the world of Kate Daniel is a multifaceted one, especially as we’re already two books from the series wrap-up. The characters have developed tremulously over the course of the series as well; every new detail, information, history and character adds to the richness of the story and world and I can’t get enough of it.

This book had a healthy and perfect balance of drama and humor. I loved seeing the usual gang and more of Roland, Cassandra, George etc. And although the last three are new additions to the series, I felt like they were a major integral part of the series now and I wouldn’t have it any other way. There were a lot of things going on in this book and I am curious to see where Team Andrews takes them next.

If you love Urban Fantasy as much as I do, then this series is a must; you literally can’t mention Urban Fantasy without mentioning Andrews and the Kate Daniel series.