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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN Marsh, S. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN Marsh, S. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
"This edgy fantasy doesn't just blur boundaries of genre, of gender, of past and present, life and death--it explodes them." --Cinda Williams Chima, New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Realms and The Shattered Realms
Without the dead, she'd be no one.
Odessa is one of Karthia's master necromancers, catering to the kingdom's ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it's Odessa's job to raise them by retrieving their soul from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised: the Dead must remain shrouded. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, a grotesque transformation begins, turning the Dead into terrifying, bloodthirsty Shades.
A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears around the kingdom. Soon, a crushing loss of one of her closest companions leaves Odessa shattered, and reveals a disturbing conspiracy in Karthia: Someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead--and training them to attack. Odessa is forced to contemplate a terrifying question: What if her magic is the weapon that brings the kingdom to its knees?
Fighting alongside her fellow mages--and a powerful girl as enthralling as she is infuriating--Odessa must untangle the gruesome plot to destroy Karthia before the Shades take everything she loves.
Perfect for fans of Three Dark Crowns and Red Queen , Reign of the Fallen is a gutsy, unpredictable read with a surprising and breathtaking LGBT romance at its core .
Author Notes
Sarah Glenn Marsh has been an avid fantasy reader from the day her dad handed her a copy of The Hobbit and promised it would change her life; she's been making up words and worlds ever since. When she's not writing, Sarah enjoys painting, ghost hunting, traveling, and all things nerdy.
She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and their menagerie: four rescued sighthounds, a bird, and many fish. She is the author of Fear the Drowning Deep and Reign of the Fallen .
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-In a world where the dead do not necessarily stay dead, those who can afford to can raise their loved ones, thanks to the revered blue-eyed necromancers. Eye color denotes those with certain supernatural abilities, including weather mages, beast masters, healers, and potions masters. There is a small hitch about being raised, though: the dead must be shrouded at all times. If a living person sees any part of the dead uncovered, that individual will turn into a beast called a shade, which will attack and kill everyone in its path. Odessa, a master necromancer who is called "Sparrow," and her beloved fellow necromancer Evander find a shade after their mentor is killed by one. On their hunt to kill this shade, Evander is slain, leaving Odessa in a state of grief and addicted to a calming potion. It becomes clear that someone is intentionally creating these shade monsters. Some new friends help cure Odessa of her addiction before they set out to find the person responsible. Odessa begins to have feelings for Evander's sister Meredy in the weeks after Evander's death, which listeners may find sudden after Odessa spends chapters talking about her grief. Narrator Alex McKenna has a raspy voice that fits well with Odessa's personality, but at times accents and other vocal choices don't mesh with the other characters. -VERDICT Overall this tale has a fantasy world with a fresh concept and would be best suited for large collections where more fantasy is needed.-Megan -Huenemann, Norris High School, Firth, NE © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Marsh (Fear the Drowning Deep) takes readers on a journey through a grim world where magic is commonplace, the dead are regularly resurrected, and change has been outlawed by an undead king. Necromancers such as Odessa are beloved for their ability to reunite the living with dead loved ones, but the emergence of a powerful Shade-one of the undead turned feral and bloodthirsty-changes that. As more Shades manifest, necromancers are blamed, and it's up to Odessa to determine who is responsible. However, she is incapacitated by grief over the recent death of Evander, her love and fellow necromancer, as well as an addiction to a calming tonic that those close to her don't fully address until a virtual stranger intervenes. Between Odessa's rapid attraction to a female childhood friend who resurfaces and the murky reasons for change being outlawed, the pieces of Marsh's story don't entirely come together. But with a sexually fluid society, an intriguing land in which the living and the dead coexist, and an underworld reminiscent of Greek myths, Marsh's world is one readers will enjoy exploring. Ages 12-up. Agent: Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A necromancer must overcome grief and protect the kingdom of Karthia from monstrous Shades.Brown-skinned Odessa of Grenwyr travels to the Deadlands to retrieve spirits of the recently deceased and raise them. These spirits become Deadordinary members of society but for the protective shrouds they wear. Any Dead glimpsed even in part by the living become predatory creatures called Shades. When a Shade kills a master necromancer, Odessa and four othersincluding her boyfriend, ivory-skinned Evanderenter the Deadlands to avenge him. Instead, the Shade kills Evander. The previously rollicking pace of the first-person, present-tense narration stagnates as Odessa turns to mind-numbing potions to cope with her grief, picking up steam again only many chapters later. Odessa and her fellow necromancers must discover who is behind the sudden disappearance of Dead royalty and an influx of new Shades. She is bolstered by Evander's sister, Meredy, for whom she develops romantic feelings. Beyond the uneven pacing, other details interrupt the otherwise smooth flow of the story. For a trained necromancer, Odessa has little strategy when it comes to fighting Shadesmany of her successes feel lucky or inevitableand most of the action scenes are disappointingly brief and undetailed.Readers who can overlook the hiccups will be rewarded by an intriguing world, a dynamic cast of characters, and a well-handled exploration of grief in a fantasy setting. (Fantasy. 13-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Marsh delivers an outstanding fantasy with a bisexual necromancer, zombies, and magic. Odessa possesses the coveted power of being able to raise souls from the dead. As a master necromancer, she serves Karthia's nobility by reanimating its ruling class after death. However, raised souls must remain covered in shrouds, as they will turn into Shades (monsters notoriously difficult to kill) if their flesh is exposed. When attacks spike due to insidiously created Shades, Odessa must grapple with the threat of her necromancy being weaponized to destroy Karthia. From page one, the story drops readers into a lush, intricate world where its inhabitants have learned to cheat death. It props up the traditional zombie trope while digging deeper and exploring themes of love, grief, and the consequences of circumventing death. Equally refreshing is Marsh's decision to create a main character in Odessa, who possesses flaws and makes mistakes. Hand this captivating novel to fans of Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series or Frances Hardinge's A Skinful of Shadows (2017).--Davenport, Enishia Copyright 2017 Booklist