A review by jksteach
Shadow of a Dead God by Patrick Samphire
5.0
It took me awhile to get into this, but then I couldn’t put it down. Mennik Thorne -Nik- is a down on his luck mage living in Agatos. His best friend drags him into stealing something from a powerful mage and Nik ends up accused of murder. He has to free his friend and solve the mystery to get his life back and keep his friends safe.
Nik is a great character - funny, self-deprecating (too much sometimes) and loyal. He cares about his friends and has moral standards which keeps getting him in trouble. I also loved Serah, Nik's best friend's daughter. I hope she's in future books. The world building is fantastic! I could really visualize all the different parts of the city and there were fascinating additional hints about the gods, the university, commerce, and geography that really made the world feel completely three dimensional.
I usually read books with at least a little romance, but there wasn’t any in this book. I didn’t miss it, though. I liked the combination of fantasy, magic, ghosts, and a sort of hard boiled detective feel. Also, it’s a great cover.
Nik is a great character - funny, self-deprecating (too much sometimes) and loyal. He cares about his friends and has moral standards which keeps getting him in trouble. I also loved Serah, Nik's best friend's daughter. I hope she's in future books. The world building is fantastic! I could really visualize all the different parts of the city and there were fascinating additional hints about the gods, the university, commerce, and geography that really made the world feel completely three dimensional.
I usually read books with at least a little romance, but there wasn’t any in this book. I didn’t miss it, though. I liked the combination of fantasy, magic, ghosts, and a sort of hard boiled detective feel. Also, it’s a great cover.