Epeolatry Book Review: Asunder by Kerstin Hall

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Title: Asunder
Author: Kerstin Hall
Genre: fantasy
Publisher: tordotcom
Publication Date: 20th August, 2024

Synopsis: 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. She pays the rent by using her abilities to investigate suspicious deaths around the troubled city she calls home. When a job goes sideways and connects her to a dying stranger with some very dangerous secrets, her entire world is upended.

Ferain is willing to pay a ludicrous sum of money for her help. To save him, Karys inadvertently binds him to her shadow, an act that may doom them both. If they want to survive, they will need to learn to trust one another. Together, they must journey to the heart of a faded empire, all the while haunted by arcane horrors, and the unquiet ghosts of their pasts.

And all too soon, Karys knows her debts will come due.

Hello Reader. By now, summer is winding down and we are settling into a new routine. I hope that everyone had a chance to have an adventure whether near or far. For those who chose to find their adventures by more literary means, I have something for you.

Asunder by Kerstin Hall is an amazing fantasy that follows Karys and a group of companions across their realm to save the life of one of their own. Along their way they will encounter new friends, old gods, family long since abandoned, and treachery no one could have expected. Each step of the way, the reader encounters the history, governments, and geography of Hall’s well-constructed world.

To compliment the world building is to focus on how well the pantheon system is constructed. The systems are based on the influence of two groups of god-like beings. The first created most of the infrastructure including but not limited to the mail, elevators, and “worked” animals that serve as pack beasts, better known as “vehicles”. The incorporation of the second group, a race of eldritch beings, provide mortals with compacts that allow them abilities to manipulate the world around them. As a deathspeaker, Karys’ main ability is to part the Veneer, the unseen shroud that separates the world of the living from the dead. Whole organizations are based on these compacts and workings. The group will find that when dealing with these organizations, it will be hard to figure out which can be trusted.

This story is four hundred pages of go. As the novel is written entirely third person limited, the story starts and stops with Karys. From page one, we are in the story with no preamble or getting to know the character. We learn who Karys is throughout the book as she faces time crunches, deaths, and even a return to her childhood home.

Without giving any major moments away, I was pleasantly caught off-guard several times. Karys continuously adds to her to-do list as she adventures from one region to another. Each new problem or time sensitive task is artfully folded into the main story. Even the interactions with Sabaster were quite sudden and added a delightful dash of horror to this high fantasy.

For those fans of epic fantasy journeys, well-constructed magic systems, and/or engaging growth narratives, I can’t recommend Asunder by Kerstin Hall enough.

/5

Available from Amazon and Bookshop.

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