🌟🌟🌟💫
This review was originally published on Reedsy Discovery. Read it HERE.
If you had to sacrifice eighty thousand people to potentially make the world a better place for eight million others, would you?
When fourteen people are found dead in a church via mysterious circumstances, and another string of similar deaths occur soon after, Detective Kari Salversen follows the clues until they lead her to David Skye and Jade “Epiphany” Hendrix. Little does she know that David and Epiphany are on their own hunt for a man trying to use a device from the spirit realms to change the Earth into what he believes would be a peaceful, happy world. David and Epiphany use their spiritual abilities to do their best to save the world. A Reckoning of Souls asks the important question: if you had to sacrifice eighty thousand people to potentially make the world a better place for eight million others, would you?
This was a unique and interesting read that effortlessly blended the genres of fantasy, science-fiction and action thriller.
The writing style was concise and clear, making the complex worldbuilding easy to digest. The world that Edwards created was vivid and well thought through. It is clear a lot of research went into inventing the interesting devices and spaces present throughout the story. I particularly liked the dreamlike way the spiritual world—referred to as the Otherworlds by the characters—manifested, adding wonder and beauty to the writing. It was also wonderful that Edwards added important limitations to what is possible for the characters to accomplish via the Otherworlds, as it created tension and high-stakes throughout the plot.
The characters all stood out from each other, each having a clear voice and well-established motivations. One can tell Edwards enjoyed writing them! Epiphany was a fascinating character; it took a while for me to warm up to her, but once I did, she became my favorite. She is direct, brave, feisty and a total badass. I also really liked Johannes Stinar, the ‘crazy scientist’ of the story. He had the most moody and dry personality in all the best of ways. It was in Johannes Stinar’s scenes where one truly sees Edwards’ research shine.
My main critiques for the book, and the reason my rating isn’t higher, are as follows:
The first half of the book included a lot of exposition, as well as introductions to many new characters. While this certainly is the type of book that requires exposition well up front, it did feel dense, and it was sometimes difficult to remember all the character names. Seasoned fantasy and sci-fi readers might not mind this, but others may struggle.
The story and characters also gained much more depth once we moved passed the exposition, meaning that the book’s first half felt a little flat compared to the final half. I enjoyed how the story came to life later on, and wished to have seen this earlier in the story.
The dialogue tended to feel forced. While one grows used to it after some time, placing a focus on creating punchy, lifelike dialogue would have elevated the story.
Overall, A Reckoning of Souls is a unique story with a fun, fast-paced plot—a definite worthwhile read at 3.75 stars.
Maan Atelier 