Booklog 69/2017 - Myke Cole: The Armored Saint - The Sacred Throne #1

[jacey]

Not due for publication until March 2018. I had this short novel (maybe a novella) for review as an advance reading copy from Netgalley. This is a fantasy setting in which, following some kind of religious war, bands of holy warriors—the Order—have the power to root out and kill wizards without trial, often cruelly. If they decide a village is sheltering a wizard, there’s no mercy. Supposedly wizardry opens up the way for hell’s demons to come through into the world—and no one wants that. Heloise and her father meet up with the Order on the road to the next village, Hammersdown, and Heloise talks back, never a good idea. Her initial mistakes are compounded and eventually everyone suffers for it. Later the order takes it out on Hammersdown and Heloise is forced to see things that no one should have to see. It’s inevitable, therefore, that the order comes looking for Heloise and her family. Character-driven, this is a deep study of Heloise in adversity but the supporting characters work well, too. The writing is visceral. It drew me in quickly and didn’t let me go, even delivering something unexpected at the end.