Alchemised

By: SenLinYu

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.

“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.

In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.

According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?

To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.

Critic reviews

“A sweeping tale set in an uncharted dark fantasy world. It encompasses the realities of war and a romance that fights for survival.”—People

“SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy. . . . The superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.”—Kirkus Reviews

“In this high fantasy with very dark themes, SenLinYu weaves a tale of political intrigue with centuries of depth and nuance. Many readers will be . . . drawn into the complex morality of two broken people finding love during a war.”—Booklist

“SenLinYu has created a vivid new universe. Alchemised made me remember what makes reading good fantasy so enjoyable.”—The Atlantic

“A book that digs its teeth in like a starving wolf. It unsettles, it gnaws, and yet by the final page, I wanted to thank it for what it put me through. . . . In a genre often dominated by safe formulas, SenLinYu’s debut is a reminder that speculative fiction still has teeth and knows how to bite.”—Grimdark Magazine

Looking for content warnings because they're in the worst location. see this review.

I enjoyed this story very much though it is is a devastating story and knew roughly what I was getting into. However for the sake of transparency for others this title has content warnings to are ignorantly located at the end of the book making them inaccessible for anyone utilizing the sample features for ebook and/or audiobook. On a review platform this title is penalized for the warnings location. I have opted to transcribe them in hopes that they are found useful to someone.

"Alchemised is a work of dark fantasy containing wartime violence, religious abuse, depictions of complex trauma, suicidal ideation,self harm, human experimentation, medical torture, eugenics, cannibalism, sexual assault, rape, and allusions to necrophilia. Please remember that depiction is not authorial endorsement. Because Alchemists is a limited third person point of view it necessarily involves some distortions of vision as well as messed or misconstrued events. Reader discretion is advised."

Flayed me alive

I read manacled so I knew what I was getting into. And I happily let this author turn me inside out a second time. Honestly much of it is the same, and I loved that because the bones were so good. It’s rather dense on world building and magic systems so I wouldn’t recommend this for people brand new to fantasy. This is the single best piece of literary commentary on the real price of war I’ve ever read. This a graphic read so please check your trigger warnings. You will cry, you will scream, and you will stare blankly at the wall for days when you are done. And it is absolutely worth it

Aggravating narrator

I'm so disappointed in this choice of a narrator. She has this awful whispering rasp that makes me want to turn it off completely. Having to play it fast just to get through.

absolutely loved it

the narrator was perfection and was able to bring my favorite story to life. the story was amazing and I loved it

A sophisticated story

This was a very intense dark epic fantasy. It’s a hefty book that was very intense and took patience to absorb all the characters completely. I feel like most books I read/listen to these days don’t have so much complex story telling. And my fault for that because I don’t want to be bored. However this book felt like I had to want to know the characters and the world, I had to want to allow myself to go through all the complex feelings. This is what literature should be.