Reign of the Fallen

By: Sarah Glenn Marsh

Narrated by: Alex McKenna

A gutsy, unpredictable fantasty epic with a surprising and breathtaking queer romance at its core.

"Reign of the Fallen is a diverse story brimming with wickedly delightful magic, sizzling romance, and shocking betrayal—I’ve completely fallen under its spell."–Kerri Maniscalco, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Stalking Jack the Ripper

Without the dead, she'd be no one.

Odessa is one of Karthia's master necromancers, catering to the kingdom's ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it's Odessa's job to raise them by retrieving their soul from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised: the Dead must remain shrouded. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, a grotesque transformation begins, turning the Dead into terrifying, bloodthirsty Shades.

A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears around the kingdom. Soon, a crushing loss of one of her closest companions leaves Odessa shattered, and reveals a disturbing conspiracy in Karthia: Someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead--and training them to attack. Odessa is forced to contemplate a terrifying question: What if her magic is the weapon that brings the kingdom to its knees?

Fighting alongside her fellow mages--and a powerful girl as enthralling as she is infuriating--Odessa must untangle the gruesome plot to destroy Karthia before the Shades take everything she loves.

Enjoyable

Once I got over my initial dislike of the narrator I really enjoyed this story. Interesting world, great world building, fairly likable characters, good plot.

A Wonderful, Enrapturing Story

Sarah Glenn Marsh did a remarkable job of molding this new world. Its culture is rich and diverse, dark and brilliant. Her characters truly bring life to every page! I cannot wait to read the next chapter in this marvelous story!

Oof I wanted to like this

The premise the author has set up makes it very hard to emphathise with the good guys of this story. It seems like it could have been written as a complex story with characters with interesting motivations on each side but instead has been forced into something much more simplified.

If you're looking for a nice fantasy with wlw representation, I'd probably look elsewhere first.

Spoilers
I'm supposed to accept that the undead dictators who have stagnated this kingdom for decades are actually good and we should be patriotic and loyal towards them. No "good guy" expresses any doubt about this making them very hard to see as actual thinking people who live in this world. The motivations of the bad guys appear to be completely justified, but the way they are characterized and written, the reader is clearly not supposed to see them that way. Unfortunately the characters aren't very likeable either, so I can't push past the messed up premise. The writing and pacing isn't great and there's a whole lot of awkwardly placed scenes of melodrama and unearned emotional beats.

Solid 3 Stara

I wanted to love this so much more because of how much I love the cover, but it wasn't super exciting for me.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator's voice sort of annoyed me, which is a first for me. I don't know if this effected the way I viewed the story.

I did not find the ending exciting, it was predict able. Through all these issues though I finished it and didn't hate it.

Meh

I finished it only because I started it. Annoying and oddly limited narrator in terms of vocal performance of different characters. The story itself is slow moving and mostly filler. Poor character development, even poorer execution of capturing relationships between characters. I purchased the paperback of the second book prior to starting this one. I think I’m just going to donate it. I can’t imagine this story going anywhere else let alone anywhere interesting. Save yourself some hours and skip this one.