Item: Wake of Vultures
Rating: 5.00
Author: teachergorman

by Lila Bowen

'I don't care what else you've seen in the bookstore today. Read this one' - Kevin Hearne

'I enjoyed the hell out of it' - Patrick Rothfuss

Nettie Lonesome lives in a land of hard people and hard ground dusted with sand. She's a half-breed who dresses like a boy, raised by folks who don't call her a slave but use her like one. She knows of nothing else. That is, until the day a stranger attacks her. When nothing, not even a sickle to the eye can stop him, Nettie stabs him through the heart with a chunk of wood and he turns to black sand.

And just like that, Nettie can see.

But her newfound sight is a blessing and a curse. Even if she doesn't understand what's under her own skin, she can sense what everyone else is hiding - at least physically. The world is full of evil, and now she knows the source of all the sand in the desert. Haunted by the spirits, Nettie has no choice but to set out on a quest that might lead her to find her true kin . . . if the monsters along the way don't kill her first

A rich, dark fantasy of destiny, death and the supernatural world hiding beneath the surface.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! It was recommended to me by author Margaret Pinard (author of The Keening), and I tore through it. I particularly liked the afterward. I know that sounds odd, but the afterward shows a real thoughtfulness and sensitivity to some of the tricky issues around race and gender that come up when writing both historical fiction and speculative fiction like this. Without such a great novel in front of it, the afterward might have seemed superfluous, but this excellent novel earned it. Now I need to read the whole series, then buy all of Margaret Pinard's novels as thanks!

Wake of Vultures (Shadow, #1)

by Lila Bowen

Reviewed by teachergorman on Apr 10, 2020

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