Sanctuary (Roman's Chronicles, #1)

by Ilona Andrews

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

Roman is the powerful and dangerous Black Volhv, sworn to serve the Chernobog (God of Destruction). Yet even he gets the holidays off. Well, usually. He worked hard and made a deal, getting a few days off around the winter holidays (which he'd rather avoid).

Unfortunately, his god seems to have different ideas this year. So does a wounded boy in urgent need of help. While Roman is content to ignore his god, he's less content to sit aside and watch a boy get taken (or worse). So it's time to step up and do his thing.

My Review:

To say that I was delighted when I heard the news about Sanctuary would be an understatement. I've always thought that Roman was a fun character—tortured soul, dark backstory, takes himself too seriously, the works. So, along with countless other fans, I've always secretly hoped we'd get more of his story someday.

Today is that day. Sanctuary is a relatively short adventure for Roman, but with it comes gods, a fleeing child, plenty of critters, and some personal drama. In other words, it's perfect and exactly what we fans have been hoping for.

I love the dynamics between the gods in this novel. Likewise, I really enjoyed seeing the world through Roman's eyes. He has a different way of looking at things like balance and good vs evil. This perspective made the world feel so much richer (which is a surprise, given the depth we've already been given!).

Roman's such an interesting contrast to the other perspectives we've seen thus far. In truth, I would read anything and everything that came from this world, but now I'm looking forward to more Roman.

Finally, I want to thank Ilona and Andrew Gordon for including some additional details about the gods and mythologies they pulled from for this book. I also want to thank Rossana Sasso for writing an additional essay for this novel (it's also on the blog if you're too curious to wait).

Highlights:
Urban Fantasy
Part of the Kate Daniels World
Gods & Mayhem
Life Comes Full Circle

Thanks to NYLA and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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