Title: Soul Bound
Author: Cari Z
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 146 Pages
Category: Fantasy
Rating: 4 Stars
At a Glance: Cari Z does the novella/short novel medium so well that she has become a go-to for me in that category. Soul Bound satisfies the craving for a fantasy world with just enough vision and insight into the world to infer what life is like for the people living there.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Magic has faded out of everyday life. Only in the darkest corners of the world, or the richest coffers, does the power of magic endure.
Everyone says it’s for the best.
When rogue magic lashes out, though, there’s only one place the afflicted can go to solve their problems—the Marvel.
Whoever is chosen to enter the Marvel has to endure a trial unlike any other—a trial that most people fail, leaving their hopes and their bones behind to feed the wild magic of the place.
When two people are chosen, soul bound, to endure the trial simultaneously . . . well, either the gods have a sense of humor or the magic is angling for a feast. Can warrior Caz and courtesan Lias, men with wildly different magical problems, survive the trials if they work together?
Or will the magic feed on two souls instead of one?
Review: There are some absolutes in fiction: When a character says “never,” the opposite is inevitable. When someone says, “How bad could it really be?” that’s a promise things are about to be inconceivably worse. When Caz and Lias enter the Marvel together, they accomplish something that’s never been done before. And things are, in fact, much worse before they get better.
The Marvel presents its own set of challenges—in the most literal sense—that allow Caz and Lias to get to know each other beyond the physical, to empathize with each other, and to make decisions that begin to build a measure of trust after a less than ideal beginning.
Cari Z does the novella/short novel medium so well that she has become a go-to for me in that category. Soul Bound satisfies the craving for a fantasy world with just enough vision and insight into the world to infer what life is like for the people living there. There’s just enough explanation of the magic to infer it’s more trouble than a solution to problems. And we get to know Caz and Lias just enough to empathize with their unique conflicts, to better understand their desperation, their rivalry, and to feel a sense of satisfaction when those conflicts are resolved en route to their happy ending.
You can buy Soul Bound here: