Title: Dark Moon, Shallow Sea
Series: The Gods of Night and Day: Book One
Author: David R. Slayton
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Length: 407 Pages
Category: Fantasy
Rating: 5 Stars
At a Glance: If you love character-driven fantasy set in a world rife with danger and treachery, magic and mythology, Dark Moon, Shallow Sea delivers.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: When Phoebe, goddess of the moon, is killed by the knights of the sun god, Hyperion, all who follow her are branded heretics. With Phoebe gone, the souls of the dead are no longer ferried to the underworld, and instead linger on as shades who feast on the blood of the living.
Raef is a child of the night. He lives in the shadows, on scraps, eking out a meager existence as a thief. But when an ornate box is sequestered in the Temple of Hyperion, the chance of a big score proves too great to resist. What he finds within propels him on an odyssey across the sea and back again, altering the course of his life forever.
Seth is a knight of the sun. But unlike the others of his order, the fire of Hyperion only brings him pain. He believes he deserves this penance, exacted for his unknown origins. Tasked with recovering the contents of the box, Seth must also venture beyond the horizon if he’s to learn the truth about himself.
In a dying world divided by the greed of those in power, Raef and Seth find their destinies intertwined—and learn they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
Review: “Destruction is a form of creation.” ~ Graham Greene
David R. Slayton is a spellcrafter. He dreams up ultra-rich fantasy worlds and then peoples them with characters who engage, enthrall, and entertain in full measure. Dark Moon, Shallow Sea begins in a deconstructed world, a time and a place in which the goddess of the moon has been murdered, the voice of the god of the sun makes pawns of his worshipers, and the sacrifice of one will ensure the redemption of many. The yin can’t prevail without the yang, the circle of the sun and the moon must be unbroken, and the ones who will lie to remain in power must yield.
The parallels between fantasy and reality are unmistakable as Raef journeys through peril and deceit, a painful revelation, and discovers who he is along the way. More importantly, he discovers who he comes from, and why. Slayton masterfully twists and turns the story, tumbling readers headlong into the unexpected and leaving us on the cusp of so much more to come. The connection between Raef and Seth is only just building, and there is another whose deception must be confronted, which is a hook that was expertly baited and, I don’t mind admitting, left me a little heavy-hearted. The ending left me a lot curious, though, and promises many more secrets to be revealed.
If you love character-driven fantasy set in a world rife with danger and treachery, magic and mythology, Dark Moon, Shallow Sea delivers.
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