Odessa is known as The Sparrow, a powerful necromancer with the ability to adeptly navigate the Deadlands. She and Evander, her boyfriend, are finally full fledged master necromancers that service the crown and the wealthy members of society who want their loved ones brought back from the dead. The same day they killed and resurrected King Wylding, her mentor Nicanor went into the Deadlands by himself, an oddity for a necromancer, and was killed by a Shade, a spirit of the dead made into a cannibal monster. They have to resurrect the King no matter what, even if a dangerous Shade stalks them. The Shade problem isn't restricted to the Deadlands. Royalty and the rich have been disappearing at alarming rates, some turning up as Shades and others gone. Odessa and the other necromancers must band together to solve the mystery before the Shades endanger the enture population.
Reign of the Fallen has a unique world and vibrant characters with realistic thoughts and decisions. Karthia has been ruled by King Wylding for over 200 years and nothing has changed. It's argued that he knows and loves Karthia more than anyone else. There have been no advancement or changes in technology, fashion, policy, or tradition ever. Even if something would improve things, it's soundly ignored due to the deeply held tradition of stagnanace. Vaia, goddess of change, has been completely removed from their pantheon of gods. It felt a little similar to the society in Mistborn, but less toxic. Most people here accept it as law and only the young and powerful subvert in small ways, hidden from public.
The big contributor to the tradition is the continued existence of people, even after they die. Ancestors from generations past can still live among their descendents and affect their decisions. They can't be seen directly and where full body shrouds because they turn to Shades if humans see them. They can also turn if left in a body for so long, hence why Wylding has to be killed and resurrected every so often. So far, this has never been a problem, but Shades are rampaging more and more along with the missing wealthy people. Necromancers go into the Deadlands with honey to reject the food of the afterlife, blood to attract the dead, and milk to pour on the dead's body. Their power is steeped in myths and legends, but also feels different than other renditions.
The magic system makes sense to me and has wide ranging capabilities. In addition to power over the dead, others have the power to heal or power over animals. All magic has a price. Necromancers can't be brought back from the dead and non-mages who go into the Deadlands are no longer fertile. Healing magic leads to temporary numbness and paralysis of the healer's body depending. Power to control animals leads to the mage being animalistic for a time, losing their humanity. All of this is equal to the power they used. I'm a little tired of magic that just appears out of nowhere with no limits instead of having some sort of natural balance.
The characters feel like real people. Odessa has confidence and power, but started out as an orphan who had nothing as a child and was raised by necromancers to be one. Without her power over the dead, she sees herself as only an orphan with nothing to offer, which starts fights with wealthy Evander when he wants to run away from his problems. Beyond this idiocy, her relationship with Evander is sweet and healthy beyond hiding it from his unsupportive mother. After he dies, she starts a self destructive path that starts with the overuse of sedatives and ends at beating the Shade who killed her loved one, probably dying right afterwards. Through her friendships, particularly with princess Valoria and Evander's sister Meredy, Odessa gets to a place where she feels the grief, returns to reality, and moves forward.
The relationships are particularly excellent, especially between women. Valoria started out as unsure of herself and content to hide in the shadows. She built inventions that she hid in her room so the king and court would never see it. Odessa helped her find her voice and see that her opinion has value, which becomes extremely important by the end of the story. Odessa and Meredy at first hate each other and are too wrapped up in their own loss to see how lashing out hurts the other. Over time, they get to know each other and bond over their grief for Evander when open and honest about it. Eventually, they feel romantic feelings for each other that they feel guilt for. It's refreshing to see a bisexual heroine in any media, but I question the choice of Evander's sister. Other than that, it's a very sweet romance.
Reign of the Fallen has wonderful world building, well drawn characters, and action packed scenes right next to quiet, emotional ones. I loved that it has elements of fantasy, horror, and mystery with realistic relationships and grounded people. I figured out the mystery early, which is a big deal for me, but I enjoyed going along on the ride. The ending still surprised me mostly because the villain wasn't really wrong, but the way he went about things was. I would love to read more books by this author and hopefully in this world.
My rating: 5/5 fishmuffins
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