2024 modern fantasy novella, set in the world of the Kate Daniels
series. Roman is a servant of Chernobog, but that doesn't make him a
bad person. And certainly when someone turns up semiconscious and
claiming sanctuary he knows what to do…
There are two parts to this, really: the big fight against the
boy's pursuers, and then the journey through the Slavic pagan
otherworld to sort out the problem that led him there in the first
place. The fight is the usual good Andrews action writing, which
manages to maintain a sense of tension even as people on both sides
are using magics we've never seen before; meanwhile the trek is the
sort of spirit journey that turns up in many shamanic traditions,
where everything is Significant and deep personal problems will get,
if not resolved, at least chipped free of the encrusted
not-dealing-with-it and able to start moving forward again. There's
nothing here to change the way you think about modern fantasy, but it
is all good competent stuff—with a lovely exploration of the creatures
of the Slavic pagan mythology, or at least what can be reconstructed
about them from the very limited surviving primary sources.
A conclusion (the only entirely new material here; the rest was
published in first draft on the Andrews web site) feels somewhat
disjointed, though perhaps it will make more sense when the sequel
comes along.