Nightglass
Author: Liane Merciel
Series: Pathfinder Tales
Publisher: Paizo Publishing, LLC
Rating:
Goodreads Summary:
In the grim nation of Nidal, carefully chosen children are trained to practice dark magic, summoning forth creatures of horror and shadow for the greater glory of the Midnight Lord. Isiem is one such student, a promising young shadowcaller whose budding powers are the envy of his peers. Upon coming of age, he’s dispatched on a diplomatic mission to the mountains of Devil’s Perch, where he’s meant to assist the armies of devil-worshiping Cheliax in clearing out a tribe of monstrous winged humanoids. Yet as the body count rises and Isiem comes face to face with the people he’s exterminating, lines begin to blur, and the shadowcaller must ask himself who the real monsters are...
My thoughts:
Nightglass is one of those rare books that I’ve read more than once - twice so far, to be precise. Both times, I enjoyed it. The descriptions are well-written and gorgeous - as well as horrifying. Liane Merciel paints a vivid picture of the Dusk Hall and Nidal, a country ruled by pain and fear and yoked to the will of a mad god. To date, she is still my favorite of the two Pathfinder Tales authors that I’ve read in terms of description and atmosphere.
Her characters in this book aren’t quite as fleshed out as in her other two novels for the series, but I didn’t dislike any of them. Isiem, the main character. Occasionally comes off as slightly bland at times but I still like him overall. I loved the mystery surrounding Helis, and Ascaros’s bluntness. I do wish there’d been more time to develop Kirii, though, and that she’d been given a more active role. Velenne was also wonderful and delightfully devious. I would’ve loved to see more interactions between her and Isiem.
There were, however, two things that bothered me. The first was the sudden, almost jarring shift between “Book 1: Monsters” and “Book 2: People”. Several years are skipped and Isiem is no longer a student but a full-fledged shadowcaller on loan to the neighboring country of Cheliax. The second thing that bothered me was the names of the strix. “Kirii” is fine, but the others have names like “Red Chest” and “Owl Dream”. It was only a small irritation, but I felt it worth noting.
Overall, I enjoyed the book - it’s easy to read and the descriptions are amazing and really bring the world to life (it’s also a great resource for writing/running anything set in Nidal).
Warning: The main warning for this book (aside from violence) are the descriptions of torture on kids - the actual torture isn’t shown, but the aftermath is described in some detail.
Where to buy: Paizo, Barnes & Noble, Amazon (I recommend getting it directly from Paizo)
Things I like:
Setting
Beautiful writing and detail
Helis and Velenne
Things I didn’t like:
The dramatic shift in tone
Isiem is a little bland (but I still like him)
Would’ve liked more with Kirii
The Strix naming conventions were...odd