I’ve been trying to write a review of this book for a minute, and by a minute I mean like two weeks. The main reason it’s been taking me so long is that I really, really want to impress on people how good this book is, and how much I think everyone should read it, but the truth is that I say that about a lot of books (which all deserve it! They’re good books!) and so I’m not sure how to really make it clear that ASUNDER stands out even among the type of high quality novels I try to spend most of my reading time on.
I tried doing the classic book review where you summarize the plot and the main characters, leaving key bits mysterious to maintain tension, but frankly I’ve never liked writing book reviews that way. I find that such descriptions don’t really make it clear whether a book is good or not. I can say: it’s got secret societies and dead gods and gangsters who sell drugs made from the bodies of the dead gods, and the main character carries a ticking time bomb in her soul because of a deal with a devil/biblically-accurate-angel, and, okay, that sounds enticing (because it IS!).
But a book with those elements could also suck. To be clear, ASUNDER does NOT suck. ASUNDER is fantastic. But it’s fantastic because those elements are very cool and then also the characters are so well-written and human and damaged, and the prose is emotional and quick and each little detail of the story and the world it’s set in is clear and sharp and innovative, and then there’s also that je ne sais quoi that makes a book transcend ‘compelling adventure’ and become truly great.
ASUNDER has it. IT. You know, the ‘it’. Asunder’s got it.
Maybe this will be convincing. Here’s a thing that isn’t very spoilery at all, because it happens quite early in the story: There are these creatures. Later we find out that they’re magical constructs, but when we first see them, it’s as a sparkle of movement in a dim cave. They have no visible form, except for lights inside them that glitter when they move. You can tell, from the right angles, that they’re human shaped, but they remain invisible.
They’re good trackers. When they hear or smell or see you, they’ll find you. And when they do, they come at you, quickly and invisibly, until they grab you and envelop you. Their touch starts a very quick chain reaction of destruction. Your human body unzips, and your insides become your outsides, and then the creature consumes you. And when that happens, for a few seconds, they’re no longer invisible. They fill with blood and gore and that’s what you see: a human form without skin.
Just for a few seconds, though. Then they’re invisible again, and on the hunt.
There’s something about these monsters that set the tone of the book, for me. Something about the way they’re so fucking terrifying and deadly and also hauntingly beautiful. When our hero nearly drowns trying to escape them, she sees them in the night on the shore of the ocean, moving back and forth like wandering stars trying to find her, and they’re so damn beautiful.
That’s what ASUNDER is like. It’s a triumph. It’s brutal and bloody and also so fucking lovely, and you should read it.
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