4 out of 5 stars
Nathan is eking out an existence in the slums of a city that is battered by the sea. He lives with his parents and the meagre earnings go to helping buy medicine for his father. He has a knack for extracting the strange and unusual creatures from the Living Mud, some he does by using the Itch within him to draw them closer.
The family is desperate though and his mother reached the point where she has to sell him to the mysterious Master of Mordew. This man draws his power from the corpse of God that is hidden in his catacombs. But the inner strength that Nathan has is mightier than the Master’s and he is one of the few who could destroy him. The Master sees him as a threat and takes steps to betray Nathan and get the upper hand.
Darkness is all around Nathan as he begins to discover how to use his power.
I really liked it, even though the story takes you to places that you would never want to venture alone. The world that Pheby has created is quite something, it feels cohesive, magical and oh so dark, I am not going to say much more about the plot as if you like dark and immersive fantasy books then you need to read this. I was most impressed by the glossary at the back of the book, he has put so much into the back story of the place and the people of Mordew. There are two more books to come too!
A ‘towards the top of the pile’ one for me! Great review, I need to prioritise it, for sure 👍🏻
I hope that you like it too, Lisa. Looking forward to the next one
I bought this when it first came out – I keep forgetting it’s on my shelves. Glad you enjoyed it.
I picked up a copy when they had a sale. Looking forward to the next one in the series now, but I think it comes out in August.