Bringer of dust

In the sequel to 2022's Ordinary Monsters, our group of protagonists is struggling to find a safe place after barely surviving Dr. Berghast's sinister machinations that left countless dead at the claws of the shadowy monster drughr, and that left young, beloved Marlowe stranded in the world of the dead. And new threats to the Talents are rising. In the land of the living, a bone witch named Jeta has been sent to retrieve the drughr's leftover dust, which has tremendous power for anyone willing to be corrupted by it. In the land of the dead, an ancient threat is threatening to get free of its prison. If the portents are to be believed, Charlie Ovid is the key to the Talents' survival--or doom. Miro has a gift for big twists grounded in sympathetic characters. While the text has a tendency to drag in some middle sections, readers of epic and dark fantasy will enjoy the bloody, visceral magic and suspenseful twists here.

Gorier and perhaps even bleaker than Ordinary Monsters, Miro's daunting second dark historical fantasy in the Talents trilogy complicates the already-intricate mythology established in the first volume. While Marlowe remains trapped in the land of the dead, his friends spread out across Europe trying to learn how to bring him back. Both portals to the other side have been sealed, and unsealing them raises the possibility of letting through something even worse than the otherworldly monster aiding the previous tale's villain. The line between good and evil thins as the Talents wrestle with whether saving their friend is worth risking the fate of the world. : What is an acceptable sacrifice in the name of doing the right thing, particularly when no one agrees on what the right thing to do is? This is a grim universe in which no one is safe. But Miro handles pacing and the details of his intricate worldbuilding with admirable dexterity, and the charming characters grow in richness and depth the more time readers spend with them. Fans of the first book will not be disappointed. Agent: Ellen Levine, Trident Media Group. (Sept.)