This allows readers to know what’s going on in multiple locations and feel not just engaged but enmeshed in the story’s drama. While Tranavia has gotten the upper hand, it appears the nation has never quite been able to close out the conflict.ĭuncan structures her novel to flip back-and-forth between the points of view of two main characters giving us a dual perspective. The fantasy nations Tranavia and Kalyazin feel like stand-ins for Russia and Poland or, perhaps more accurately, the hostilities between Russian and Ukraine. The folklore the author draws from, the character and place names, and the terminology casually bandied about between characters is of a distinctly different flavor than what many are used to. Unlike many fantasy worlds, Duncan has crafted something far more Eastern European or, rather, something I prefer to term Cyrillic. As with nearly all fantasy, war is the background for the novel, a century long conflict between the nations of Kalyazin and Tranavia. No of us will miss them because the story is compelling, the worldbuilding strong, the magic system at once familiar yet innovative, and the characters exceptional. Some fantasy readers will absolutely dismiss it, and it’s their loss. This is a novel I can read while listening to Dead Can Dance, and it feels right.Īll of this is to say Wicked Saints is stylized.

Grimdark is the Emo of the fantasy genre and as an aged ex-Goth, I’m so in love with what Duncan is doing. Goth means emotional conflict, brooding certainly but sarcasm, and more than a modicum of self-awareness. Instead, grimdark became so earnest it’s realism turned into melodramatic brutalism. Fantasy fiction embraced grimdark but never really understood the fun and seriousness of being Goth.

Releasing in early April, Emily Duncan’s Slavic-flavored fantasy novel Wicked Saints promises to be the first in an engaging and dark series.

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan