This is the story of Old Gods, blood magic, sacrifice, murder, revenge, and of course love.

Set in a fictional representation of a world with similarities to the Mesoamerican cultures of Central and North America, we follow a cast of characters through a powerful story of revenge.

A well-written slow burn of a read, each chapter revealing more of the world and characters to build a magnificently layered low-fantasy world with believable are relatable characters.

We follow Serapio and his quest to avenge the Night of the Knives and become the Crow God. Along the way we meet some brilliant supporting characters such as Xiala a Teek who has her own hidden past and is something other than human, and Narapanpa the Sun Priest from Tova’s slum district The Maw. There are others and I’m looking forward to these being fleshed out further in the coming books.

The weaving of these stories build tension really well up to the climax, with some wonderful revelatory scenes where we see the magics of the world out in full daylight (or shadow as the case may be). I will just say keep an eye out for the crows and the canoe, a belter of a scene which starts hinting at the power and possibility of more in one of the main characters.

A really good book, with so many ways for the rest of the series to go.

I’ve now got so long to wait for a follow up and I really want to know what happens to everyone.