Daughters of the Crosslands by Brian Kerr
Blurb:
An immortal bond. A brother stolen by death. A sister who must risk everything to bring him back.
Senya never wanted to be a hero. But when a spectral woman arrives to deliver a harrowing claim—her twin brother is trapped in the Crosslands between the living and the dead—she has no choice but to fight for him.
Hunted by seductive wraiths and pursued across a wilderness of shadows, Senya must master terrifying new powers awakening inside her. Drawn into her struggle by fate and bloodshed, a scarred hunter with a haunted past seems to be her only real ally.
But saving her brother may be the bait for a far darker game—one that could ultimately destroy Senya along with everyone she loves. To unlock the truth, she must face a ruthless self-made queen of the Crosslands who will stop at nothing to seize Senya’s powerful gifts in order to command the origins of life itself.
Perfect for fans of Robin Hobb, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Katherine Arden, this is an epic fantasy of deadly secrets, haunting magic, and a sister’s fight against the shadows.
Review:
Senya will do anything to bring her twin brother back after he’s lost to a place called the Crosslands—the land between the living and the dead. With no choice but to go after him when his location is exposed by a spectral being, she faces wraiths determined to seduce her, shadows who want to devour her, and all manner of other threats. Faced with these and other perilous dangers, Senya must master a challenging set of newfound powers threatening to unravel inside her. Drawing into her struggle by fate and his own haunted past, a Hunter she barely knows becomes her sole ally.
Together, they discover that Senya’s brother might just be a trap for a far greater threat, one that wants to destroy Senya, her brother, and her powers. In order to survive and discover what’s actually going on—and why her brother is stuck in the Crosslands—she faces a ruthless Queen of the very place she must infiltrate, who wants Senya’s powers for herself.
An immortal bond, a brother stolen by death, and a sister who must risk everything to bring him back are hooks that combine into an explosive fantasy novel by Brian Kerr. I have constantly been on the hunt for epic fantasy that emphasizes the epic. Stories that don’t shy away from extensive worldbuilding and hard magic systems and large casts and broad topics. Brian Kerr absolutely delivers in his novel, creating a narrative that is both propulsive and soul-rending in its intensity.
Fast-paced and brimming with original worldbuilding and engaging characters who will do anything to get what they want, Kerr creates a world that I wanted to live in. (And you know that’s serious, because I only want to live in the most dangerous of fantasy worlds! Haha).
I absolutely loved the main narrator in this novel, too. I’m always wary when a man writes a female main character, as there can be a lot of misogyny accidentally included in their writing of it. That wasn’t a concern with Kerr’s work. Senya (our beloved, badass FMC) was extremely relatable, authentic, and interesting. Her desire to save her brother from the Crosslands is one that readers can understand on a fundamental level, making her a fascinating narrator already. Her desire to fight for her brother combined with her newfound abilities and her need to evade the dangers pursuing her, make her story an easy, enthralling one to follow.
Every twist and turn had me biting my tongue and holding my breath (and there were a lot of twists and turns). I don’t do this often, but I’d probably compare this book to Brandon Sanderson’s THE STORMLIGHT ARCHIVES, Ayrton Silva’s UNFORTUNATE, and many other epic fantasy legends in the genre. Excellent epic fantasy is my addiction, and Daughters of the Crosslands fits perfectly within all of my most favorite epic reads.
Daughters of the Crosslands is easily one of the best-written indie publications I have ever read; I devoured it so fast that I was terribly sad when it ended. With monsters that haunt, threats that creep, and a protagonist that will do anything to achieve her goals, it’s a pulse-pounding story with incredible stakes.
If you haven’t read Brian’s books yet—you should. I promise you it will be worth it, and his stories will leave you yearning for more excellent fantasy narratives. An unfathomably powerful read, one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
