In the Shadow of their Dying by Michael R. Fletcher & Anna Smith Spark
Blurb:
The third best assassin. A second rate mercenary crew. One terrifying demon.
As Sharaam crumbles under siege, a mercenary crew hires an assassin to kill the king. For Tash, it’s a chance at glory—to be the best blade in the dark Sharaam has ever known. For Pitt, it’s a way to get his cutthroat crew past the Tsarii siege and out of this hellhole, maybe even with some gold to their name. For Iananr the Bound One, it's a dream of shadows and human blood.
Review:
"In the shadow of their dying. We live the light of our lives."
In the Shadow of their Dying was a diabolical fever dream of violence: a spiraling descent into depravity and madness. And I couldn’t get enough of it! This short novella packed a gritty, grimy punch that sent me reeling and begging for more. I don’t know if I’ve ever spent 150 pages in a world as bleak as Sharaam. But despite the darkness and disgust that spewed across the pages, I was completely engrossed and mesmerized by Tash’s and Iananr’s narrative.
The story, in some senses, is a simple one. The third best assassin in Sharaam—Tash—has been hired by the Tsarii army to murder the king of Sharaam in order to break the siege and allow the Tsarii army to overrun the people of Sharaam. When he attempts the murder, he is quickly halted by a plain but fearsome woman who turns out to be a demon, sent to protect the king. Iananr the Bound One. The story is fascinating. But where In the Shadow of their Dying truly excels is in its storytelling. Fletcher and Smith Spark trade POVs, with Fletcher narrating Tash’s POV and Smith Spark the voice of Iananr. Where Fletcher is gritty and punchy and witty, Smith Spark is maniacal and lyrical and depraved. Fletcher’s writing style was a perfect fit for this pompous, ridiculous assassin who is consumed with the idea of becoming the best assassin in a city that is on the verge of complete annihilation. On the other hand, Smith Spark’s lyrical, stream-of-conscious writing rends the unholy veil of Iananr the Bound One’s insane mind as we spiral with her into a crazed state of obsession and pained slavery. This was my first time reading either of these authors, but the juxtaposition of their two writing styles meshed in the most hellish of ways to create an unforgettable story.
I would be remise if I didn’t take a few more lines to applaud Anna Smith Spark for her portion of this story. This stream-of-conscious narrative voice isn’t one that is commonly found in fantasy and science fiction. But as I was reading Iananr’s chapters, the passion and crazed focus on her task to obsessed levels of fixation was rendered so raw and larger-than-life because of this feverish style of writing. It felt like reading a crazed, demon-possessed version of Faulkner, Joyce, or Woolf in the very best of ways. While the pages were filled with vile putrescence, this voice was a breath of literary fresh air that made me excited to read the rest of Smith Spark’s bibliography.
Again, as much as I just praised Smith Spark for her prose, this novella would be sadly lacking without Fletcher’s snappy, violent one-two jab that provided the majority of the forward narrative momentum throughout the story. Again, this is a narrative of yin and yang, beauty and the beast (you can decide which is which). I have never read a story that profited so well from the different narrative voices as this one did.
In the Shadow of their Dying is a short, gritty novella that merges horror with a darker version of grimdark than I have ever experienced. It was both revolting and refreshing. Tash and Iananr have a permanent place of residence in the deep recesses of my mind where my most evil, depraved thoughts coil up and bide their time.
