I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
"Sanctuary"
by
Ilona Andrews
fantasy, magical realism in a Kindle edition that was published by Nancy Yost Literary Agency (NYLA) on July 30, 2024 and has 152 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Must Love Hellhounds, Dark and Stormy Knights, Angels of Darkness, Hexed, Fate's Edge, Hex Appeal, An Apple for the Creature, "Magic Gifts", Gunmetal Magic, Innkeeper Chronicles, Steel's Edge, Magic Bites, Magic Burns, Magic Strikes, Magic Bleeds, Magic Slays, Magic Rises, Magic Bleeds, Burn For Me, Night Shift, Magic Shifts, Magic Binds, White Hot, Wildfire, Iron and Magic, Magic Triumphs, "Gerard Demille and Helen Meet", "Diamond Fire", "Sweep with Me", Clean Sweep, Sweep in Peace, "A Mere Formality", Blood Heir, "The King of Fire", Sapphire Flames, "A Misunderstanding", Emerald Blaze, "The Cool Aunt", One Fell Sweep, Sweep of the Blade, "Silent Blade", Fated Blades, On the Edge, Bayou Moon, "George and Jack in School", Sweep of the Heart , Magic Tides, Small Magics, "The Wilson Building", "Conlan’s Birthday Text", "Dabwaha", "Don't Fight with Fate", “A Bit More of Roman”, “Getting Distracted”, "Sgt Munoz Had to Go", Ruby Fever, "Regina", Magic Tides, "The King of Fire", Magic Claims, "Sandra", "No Heroes", "Purpose", "A Mere Formality", "I Will Explain Everything", "Kind Regards"
First in the Roman’s Chronicles arcane punk fantasy series (15.5 in the Kate Daniels Universe) and revolving around Roman Tihomirov, Chernobog’s volhv.
My Take
I do love Roman. He’s so casual and easy, even if he does serve an “evil” god. I suspect it’s that snarky attitude of his, lol. Of course, Roman does know he’s the last resort for any “worshipper”, after all, he does serve Chernobog. His neighbor shares his sense of humor. I think I re-read that bit five times.
Andrews uses a third person protagonist point-of-view from Roman’s perspective, and for such an “evil” priest, Roman tries so hard to be kind.
Part of his grousing is the lack of the company he’d hoped for and the easier life he’d have had a few decades earlier. He also reflects on Santa Claus and that he’d never be manifested in these days. Belief can sometimes be too much.
We all have that reaction to death, thinking it’s evil, but as Roman points out, it’s all about balance. Like crops that grow, thrive, flourish, then die, so do humans to make room for others.
Oh, man, oh man, those nechists that adore Roman are too funny. They’re definitely sentient, protective, and mischievous — that scene where they’re decorating the tree — and what they’re using as decorations!
Roman’s house is a crack-up, and do be careful not to step into his front yard — ACK!!!
Roman is so casual about the troop attacking him with Andrews dropping those hints about how Roman feels about killing. For a Black Volhv, it’s just not what you’d expect. It is a crack-up to hear Roman sum up the mercenaries, how soft they are. Roman is no fool.
”Attacking a peaceful man in his house and child trafficking . . .
Keep in mind that Roman is a part of Kate Daniels’ world with its vast range of pantheons that so many groups worship, including the Vikings and Valhalla. It is a world that requires you to protect yourself, so warriors are rampant. Gods are real, depending on how many worshippers they have, and priests are the intermediaries between them and the rest of humanity. And, as Roman says, it’s a shit job. Roman does note how humanity has re-interpreted the rites that various religions practice. That they’re not all evil.
Ooh, when Roman lays out why someone is a good candidate to be a priest, it makes sense. Too bad politicians aren’t like that. Oh, I suppose they start out that way . . . Then the family drama, Roman’s back history, is related. Ain’t it always the way? I do feel bad for the kid and what a sweet way to try and apologize.
LOL, then Roman’s mother comes “calling”. Such a mother, as she lays into him for neglecting his family, not showing up for the feast she has prepared, nag, nag, nag . . . I couldn’t help laughing even more as Roman recites his mantra to survive the scolding.
This novella has tension, drama, and plenty of laughter — I do adore how Andrews uses those nechists to round out Roman’s character, lol. Certainly not what you’d expect of an “evil” priest, *more laughter*. Dang, I’m already wanting to re-read this!
The Story
It’s not fair, dammit, Chernobog promised him three days. Three days that Roman won’t be bothered. Instead, here he is, dragging a tree behind him in the snow. All because of Chernobog.
Neither Finn nor Roman want to write that big check, but they will if they’re forced.
The Characters
Roman Tihomirov is a Black Volhv, a priest who serves Chernobog the God of Destruction, Darkness, and Death, the Lord of Nav, as part of a Slavic pantheon of gods. Klyuv is his beaky staff. In his early years, Roman had been a soldier. Ashley had been the lawyer with long legs and a fondness for light spanking. Evdokia Ivanovna Tihomirov is the Head Witch of the Witch Oracle and Roman’s mother. Grigorii Semionovich Tihomirov is Roman’s father and a Black Volhv (in name only!). His older brother was perfect. Lena is one of his sisters. His uncle is the White Volhv who serves Beloblog, Chernobog’s brother.
His regular companions are nechist (unclean things) who love him: anchutkal the melalo, a two-headed bird with one head dead and drooping, a Romani disease demon; kolovershi (birds) that includes Fedya, the smallest; Kor is a korgorusha (a smoke-trailing black cat); and, Roro — nobody knows what she is. The aukais a forest spirit who can’t keep away. Vasya, an underground monster with pincers, helps out. In the front yard.
His neighbors include the Polish Piotr “Petya” Dabrowski, a Druid, who communicates with Roman through his birds, which include Popper’s son, a brown-headed nuthatch, and Ludwig Schatten who just “adores” visitors — he likes to greet them with IEDs.
Finn is a runaway, searching for his sister, a Vasylisa, a heroine, who made a deal with the gods. Athena is Finn’s German shepherd puppy. Andora was a student at the Veshnevski Academy and was three years behind Roman. Dabrowski, Kovalyev, Lisa, and the charm-clustered Daciana were more students.
Luther Bishop is a formally educated and powerful mage in charge of Biohazard in Atlanta.
Shadow Strike Solutions is . . .
. . . a soft mercenary group with hopes of Valhalla. Wayne Greene is the leader who tries for PR, *snicker*. The first group includes Pike. Fulton, a level III pyro, is the mage in charge of a squad.
Farhang is a Zoroastrian magus, a warrior-mage, who did wrong.
The Honeycomb had . . .
. . . once been a trailer park. There are still trailers there, but they’ve morphed out and it’s now a dangerous place to live. The trackers are from there. Trigger and King are iron hounds with Roscoe and another are their handlers.
Koliada, the Winter Festival, is a Winter Rite celebrated at the end of December. Mahrous Bootmakers are the best and their price reflects that. A nithing pole is a curse conduit. The Ice Terem is Chernobog and Morena’s palace. The Glades of Remembrance are a trial you must endure to get to the palace. A place to play out your sins until you get it and let it go. Mohira and another are those who were failed.
Morena is Chernobog’s wife, the goddess of winter with issues of abandonment. Evil. Buran is her huge wolf. Troyan the Healer is considered evil because, no matter how hard you pray, he doesn’t always heal. Ullr is another god. There are two kinds of Vasylisa: the Prekrasnaya and the Premudraya. Svarog is the Sky Father and Morena’s father. Perun, the God of Thunder, is Morena’s brother. Skiper-Zmei, the Void Dragon, was a kidnapper. Mithra is the deity of covenants, contracts, and justice.
The Tri-world is Yav, the human realm; Nav, the death realm; and, Prav, the light realm. After Nav, there’s Chaos. Odin is a Norse god. The Ahuric Triad is composed of the deities Ahura Mazda, the Mithra, and Apam Napat Anchutka.
The Cover and Title
The background of the cover has an offset gradient sky background that goes inward from a deep, almost black teal to a pale teal that represents the moon with stars clustered in the upper right corner. Standing on a snowy, sloping ground with tall pines on the right, is Roman with his back to us wearing his brown hooded cape with Klyuv in his right hand. The all-white text is centered with an info blurb at the top and the author’s name below that. Below Roman is the title with the series info below that with a peace symbol between the words.
The title is what’s requested of Roman, “Sanctuary”.
