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"Kind Regards"
by
Ilona Andrews
fantasy, magical realism in a Kindle edition that was published by New American Library (NAL) on July 30, 2024 and has 9 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", "Sanctuary"
A very short story, 1.5 in the Roman’s Chronicles arcane punk fantasy series (15.75 in the Kate Daniels Universe) usually revolving around Roman, Chernobog’s volhv. The focus here is on Finn from “Sanctuary”.
You can find the short story at the end of “Sanctuary“, 1.
My Take
It’s an odd sort of “kind regards” that uses third person protagonist point-of-view from Ignat’s perspective. And I suspect we might have learned what Finn is good for.
Poor Ignat. His life is falling apart and he really does need a shaking up.
The Story
Ignat is having a very bad day: the temple treasurer has been embezzling, his sister-in-law wants a divorce, and his son wants to become a werewolf. Oy.
It takes a great wailing to break down his worries.
The Characters
Finn is the young Volhv for Morena, the Slavic goddess of Winter. The huge wolf is Buran.
Ignat Trofimovich Kazarin is Volhv to Svarog, the Sky Father and Morena’s father. Alexander is Ignat’s disloyal son. Phillip is Ignat’s apprentice volhv.
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.
I suspect the title is hoping that these “Kind Regards” will help.