44 of 45 copies available
Step into a city where monsters feast on human emotions, knights split their souls to make their weapons, and witches always take more than they give.
Pain is Dymitr's calling. To slay the monsters he's been raised to kill, he had to split his soul in half to make a sword from his own spine. Every time he draws it, he gets blood on his hands.
Pain is Ala's inheritance. When her mother died, a family curse to witness horrors committed by the Holy Order was passed onto her. The curse will claim her life, as it did her mother's, unless she can find a cure.
One fateful night in Chicago, Dymitr comes to Ala with a bargain: her help in finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga in exchange for an enchanted flower that just might cure her. Desperate, and unaware of what Dymitr really is, Ala agrees.
But they only have one day before the flower dies, and Ala's hopes of breaking the curse along with it.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Awards
-
Release date
August 1, 2024 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781004171248
- File size: 132938 KB
- Duration: 04:36:57
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
March 4, 2024
Bestseller Roth (Arch-Conspirator) pulls from Slavic lore in this captivating, bite-sized urban fantasy. Hidden amid the streets of Chicago are creatures that feed off negative emotions like fear and anger. Dymitr has lived a life of pain as a member of the fanatical Holy Order, an organization dedicated to killing these so-called “monsters,” a crusade the Order members pay for in blood and pieces of their own souls. Now he’s on a mission to find the witch Baba Jaga, seeking her favor to free himself from this life. Dymitr crosses paths with Ala, a young woman from a cursed bloodline, who agrees to help him find Baba Jaga in exchange for the fern flower, a rare magical plant in Dymitr’s possession that may be the only hope to break Ala’s curse. But the flower only blooms for 36 hours, putting the pair in a race against time to locate the witch. Roth creates a fascinating magical world full of colorful mythical creatures, and by alternating between intense action scenes and more intimate moments of character development, she keeps the pages flying, though after so much anticipation the quiet ending feels a bit anticlimactic. Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had. -
Helen Laser, James Fouhey, and Tim Campbell narrate a dark fantasy novella about a trio seeking an audience with the legendary witch Baba Jaga. Dymitr offers to cure Ala--a zmora suffering from a fatal curse--in exchange for help entreating Baba Jaja, who famously doesn't take kindly to humans. Laser, Fouhey, and Campbell breathe life into the three who are hoping to talk to Baba Jaga: Dymtir, Ala, and Niko. The novella is short, but the narrators bring each character to life with surprising depth. The world-building, based on Polish folklore, in modern Chicago is epic. This explosively addictive fairy tale examining cultural heritage makes for an engaging listening experience. J.M.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
-