Reign of the Fallen

By: Sarah Glenn Marsh

Narrated by: Alex McKenna

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

"This edgy fantasy doesn't just blur boundaries of genre, of gender, of past and present, life and death - it explodes them." (Cinda Williams Chima, New York Times best-selling author of The Seven Realms and The Shattered Realms)

Without the dead, she'd be no one.

Odessa is one of Karthia's master necromancers, catering to the kingdom's ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it's Odessa's job to raise them by retrieving their soul from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised: the Dead must remain shrouded. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, a grotesque transformation begins, turning the Dead into terrifying, bloodthirsty Shades.

A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears around the kingdom. Soon, a crushing loss of one of her closest companions leaves Odessa shattered and reveals a disturbing conspiracy in Karthia: Someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead - and training them to attack. Odessa is forced to contemplate a terrifying question: What if her magic is the weapon that brings the kingdom to its knees? 

Fighting alongside her fellow mages - and a powerful girl as enthralling as she is infuriating - Odessa must untangle the gruesome plot to destroy Karthia before the Shades take everything she loves.

Perfect for fans of Three Dark Crowns and Red Queen, Reign of the Fallen is a gutsy, unpredictable listen with a surprising and breathtaking LGBT romance at its core.

©2018 Sarah Glenn Marsh (P)2018 Listening Library

Critic Reviews

"This edgy fantasy doesn’t just blur boundaries of genre, of gender, of past and present, life and death - it explodes them." (Cinda Williams Chima, New York Times best-selling author of The Seven Realms and The Shattered Realms)

"A dark, thrilling fantasy set in an innovative and imaginative world with a diverse cast that readers are sure to fall in love with. Sarah Glenn Marsh’s Reign of the Fallen is a page-turning start to what is sure to be a brilliant series.” (Lisa Maxwell, New York Times best-selling author of The Last Magician)

"Marsh delivers an outstanding fantasy with a bisexual necromancer, zombies, and magic.... Hand this captivating novel to fans of Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series." (Booklist)

Mostly depressing

There are 3 things that I expected from this book after reading the summary.

1. Zombies
2. Magic
3. Romance (LGBT is listed)

However, all three of these things took a back seat to overly dramatic depression. So if you are in a good/positive mood please prepare to have it ruined with at least 5 hours of sadness that you don't care about. Ms Marsh just doesn't get the characters to a point where you fall in love with them. If the book had been advertised as "a detailed journey through the downward spiral of depression" then I would have been more prepared for what I was about to listen to.

As far as the LGBT romance it barely existed. There is a gay male couple with minimal scenes (no kissing or love scenes) and there is one kiss between two female characters. That's it. So just having a gay couple as two of your background characters justify labeling it as a LGBT romance?

And just to be clear, there is no romance at all. People "like" each other but there is no sizzle, no sexy, no love you to the moon and back. Nada!

My other issue is with the premise of the book. The necromancer are able to continually bring people back from the dead. Some of the dead that are brought back says they have 4 generations of grandkids. Really? If not enough people ever really die then wouldn't your country become over populated?

One thing it does have are the living dead who turn into Zombies when things aren't done properly. There were a few scenes that gave life to the story but they were few and sometimes still deluded with the main characters want to continue being depressed.

I also didn't find the narrator impressive with this one. I felt like the characters didn't POP.

Basically, I thought the summary was more exciting than the actual book.

Oof I wanted to like this

The premise the author has set up makes it very hard to emphathise with the good guys of this story. It seems like it could have been written as a complex story with characters with interesting motivations on each side but instead has been forced into something much more simplified.

If you're looking for a nice fantasy with wlw representation, I'd probably look elsewhere first.

Spoilers
I'm supposed to accept that the undead dictators who have stagnated this kingdom for decades are actually good and we should be patriotic and loyal towards them. No "good guy" expresses any doubt about this making them very hard to see as actual thinking people who live in this world. The motivations of the bad guys appear to be completely justified, but the way they are characterized and written, the reader is clearly not supposed to see them that way. Unfortunately the characters aren't very likeable either, so I can't push past the messed up premise. The writing and pacing isn't great and there's a whole lot of awkwardly placed scenes of melodrama and unearned emotional beats.

it's an acquired taste

If vocal fry is something you dislike this audiobook is not for you. the individual who reads it does vocal fry as her natural speech partners. Which means the entirety of the story is told in it. if it doesn't bother you then it's fine. Her range of creating distinguishing characters is limited.

The overall story was not bad but it wasn't good either. The story runs slow. The main character would be a better side character. Although if the authors intent was for the reader to be annoyed at the main character then it was accomplished. Character development was minimal. Show me do not tell me how the characters feel. The blue prints of a great story is there but it just wasn't executed properly.

Enjoyable

Once I got over my initial dislike of the narrator I really enjoyed this story. Interesting world, great world building, fairly likable characters, good plot.

A Wonderful, Enrapturing Story

Sarah Glenn Marsh did a remarkable job of molding this new world. Its culture is rich and diverse, dark and brilliant. Her characters truly bring life to every page! I cannot wait to read the next chapter in this marvelous story!

Solid 3 Stara

I wanted to love this so much more because of how much I love the cover, but it wasn't super exciting for me.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator's voice sort of annoyed me, which is a first for me. I don't know if this effected the way I viewed the story.

I did not find the ending exciting, it was predict able. Through all these issues though I finished it and didn't hate it.