Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney (Rebellion Publishing, 2023)

★★★☆☆

Necromancer with an allergy to violence becomes embroiled in political intrigues.

Told with glee and pizzazz, this story gave me a lot of what I love most about Lois McMaster Bujold’s World of the Five Gods or Megan Whalen Turner’s The Thief series, which is to say, sublime encounters with the numinous. The joys depicted here were gorgeous and glorious, and I appreciated the explorations of complex trauma and consent. It’s a long book, but I never found the style inaccessible or boring. (I did, however, have to start a vocabulary list¹ to keep track of all the unfamiliar words/archaisms I learned.)

Unfortunately, I found that the end conflict of “whether or not Lanie will give in to the monstrosity of necromancy” was not well set up—especially given how much effort was put into establishing the (refreshing) premise that necromancy is an act of love and light for her. The book feels tonally confused for how it forces a big fantasy battle at the end, when it seems much more interested in the delights and joys, not to mention found family arrangements, of its queernormative world. (That said, the entire story-within-a-story of the fall of the Guilded Council is possibly the sickest exposition dump I’ve ever read.) I also was disappointed by how Lanie’s unique allergy conveniently became a nonissue so she could Choose Violence.

Side characters have plot-serving changes of heart; the Blackbird Bride, despite being an interesting character and formidable antagonist, has only tenuous motivations for hunting Datu; Lanie’s relationship with Goody was one of the most compelling parts of the book, but the resolution to that mystery felt underwhelming.

Even though I found the highs brilliantly high, the lows land this one at three stars.

“The Queen of Reaping Welcomes All to Feast. Open arms, open palms, fingers spread, eyes open, mouth smiling, legs wide. Body declaring welcome to everything under the sky. Body as inexhaustible hospitality. Merriment and play as long as a summer day. Flourishing fields. Orchards laden with fruit. Wells of pristine water. Granaries full. Wine cellars overflowing. Gardens bursting their boundaries. The table laid. Home, bright and gleaming. Welcome for all.”

Aspergillum; basilic, cephalic, and median cubital veins; biretta; brumate; cephalophoric; certes; chawing; compeers; divagation; doughty; druzy (agate); durance; epicene; fanfaronade; galea; gloriole; hamartia; helpmeet; hornswoggle; illimitable; larimar; lief; linnet; merlons; metheglins; micronizing; occision; orgulous; pilum; pteruges; rudesby; sennight; septicemic; stomacher; syllabub; threnody; vamplate; welkin; yclept. ↩