“The books were self-satisfied. They had no need for human eyes to read them. They were quite happy to remain here forever, shelved and shrouded with their own secret.”
Kehlem the Butcher. Hero. Villain. A pale ghost that haunts the empire, or righteous revenant of Casere. Titles thrust upon him that he had no desire to bear, charged by the Aspect itself to end the Vin Empire. And yet his true and only desire is to get to Mercy before the empire does, to salvage his only chance at redemption.
But change is coming. He can feel it in the crushing weight of his waking nightmares. See it in the uprisings in the empire. Hear it in the hushed rumours of Seer assassinations.
The Aspect demands retribution. Balance. Where there was Order, may there be Chaos. Long Live Chaos.
•Long Live Chaos•
Started reading this book immediately after finishing the first book because I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. (!!semi-spoiler warning!!) We once again join Kehlem, but are also gifted with a Pov from Broch as well in this book. Both characters, while not on good terms, are on a similar quest for vengeance against the vin empire who caged and tortured them and took someone who was dear to them. Kehlem starts to realize that the aspect he can manipulate so easily has a sinister side to it, while Broch starts to surrender himself to it fully. I absolutely loved the journey that these two characters go on, suffering and fighting their demons in different ways. I don’t know if it’s just my love for cosmic horror, but the madness and chaos of the aspect and the deformed creepy creatures that come from it are giving me major Cthulhu mythos vibes and I am so here for it. Not sure it that was on purpose, but I love the feel of it.
Also, little side note there was a quote from this book that I absolutely loved and will used whenever someone asks me why I collect so many books when most of them I’m probably never going to re-read.
“The books were self-satisfied. They had no need for human eyes to read them. They were quite happy to remain here forever, shelved and shrouded with their own secret.”
Gold star Mark Holloway.
I didn’t think this series could get better, but boy was I wrong. The story started in The Soul’s Aspect just continues to get better in The Soul’s Instruments, and I can’t wait for the next installment in this series.
The Shadow Library 