Fletcher’s Black Stone Heart is a dark, dark journey. A physical one for sure as Khraen awakens from his soil tomb in the far north. He emerges from the ground with barely a recognition of his own instinct; he knows he needs sustenance in the form of meat. Nourishment to feed his cravings. And with each day he becomes more attune with his goal of finding more pieces of his heart, slivers that lie in other almost identical Khraens in his path. The heart is added to and the direction becomes clearer until he knows/ feels the right moves. To look at the world now: a place dominated by the power of wizards… he knows that his story has been forgotten or most likely written over. History written by the victors. But Khraen picks up allies along the way who will help his journey… ever south.
Yet, as I mentioned before, his physical journey south is one thing, but his mental journey to the dark places he has gone before is another thing entirely. Khraen quickly finds out he is different; his black skin marks him as totally foreign amongst the pale pigments of the north. This brings more questions and prejudice he has to fight. In addition, he has to contend with his current ideas of what is right against his discovery of who he used to be. And what he may have to do to reach his goals. I won’t go too far into the book, but I will say that there is an abundance of fun involving necromancy, wizardry, and demonology. And the math involving the sacrificing of souls for magic… tough to balance those equations at times!
I liked this book for its balance. It’s not a run and gun/ stab, but a journey into a man’s past. It has the revenge down pat and a little love/ lust. And I know I keep saying this in my reviews since this pandemic started, but it is the escape I needed. This is my first foray into Fletcher’s work and when this one popped up on my Twitter feed, I checked out the blurb, clicked through, and bought it up. I’m so happy I did! I’m eagerly awaiting the second book to see if or how Khraen will return to his former glory.
Pick this book up to find a unique protagonist, an immersive setting, and a journey into the soul of demonology!
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