I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.
Two supernatural beings skilled at hunting down and stalking human prey for a god find themselves banding together to take the god’s throne for themselves in author Emilie Knight’s novel “Dagger and Scythe”.
The Synopsis
Dagger and Scythe spent good decade’s together, stalking human prey at night, and taking out the targets the god Maniodes deems worthy. With one hundred years under her belt, Scythe is comfortable in her ways, and takes incredible enjoyment of her skills. Dagger may be new to the undead order, but he’s relishing in the work. The two of them together set beautiful bonfires, with the occasional corpse inside that fire.
When they enjoy each other’s time a little too much, and an entire village burns down because of it, Maniodes becomes sick of their rogue behavior. Regular punishments haven’t worked on either of them, so he tries something new: marrying them to each other. To keep each other in line or they’ll both end up properly dead.
Both have grown tired of the god’s odd punishments and lazy control, taking over his throne and the land of the dead should fix things.
Her scythe is perfectly curved for slicing.
His dagger, made of folded steel, is ready to strike.
But are they strong enough to take on gods?
The Review
A truly one of a kind, original and gritty dark fantasy novel. That’s the best way I can describe this novel, which took me as a reader on a roller coaster of emotions and thrills as the story followed two monstrous killers and made them into protagonists. The author did a marvelous job of playing with the reader’s feelings towards the characters. A balancing act between being disgusted by the character’s bloodlust and compassion for the circumstances that brought them there, the book takes a deep dive into exploring the minds and souls of Dagger and Scythe.
What was most interesting was seeing Dagger grasping onto the remains of his humanity, while Scythe fought the memories of her human life that clashed with her growing feelings for Dagger and her growing bloodlust. Combined with the amazing world building that went into the creation of this fantasy driven narrative, and readers are given a rare treat of a story that begins as a mission to take the power of a god and turns into a fight for the souls they once had.
The Verdict
One of the top Dark Fantasy novels of 2019, this is a book fans will not want to miss. Releasing on October 1st, 2019, this book is filled with action, dark fantasy characters with a tie into Ancient Greek mythology and a pair of protagonists that keep the readers in a balancing act of empathy and fear, challenging the reader to determine for themselves who the true monster of this story really is. With a splash of dark fantasy romance tying these protagonists together, this is a must read fantasy novel like no other, so be sure to pick up your copy of Dagger and Scythe, the second in the Ichorian Epics Series by Emilie Knight, today!
About the Author
Emilie Knight is a writer, and author of her debut Era of Undying. After years of reading fantasy and horror she combines them together into her own dark fantasy writing. Using her BA in Classical Civilizations and fascination in Ancient Greek mythology she blends it well into her fiction. Other then reading in her spare time she plays video games quite often.
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