P.J. NwosuRezensionen

This book was really hard for me to get into. It is very well written but just wasnt my cup of tea.

When a child is found dead in a man's coffin, Honnan Skyin wants to investigate. The Viceroy tells him to leave it alone, because there is an epidemic on the island to worry about. Honnan can't get it out of his mind. So he snoops around a little anyway.
This is a disturbing tale of unwanted children and murder.
It was a quick read. A little repetitive. Too much focus on chewing baccy. But overall a decent story. Although there wasn't total justice for the babe in the end.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review Dream of Death City by PJ Nwosu! For those who don't want to stick around for the full review, just know that this is a fantastic book that everyone should read, and I'm leaving giving it four stars!

Dream of Death City is a dark fantasy/mystery read that will be published on the 18th of November. It is the 1st book in the Red Kingdom series. It's 523 pages long and was published by Small Heart Press. My ARC was courtesy of Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op.

The Red Kingdom has people divided into certain classes. Thora (a Dust-Caste slave) is owned by the Investigation House, a part of the government. She is tasked to assist with some investigative work with Diem. As they get to Death City, a place where the Red Kingdom holds a less power, Thora can taste freedom, even if she cannot have it.

I had no expectations going into this book, and then I ended stayed up until 4 am reading it. The book is fantastic! You'll start, and then you'll lose yourself in the world PJ Nwosu built up. Truly fantastic world-building! I could picture the giants and the places, but there was never too much of it. It always felt like it belonged to the text and not like the author was forcing it down.

I was a big fan of Thora. She makes hard decisions, takes action, and puts herself on the line for her beliefs. She has a goal, a position no other Dust Caste could ever hope for, and she works hard for it. That being said, despite her being clever, she makes mistakes. She miscalculates, speaks out of turn, and she loses a great deal while trying to get the job done. Sometimes the price is too high.

I was also a big fan of the other characters. Diem, the viceroy, and all the people around them were easy to picture and could be understood. The layers of corruption in the Kingdom were also interesting. I'm sure we'll see a clash coming in the following books.

All in all, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in dark fantasy!½

A dark and grim novella about a fantasy world that is built on the bones of dead gods. In the middle of a horrific plague, a soldier finds a murdered baby boy stuffed into the coffin of a plague victim, and begins a quest to find the killer. The language took a little getting used to but I quickly fell into the story, and the weird cadences of the sentences fit the earthy tone of the book. The story was twisty and brutal, and ultimately satisfying even if it was not a happy one.

5 out of 5 stars.

"Death had crept nearby but missed them in the waves."

Special thanks to Victory Editing, NetGalley and, of course, the author, PJ Nwosu, for allowing me the opportunity to read this book pre-release, in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who was always considered an avid reader as a child (and an overachiever in the department to boot), I feel that my adult life has been spent constantly chasing that feeling I was so used to back then. When a book could capture my imagination from the very first line; when nothing and no-one could pull me away from a story, no matter the time of day or the appointments already arranged. It's not often that I find such a tale now. This is one of those.

I devoured this book in one sitting, something I don't believe I've done for a few years, and even after finishing it, I am not satiated. I'm hungry and impatient for the next book in the Red Kingdom series, which I already know will become a favourite of mine.

If you're looking for an easy, simple read, this is not the story for you. If you're looking for a dark fantasy world filled with morally grey characters, monsters that also come in the form of humans, and a world built from the ground up with the undeniable talent of the author - you're going to want to pre-order this one immediately. (Not to mention, a touch of romance).

The plot itself contains elements that have been seen before, but somehow brings them together in a cohesive and entirely original manner. Think Six of Crows meets The Handmaid's Tale meets 1984 meets The Alienist. The author does an incredible job of worldbuilding - which is an imperatively important skill to have when it comes to fantasy, in my opinion - and the reader is able to visualise it all, and be swept away in it. Further, the added addition of illustrations and a map (!!!) are a beautiful bonus.

Nwosu is able to describe things and people in a way that is poetic but realistic. You fear what the characters fear, and you understand what they feel; what they see. A truly fantastic debut into dark fantasy that makes me excited for Nwosu's future, and for us, as readers, knowing that there will be at least one more tale of the Red Kingdom to explore.

Read. This. Book. That's all.

"If he loved her less, it wouldn't have mattered quite so much."

"What's dead is dead, and all shall die."
I don't normally like books this dark, but this was an exception. The main character is just a normal guy, which makes it all the better. I didn't expect the ending at all. I hope to read more about this "world" and characters. Great read by an amazing storyteller!

A Pale Box on the Distant Shore is a novela in the Red Kingdom series. I found that it is definitely helpful to have read other novels in the Red Kingdom series because it will help understand some of the world building.

A Pale Box on the Distant Shore by
P.J. Nwosu is a red kigdom novella.
Honnan is a simple soldier that discovered a disturbing addition to one of the 'pale boxes' he is assigned to burn. An infant with a crushed skull, two lovingly adorned bodies, and a plague ridden body that has been left compromised. This short story is the discovery of what happened to the mysterious infant and finding the person responsible for his own curiosity and to stop the ravaging black lung from entering Death City due to the disturbing of one corpse.
Nwoso creates an enchanting fantasy world but the book's stance as a novella left me wanting for more descriptions and with more questions about the state of this world and how it runs. I was unable to form a genuine connection with any of the charecters but that did not stop the book from being a delightfully creepy read.
I now want to try the main books in the Red Kingdom series and i reccomend you do the same to get a feel for the world and (hopefully) language that made this book a slow start for me, but if you enjoy the macabe or a good Gothic read I highley recommend this.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book as an Early Reviewer. No compensation was received other than the chance to read this work.

Quote from the book: "What's dead is dead and all shall die ... and live again."

This novella is set in the Red Kingdom universe, where slaves, dust, epidemics and suffering are common. For those that are unfamiliar with the Red Kingdom series, this novella is a way to ease into the overall story and feel of the series, but could be confusing for some readers as there's not much world-building aside from what's needed for the story. The tone is a fantasy/mystery story when a soldier finds a dead baby in the same box as a man who died from an epidemic sweeping the land. The baby clearly did not die from the epidemic, but rather from physical damage. The soldier makes it his business to find out what happened and how things ended up as they are.

Recommended for those who enjoy dark fantasy, those who enjoy shorter fantasy reads, and those who aren't bothered by some parallels to real-world events in their stories.

While I enjoyed the world building and ideas/themes in this book, I had a very difficult time following along and truly immersing myself in the story. I found that I got lost in many of the details without growing a relationship with any of the characters.

I overall enjoyed this book, with a few caveats. First, there's an epidemic that forms an important plot point. I'm not sure I was quite ready to read about that in a fantasy setting, especially a setting where the characters all wear masks. Second, the world building is rather clunky. There's a lot of ideas and terminology just thrown out without explanation, and much of it doesn't actually matter to the story, so I never felt I had a grasp on the scope of the world. That said, as the book went on and the main mystery became more of a driving force, I found myself pulled into the book more and more. I would definitely be interested in reading more about this world.