SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Saint Death's Daughter by C. S. E. Cooney https://t.co/3lPoxSKQ7K
— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 1, 2022
Short Review: 8.5 out of 10
1/3
Short Review (cont): A very fun story of Lanie Stones, young necromancer from the Magical Stones family that have guarded their country for generations, as she deals with debt collectors, necromancy, children, mages, & growing up. Doesn't always work, but still really fun.
— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) April 1, 2022
2/3
Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on April 12, 2022 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.
Saint Death's Daughter is a new Fantasy novel by author C.S.E. Cooney, and apparently the first in a new trilogy (although this works entirely fine as a stand alone). It's also sort of a coming of age story, featuring powerful necromancer Miscellaneous "Lanie" Stones, a girl born into a family of legendary necromances, assassins and executioners for their small nation, who is entirely too kind and caring - and whose body seizes up sympathetically at the sight of pain - for her work. The story is written in a semi-serious fashion, with multiple moments of comedy and humor, both in how the world works and the names of the people within it as well as in the footnotes that occasionally show up in the story and make notations about people and events referenced in the story in ways that are full of dark humor.
And while the comedic angle of the story never really quite worked for me - it felt very much like the book couldn't decide whether it wanted to be a comedy or a more serious story at times - I still really really enjoyed Saint Death's Daughter, particularly thanks to its lead character Lanie and the characters all around her. Between the non-binary priest Lanie falls in love with, Lanie's growing niece who is excitable and violent, the zombie housekeeper Goody, the greedy debt-buyers who plague Lanie's family and country and even the evil enemy nation and her powerful wizards, there's just a lot to like here in this imaginative, fun, and often surprising world. In short I really enjoyed this book, and will be back for the sequels to see more of what happens to Lanie and her friends next.
-------------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------------------------
The Stones family is legendary in the small country of Liriat, as its members have historical ties to the country's royal family since its inception, using their powerful magic to serve as Liriat's chief assassins and executioners. Every so often, a Stones is born with the gift of Necromancy, which they use to devastating ends for the sake of the country, and themselves.
Miscellaneous "Lanie" Stones is the latest of these necromancers, but she hardly has the temperament of her ancestors, to her ghost-grandfather's dismay. Her body bleeds and feels wounds whenever she sees them, which hardly makes her ideal for her family's jobline, and she's kind and caring, even if she is seemingly blessed by the Goddess of Death. But when her parents die and debt collecting nobles attempt to take everything she cares about from her family, she's forced to call her sister Nita back home to save things.
Except Nita is violent, impulsive, and dangerous, and her plans to save the family wealth upset the balance of power in the world, and force Lanie into desperation as she attempts to survive and to take care of those she cares for. And as Lanie grows up, she'll realize she need to use her necromancy, and connection to the gods, in ways she could never have imagined, or she will be the last Stones ever to grace the world.....
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Saint Death's Daughter is told in an odd style - it's told entirely from Lanie's point of view, with multiple time jumps between parts - sometimes of days, sometimes of months, sometimes of years - but also with footnotes, as if this was a historical text, with the footnotes featuring humorous notes about the historical characters, texts, and things referenced in the narratives. And between that and some of the funny names of characters (the Stones family ahs names like Irradiant Stones, Amanita Stones, Miscellaneous Stones, etc.), you might think this is designed to make this a comedy, but while this very much has a light and fun tone for a story featuring a necromancer and a lot of death, the footnotes aren't that common, maybe 1-2 per chapter if that, that they often feel like something from an earlier draft of the book.
But what the final draft of this book turns out to be is a really fun and entertaining story that goes in some real interesting directions as Lanie grows up. Lanie starts as scared girl who is more intelligent than almost anyone realizes - especially not her brash obnoxious and talented (although not powerful) sister and her obnoxious greedy ghost grandpa - who recognizes when she's out of her depth, and when others like her sister are as well (especially as she gets out maneuvered by a rich foreign debt collector). And she never stops being scared, as things get worse and worse - her family murdered, she left with a brother in law who rightfully hates her for her sister's actions, a niece who's basically her own child, the priest she loves having to go way on a dangerous diplomatic mission, etc. But what changes is how strong she gets at fighting through that fear, as her determination drives her to keep moving forwards towards her goals, leading to more and more encounters with the gods - not just the god of death, but others of the twelve gods - and other powerful and dangerous wizards.
And then there are the side characters and this world who just make this story really really sing. You have the caretaker of the family, a zombie named Goody who is forced to follow the Stones' family's commands, but who Lanie cares for and never wants to give an order. You have Mak, the shapeshifting falcon-man enchanted ("Fascinated") by her sister into becoming her husband, who later tries to be a doting parent to the daughter he had as a result. You have the caring priest whose few moments Lanie shares she treasures more than anything. And you have a whole bunch of others - friendly and not-so-friendly - who make the story always feel colorful and creative.
Add in a plot that spans years and forces Lanie to make a number of dangerous choices, that will make you feel so tremendously for her - breaking your own heart as much as Lanie's at times - that well, it's just really well done. I don't want to say much more for fear of spoiling things, but well this book does something really well in balancing the coming of age heartwarming ness with magical adventure and humor (even if the footnotes don't work) and ends in a way that is very satisfying, even if you didn't want to continue with future books in this trilogy. Which I certainly will. So yeah, definitely recommended.
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