THE PAST IS A FRAGILE THING

For Shade, returning to Taralius is like a homecoming she never wanted. She soon finds that old relationships are changed and past contacts have turned sour. Worse yet, a bitter enemy stalks the streets—a venomous assassin who’s sworn to deliver Shade to her own sending.

Meanwhile, others in the city are delving into their own pasts. While Second Corporal Avendor Tarcoth re-establishes contacts from the shadowy life he thought he’d left behind, Tiberius follows the trail of an unexpected message toward an equally unexpected encounter. Neither man is aware of the dangers that stalk them.

Far across the Realm, the man calling himself Carvesh Tarne leads a small company through the depths of Jadenwood in search of answers surrounding the shadowbeasts that nearly destroyed his home and family. But answers aren’t always what they seem. Sometimes they fight back. I’m on a good little run here with some seriously epic stories packed into to some pretty small books (most recently Myke Cole’s The Killing Light and Anthony Ryan’s A Pilgrimage of Swords).

With A Shattering of Glass, the third novella in his series, The Riven Realm, Deck Matthews continues to explore the dark & dangerous corners of Varkas.

This one picks up right after Dust of the Darkness, so if you’ve not read the first two novellas in this series (and plan to), THIS REVIEW IS NOT SAFE FOR YOUR EYES!!

In A Shattering of Glass, we spend quite a bit more time in the city of Taralius, getting to know characters like Shade & Avendor quite a bit more, and getting a glimpse into their pasts. I think I tend to get a bit carried away with the whole BATTLING HORRIFYING DEMONS IN THE WOODS aspect of The Riven Realm, but there is no shortage or treachery & intrigue in the more urban settings in this series.

BUT LET’S TALK ABOUT BATTLING HORRIFYING DEMONS IN THE WOODS, BECAUSE DAMN!! Matthews proves again & again that he’s more than capable of delivering action scenes that are grueling & bloody, and come with high consequences. This time around, we see Carvesh, Tanner, and Palawen Ty facing a monstrous threat in the Jadenwood forest, one that seems like it will have a lasting impact on the remainder of the series.

All three of the novellas in The Riven Realm have really impressed me. These stories are confidently written by an author with a great sense for world-building, characterization, and badass action sequences. This is a really compelling story set in a richly imagined fantasy world…if The Riven Realm isn’t on your TBR, MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Huge thanks to Deck Matthews for sending me a copy! A Shattering of Glass releases October 15th!!!