Wicked Saints

By Emily Duncan

4.5 Stars. Best enjoyed on a cold and blood-laced winter evening.

In a war between blood magic and the will of the gods, who will triumph? 

A war has been fought for years between Tranavia and Kalyazin, a war that pits the divine against the profane and heretical. Two powerful people on opposing sides want nothing more than to end this war and stop the bloodshed. 

Nadiya is a cleric of Kalyazin, chosen by the gods as their representative on the earthly plane, both as the wielder of their magic and their weapon in a war against divinity. 

Seredin is the high prince, heir to the Tranavian throne, and one of the strongest blood mages in the army leading the charge against Kalyazin. 

Then a mysterious boy emerges from the shadows with his own monsters and many secrets. He is about to upend everything they think they know about the world. Are their goals perhaps more in line then they think? 

Okay. So that was intense. I’m not always the biggest fan of audiobooks with multiple narrators, they tend to take me out of the story a little. Actually, I don’t usually like multiple POV books for that reason. However, it didn’t even matter. I read a good chunk of the book and listened to the rest. I practically finished it the day I started. Not only did I listen at work, I listened at every opportunity I had. Driving? Wicked Saints. Working? Wicked Saints. Lunch? I’m skipping. I’ll just stay in my office and listen to Wicked Saints. I am so excited that I have the ARC for Ruthless Gods because you bet your butt I’m reading it this weekend. I was so invested in the character’s individual stories the entire time. I didn’t have to ride that usual “ugh, when is this POV going to be over—I honestly couldn’t care less what this person is doing” rollercoaster. When the next chapter came I was like “darn, but Oh yay! What’s Seredin up to?” Yeah, it was that good.

The world that has been built is relatively simple and feels medieval. It’s war-ravaged from the long standing holy war between Tranavia and Kalyazin, and the magic that courses through the world is an interesting character all its own, fighting between darkness and light. That’s the biggest mystery throughout the entire thing. Where does the magic come from, and where SHOULD it come from? Is it really a divine creation or is it something inherent to the people who wield it? We just don’t know…but we’re getting somewhere!

Duncan is an awesome author. She really has a talent for breathing life into her characters and exploring the dark war that happens within each of us. Are we good or evil? Is the divide even great enough to be measurable? What even defines the two?