BOLTED TO THE BONE

In Carroll’s sci-fi novel, a woman investigates a catastrophic disaster as her disgraced former commander seizes the chance for redemption by finding three missing children.

Long ago, Earth was shattered, leaving the surviving countries and islands, known as remanants, isolated under an artificial sky called the firmament. On the Emerald Remanant, a panel from the firmament has fallen onto the town of Ros Crónán, raining down millions of razor-sharp glass shards and killing every person and animal unlucky enough to be there. This sort of disaster has happened only once before, centuries ago, in the Iveragh Peninsula. Saint Alexandra Airgetlám, a judge-errant (saints in this context are enforcers of the law), is deployed to investigate the cause of the fallen panel. Traveling with her young squire, Dawkins, and their porter, Wieldy, Alexandra heads for the neighboring town of Biorra and the Tower Findias—also known as the Tower of the Sky—where she must interview the Arch-Hierophant Plumbeus. Meanwhile, Alexandra’s former commander, a disgraced former saint now known as Scrounger, leads an indentured search-and-recovery team in Ros Crónán. While undergoing the tedious and dangerous work, Scrounger learns that the bodies of three boys from the town are nowhere to be found; he sees this situation as an opportunity for redemption and reinstatement of his sainthood (“there would be goodwill and reward for finding them”). Scrounger’s new mission takes him to Tower Findias, where he and Alexandra, now sworn enemies, come face to face for the first time since Scrounger fell from grace and Alexandra sentenced him to the search-and-recovery crew. Carroll’s novel is a thrilling fantasy that compellingly incorporates elements of mythology, sci-fi, steampunk, and body horror. Readers will be captivated by the compelling cast of characters, the various outlandish creatures, and the well-developed worldbuilding. Particularly intriguing are the body modifications that are present throughout the story, from the saints’ armor being affixed directly onto their bodies to Alexandra’s prosthetic arm with multiple hand attachments to choose from.

An engrossing, multi-layered sci-fi fantasy that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.