SON OF THE SANCTUMITE

Kote’s first installment of his Ivory fantasy saga chronicles a boy’s brutal coming-of-age in a blood-soaked realm built on a foundation of manipulation and deceit.

Asher’s mother, Lady Kerra Tullin, is the vicious leader of the Ember Jackals, the red-eyed guardians of Sanctum, a remote village located in a valley almost always blanketed in a stinking green fog. The revered and feared warriors are the only things standing between the green-skinned villagers and the roving packs of “dread hounds,” four-eyed killing machines that rip apart anything they catch. After baptizing her infant son in the “sickening” river that runs through Sanctum, Kerra gives Asher to a village girl—a teenage orphan named Maya—to raise and protect him until he turns 10. Once he comes of age, his mother will accompany him on a quest that involves numerous dangerous, horrific trials. If he passes, he will officially become an Ember Jackal like his parents. Failure means death, or worse. What Kerra doesn’t count on is her son’s loving connection with Maya, who essentially becomes his foster mother. As Maya begins questioning the tenets and folklore surrounding Sanctum, she starts to wonder what’s beyond the veil surrounding the village. Knowing that Asher will leave shortly to become an Ember Jackal, she prepares to, somehow, escape her foggy green prison with the boy, whom she prays will return to her. As Maya schemes, Asher and his mother embark on a journey through a hellish underworld that could kill both of them.

Kote’s impressive debut novel is a “secondary world” dark fantasy with generous helpings of horror. While the main characters aren’t exactly unique, their nuanced relationships are notably complex and compelling—especially the volatile connection between Asher and his mother, and his loving bond with Maya. The focus on description and imagery throughout gives the narrative an almost lyrical, albeit dark, quality: “Nations had swelled and then splintered under rebellions. Castles had crumbled under sieges while, outside their walls, armies had been ground into mounds of broken bodies.” But the primary selling point of this novel is unarguably the author’s almost obsessive attention to meticulous worldbuilding: “Asher’s eyes went wide as he witnessed the ravaged landscape. Whole swaths of grass burned. Bodies were strewn about, mutilated and scorched. Among their number were children, women, and beasts. Between them, fiery fissures broke apart the earth, breathing foul smoke from their depths. A settlement stood surrounded by a charred and crumbled wooden palisade.” Such richly described scene-setting can be found on virtually every page. Beyond the dazzling attention to detail, there are settings featured in the story that are jaw-droppingly imaginative—readers will not soon forget Asher’s adventures in the Blood Pits of Sevinthal, which will be nightmare-inducing to some. The only major flaw is the novel’s complete lack of a conclusion; the story just arbitrarily stops. It’s unfortunate that Kote didn’t find a way to appease readers with a satisfying stopping point while also continuing the larger story arc.

Stygian in tone, this darkly lyrical coming-of-age gem is a master class in fantasy worldbuilding.