Rating: 4.5 stars
Nowhere Bingo: Takes place during a holiday/holiday season (this is set around Christmas/a bunch of pagan midwinter rites)
362 days of the year, Roman, Black Volhv of Atlanta, dutifully serves Chernobog, the god of Destruction, Darkness, and Death. He just wants a few days of peace, to enjoy his stew, eggnog, and cookies, but it is not to be. One of the infernal paranormal critters that loves him has cleaned out both his eggnog and cookie stash and to make matters worse, there's an injured teenager on his property, begging him for sanctuary. The youth, protectively clutching a puppy, promises his sister will come for him soon, and though he really doesn't want any trouble, Roman isn't about to let the defenseless young man and his pup be harmed.
It doesn't take long before Roman has to deal with elite mercenaries, combat mages, and mysterious priests, all very determined to stop at nothing to get their hands on the kid. Roman rolls out his unwelcome mat and shows his visitors that while it may be the holidays, he's not some helpless recluse in the woods. The Black Volhv possesses a lot of power, and he's going to need it to keep the trespassers from his door.
Roman, dark priest of Chernobog was first introduced to fans of Ilona Andrews in Magic Slays, but only appeared briefly. He was a much more prominent character in Gunmetal Magic, a spin-off book from the Kate Daniels series. Popular from the start, he ended up appearing in a number of the later books in the series, along with his large and opinionated family. While appearing rather gloomy at times, Roman often acted as a comic relief character and seemed to never take anything too seriously. Here, the authors (Ilona Andrews is the pen name of a husband and wife duo) show us that Roman is in fact a very serious and depressed individual, whose life is not especially easy, since Chernobog is a demanding god to serve, and despite his mother's nagging, maintaining any sort of romantic relationship when you're often taken away to the pagan underworld to serve a dark deity is unlikely to work out long-term.
One of the things I really like about Ilona Andrews' books in the Kate Daniels universe is just how much folklore and mythology they explore and occasionally reinterpret. When it comes to Roman and his sprawling magical family, Slavic mythology is the main one that is explored. As with many religions and mythologies, light and dark isn't necessarily synonymous with good and evil. Balance is the name of the game, and you cannot have one without the other. In the Slavic pantheon, Belobog is the god of Light and Creation, and his twin brother Chernobog is the god of Destruction, Darkness, and Death. Chernobog is married to Morena, the goddess of Winter and Death. Neither of these deities is evil, as everything that lives needs to eventually die and decay, or there will be chaos. In Slavic paganism, the world is separated into three (a lot like in Norse mythology). There is Prav, where the light gods (like Belobog) reside, Yav (the world of humans) and Nav (the world of the dark gods, where Chernobog and Morena reside - and keep the Chaos which is outside Nav from invading and destroying all of creation).
In his previous appearances, it has become clear that while he's not exactly thrilled about his vocation, Roman serves his dark god because he takes his duties seriously. In this novella, we find out more about how exactly he came to be the Dark Volvh and some of what that actually entails. Humour helps him cope with his calling. Roman is not evil, nor is his god, and he's not about to let an innocent young man be taken against his will by bloodthirsty mercenaries. However, he's been a soldier, and he is willing to take lives if that is the only way to keep his property and those he protects safe. As with a lot of other Ilona Andrews stories, there is adventure, humour, action and some impressive violence in this story.
This novella started in weekly instalments on Ilona Andrews' blog. Once they decided to publish it, they took down the story and it has gone through edits, and the finished story includes an epilogue, where it becomes clear why this is part 1 of The Roman Chronicles (note the plural). It looks like the authors, gracious as they are, are considering expanding the Kate Daniels universe with more stories about one of our favourite supporting characters. Roman's adventures clearly aren't over, and there are new characters (including a likely love interest) introduced over the course of this story. There are quite a lot of other stories that the authors have stated they need to write before we are likely to get more Roman, but since I love everything they have published so far, it's not like the wait is too onerous.
Judging a book by its cover: Here is yet another example that Ilona Andrews only ever has good cover art when they self-publish. This cover is simple, yet really cool and very atmospheric. Absolutely perfect for the story it illustrates. Why do traditional publishers keep getting it so wrong?
Crossposted on Cannonball Read.
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