Shadows of Slavery
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
The Deus are not supposed to interfere with mortals. But when a prophecy foretells the fall of the entire galaxy, the gods must look beyond the pantheon for help.
Marissa and Arc Rhapsody escaped a life as gladiator slaves to take entirely different paths. Arc put his violent past behind him to become a diplomat, while Marissa returned to the only thing she was good at: fighting. Uncommon strength is the gift, and the curse, of her half-Deus heritage.
When a simple treaty negotiation goes terribly wrong and Arc disappears, war between two galactic powers begins to brew. Marissa isn't the only one searching for answers, but clues are scarce and time is short. If her alliance of smugglers, mercenaries, and truthseekers can't find answers soon, the prophecy will come to pass, and the galaxy will be doomed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Spencer (Soul, Light, and Wings) is more ambitious than successful in his Birthright series kickoff, introducing the Deus, megastrong cosmic beings capable of creating a star in a day, who travel the universe wielding their godlike abilities while remaining hidden from all other creatures. One of the Deus, Lutus, prophesies that an unprecedented war, affecting every mortal, is imminent; his predictions have been accurate in the past, though his friend and fellow Deus, Sorin, doesn't quite understand how they work, beyond knowing that they "had something to do with gathering information, then running it through an algorithm that supported Lutus' own natural foreseeing abilities." This vagueness is symptomatic of Spencer's expositional style, and it tends to bog down the narrative. Meanwhile, human gladiator Marissa Rhapsody of the planet Aegis, whose strength is "out of proportion to her small size," stumbles into a crucial role in trying to avert the impending conflict. There's a massive amount of backstory and explanation here, with multiple major powers—including the Bythos Empire and the Kinship—involved in the political machinations and resulting violence, and keeping the characters and dynamics straight takes enormous effort. Many readers won't bother to keep trying.
