Dust and Light: A Sanctuary Novel

Just when you thought it was all over, an author can suddenly bring a fantasy world back to life. In this case, Dust and Light follows on some years after the end of Flesh and Spirit and Breath and Bone. The old king has died without leaving a clear heir. The two sons, therefore, begin the traditional civil war to decide who has the better right to rule. Under normal circumstances, this would have been completely irrelevant to Lucian de Remeni-Masson. He’s very quietly serving out his time as an artist in the Pureblood Registry. But, as is always required in books like this, his talent gets him into trouble, so he’s demoted to the necropolis where all he gets to draw are dead bodies. Surely he can’t make trouble there.

Well, fortunately for us, the coroner gives him some very interesting bodies to draw and, when identified, some prove politically dangerous. We’re, therefore, quickly into mystery mode to discover who has been killing these children and why someone is out to wreck this young man’s quiet life. All is told in a highly entertaining way, and it positively rushes forward to a nicely balanced conclusion with everything still to play for in the next book.