The Bloodstained Shade - Cass Morris

 

I'm going to say up front that I think Cass Morris is an author who I think deserves more exposure. Her dialogue is snappy, her descriptions always give you enough detail to build out a lush, intriguing world without being overwhelming. Her characters feel like people, with real thoughts, feelings and oh my opinions of their own, and her stories have that elusive capacity to keep you turning pages to see what happens next. I've been talking about her work for years now, and I really, really want the tl;dr of this review to be: this is an excellent book in an excellent series, and you should go now and read both. 

With that out of the way, lets move on to The Bloodstained Shade in particular. Set in the alternate history of Aven, a Rome where magic is very real, and where mages exist throughout society, the narrative focuses on Latona of the aristocratic family Vitelliae, as she attempts to unravel an apocalyptic conspiracy at the heart of the city's government. It does also venture further afield, into warfare and diplomacy with other peoples out in the provinces, with Sempronius, a man who leads legions, does so rather illegally by being a secret magic-user, and does both of those things while being in love with Latona. But while we do get chapters from his point of view, and while I always enjoy the kinetic, fiercely physical feelings of tension that the author brings to her battle scenes, the focus of the story feels more tightly on Aven and environs than in other volumes of the series.

Fortunate, then, that Aven, the city, is a star all its own. From the graffiti-laden streets run by concerns of armed men, to the luxurious villas of the aristocracy, part sunroom, part fortress, to the austere, echoing halls of power that are the senate, the city has a grit, a grime and an energy that makes it feel alive. The same is true of the outskirts - the fields where returning legions camp, the quiet guesthouses whose hosts may or may not also be jailers. Therre's a vitality to Aven, a raw feeling of a melting pot on the move, that you can feel between the spaces of the words. That said, it's also a city in tension with itself; while diversity of peoples may ensure a better city, there's certainly people on hand who want to push back on that notion, to go back to the Good Old Days, which happen to have been good for them, rather than anyone else. There's an undercurrent of fear, of distrust, of wrestling with the pace of change. All concerns which may sound very familiar to the modern reader! Anyway, this is a long way of saying that there's texture and context to the world that Morris is building here. We known enough, even from a Hollywood history of Rome, to fill in some of the details, but what she makes explicit is exciting, intriguing, and most importantly, feels real. 

The same is broadly true of the characters. I don't want to delve too deep for the sake of spoilers, but I will say that Latona has grown, here/ A woman looking for a role, stepping out of the shadow of expectations of others, has found it and is now pushing at the boundaries of society around her. Pushing back with an ideal of decency and service to the good. That evolution is the natural culmination of two previous books worth of effort, and the character fills it out perfectly. She's confident in herself, but cognizant of and coping with the fractures running through her emotions, through the trauma in her past. Latona is a power in her own right, now, but she's a person, wrapped in as much nonsense and damage as anyone else - often considerably more. But she's capable of strength and virtue and, let us say it loudly, kicking butt. She's a great one to follow around. 

In this she's aided by a sterling cast of supporting characters, many of whom she's related to They all have their own agenda, their own needs and wants and desires and hatreds and loves. There's a delightfully gentle sapphic romance at one point that kept making me smile because oif both how awkward and how genuine it felt, and there's confrontations with antagonists that make you reel back in horror and long for the catharsis of their defeat. Incidentally, I want to say that Corinna, one of the main antagonists, a mage herself of no small distinction, is an excellent nemesis, a dark, broken mirror of Latona, someone as unwilling to accept the bounds society places on her, but perhaps even more willing to go further, to ends less salubrious. Every time she was on the page was a skin crawlingly evil joy.

And the story...again, no spoilers. But it ramps up well, pages of ratcheting tension keeping you going, dipping into battles and conspiracies and betrayals and revelation in equal measure. It's a story of women fighting expectations, and a story with magic in the air and blood on the floor. It's a story of government and grace. It's a story that you won't want to put down - and nor should you. Go read it, right now!