Book Review: The Briar Book of the Dead by A.G. Slatter

Title: The Briar Book of the Dead
Pages: 368
Publication Date: Feb. 13, 2024
Publisher: Titan
Genres: Fiction / Fantasy
Synopsis:

To the outside world, Silverton appears not to matter much at all. It sits on a remote mountain pass, far from the great cathedral city of Lodellan. It’s run by witches who, in the usual scheme of things, would be burnt. Yet a dispensation keeps the Briars safe for one simple, dangerous they are the custodians of the threshold between the civilised world and the Darklands, where Leech Lords hold sway. Vampires are especially feared by the ecclesiastics, for leeches steal souls as well as bodies, and mortal souls are the Church’s most valuable currency.

However, things are changing in Silverton, with new forces coming into play and ancient mysteries and sins refusing to stay buried − and Anni Briar, the first non-witch born into the family for three hundred years, will find herself at the centre of the maelstrom.

LINKS: Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon | Bookshop.org

This blog uses affiliate links for some book recommendations, and if you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission. Thanks for supporting this little bookish corner of the internet!

.

---

This is my first book by the author, and I really enjoyed it. The premise is intriguing and unique, as are the characters, and I like the author’s writing style and the Gothic feel of the story.

Ellie is a great protagonist, and I loved her growth over the course of the story. Born to a family of witches, Ellie has no power, and she struggles with this. It’s interesting to see how she deals with not having the abilities the rest of her family has, especially since she’s always felt less than. Then, Ellie gains an ability she never expected. She learns she has the ability to see and speak to ghosts, which is rarer than rare since their town has been free of ghosts for centuries. She also begins to uncover some dark family secrets that relate to the unusual and dangerous happenings in their town, and she has to figure out how to protect everything she loves. 

Though Ellie is the main character and the story is told from her perspective, the other characters in the novel are also layered and interesting. I did find the pacing a little off, but overall it is an entertaining and immersive read.

A unique book with witchy, Gothic vibes, the book is dark and atmospheric. The story is set in the same world as All the Murmuring Bones and The Path of Thorns, but you don’t have to read those to become fully immersed in this one. Thanks to Titan Books for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

---

A woman’s only true value was the one she held for herself.

Angela Slatter is the author of All The Murmuring Bones (Titan Books, purchase links below). That will be followed by The Path of Thorns in 2022. Both are gothic fantasies set in the world of the Sourdough and Bitterwood collections.

In February 2021, Tartarus Press published The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales, the third mosaic collection in the Sourdough world series. In March 2022, The Bone Lantern (a novella set in the Sourdough world) will be published by Absinthe Press (an imprint of PS Publishing).

Angela is also the author of the supernatural crime novels from Jo Fletcher Books/Hachette International: Vigil (2016), Corpselight (2017) and Restoration (2018), as well as ten other short story collections, including The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, A Feast of Sorrows: Stories, and The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories. Vigil was nominated for the Dublin Literary Award in 2018.

Angela is represented by Meg Davis of the Ki Agency in London: meg@ki-agency.co.uk

She has won a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar, two Australian Shadows Awards and seven Aurealis Awards.

Angela’s short stories have appeared in Australian, UK and US Best Of anthologies such The Mammoth Book of New Horror, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, The Best Horror of the Year, The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror, and The Year’s Best YA Speculative Fiction. Her work has been translated into Bulgarian, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Polish, French and Romanian. Victoria Madden of Sweet Potato Films (The Kettering Incident) has optioned the film rights to one of her short stories (“Finnegan’s Field”).

She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, is a graduate of Clarion South 2009 and the Tin House Summer Writers Workshop 2006, and in 2013 she was awarded one of the inaugural Queensland Writers Fellowships. In 2016 Angela was the Established Writer-in-Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in Perth. She has been awarded career development funding by Arts Queensland, the Copyright Agency and, in 2017/18, an Australia Council for the Arts grant. She teaches for the Australian Writers’ Centre.

Related Posts