Living with Ghosts

This was not the easiest book to read, but the story is enthralling. The horror of what is happening within the city of Merafi unfolds slowly. The city is sinking into the river and the ghosts of the dead are rising with the river. Two of the unlikely heroes are Gracielis, a prostitute and failed priest, and Thiercelin, the quiet, reserved noble. It is not the promise of glory and rich reward which drives these men, it is the fear and care for those they love that pushes them to be more than they are.

LIVING WITH GHOSTS is a satisfying blend of well-developed characters and intriguing worldbuilding. The richly realized Renaissance style city is a perfect backdrop for the blend of ghostly magic and intrigue. The characters are wonderfully flawed, complex and multi-dimensional. One of the things I liked best was how the romantic relationships are handled--unlike many urban fantasies where the character interactions are set on permanent teenage angst, these are adults, with all that entails. Highly recommended.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. The style was a little choppy at first (too many short sentences in the first chapter) so I started off not feeling great, but I was quickly swept up in the action and characters. The writing became much more smooth through the rest of the book. I liked the evocative, dream-like quality of many of the descriptions. The world was excellently crafted. There were definitely some issues with character development though. For instance, WHY did Tiercelin love his wife so much? Sperring just kept saying that he loved his wife desperately, but I had a hard time believing it because I couldn't imagine how the two characters came together or why they'd be attracted to each other. Other aspects of Thierry's character were very believable though and he was one of my favorite characters, along with Gracielis. There was a similar problem with Iareth (my least favorite character!) and Valdin - why did they love each other? Iareth didn't seem capable of love. In all, some of the characters lacked depth and more on their pasts would have helped, but the descriptions of what they were thinking and feeling in the present were very well done. All in all a terrific debut, and I want to read more! Particularly about Gacielis and Thierry.

The Kingdom of Merafi was founded on blood between the elementals and the first ruler. Magic fails to work here for the most part and ghosts are stars of stories to scare children. Yet an aristocrat sees the ghost of his late brother-in-law and a foreigner has the ghost of the man who killed the relative constantly with him. The queen is dying and her heir prince is only twelve years old. She hopes to have a more stable relationship with the Tarnaroqui who would love to conquer Merafi. Gracielis, an exiled Tarnaroqui, is bound to the sorceress Quenfrida; he spies for her on items she feels is significant. He is the first to notice the things in the mists that should not be there as they enter the borders of Merafi. Lunedith is a vassal state of Merafi and its Prince Kendan is in the royal city paying homage to the queen; he plans to free his nation from Merafi rule when the time is right, which he believes is soon. He allies himself with Quenfrida to break the pact with the ancient powers. Creatures rise from the mists harming people; the river rises over it embankment adding more death and disease and enabling the creatures to break free of the mists killing incessantly while plague spreads across the capital. Gracielis, who failed as an assassin, is helped by allies, as they try to bring the river under control before the realm turns into Quenfrida's dark vision. This is an enthralling fantasy that contains horror elements interwoven into the story line. Gracielis believes he is a weak loser, which is how Quenfrida sees him too; however, when the realm is in peril, he finds courage to make decisions that counter his master's wishes as he sounds the alarm of what is inside the mists. He is a complex individual with a failed past; a conflicting present as a spy for the sorceress and an adviser to one of the queen's spymasters. This reviewer predicts Kari Sperring will have quite a future as a renowned fantasist. Harriet Klausner