Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Publish date: 30th July 2024

Imagine this. You’re home for the holidays, sorting out the final trimmings for the best meal of the year. But just when you thought it was safe to relax and enjoy your Christmas, Chernobog, the God of Destruction, Darkness and Death, decides he needs something doing. Immediately. So he sends a dream request with no get out clause. We’ve all had bosses like it – no boundaries and can’t take no for an answer. On top of that, a child, bloody and near death, rocks up asking for sanctuary, with elite mercenaries and a catastrophically powerful priest hot on his tail. The whole situation reads like disaster – now, nobody gets to eat turkey and perhaps even worse, they might actually die. A rubbish outcome all round.

For Roman, a classic homebody (read: recluse with no desire to see or speak to people), this means a Christmas break gone completely to hell. But like any proud homeowner, he is more than prepared to defend his space, and everyone in it, from bad guys. Especially when they turn up with very bad attitudes and suspicious reasons for wanting to ‘take the child home to his parents’. Yeah right. We know how this works. And so does Roman. If you know anything about him from the Kate Daniels books, you know he has a bit of an attitude himself. More than enough to take on some jumped up soldiers, he’s the Black Volhv after all.

 

The stop sign in the front yard shook, flinging snow off itself. The old, brown blood on it turned viscous. The words KEEP OUT, scrawled in jagged script, bled anew. The Striga skull on top of the sign opened its thick jaw, snapping inhuman fangs. The runes carved in its forehead turned bright blue, and twin blue flames ignited in its empty orbits.

Roman surveyed the front yard. He’d rolled the unwelcome mat out. Now all he had to do was wait.

 

What follows is a bloody and inventive exploration of the kind of powers that we haven’t really seen from him in the main series, alongside a heavy dose of Slavic folklore. Roman’s got the kind of witty sarcasm and heart of gold that makes Kate such an appealing character and he’s just as likely to collect strays as her – in this case a selection of weird creatures who I pictured as witchy cat familiars regardless of their description. I’m all about the wish fulfilment. We also get to experience a variety of completely different types of magic, each with its own deadly potential. The fight sequences are high tension with genuine consequences and some suitably gruesome deaths. Chernobog would be best pleased.

I didn’t read the serial, just the finished product, so I have no idea how it compares to what people have seen before, but this was an entertaining tale with a protagonist interesting enough to carry the load. No, it’s not the same at the main novels, but it’s a great expansionist piece, worthy to be part of the world and offering a look at one of the characters who so far hasn’t had enough screen time. The ending leaves the possibility of more to come and I’ll be there for it, just as I am for everything in this world.

You can order from Amazon/Waterstones

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