THE GILDED CROWN

A young woman is dragged from her quiet country life into the vicious, backstabbing world of politics and religion in this fantasy series opener.

Hellevir has always been different. When she was 10, she discovered the ability to travel into Death, the strange, liminal world ruled by a mysterious man in black. When she is 12, and her mother dies in childbirth, Hellevir travels to Death and offers the man in black a trade: If Hellevir gives up “something from life that is full of life” and a “blood gift” (in this case, one of her fingers), she will be able to return her mother to the world of the living. Milandre, an old healer and Hellevir’s mentor, warns Hellevir to keep her gifts a secret. But when the queen brings her poisoned granddaughter’s corpse to Milandre’s doorstep, Hellevir can’t stop herself from bringing the young woman, Sullivain, back to life. Soon afterward, Hellevir receives a royal summons to move to the city and be ready to bring Sullivain back from the dead at a moment’s notice. Only the man in black isn’t happy with Hellevir defying the laws of nature, and he requests a new kind of price if she wants to bring back any more lost souls without losing even more of herself. Gordon’s fantastic series opener paints the world of Rochidain with vivid detail, from its network of canals to the drunken parties of its nobles to the sinister state religion that has a strong hold on Hellevir’s mother. Hellevir’s complicated relationship with Sullivain, whose gratitude and attachment to Hellevir don’t stop her from threatening Hellevir’s family should she let Sullivain die, has more than enough substance to sustain the books to come.

A richly imagined beginning that shouldn’t be missed.