Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, LGBTQ+
Reviewer: Anne
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About The Book
An outcast necromancer and a half-demon clerk need to save the world from seashell zombies. No pressure.
Everyone’s always told Aspic that trouble can’t help following him because of his heritage. Determined to put the lie to half-demon stereotypes, he’s finally landed a good, quiet job as an herbalist’s clerk where the owner trusts him to man the shop alone. What could go wrong selling coriander and thyme?
When Geoffrey first enters the shop, Aspic finds the little man’s eccentric appearance startling, then intriguing. Geoffrey explains, in stops and starts, that he is a theoretical necromancer researching replacements for blood magic. His current line of inquiry involves seashells—do they have any in stock? Aspic’s co-workers warn him that Geoffrey is a walking disaster, but he finds himself more and more drawn to a necromancer concerned with ethical death magic.
Aspic is with Geoffrey in his lab when he has his first success, but the results aren’t at all what he was aiming for. Instead of raising the dead rabbit on his table, the ritual animates the seashell and rock spell components, which flee the lab and cause havoc. They soon discover that the spell-animated objects are “zombies” in that they can “infect” other inanimate things.
An unorthodox necromancer and an exasperated shop clerk are going to need some unconventional help to find a working de-animation spell before the world is overrun by zombie seashells and stones gone mad.
The Review
I loved this feel good fun story. The characters are quirky, and there’s a strong found family, small town vibe.
I appreciated how Geoffrey and Aspic get to know each other, despite Geoffrey’s struggle to find the right words. The reason he became a necromancer is sweet, and sad too, and the mishap with the zombie seashells is fun, although they turn up to be quite dangerous. I love that Aspic has finally found his true home with friends who accept him for who and what he is.
The supporting cast are great. I enjoyed Aspin’s friends at the shop, and his boarding house. Grandma Tutti is wonderful. And it was great how the Magic Emporium helps solve the zombie issue, although it takes a bit of working out first, rather than being just a simple fix.
5 stars.
The Reviewer
Anne has loved books for as long as she can remember. She enjoys reading a variety of genres, but these days focuses mostly MM with all its subgenres with a particular love for anything paranormal, historical, and/or music related.. She works in a public library and is owned by two cats.
