Genre: Fantasy, Romance
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay, Bi
Reviewer: Scott
Get It On Amazon | Free at QSF (Ends 12/31)
About The Book
Iole City is in turmoil. Doran Ó Seanáin, leader of the Black Lung Gang, is determined to challenge the Archon, Arajon’s tyrannical ruler, for his brutal treatment of the miners.
But Doran has more to deal with than getting stabbed and a city-wide lockdown that’s seeing his gang of ex-miners slowly starved out of their base. His daughter Grace has turned against him, and the death of his wife haunts them both.
Although he finds reprieve in Nathaniel Morgenstern, the apotheker with a mysterious past to whom he owes his life, the clock is ticking. The fate of the mines hangs in the balance and the Archon is closing in. Doran’s plan to break the cycle may very well be his last.
The Review
Doran Ó Seanáin is having an exceptionally bad day.
The riot he started to help free his fellow coal miners and the city of Iole from the tyranny of Archon Bryson has gone awry. The ruler of the nation of Arajon and its magical and tragic city in a vast cavern under the stars holds the city in an iron grip, and treats the miners like slaves.
Plus there’s the whole pesky stabbing in the side thing.
The Archon’s men are out for blood and Doran barely escapes with his life, killing a young soldier in the process. He stumbles through town in the chaos and finds himself in the Methyr District, typically lite up red by the sun through the falls. With his last strength, he stumbles into an apotheker’s store and begs for help. When he comes to, he finds himself in the capable hands of Nathaniel Morganstern, a man covered in scars who nevertheless exerts an almost magnetic pull on Doran. He hasn’t felt this way since his wife, the high-born Rhian, was killed by an assassin in their own home, and his daughter Grace sent to live with her rich grandparents.
After Nathaniel patches him up, he launches another scheme to try to force the Archon’s hand and secure better treatment for the miners, but a lockdown complicates things, and even some of his closest friends and allies consider turning him in to collect the Archon’s bounty on his head. Doran pushes forward, certain on only one thing. Their desperate situation has to change.
But what’s he to do when he discovers his own daughter is about to marry the man who wants him dead? And how will he and Nathaniel navigate the secrets and lies that surround them?
Heart of Dust starts out with a bang, and although there are places to rest along the way, it carries you through the story like a heat-seeking missile. The slow burn relationship between Nathaniel and Doran is completely believable, somewhat tragic, and not entirely resolved by the end of the story, leaving the reader craving more. And truly unexpected revelations rock his world – I love it when an author’s plot can truly surprise me.
Although there’s no actual magic, the world itself is magical and fantastic – the bright city of Iole behind the roar of the waterfall. The dark mines that threaten to swallow parts of it whole. And the fragile coalition of miners and their secret helper in the palace who dream of the possibility of something better.
The only thing I hated about the book was that it ended.
I’ve wanted to read it ever since I saw the glorious cover, and I’m so glad I finally did. This is an e-ticket ride, a roller coaster plunge through the machinations and politics of a fascinating society – a master class in fantasy storytelling. I’m thrilled that I can throw myself into the next volume as soon as I finish this one. And thank Gaibhne that books three and four are not too far behind.
The Reviewer
Scott is the founder of Queer Sci Fi, and a fantasy and sci fi writer in his own right, with more than 30 published short stories, novellas and novels to his credit, including two trilogies.
