Margaret Rogerson is definitely officially on my must read authors list after Vespertine. So far her books are consistently enjoyable with strong stories and great female leads. Vespertine is no different.
And though it’s not a stand alone like her other books I think it could easily still work as a stand alone.
We follow Artemisia a young nun in training living in a world at war with the dead. Here if the sisters don’t tend to the bodies they become spirits of differing levels of danger. From a little bit to a whole lot of trouble.
Artemisia herself came to the nuns after having a run in with a fire demon when she was a possessed child.
After an attack on their sanctuary she opens a relic containing a powerful and malevolent spirit known as a revenant. Now unless she can control it she’s in danger of losing herself to possession and unfortunately the only real knowledge she has of the revenant (much of which has been lost to time in her world) but come from the creature itself.
Add in an undead war and dark magic that the city under siege from spirits thought was long dead and Artemisia has her hands full for sure.
So Vespertine is a great fall read very atmospheric. Crypts and dark magic and demons trolling along. Armies falling to powerful undead armies. Though I must admit if you are looking for something straight up scary for Halloween this probably isn’t it. I do like Artemisia on her own but I really loved her relationship with another young sister in training as well as the Priest whose hunting her and the revenant. How they unfold was a real pleasure to read so I’ll keep that spoiler free 🙂
But there were some nice surprises in terms of character relations for sure. As much as I’m all for the stand alone these days I’ll definitely pick up book two whenever it comes out.
Recommend: Yes.
It’s a fun atmospheric read with great characters that you can curl up in bed with on a windy night and enjoy… and plenty of ghosts!