Eldritch Depths Series, Book 3

Read October 25 – November 1, 2025

Rating (5 stars)

Dive right in https://a.co/d/fX5wSDn

Keeps getting better the deeper we dive into the Swell

After the crazy ending of book 2, I was eager to see where our characters were gonna take us next. Firstly, the fate of our daring dreamer Bal had me on pins & needles, but unfortunately I was left in that state! It is a testament to SM Campbell’s writing that I was so invested in the young Oceanid’s fate! Instead of Bal’s story we get another new character through which to experience the Swell, pirate Tari.

From the outset, we know Tari has a past, something that she’s running from, but it wasn’t until the final third of the book that we get to know what (or who) that is. Tari was a likeable woman, a pirate and a drifter, yes, but one with a habit of “picking up strays” along her travels. When she and her shipmates encounter crystal-encrusted monstrocities, Tari risks everything to try to save her wounded comrades who were afflicted. What she’s able to learn about the crystals has the potential to change the balance of power throughout the Swell. Her character arc was brutal yet somehow still gratifying.

Nario’s reunion with Renalia was everything I’d hoped for: fraught with anger, resentment, longing, and lust. Sparks fly with these two, especially when a former lover of Nario’s enters the picture. The earth stone gets some serious page time with frightening new powers & possibilities, making Nario’s mission to keep it safe and out of the hands of those who would abuse its potential even that much more important. He and Renalia make some important alliances with wonderful potential going into the next book.

And then there’s Vila & Arturian, still traveling with Taragin, as Vila struggles with her obvious addiction to Deep Ones blood. Taragin is determined to train Vila, even if that means breaking her, and the brutality of their sparring matches was a visceral gut punch to read. Arturian continues to diferentiate himself from his twin, Agustan, and we fianlly get to see Vila start to trust (and yearn for) him.

There was so much happening across these three story lines! So many people and factions, each with their own agendas, politics, and motivations… the world of the Swell keeps getting larger and crazier the deeper we go. Revelations made in the final pages left me cursing the stars above since book 4 isn’t out yet. It’s gonna be a long wait.