And the World Crumbled

Spellster and the Hound #1.5

by Aldrea Alien

No escape. No defence. One chance. Who'll make it out alive?

Everyone knows that Demarn’s spellster tower is the safest place to be for those with magic. The site is shielded by mountains to west, by allies to the north, and their kingdom's army in the south whilst the whole kingdom stretches between them and the magic-reviling people patrolling the sea to the east.
And yet, the enemy has breached the gates.
They’ve issued no demands. Only death.
Fleeing the tower and the ultimate demise is the one choice left. There is but one way out and the enemy holds more power than anyone could possibly anticipate.
For those trapped within, their whole world is about to crumble.

103 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 23, 2023

About the author

Mother. Animal lover. Vampire. Fangirl.

Aldrea Alien is a multi-award-winning, USA Today Bestselling, bisexual and genderfluid author from New Zealand. She writes fantasy romance of varying heat levels and sexualities.

She grew up on a small farm out the back blocks of a place known as Wainuiomata alongside a menagerie of animals, who are all convinced they're just as human as the next person (especially the cats). She spent a great deal of her childhood riding horses, whilst the rest of her time was consumed with reading every fantasy book she could get her hands on and concocting ideas about a little planet known as Thardrandia. This would prove to be the start of The Rogue King Saga as, come her twelfth year, she discovered there was a book inside her.
​
Aldrea now lives in Upper Hutt, on yet another small farm with a less hectic, but still egotistical, group of animals (cats will be cats). She still hasn't yet found an off switch to give her an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind, a list that grows bigger every year with all of them clamouring for her to tell their story first. It's a lot of people for one head.



Website | Twitter | Facebook

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

worth it!

I actually put off this story for a couple days. I knew that it would be a tear jerker. I am so glad that I read it. Well written and fast pace; makes it so that you do not put down until the end.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful addition to the Spellster universe created by Aldrea Alien. It is dark as the blurb says “They’ve issued no demands. Only death.” That being said I really enjoyed it and felt that the story moved along in a great way and helped show another view point from what what shown in the much longer story “In Pain and Blood”. It does have a trigger waring due to some of the violence, but having read the first book, I was excited to read this one. And it pulled me in right away with the opening lines - “The air was thick with screams and the scent of blood. Henrie hadn’t even known it had a smell. Certainly not this bitter metallic odour. He only ever dealt with blood once a month and it never smelt this bad.” I was given an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review, but I have also purchased the book as I feel this is an author telling stories that are worth reading.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novella serves as a bridge between other books in the series. It's a difficult read that answers a lot of questions about a core mystery in the Spellster universe. In the book In Pain & Blood, we learned about a mass casualty event. This book takes us inside it and shows us what happened through the eyes of Henrie. The story ultimately has a HFN and it will be fleshed out further in the next book, In Love and Death. There is almost nothing good or happy in this story, but it is necessary to read to add to what comes before and after.

[Juniper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story pulled me in from the first sentence, and I found it to be an intense, deeply atmospheric read from start to finish. I highly recommend reading the blurb before starting— as the description might imply, there’s tension and violence to be found here. Overall, I think there’s a lot to appreciate here, especially for readers familiar with other books set in this world.
*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfection addition to the Spellster and the Hound series. It was horrific and gruesome and everything I was expecting from the attack on the tower. I felt so many emotions reading this; scared, uncomfortable, relieved, and hopeful.

[Trigger Warning Database]

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
Beheading & dismemberment
Graphic mass murder including infanticide
Vivisepulture (buried alive)