Finding Echoes

by Foz Meadows

Snow Kidama speaks to ghosts amongst the local gangs of Charybdis Precinct, isolated from the rest of New Arcadia by the city's ancient walls. But when his old lover, Gem--a man he thought dead--shows up in need of his services, Snow is forced to reevaluate everything. Snow and Gem must navigate not only a city on the edge of collapse, but also their feelings for each other.

Genres: Fantasy, Novella, Adult, Queer, LGBT, Romance, Fiction

103 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 30, 2024

About the author

Foz Meadows is a queer SFF author living in California.

Reviews

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This works incredibly well as a self-contained standalone novella with an impressive amount of gritty, atmospheric worldbuilding, character depth, and a plot with high enough stakes to be edge-of-your-seat reading. That said, as it's labelled "A Tale of New Arcadia," I assume there may be more fiction set in this city to come. Content warning for addiction.

[Para (wanderer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun novella with big Arcane vibes when it comes to worldbuilding. The heist plot is fairly unremarkable, but I liked the tension between the characters. When they see each other's face after thinking the other has been dead, the way neither of them is the person he used to be when they were first in love...it made for a wonderfully complex dynamic.

I hope there will be more stories set in this universe. All that worldbuilding for one novella would be a real shame.

Enjoyment: 4/5
Execution: 4/5

Content warnings: addiction

More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.

[Lio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, baby, this was a hit! If you like Arcane, this has a lot of similar vibes.

I loved the dynamic between the two leads, as well as the dynamic between them and the side character. Loved the setting, loved the worldbuilding, loved the way the story played out. I admit it was a little confusing at times keeping all the place and character names in order, plus all the slang, but I made it through with only once having to double-check something.

I would ADORE more books (or even short stories!) set in this universe, even if it's not focused on these particular characters.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun fast paced novella that touches on themes of oppression, addiction, and identity. I had a great time reading it :)

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a truly bewildering amount of characterization, plot, backstory, and worldbuilding packed into this tiny novella. It feels like a full novel and I would love to spend more time with these characters in this fascinating world, especially going forward from where it ends.

[Mary Soon Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the emotional core of this novella, but the story seemed overlong for its heart. The worldbuilding, the plot, the backdrop of oppression didn't spark my interest half as much as the character interplay. The narrator's fraught feelings for a lover he'd thought dead, the sadness that comes with his gift of talking to ghosts were nicely shown. (I have a very soft spot for gay pairings, fraught or not.) But I yearned for more character moments, less scene-setting.

Three out of five umbra stars.

About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).

[Calvin Coqui]

An absolutely fantastic fantasy story set in the grimy underbelly of a socially stratified city, where a man who can talk to ghosts runs into his still-alive(!) once-lover who he thought was dead and who thought the same of him. They have to team up on a job to rescue someone or barring the possibility of rescue, record the last testimony of his ghost.

This book does a magic trick, where it is just chock full of fantasy slang or the kind that people frequently mock in fantasy writing, and yet none of it sounds stilted. There's just the right amount to slide seamlessly into the rest of the vernacular the narration and dialogue it written in. It's never over-explained and always contextually legible.

In a short span Finding Echoes draws a rich world of feuding criminal gangs, unionized miners fighting against an incarcerated labor force undercutting them, and the untouchable wealthy elite. There's a depth to it that made me feel like there was so much more to explore.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was beautiful. I took a big break in the middle of reading it, but damn the action, twists, the crescendo and finish are so good. Its dystopian world was vibrant and haunting, and I loved Snow, how deeply felt and clear his emotions come through and for all that he seems brittle, his strength is wonderful to see. Absolutely lovable characters. I’m not usually one for novellas, but this was perfect.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worldbuilding in a novella can be so tricky; this was a very rich world, but reading this book felt very much like being dumped in the deep end of the pool, or starting with book two of a series. There was so much that it was a bit distracting from the characters and the plot. At the very least a glossary of all the made up words and a map would have helped a lot, because there were so many made up terms, and I found following the geography of the world a bit tricky.

[greyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish this book was longer! I think it would be great as a complete series. This novella had a strong story, both in terms of the underlying main plot and the conflict between characters. The romance is cute, and it seems like there is much more to explore between the characters. I really enjoy Foz Meadows' world-building and writing. I hope that they continue to write, and I am excited to read the next series that they put out.

[Maria Haskins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoured this in one sitting because it is GREAT. Meadows pulled me into a strange new world in the first few sentences and the characters had me solidly hooked. There's magic, resistance and retribution, people trying to survive in an unfair society while making the best of the bad hand they're dealt, there are ghosts, and even a tantalizing taste of romance.

[Sen · Rating 3 out of 5]

But I do my best. I try, though I have no temple-training; no comforting lies about souls and ascendance to offer those left with grief.

I have only the truth of the dead, and the will to speak it.

★★½

A quick and decently entertaining read but overall pretty underwhelming. I think the main issue with Finding Echoes is that it felt like it wasn't sure what it wanted to be. Was it a sort of grand rescue story? A tale of class struggles and corruption? A second chance romance? Maybe this book was trying to be all of these things at once, but there definitely wasn't enough room in the novella format to meaningfully accomplish this. I did like the gritty setting as well as how the book touches on drug addiction in a fantasy world. The main character's ability to speak to the dead was also pretty cool but ultimately underutilized and did not have much bearings on the plot by the end.

Although I personally wasn't really satisfied with Finding Echoes I think this will be one installation in a series of novellas set in this world, so I am looking forward to how the other books will flesh everything out. I do think there is a lot of potential.

[Thank you to the publisher for the arc. My review and thoughts on this book are entirely my own.]

[Jaci · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.
Finding Echoes is an entertaining tribute to the amount of world building, character growth, and overall plot that can fit into a story of one hundred pages. A quick read with so much character, the satisfying and sharp-witted humor of Fox Meadow’s writing is a prime attribute of the story.

[Venneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the last novellas from Neon Hemlock's 2023 series, and one of the ones I was looking forward to the most. Mx. Meadows weaves a novella that focuses on a fantasy city slum, the oppressed workers and miners, gangs, fun necromancy, drugs, and gay yearning. The subtitle on the book is a hope that they'll get to publish more in the future from this world, and I'm in.

[Isabela Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Foz Meadows. I love their world building, I love their tense, dark, gritty political narratives of corruption and oppression as well as their hopeful, devoted, emotional love stories. This novella is a definite win that has solidified Meadows as an auto-buy author for me.

[Varadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting world, fun story. I want to know more!

[S.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little slow in the middle, but otherwise such a good read.

[Gealach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review coming soon to my blog.

[Matt Hartnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foz never fails to build an incredible world!

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good novella. A bit dark but tre world is dark so it suits.

[A.D. Sui]

cool magic? check!
secret missions? check!
betrayal? check!

Meadows creates an incredibly rich world and deep characters all in the span of a novella. Truly a masterclass. A great read for anyone looking to get lost in a brand-new world for an evening.