Of the Abyss

Mancer #1

by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

After decades of strife, peace has finally been achieved in Kavet—but at a dark cost.  Sorcery is outlawed, and anyone convicted of consorting with the beings of the other realms—the Abyssi and the Numini—is put to death. The only people who can even discuss such topics legally are the scholars of the Order of the Napthol, who give counsel when questions regarding the supernatural planes arise.

Hansa Viridian, a captain in the elite guard unit tasked with protecting Kavet from sorcery, has always led a respectable life. But when he is implicated in a sorcerer’s crimes, the only way to avoid execution is to turn to the Abyss for help—specifically, to a half-Abyssi man he’s sworn he hates, but whose physical attraction he cannot deny.                             

Hansa is only the first victim in a plot that eventually drags him, a sorcerer named Xaz, and a Sister of the Napthol named Cadmia into the depths of the Abyss, where their only hope of escape is to complete an infernal task that might cost them their lives.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Adult, Queer, Ebooks, Young Adult, Science Fiction Fantasy

499 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2016

About the author

I grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, where I matriculated through the public Concord-Carlisle school district from kindergarten until my graduation in 2001. The best part of school, from fifth grade until the year I graduated, was definitely chorus. I love music, and I love to sing, and though I never had the courage or the talent to participate in any of the high school plays as a performer, I enjoyed being involved at other levels; the music and drama community at CCHS was the highlight of my high school career. I was also on the fencing team for two years, an experience that actually inspired a couple storylines, and regret that I did not continue with that sport.

I now live in Massachusetts with several pets... as well as, of course, my family. I am a student at the University of Massachusetts, with an English/psychology double-major. I hope to work either as an English teacher at the secondary level, or in special education. I have strong opinions about literacy, education, and how our educational systems are treated- strong enough that most of my friends know not to get me started on the subject.

My non-writing hobbies are eclectic, and cover everything from rather domestic pastimes like cross-stitch and cooking to aquarium keeping, playing piano, gardening, carpentry, Harley-Davidsons, driving, and arguing- there are few things I enjoy more than a good debate with someone who knows how to argue, which might have something to do with a best friend who works in politics. I love to learn, so if I have down-time and nothing to do, it is not at all unusual to find me pouring over some book, website or video designed to teach me some new skill, from belly dancing (something I desperately want to learn but have not yet been brave enough to sign up for classes on) to JavaScript.

Reviews

[Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁]

Hooooooly crap, guys . . . Atwater-Rhodes has finally written an adult novel.

[M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rapey.

[Rhiannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been reading Atwater-Rhodes’ books since I was 12. I’ve always liked her work. Recently, after picking up Hawksong for the millionth time, I decided to look into her more recent stuff and stumbled upon her Mancer series.

I didn’t know what to expect going in because I try to never read book descriptions before trying a book out, and the world immediately pulled me in. I love the author’s ability to craft a world and take something like demons and angels and heaven and hell and just completely turn it all on it’s head. The world was beautifully built and left me wanting to learn more and more (which means I’m definitely on to book #2 next).

The characters were funny and sexy and sweet. Sometimes, they felt a little flat or caricature-ish, but I still felt drawn to each one. A special favorite was Cadmia (and Rin). I’m excited to see where she goes as a character in the next novel.

There was a little bit of an uncomfortable vibe going with the soul bond stuff and forcing relationships between characters. I’ll see how that turns out with the next books, but to be fair, a lot of discussion goes on between characters, too, so it did feel like they were trying to overcome some of the difficult parts of the bond before it became a bigger problem.

I’m not the kind of person to analyze every little detail of a story. Nor do I have the ability to wax lyrical about the parts of it I liked, so I’ll stop reviewing now. I like what I like and this book is one I liked. I’m excited to see where the story goes and I think Atwater-Rhodes does a wonderful job stepping into adult fiction after spending most of her career in YA.

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is really a stupid book. I read 7/8ths of it, and was drawn in by the fact that its world was an exact depiction of a cray-ass dream I once had. It had real potential. It was readable and interesting. But ultimately, its downfalls were heavily weighted.
1. The Bob Ross paint color names for characters, places, and concepts, yet not correlated to the real color they represent. So, Alizarin (red) is a physically blue character. Umber (yellow) is obsidian black. Even Quinacridone. I mean, the author came up with the names while reading a Blick catalog on the toilet, let's be perfectly frank.
2. The book increasingly devolved into the author turning themselves on and using their writing to play out their personal (ultra weird, S&M) sexual fantasies. The fact that two hot guys, one of them heterosexual, "having" to do it with each other, usually with cutting and blood involved, or face illness ends up being central to the world building is both telling and utterly ridiculous.
3. The entire--and I stand by this on every level--point of the story is that we now know that the author has a sexual fetish with blood and bleeding. Really not a good idea from a pathology standpoint. Like, Darwin Awards material.
4. Once again I'd like to lament that the interesting setting and world building was ruined by the author destroying the entire story on a fundamentally unnecessary level to play out bleeding-related S&M sexual fetish fantasies.

[Rachelle Janke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up as part of the blind date with a book event at my library. At first I didn't think I was going to like it, but was pleasantly surprised when it drew me in. My only problem was that at times the conversation between characters was hard to follow or it felt that a character was forgotten and then suddenly remembered. For example when they are going down the stairs and they come to a spot where they have to fall to a landing. She describes everyone's descent except Xaz, who is not mentioned until they needed to discuss how much farther they had to go. That just seemed a little wierd to me. I really liked the characters and how they developed throughout the story. Least favorite was probably Hansa, but I still like how she handled his character development. I have a lot of unanswered questions, my biggest one is in regards to Pearl. Why did the Numini want her? Why was Umber wanting to rescue her even if Cadmia's silence could be secured? He hinted at her being special and her eyes are two different colors. I feel like the main characters just forgot about her and don't include her as a piece in their puzzle.

[Michelle Hauck · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this story had an imaginative magic system and an interesting take on demons, plus rich characters, I couldn't feel comfortable with the repeated scenes of characters suffering unwanted sexual invitations and affections. There were a series of scenes with characters being sexually harassed by their demons of the same or opposite sex with the lesson being they come to like this harassment. Just not for me.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. This is most definitely a different world than her young adult novels, and most certainly an adult novel, but not from explicit content. While there's a lot of learn of the setting and such while also trying to follow the plot, it was intriguing. I'm very curious to find out what happens.

[Cory Burbrink · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, not my favorite.

Compelling magic, okay pacing and plot. Has some rough patches that could have used better editing, but overall pretty okay.

[Payal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of angels and demons interlaced with magic. While the author started as YA, this book doesn't seem to be for the YA audience. While I hated the MC's name (Xaz) sounded like a medicine you'd take for an infection, she was a good and strong character. I loved Umber as well as Naples. I didn't care for Cadmia - she seemed a bit annoying. But I liked that the author dealt with a lot of social issues (homophobia, religious zealots, blind faith, etc.) I can't wait to read the next book when it comes out.

[Coril · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used to read this author when I was a teenager, and then fell out of touch with them for nearly a decade. When I again looked them up, this was one of the first 'new' books by them I read, and I was immediately awestruck and in love with their writing all over again. Dynamic, fast-paced, but not over-whelming, with all of the intricacy and detail I had come to expect from them, even more powerfully written than their previous books.

I absolutely love this book, and this series.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never read the Divine Comedy in its entirety but from what I remember, a lot of this story feels like Dante was a heavy inspiration. This is also very different from AAR's prior works seeing as it's her first adult audience book. I had things I liked, I had things I didn't like. She contines to build fascinating worlds and backgrounds but both gives and leaves too much behind. So for that, a solid it was fine and probably 2.5 stars.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Ameila Atwater-Rhodes but this book was hard to get through. Normally her books suck me in rather quickly, within the first few chapters. This one was different. It didn't seemed to pull me in until the last quarter of the book. I'm hoping the next one will be better.

[Heather Dade · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped on page 195. I just realized I did not care at all about what was happening with the characters or anything really about this book. It’s a shame, as I absolutely adore the author’s vampire novels.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, this was a great first installment in a planned series, as well as being a great first adult novel for Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. I loved it. I won't be providing a summary, I believe in your ability to read the one provided by the publisher for yourselves, so let's jump straight into my review.

The cover: spot on. First, I'm glad they didn't try to stick a photo or illustration of any of the characters on the cover. There's an ensemble cast of characters that are all equally important to the story so singling out one would have been wrong in this instance. Also, it could have went a very cheesy, tacky route that would have been unfortunate. Red, the color of blood, is a very significant color for this book and so it makes sense for it to be the primary color on the cover. The imagery is also appropriate, as a decent chunk of the story takes place in a wasteland-ish environment. The typography and layout is balanced and arranged well. My only grumble would be about the little shine/reflection spots around the title, they're kind of ugh. But overall I feel like this cover is much better than several of the ones for her YA novels, particularly the redesigns for the original 4 Den of Shadows books, and portrays the right kind of feeling for a dark fantasy novel.

The pace felt right to me. It was a little slow getting started, as expected when setting up a new world and introducing characters, but she didn't spend a terribly long amount of time on it or throw any info dumps at me which I greatly appreciated. Instead, more information and "rules" are revealed along the way and we learn as the characters learn. I wouldn't say that this book is exciting in the sense that it's action packed or anything like that, rather you're driven forward wanting answers. There are things happening in the background that are just hinted at or partially revealed that create a larger story arc in which this first book is clearly just the beginning of.

I felt like the characters were well developed. We are told the story through at least 3 or 4 different perspectives. There are 5 main characters that form the group that we follow and each character has a completely different background, which informs their viewpoint and attitude towards everything that's happening and creates the opportunity for some really good character development by the end of the book. I also feel like a couple of the secondary characters will likely become more prominent in later books, as their relevance to the larger story was introduced but not elaborated upon.

I found the story itself very interesting, mostly because of the way it was told. The culture of the city it takes place in presents one set of facts--the mancers are dangerous and to be executed immediately,the Abyssi are evil, savage entities, and the Numen are good and basically "angelic". This book is told from both sides of the coin though--by a mancer, a half-abyssi, a guard taught to fight and capture mancers, a prince if he Abyssi, and a woman who is connected to the numen and listens to the confessions of captured mancers before they're executed. When these different people come together, things are no longer so black and white and when assumptions are proven to not necessarily be true, things become much more interesting.

The ending was great--the main arc of this book was wrapped up nicely and we were left with a twist at the end to whet our appetites for the next one.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow.

Merged review:

I used to read Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’ work all the time when I was younger, but haven’t had the chance to catch up in recent years. I finally decided to make a change to that, and I’m glad that I selected this new series to be the one that gets me back into her worlds. The Mancer series shows that Atwater-Rhodes style and ability has grown with time, along with her subject matter. It is not a young adult fantasy novel, like her past works; instead it pushes onward into the fantasy world.



Warnings first: It’s worth noting that Of the Abyss is much more intense than Atwater-Rhodes’ previous works. Along with some animal violence and death (usually in the context of hunting) there are a slew of magic users that require blood and/or pain to cast their magic. This comes up frequently, so keep that in mind.
Of the Abyss was a fascinating read on many levels. The world is intriguing, with different forms of divinity creating their own types of magic (all complementary to what they are, of course). There’s the human world, Kavat. This is obviously where the humans and the mancers live. Then each type of god appears to have their own realm – or at least the Numini and Abyssi do. We didn’t see much of the Numini’s world this time around, but we got an in-depth view of the Abyss. Much like Dante’s inferno there are layers and circles (called courts) leading deeper and deeper in the Abyss. It’s worth noting that the Abyss is undoubtedly an allegory for hell; the details of the world make that pretty apparent. The creatures gain magic through blood, pain, and flesh.
The political system was also interesting – although we’re evidently supposed to come to the conclusion that it is flawed and corrupt. No mancers are tolerated in the city, and any caught will be put to death. There are literally no exceptions to the rule. Not even for the healers or other benign forms of magic. Our first interaction with a mancer is from Hansa’s perspective, which shows all mancers in a bad light. That assumption is quickly flipped onto its head with the introduction of Xaz, a Numenmancer. Her magic appears to be less violent – though admittedly we don’t see her doing anything altruistic with it either.
Most of the characters in the novel are fighting their own demons, along with the ones that are clearly using them as chess pieces. Their struggles defined them as human in a way that nothing else could have. I found myself wanting to see Hansa and Umber succeed more than I had previously. Though conversely I felt that Cadmia’s change was a bit abrupt (perhaps she is under another influence yet shown?), bouncing from one extreme to the other. I found myself rooting for Xaz too – though I don’t know what I actually wanted to have happen in her case. I suppose I wanted some sort of acknowledgement for her situation?
On the whole I have to say I’m really thrilled with the improvement I’ve seen in the author’s writing style and world building. I can’t wait for the second book - which, fortunately for me, is already out.


For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Jessica Patzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I definitely had more fun reading this the second time around (and actually finishing it this time). I’m pretty sure my first read of colored by the fact that I’m an avid fan of Atwater-Rhodes’ earlier novels and apparently had expectations that this one would be similar to those. Boy was I wrong. This is very different from the Nyeusigrube set of books.

That said, I’m not super enthralled with the Abyss trilogy… like, enough not to go on to the next two. Maybe at some point, but not now. The ending was predictable enough that I was just like “eh, that’s what’s gonna happen” and it did, so yeah…

I did like the world-building for the most part. Would have liked some history on the Quin side of things, rather than just everyone else. It’s definitely more of a slow burn in terms of the world building, too. You get to feel things out with the characters rather than have things explained through exposition dumps. Which I liked overall.

That’s all I have to say for now, might think of more later. But yeah… there we go.

[William Bentrim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the Abyss by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Mancers communicate with either beings of the light or dark. Kavet is the capital of Quinacridone. A special forces group called the 126 are charged with keeping the city free of Mancers. A mixed bag of citizens are entangled in a plot between Numen "royalty" and Abyss "royalty".

The mixed bag is just that. People from multiple ways of life are thrust into the underworld of the Abyss to fulfill what they think are their goals. SPOILER ALERT, they may not be their goals and Mancers may be sorcerers.

The story is a bit convoluted. There seems to be an intent to provide adult themes with mixed sexual encounters. The encounters are alluded to and certainly not detailed. I'm not sure why they were even deemed necessary.

The mixed bag becomes a team of sorts and accomplishes what they think they were meant to do.

Web Link

[Ari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't give this book a proper review because of how completely distracting every single character and place name in this book was-- most major characters are named for pigments, and even the ones that weren't immediately obvious would have me flipping back five or fifteen pages to their introductions and muttering "Mars black, god," or "Naples yellow, fuck you," and maybe worst of all the character named Alizarin is described as having blue fur

:,|

other than that it was alright, nothing especially grabbed me like the names did but I finished the whole book, so.

[Calli · Rating 3 out of 5]

not that great

AAR is one of my favorite authors who I haven’t read in a long time so I was excited about this book. But I found it boring, slow, and slightly confusing until the very end. I only finished it out of nostalgia and respect for the author. Character and relationship development was not as strong as I would have liked either

[Ember · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Couldn’t put it down

This book has everything you could want. Interesting characters, a intriguing new world, and a plot that you want to sink your teeth into. Could not recommend enough!

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vampirebookclub.net Review to come - will update after!

[The Damsel in the Library]

Couldn't get past the first few pages.

[Mrs. Brim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhh! Left on a cliffhanger! Definitely got to read the next when when it comes out. Love this author! A little darker than her previous series -- a little Dante dabbled in.

[MJ Codename: ♕Duchess♕]

I never thought I'd DNF a book written by Amelia, but, here I am. I just don't care about these characters or the world and at 50% through, I still don't know what the hell is going on and why these people are afraid of magic.

The world building is atrocious, the plot development is nonexistent, and the characters are weak. And honestly, I forget what I've read the moment I turn the page.

I have too many other books on my list to read then to continue pushing through this.