The Spellslinger

A Fistful of Daggers #4

by S.M. Reine

Lincoln Marshall has failed. The Godslayer is trapped in her worst nightmares. His only chance of repairing the timeline is dead. He's stuck a decade in the past with Sophie Keyes, and the world is falling apart.

Held captive by the Union, Lincoln and Sophie must fight to repair a timeline rapidly unraveling.

James Faulkner has survived, but he's not whole. He's divided into angel and demon--his ambition and obsession severed from his power and passion. His angel side wants to rescue Elise. His demon side wants to rescue the world, at any cost--even if it means letting Elise die. Between their brilliant minds, they've conceived a plan that can repair the timeline. The only price is their lives.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Supernatural, Post Apocalyptic, Fantasy

227 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 17, 2019

About the author

Hi everyone! My name is Sara, and I write urban fantasy and paranormal novels as SM Reine. I collect swords, cat hair, and typewriters (which I do use for writing!). It's a good day when those three things have nothing to do with each other.

If you would like to know the instant my next book is available, you should enlist in my Army of Evil! We have a wicked cool secret handshake, but you'll have to sign up to learn it. ;) Check it out -- http://smarturl.it/armyofevil

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Apocalypse just kept getting better.”

S.M. Reine always writes the most feel-good, comfiest, coziest stories. If your idea of a cozy read is having your black little heart repeatedly and most thoroughly crushed page after page that is.



(Ah, feeling slightly dead inside, there really is nothing quite like it!)

💌 A very private message to S.M. Reine: there was supposed to be another installment after this one. WHERE THE BLOODY FISH IS IT?! Am I supposed to unleash the crustaceans on you as a non-violent invitation for you to write it?!



P.S. This series is part of S.M. Reine's Descentverse and a downloadable reading list for the books in this universe can be found here: https://smreine.com/wp-content/upload... You're welcome and stuff.

· Book 1: Lonesome Paladin ★★★★
· Book 2: Spellsmoke ★★★★★
· Book 3: Hell's Hinges ★★★★★

[Karen ⚜Mess⚜ · Rating 5 out of 5]

MacHalo Buddy Read

The Holy Fuck is strong in this one. Sarah ™

There we go. I think I summed up this review.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Messed up timelines and gods gone wild and CRAZINESS of the highest order...yessssssss. I always know I'm going to get a whole lot of insanity when I pick up a S.M. Reine book and this fractured timeline is certainly holding up to that.

Lincoln and Sophie are caught in the middle of something insanely huge. Their foray into the past has far-reaching consequences and their capture by the Union leaves them little wiggle room for fixing it. As an aside, the Union has more than their fair share of jerks working for it. Just, SO MANY JERKS.

On the other end of the craziness, James and Elise are not who they need to be yet to defeat Adam. Given that James is literally divided between two aspects and Elise is trapped in a nightmare of godly proportions, I mean this in the most fundamental sense. Elise doesn't know of all the strings James has been manipulating through her life and James is equal parts obsessed and driven depending on which aspect you're talking to.

To say things are complicated and twisted and downright bizarre at times would be an understatement.

BUT...all this does bring Lincoln one step closer to being the Brother Marshall we met in the future. Things might be insane and complex, but they're putting Lincoln (and Sophie, I presume) where he needs to be and that's a good thing. I think.

Crazy. Intense. Weird. Monstrous. World-ending. Everything I enjoy when I step into the Decentverse.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

My initial reaction when I finished Spellslinger? “OMG or gods? Doesn’t really matter in the long run I suppose. The old adage, “be careful what you ask for” still applies. I need the next book sooner rather than later…” I also promised that I would soon be writing my usual rambling, incoherent review, so here it goes…

That “be careful what you ask for” comment? Yeah, that’s real – fans were given a choice in a poll a while ago. The choices included a list of characters that readers would be interested in reading more about in their own series. Lincoln was one of those characters and he was my choice. To be fair, it wasn’t because he was one of my favorite characters, it’s just that he was featured in at least two other series and his character peaked my curiosity. If you know anything at all about S.M. Reine’s Decentverse, you know that her characters go through a lot AND their development from series to series sometimes takes a strange turn. Lincoln was one of those characters. A major transformation had obviously taken place and I wanted to know what happened to turn him into the character he had become in Dana McIntyre Must Die.

So much happened in Spellslinger… so much! There were a lot of characters pulling strings, a lot to love and just as much to hate. There were also a lot of twists and turns. Fair warning, it’s not an easy book to put down and it’s also one that demands your full attention. Although all of the books in the Fistful of Daggers series have been intense, I’ve got to say that Spellslinger has been the most emotionally intense one so far. I was not expecting tears and they fell more than once. I think who those tears were shed for at times was what shocked me most.

Spellslinger also proved to me that time travel is not for the faint of heart. Things that happened in the past escalated and shifted and the things that happened because of those shifts were devastating. Many things need to be “fixed”, many, many things. Beyond that craziness, Lincoln has a little farther to go before he gets to where he needs to be in the future and I can’t wait to see how he gets there.

If you haven’t started the Descentverse, you really need to. You can start with the Fistful of Daggers series, but since there is so much character and world building that takes place before this series starts, I wouldn’t recommend it. You can find the order of series and books on S.M. Reine’s website. A lot of the early books in the Descentverse are free, so there’s really no excuse to not start from the beginning 😉

I received The Spellslinger in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Courtenay Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, wow. I’m going to start off by saying: I didn’t remember the bulk of what came before. I think that’s an occupational hazard when you’re a book binger - sometimes you forget major plot lines.
So I went back and read parts of the last chapter, and let the story remind me of the rest - something that Sara (thankfully!!) does really well. There’s still bits I have no recollection of, but that kind of just means I’ll have to do a re-read once they’re all published, and that is really no hardship.
Okay, so... now that I’ve rambled unnecessarily... HOLY WOW. This book! I thought Yatam and Yatai were a blast from the past but OMG!! We went back to Araboth!!! And yes, it was awful, and poor Elise (Elise!! 😍), but it was also SO FREAKING COOL to jump back years and relive it all again! Plus, with hindsight and knowing what was still to come later for James and Elise, I didn’t have any of Elise’s anger toward James this time. If anything, I kind of pitied him.
As for our main character... Lincoln. Well. He grew! I mean.. it’s slow-going, and he definitely tends to revert at the first sign of stress - but he’s growing. I have such high hopes for him and Sophie if they ever manage to make the world calm down long enough.
There’s so much more - soooo many elements of this story that are wonderful and sad, and just... everything. But if you’ve read up til now, this one will only make you hungrier for an eventual resolution. ❤️

[Vannessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book from the author and published as an advanced reader copy, but this review is all mine!

I love this series and this book was just brilliant. It was a fast paced ride with so much going on for all four of the main characters and at times I got lost with who was supposed to be doing what, where, when and with whom, but everything does eventually intertwine and everyone gets to where they need to be to do what they need to do.

Back in the past Lincoln and Sophie are in the hands of some very unsavoury people who are basically forcing them to do things against their will, in order to fix something that has gone very wrong, but Sophie knows the only way to save the world and themselves is to do something way more drastic than these people have planned. However, her plan may just be the thing to destroy the world rather than save it. Lincoln and Sophie have to get back to their own timeline and hope that they can save one timeline before it's too late.

I have always liked Lincoln even if he can be a real jerk at times, but in this one, he really proved himself. He genuinely cares for Sophie and will do anything he can to save her. Even his feelings for Elise have diminished in comparison to those he has for Sophie.

I can't wait to read the next book in this series now as everything seems to be resolved...for now, but we know it can't be all over just yet!

Thank you to Sara and Angie for sending me a review copy of this book.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't even know where to start reviewing these books any more. There is so much baggage and world building that happened prior to this installment that you should go way back and start at the beginning in order to appreciate the gravity and importance of everything here.

Lincoln and Sophie are in bad shape at the start of this book and it only gets worse. We pick off where we left off with the whole end of the world business (again). Sophie is still pregnant and Lincoln is still a pretty big jerk. I've never been a real big Lincoln fan, but in this book I turned a page in that book. Everything changes here (maybe even in other timelines and who knows what else? timey wimey and all that...). The ultimate goal of these two is to set things right and head back to their timeline.

Without too many spoilers here - do they do that? Yes? Kind of? Sort of? Only time (ha-ha) can tell if things have been set right or maybe even better than before. Part of me is hoping for changes, part of me is hoping for going back to the old timeline for everyone but Sophie and Lincoln. There's a lot of changes that I cannot wait to see happen between these two, and I wasn't even mad about this wild, messed up universe and all of its graphically awful things.

[Darlene]

Sara Reine has done it again. I love that we get to visit our favorite characters over and over in an ever-renewing timeline. Once again we visit the Reno-Tahoe area which for me, makes for one more character to enjoy.

Through the characters, Ms. Reine asks questions that remind me of why I loved Sci-fi for all my life. With deities, angels, and demons, subjects like philosophy, religion, and why things happen the way they do, and how it applies to our norms, all this comes up in the course of the story and makes the reader think. That is my favorite kind of writing. It isn't preachy, it doesn't even set up any rule to follow. These are questions the characters present as they chase down the next plot twist.

Ms. Reine writes so well and keeps the reader involved. I almost always finish her books quickly as I don't want to stop reading until the end.

As always, I suggest a person go back to the beginning, Six Moon Summer and read the gazillion other books, they are all terrific. I can't wait to read the next book! What will she come up with next?

[C. Erani Kole · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much happens in this, and I'm always feeling a type of way when Eiise and James are involved. This is Lincoln and Sophie's story but E&J also get their own perspectives. This book is an answer to the "what if's" you ask yourself, only those answers are brought to life and you wish you didn't know. It's more than sad for me, because Elise and James are a particular couple. They're beyond complicated. Lincoln still loves Elise but he's slowly finding that there are different kinds of love. He's very flawed but the series has shown why. They aren't excuses, but they help to better understand this complicated man. Then there's Sophie. Her story is really interesting but she was pretty subtle in this one, since a lot of it had to do with Lincoln's important journey.

Reine's writing is always good but this one sang a slightly sad tune than usual. But with all that melancholy was hope and happiness, contentment and relief. I'm a bowl of feels right now but it's a recommend for this series and the author. Especially the author. Goodness.

[Stacy Van cise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stuck in their younger bodies in the alternate time line Lincoln and Sophie wake in a OPA facility. Starved and in dire need of medical attention they and forced to bond in a way closer than family. For Lincoln came backwards through Genesis to get here and popped out a kopis and Sophie a witch. Now task with fixing a timeline that may not be saleable. Elsie is living her worst nightmare stuck with Adam and James is having trouble with a split personality of sorts. The world is torn open and no one is sure it can be saved. After what the Union does to Sophie, she is unwilling to save this timeline and forms a plan that she is no where near certain will work.

This is a fantastic 4th book to this series. I wasn't sure I could like Sophie in the first few books but I am warming up to her. I have always loved Lincoln and am happy to see him get a good story. The books are getting really good. I can't wait till the next one comes out!

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book for free from SM Reine in exchange for an honest review.

I find Lincoln's story to be compelling, and here with the twists and turns inside Spellslinger, we learn a little bit more about Lincoln's backstory, and how he comes to be the version of Lincoln we meet in Dana's series.

Through god created chaos, Lincoln and Sophie have traveled back in time to fix their mistakes, but as per usual, everything goes haywire and ends up more complicated than before. Ultimately, the decision has to be made as to which timeline will survive.

One of my favorite parts of this book was watching Lincoln interact with young Elise and James. Though, with two as powerful as these, Lincoln's knowledge of the future helps contribute to the breaking of this timeline. I very much hope to read more books with Elise and James in the future.

As a continuation of Reine's brilliantly developed universe, I would recommend to urban fantasy lovers.

[Megb · Rating 5 out of 5]

The timeline is a out of wack and Lincoln and Sophie don’t know if anything can fix it at this point but they are going to give it hell trying.

Everything is different now, can Sophie and Lincoln fix it? Lincoln is still trying to figure out what his part is in everything, and where he fits in to the story. What is his purpose and who is he suppose to be?

Sophie suffers trauma that changes her forever, its raw and emotional and so just traumatic.. There’s really no better word for it. It had my emotions flaring as well, I empathized and pitied and just FELT for her.


Sara leaves you wanting more with this book, as she always does. Her writing is so unique and witty and creative, I love it. I can’t get enough of her words! This book was one I couldn’t put down. I read it in one sitting, devoured it really.

[Denise Belt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lincoln finds himself in another timeline and this one is even worse than his original timeline. Elise is trapped in a living nightmare with her biggest enemy and James has been split in to literally as an angel and a demon. Lincoln wants to fix the timeline and return to his world with Sophie but to make this happen people will die.


Reine has the ability to create many different worlds within her books that most of us can’t even imagine. Lincoln, Sophie, Elise, James, and Betty are at the center of this book where the only one with enough power to fix the mess is Sophie but does, she want to fix this world that is not her own and live here for the rest of her life? The characters are complex and full of depth that most of us can relate to in one way or another. This book might make your head spin too but all in a good way.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

CW/TW: violence, miscarriage, alcohol, deicide.

This was a difficult read. There’s some harrowing themes that are explored and at times I had to take a break from the book. James and Elise go through a horrendous journey. Adam returns with awful consequences for Elise. Lincoln and Sophie go through the mill too and one of their scenes was very difficult to read. There are multiple timelines and Betty makes an appearance! I really felt for Lincoln in this book. He really goes through a massive emotional journey, growing up and maturing somewhat. We get to see more of his family and to somewhat, understand why he’s as he is.

This is a great addition to the Decentverse but I definitely wouldn’t start with this book. I can’t imagine it making much sense.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intellectually, I know that this is a complex storyline with many interwoven threads and themes. And I can, on a surface level at least, completely appreciate the epicness of the story which the author delivers.

It's not her fault that I can't always keep up with the machinations, because... Time travel!

There is a feeling of inevitable doom pervading this story. The losses, the risks. But in counterpoint to that, there is still light.

Another piece of the incredibly complicated jigsaw of this Reiniverse.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.

[lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smashing reality into pieces wasn't the plan,

With the traveller gone, Lincoln and Sophies only hope of salvation has been snatched by an insane deity getting arrested and forced into a union neither wants ends in heartbreak and death. Will Sophie destroy this world or die trapped within it Lincoln can only guess. A brilliant installment of the Lincoln Marshall series five stars just isn't enough !!!!

[Meryl Markowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast passed and action packed

We are getting closer to how Lincoln Marshall became Brother Marshall of the Catherdral.
This next installment changes many events in the past. Will it cause a butterfly effect? Will Licoln and Sophie be able to return to their time? Lots of questions to be answered.

[Noxwitchbooklife · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book four and we get taken on a wild ride though the Decent verse history but an alternate version.

Full of all the usual excellent crazy I have come to expect and love from SM Reine with Elise and James being a large part of this book if you loved them from prrvious series this is just as excellent.

[Auz Burger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lincoln completely destroyed the timeline in the last book and in this one he works to set it right. He also finally learns that Elise wasn't messing with him about the truth about God, which honestly improves him quite a bit. He's still an idiot, but much less so in this book. Looking forward to book 5!

[DMA · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is stunning writing!! I think this one officially broke my brain and I'm not sure my heart survived intact!!
Lincoln continues to be put through the wringer as he tries to correct his mistakes.
Be warned this one is likely to make you cry your eyes out!
Brilliant read
Highly recommended!

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange of a review. This one took a bit to get back into with all the changed timelines but was a wild ride. I'm really loving Sophie's character throughout this series.

[Rachel Joi Maples · Rating 5 out of 5]

still stuck in alternate timeline ... friends are separated and enemies thrown together ... confrontation with Adam while Reno is in tatters ... will they be able to return to the "correct" time or has the future become irreparable?

[Carrie Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can they fix the rip in the universe?

Amazing next book to Lincoln’s adventures... I just eat each and every book of Sara’s...! Can’t wait for the next addition!

[Wesley Arnold · Rating 4 out of 5]

She really knows how to write big events. Marvel should hire her to write the next "Endgame" style event.