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Graveduggery #2
Execration
The world already ended. Then two witless gravediggers decided to go and make things worse. After trying and failing, rather miserably, to loot Crypt Dun they’ve faded into the background shadows to nurse their wounds. At least, not before detonating a hole through the backside of what was supposed to be the most impenetrable burial space in Old City. Enter the Executioners to pick up the pieces.
Lethean and Euliae work a strange and dangerous job: exhuming the cursed dead and interring them in secure grounds, namely the Duns. But when they learn that Crypt Dun has been so compromised, their entire organization contracts on itself and must reevaluate careful years of planning. Their goal of propping up the remnants of dying civilization is at risk of total failure.
With this ambition now upended, Lethean and his partner are sent to fortify a distant city that has all but fallen off the map. If they can create the foundation of a massive corpse road network, linking the entire province, all control may not be lost. Much can change in the span of a single year, however, and adventuring out into the unknown can be lethal for those not prepared.
It becomes increasingly evident that no one can be prepared. Specialists though they are, Lethean and Euliae are both forced to admit that a new generation of Executioners must be trained and taught to fend for themselves. Undersupplied and undermanned, they must shoulder the unending and unenviable task of reburying a world alive with death.
Lethean and Euliae work a strange and dangerous job: exhuming the cursed dead and interring them in secure grounds, namely the Duns. But when they learn that Crypt Dun has been so compromised, their entire organization contracts on itself and must reevaluate careful years of planning. Their goal of propping up the remnants of dying civilization is at risk of total failure.
With this ambition now upended, Lethean and his partner are sent to fortify a distant city that has all but fallen off the map. If they can create the foundation of a massive corpse road network, linking the entire province, all control may not be lost. Much can change in the span of a single year, however, and adventuring out into the unknown can be lethal for those not prepared.
It becomes increasingly evident that no one can be prepared. Specialists though they are, Lethean and Euliae are both forced to admit that a new generation of Executioners must be trained and taught to fend for themselves. Undersupplied and undermanned, they must shoulder the unending and unenviable task of reburying a world alive with death.
400 pages, Paperback
Published August 15, 2021
3 people are currently reading
2428 people want to read
About the author
Lula Lucent
5 books65 followersStoryteller with a passion for blending dark fantasy and slice-of-life, always searching for the brilliant lights peeking out of the heavy gloom. Currently working in the video game industry as a narrative designer. Moonlights as a gravedigger in the evenings and a pumpkin come midnight.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 22, 2022
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
Two idiots dig a hole in the wrong place and almost end the world. I didn't quite get it, I think. I recommend reading the first novel first.
Two idiots dig a hole in the wrong place and almost end the world. I didn't quite get it, I think. I recommend reading the first novel first.
January 8, 2023
This book was received as a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Whew! Execration was an intense experience that left me feeling conflicted as to how I felt about it.
I'll start with the good:
The book left me off balance, which is a nice change of pace. So often I read a story and see everything a mile away or feel like I've read it all before. I definitely had none of that with Execration. I was having to think hard about what was happening so that I could have some hope of keeping up with the story. I'm not 100% sure if this is due to Lula Lucent's storytelling skill or that I did not read the first book in the series but the end result was that I had to think...a lot...especially the first 150 pages. For the first 75 pages I didn't think I would be able to finish...I was breaking the book up into 50 page reading sessions and then after I hit Page 250, I finished it in one more sitting. For readers who like having to really concentrate on the experience, this is right up your alley.
Which leads to the second good thing: it really did grow on me as it went along. While I might have been confused on the story (especially at the beginning), I was able to get the characters and their relationship with each other so that I went from feeling like I would DNF to not being able to put it down. There were a couple of plot stunners in there too and I liked how they were done...especially the one about 3/4 of the way . At first I felt a little gaslit, but then I really thought about it (more thinking!) and could see how it was set up to go the way it went.
I was left with a lot of questions ...I love this when I read books. Some people don't and so, if you like everything tied up at the end, I don't think this will work for you.
The Bad:
It was a good thing I was able to connect with the characters because I could not connect with the world build at all. I think part of the point was to feel barren and disconnected because that's what the characters are facing, but I was a little too disconnected in the beginning so that it was a real struggle at the front of the book. From what I've seen of other reviews, it's losing readers at the beginning, which is a shame. I think another reason the book felt so slow in the beginning is because it tells the story with no background and so it takes you 100-ish pages to get somewhat oriented. I don't want nothing but background and then nothing happening...but...this went the other direction entirely.
It felt like there were two stories in one book. I won't spoil what they are, but I did feel like they weren't quite enough connected. I treated them almost as individual reads instead of the second part of Lethean's story. I think the challenge I had was that it didn't have enough transition. Life throws you curve balls, but in books I need a little more help when we start going North when we were going South.
The Ugly
Sometimes the writing/style felt very forced. These areas contributed to a lot of my confusion. I had to let many parts go because I just couldn't get at what the story was trying to say. It leaves me questioning (in a not good way) how much of the story I missed. In the parts that weren't quite so opaque or were explanatory, it was great and I read through the confusion to get to those parts. But a solid third of the book let me scratching my head...a bit too much.
Final verdict: I think this book will appeal to a very specific type of reader. That would be a reader that is in it for the long haul and won't DNF with a reallllyyyy slow start, likes having a ton of open ended questions all over the place once the book ends and connects with a very opaque type of storytelling style.
Whew! Execration was an intense experience that left me feeling conflicted as to how I felt about it.
I'll start with the good:
The book left me off balance, which is a nice change of pace. So often I read a story and see everything a mile away or feel like I've read it all before. I definitely had none of that with Execration. I was having to think hard about what was happening so that I could have some hope of keeping up with the story. I'm not 100% sure if this is due to Lula Lucent's storytelling skill or that I did not read the first book in the series but the end result was that I had to think...a lot...especially the first 150 pages. For the first 75 pages I didn't think I would be able to finish...I was breaking the book up into 50 page reading sessions and then after I hit Page 250, I finished it in one more sitting. For readers who like having to really concentrate on the experience, this is right up your alley.
Which leads to the second good thing: it really did grow on me as it went along. While I might have been confused on the story (especially at the beginning), I was able to get the characters and their relationship with each other so that I went from feeling like I would DNF to not being able to put it down. There were a couple of plot stunners in there too and I liked how they were done...especially the one about 3/4 of the way . At first I felt a little gaslit, but then I really thought about it (more thinking!) and could see how it was set up to go the way it went.
I was left with a lot of questions ...I love this when I read books. Some people don't and so, if you like everything tied up at the end, I don't think this will work for you.
The Bad:
It was a good thing I was able to connect with the characters because I could not connect with the world build at all. I think part of the point was to feel barren and disconnected because that's what the characters are facing, but I was a little too disconnected in the beginning so that it was a real struggle at the front of the book. From what I've seen of other reviews, it's losing readers at the beginning, which is a shame. I think another reason the book felt so slow in the beginning is because it tells the story with no background and so it takes you 100-ish pages to get somewhat oriented. I don't want nothing but background and then nothing happening...but...this went the other direction entirely.
It felt like there were two stories in one book. I won't spoil what they are, but I did feel like they weren't quite enough connected. I treated them almost as individual reads instead of the second part of Lethean's story. I think the challenge I had was that it didn't have enough transition. Life throws you curve balls, but in books I need a little more help when we start going North when we were going South.
The Ugly
Sometimes the writing/style felt very forced. These areas contributed to a lot of my confusion. I had to let many parts go because I just couldn't get at what the story was trying to say. It leaves me questioning (in a not good way) how much of the story I missed. In the parts that weren't quite so opaque or were explanatory, it was great and I read through the confusion to get to those parts. But a solid third of the book let me scratching my head...a bit too much.
Final verdict: I think this book will appeal to a very specific type of reader. That would be a reader that is in it for the long haul and won't DNF with a reallllyyyy slow start, likes having a ton of open ended questions all over the place once the book ends and connects with a very opaque type of storytelling style.
September 22, 2021
I just don’t have any clear understanding of this universe, not having read the first book. I can’t pick it up reading the second it’s own, so this was a struggle. Not sure what the hell happened outside of the book synopsis.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews