REVIEW: Sanctuary by Ilona Andrews
It’s not easy serving Chernobog, the God of Destruction, Darkness and Death…especially during the holidays; and especially when you’re out of eggnog and one of your pesky, freeloading mythic creatures has eaten your last cookie.
Roman would like nothing more than to be left alone, but when a wounded boy stumbles into his yard and begs for sanctuary, Roman takes him in. Now elite mercenaries are camped out on his property, combat mages are dousing the house with fire, and strange priests are unleashing arcane magic. They thought Roman was easy pickings, just a hermit in the woods, but they chose the wrong dark priest to annoy. For while Roman might be patient, he is the Black Volhv, filled with the love of his terrible god. For his adversaries, it’s a fight to the death, but for him, it’s just another day in the neighborhood.
Dear Ilona Andrews,
I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting myself into when I bought this book but I just had to know about why Roman was out of eggnog and cookies. By the time I’d finished it, I was starting to get my feet under me and sure that this is part of some larger series that I knew nothing about. That’s on me. I’d advise newcomers like me to flip to the end and read the glossary of terms to better understand who and what these characters are, though in all fairness, the book does a great job of making terms fairly clear without them turning into a dictionary entry.
Being the priest of a dark god came with certain obligations. Obligations he honored with dedication and discipline. But a man had his limits. This was his. His god knew it. Roman was available any other time of the year, but from December twenty-third to December twenty-fifth he was to be left alone. Such was their unspoken agreement for the last seven years.
Roman wakes up from a dream/nightmare to discover that his eggnog and cookies, that he had very much been looking forward to, are gone. Who took them? A little detective work points him outside to where a tree is being decorated by the mythic creatures that live with him. Under the tree though is a young man and a puppy. Obviously on his last legs, the teen utters “Sanctuary.” And thus Roman’s world is about to be turned upside down. This shit is going to get real, real fast. Can’t Roman get the three days off a year from serving his god that he was promised? Apparently not.
The foul mood was nothing new. He detested the end of December. Koliada, Christmas, Saturnalia, he hated every iteration of the Winter Rites, with all of their corresponding rituals. The entire season was a wash. He didn’t decorate, he tried his damnedest not to celebrate, and the only thing he did like about it was the food.
Even though I was being carried along on the wave of a world that I knew nothing about, filled with characters I don’t know, and mythology that is only vaguely familiar to me, I had fun with this. Set during Koliada (Slavic Winter Solstice) we see Roman have to save a young man of whom he knows nothing from mercenaries who arrive – all assholic and shit in their tactical sunglasses – while Roman’s wearing a torn, stained sweatshirt, old sweatpants, and Eeyore slippers.
“And yes, normally I’m reasonable enough. But this is what you might call an emotionally difficult time of the year for me. I’m irritable, out of eggnog, and one of my freeloading creatures ate my cookies. You should leave while you still can.”
“None of that is my problem. Last chance.” The leader crossed his arms. “Send the kid out.”
“You’re right. This is your last chance. Leave now and everybody walks away alive.”
Oh, you don’t know how much Eeyore stuff I own. I love Eeyore! I think I could sit down and drink some Sbiten with Roman for a while.
“What the fuck…” Wayne sounded resigned. Clearly, the man was at his limit for weird magical shit happening. “Who the fuck are you, lady? What are you doing here?
Anyway, there’s a lot of holiday stuff here in between the massive magic battles and tree dragging. Family’s gonna go weird during the holidays and sometimes your mother will appear and guilt you into showing up at home and question you about why you haven’t given her grandchildren yet – if it’s due to equipment malfunctions, she’s got herbs for that! The less we talk about Roman’s brother, the better. Roman also faces past events that have scarred him, tries to make some amends, and does a Really Good Deed for someone in even worse shape than he is.
This is short but packs a punch. There are character growth arcs and everything to go with the action sequences. Readers looking for something a little different from the usual winter holiday fare, though this does include magic fights and some deaths – though Roman does his best to limit those as there is a price to be paid for death, give this one a go. You’ll learn all about Slavic holidays and creatures and Zoroastrianism, too. Roman might be a little grumpy but he’s the one you go to if stuff needs to get stuff done or you want to talk about god problems. B
~Jayne
“There might be some leftovers.” Roman said. “I had eggnog and cookies but the nechist stole them all.”
“Do you have the ingredients, Roman?”
“Um…”
“Eggs, sugar, cream? Things like that?”
“Yes.”
Andora nodded. “I will make you cookies and eggnog. It will give us time to chat while Finn and Morena finish talking.”
He opened his mouth to say something.
“It’s Koliada, after all. We must at least have cookies.” Andora nodded to him. “Come on, Black Volhv. Show me your pantry. We will be going to visit your family tonight. You will need cookies and eggnog to get through it.”
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Awwww, Roman. I have this queued up for a reread. For those that don’t know, he’s a secondary character in House Andrews’ Kate Daniels series, and much loved by their Book Devouring Horde (aka BDH). And he has Eeyore pj’s to go with the slippers. They first released this last year on their website as a serial, and then published the finished novella. It’s currently available for free from Book Funnel through the IA Site. https://ilona-andrews.com/blog/sanctuary-a-winter-gift/
Yeah, Roman is a character in the Kate Daniels series and actually I liked him better in those books. Sanctuary was nice, but it wasn’t fantastic like some of the mid-series KD books. If you want to try those, I advise skipping the first and maybe even the second, for me the series hit its stride around the second half of book three. But once it gets going, it rocks.
I am getting a kicking out of you discovering Ilona Andrews now. My favorite of their books are the Rogan and Nevada trilogy that begins with Burn for Me. I loooove Nevada. Not sure you’d be into Rogan but there are a lot of animals and an animal mage in those books. The Edge books seem to be a lot less popular but I did like On the Edge a lot and I think you might also, if you want to read something that’s a bit different from the rest of their oeuvre. Fated Blades is another one that’s pretty different but good. If you want to know why people go wild for their books though, read KD books three to five, and / or the first three Hidden Legacy books (those are the ones about Rogan and Nevada).
@Janine: I liked Roman in Sanctuary okay, I just wished a little less mythology ( and I love mythology and I am familiar with Russian mythology but at some point that reminded a lecture). Yes Jayne I am so happy too that you are finding their books
@Sandra: Eeyore pj’s too? I must read more.
@Janine: A lot of times, if I haven’t read any books in a series, and that series is already big and more books keep coming, I back away from it due to how many books I already have to read. Which is kind of silly of me but there you go.
@Sirius: I guess because I don’t know much Russian mythology, the explanations didn’t bother me as much.
@Jayne: I know what you mean. I actually am kind of there with Sparks and Bainbridge right now. I loved the first one and liked the next two (the third more than the second) but I fell behind and am now a bit intimidated by the thought of catching up. For what it’s worth, the Rogan / Nevada books are complete as a trilogy, you don’t have to continue on with her sister Catalina’s books. I hate to think of you missing out on their best books!
@Janine: It doesn’t take long to fall behind these days.
@Jayne: So true! Books used to come out every year or two. Now they often come out faster and there are more of them.