Table of Contents

1. Intro
2. Book 1
3. Book 2
   1. Chapter 7
   2. Chapter 17
   3. Chapter 40
4. Revised strategy
5. Mythic resonance

Intro

Fantasy necromancy is not entirely fiction.

Necromancy and hallowed graves are two sides of the same coin. There is real basis for hallowed graves. In Jesus' novel, the hallowed tomb of Palador permitted communion with the ancestors, their ashes mixed into a communal urn. The burning and mixing prevent malicious targeting of the individual or his mortal residue, and represent the local spirit band's interpermeating unity. In real life, Padgettite Jesus' body was replaced by a transcendent body, in a sort of resurrection, creating the imprint on the Shroud of Turin as the material body dissipated.

If a corpse can be hallowed, it can also be desecrated. Given the way Padgettite Jesus tends to sidestep and understate classified topics, one may infer a spectrum of necromantic possibilities, such as using a corpse to facilitate soultrapping or enslavement, or at least to target and harass the spirit of the former owner. One may also consume sapient flesh in order to absorb spiritual residue that once linked body to soul. This is why adrenochrome must be harvested from human children instead of animals or synthesized artificially. (This is a dangerous and classified topic, which it is not necessary to explore.)

Thus I am a stickler for accuracy in my necromantic fantasy tropes. I found the benevolent smarmy lich of Overlord unbearable; liches should hate all life. By contrast, I was pleasantly surprised by the excellent Book of the Dead, by Rinoz.

I found the book engaging enough to puzzle through my own solution to the problems confronting the protagonist. There are better ways to master death than by nearly dying every chapter.

I assume that almost nobody here has read the book, so I've removed the spoilery sections that critique the protagonist's decisions. You can read them here.

Mythic resonance

The protagonist's Anathema class allows him the choice of three pantheons to serve.

The Dark pantheon is a composite of the forest Fae (Rot), angels (Raven), and goddess witchcraft (Crone).

The Scarlet Court vampires are cold-blooded fanged carnivores who infiltrate royalty. Hint hint.

The Abyss are tentacled beings of Outer Darkness, the typical eldritch trope. Humans assume that these are chaos gods representing our fear of the deep ocean. However, what if the deep ocean was populated by templates from elder life forms existing in the primordial Deep? Then Azathoth and Cthulhu might be inspired by communications from beyond the Veil. In any case, it is best to ignore their mad wisdom.

The stereotypical Gray alien with black eyes exhibits both aquatic and deep space adaptations. The black-lensed nictating membrane permits the eye to function in both extremely bright and extremely dark environments, such as outer space. They would be the ones to ask about the denizens of the Abyss, since it appears they are related.

Rinoz's worldbuilding is solid, and leads to the correct conclusion to cooperate with the Dark pantheon over the other two options.