Wicked Saints – Emily A. Duncan

Wednesday Books | Hardcover | April 2, 2019

Monstrous and magnetic.

Nadya is a Kalyazi cleric capable of channeling the power of multiple gods. She is the well-kept secret Kalyazin plans to unleash on its “heretical” enemies, the Tranavians, to win a holy war that has spanned centuries. But when her home is destroyed Nadya must find another way to stop the war. So, against her gods’ wishes—and her better judgment—she teams up with a mysterious, monstrous, and mesmeric boy, Malachaisz, as well as pair of rogues, Parijahan and Rashid, to kill the Tranavian king. ​

Meanwhile, Serefin, a powerful blood mage and the High Prince of Tranavia, is unexpectedly called back from the front by his father so he can partake in a traditional ceremony where he will choose a bride. Serefin immediately senses something is amiss and fears that his life may be in danger. His race to uncover his father’s plot—and his desire to end the war as well—puts him on a collision course with Nadya and Malachaisz.

Wicked Saints has tremendous momentum. With each twist and turn Duncan adds another layer of complexity to her plot. She is clearly moving her players of prophecy into place for a larger chess match and this will certainly leave readers hungry for more. But while all this movement and watching Nadya wrestle with romance for the first time is exciting, it takes away from arguably more compelling—and important—threads such as questioning one’s faith, what it means to act with free will, coping with and recovering from PTSD, and the tensions between politics a religions.