Nether Light by Shaun Paul Stevens

A world where reality is breaking down.

When refugee Guyen washes up in the land of his enemy, he knows he will fight, but soon finds himself falling down a well of wonder and improbability.

Can he survive a system designed to oppress him? Can he tame his anger to unleash his potential? Can he see his enemy for what they truly are?

I read this as part of SPFBO 6. It was the second book in my personal batch. This has a chance to be a semifinalist.

TW: mention of offscreen rape, body horror, heavy depictions of blood

I won’t lie, I get intimidated by big books. That’s why I decided to get the Inn’s biggest book out of the way sooner rather than later. But wow, Nether Light by Shaun Paul Stevens flew by. I couldn’t put it down. But more importantly, I was excited to pick it up when I wasn’t reading it.

The pacing is fantastic and makes it so that we’re moving at a steady flow. Something’s always happening, and there’s always something to look forward to. The revelations come naturally, which I personally appreciated. This is a single POV story, too. We only see through Guyen’s eyes (at least as far as I remember).

Occasionally in between the chapters, we also read from historical documents that contain fables, personal accounts, the history of the city, etc. They helped make the world seem fuller, and I liked how they were incorporated into the novel itself.

Guyen’s character arc is so smoothly done that you almost don’t even realize he’s been growing and developing all along the way. It’s not that he does a complete 180 from where he started. But his goals expand from simply saving his brother to protecting others around him. He becomes more trusting while at the same time more cunning and daring.

There are little moments of humor scattered throughout, too. My personal favorite was when Guyen meets a girl named Mist for the first time. She sits next to him and is described as looking distracting…because she’s just casually opening and closing a switchblade like she’s twirling a pencil. But it’s just for peeling fruit, she swears. It’s little moments like this that help the book not feel all doom and gloom. We learn more about Mist as Guyen gets to know her. Really, all of the characters are pretty great and full of personality. Even Guyen’s “ghostly copy,” Toulesh has spunk. Something I liked is how everyone subverts expectations. They all go against Guyen’s preconceived notions. I really liked how everyone had agency and was strong in their own way — not just physically, but mentally or emotionally as well.

I’d personally describe this as Dark Epic fantasy with flavorings of Grimdark. It’s more the scenery in the parallel world we visit briefly that’s Grimdark, though there are moments of body horror. There’s also a mention of offscreen rape; however, I think it was handled well and with respect. I think the only thing that bothered me was that there were a few scattered mentions/similes of whores and prostitutes that just didn’t really fit. I’d like to think that this was part of Guyen’s POV and not the book itself making a judgment call.

Nether Light is an oil-lit, Dark Epic fantasy that subverts expectations, has a great cast of characters, and fantastic pacing. I feel like I’ve typed a lot but barely said anything here. But I genuinely really liked this book and would recommend it for anyone who thinks it sounds remotely interesting.