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A Disaster of Dokojin #2
The Spawn of Spiracy
The Sachem has fled his Fortress. Many fear that he intends to turn on the Decayer Device.
Hoping to stop this, Annilasia resolves to track down the Sachem. But her plan falters when she discovers that, should the Sachem succeed in turning on the Device, the dokojin attached to her will rip her apart. Before she can save the world from the Sachem, she must first find a way to save herself.
Meanwhile, Jalice sets out to locate her long-lost brother, Kerothan. It is only with his help that she can hope to save the Sachem from his own wickedness. But the sins of the past are not soon forgotten, and Kerothan has no intentions of mending old wounds. He's more concerned with the infestation of twisters that scheme to unleash a new evil...
...a new evil that eludes detection and festers in a forsaken place.
Hoping to stop this, Annilasia resolves to track down the Sachem. But her plan falters when she discovers that, should the Sachem succeed in turning on the Device, the dokojin attached to her will rip her apart. Before she can save the world from the Sachem, she must first find a way to save herself.
Meanwhile, Jalice sets out to locate her long-lost brother, Kerothan. It is only with his help that she can hope to save the Sachem from his own wickedness. But the sins of the past are not soon forgotten, and Kerothan has no intentions of mending old wounds. He's more concerned with the infestation of twisters that scheme to unleash a new evil...
...a new evil that eludes detection and festers in a forsaken place.
- GenresFantasy
420 pages, Hardcover
Published November 15, 2021
3 people are currently reading
26 people want to read
About the author
Jesse Nolan Bailey
8 books73 followersEnthralled by the magic that written stories contain, Jesse Nolan Bailey has always wanted to be an author. With his debut novel, THE JEALOUSY OF JALICE, and his shorter fiction, AMETHYST, released to the masses, he can now claim such title with relief. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, where he has embraced the equally-gratifying lifework of hosting a trio of spoiled cats and two mini-aussies.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 1, 2021
Seems I came to the party late again. You definitely need to read the first book of this on going series. Which I will admit I haven't.
However, if dark fantasy is your thing then give this a go. I didn't know there were so many ways to describe body parts and gore. Usually I like to watch this kind of book in film but it was fun to read. I guess gory is my thing. But I'm also going to have to read book one.
I found that the author spent a lot of time describing the world and that made me feel more connected to the story. You felt like you were there and understood it all better. The characters were well developed as well.
If you like gore and body parts and a well described world then give this a go. All I can say is the author has an awesome creative brain. Not sure I'd like to live in her imagination but to read about it is fun.
Enjoy!
However, if dark fantasy is your thing then give this a go. I didn't know there were so many ways to describe body parts and gore. Usually I like to watch this kind of book in film but it was fun to read. I guess gory is my thing. But I'm also going to have to read book one.
I found that the author spent a lot of time describing the world and that made me feel more connected to the story. You felt like you were there and understood it all better. The characters were well developed as well.
If you like gore and body parts and a well described world then give this a go. All I can say is the author has an awesome creative brain. Not sure I'd like to live in her imagination but to read about it is fun.
Enjoy!
April 19, 2022
Just like its predecessor, A Spawn of Spiracy is completely enthralling. It's a pretty big book but it didn't feel like that at all. In this novel, we're following four storylines - Soldier Annalisia is learning the Twister craft as a way to get Inzerious, the dokojin that has bonded itself to her, literally off her back, while she’s simultaneously hating the cult of Twisters. Then there’s Jalice, who is trying to find her brother, Kerothan, to apologize and atone for her actions. Kerothan himself is a new POV, and he is part of a new tribe and is wrestling with his hatred of Jalice over what she did as well as with his forbidden love for a fellow warrior. And Mylo, the woodsman, who is trying to figure out how to craft a potion to help Hydrim get the dokojin Dardajah out of him. Oh, and throughout all this, there's Spiracy, this mysterious dokojin who is not of the usual variety.
That seems like a lot, but while three of the stories exist separately, they are woven together by various smaller details. It's quite intricate how the threads come together in the end. The plot is just fantastic - the story moves at a fast pace but there's still a great amount of tension.
As with the first book, I really liked the characters. Annalisia is a salty, bitter, tough-as-nails soldier who uses her stubbornness as a way to get shit done. What's interesting about her arc is that as Inzerious inhabits more and more of her mind, she seems to be having trouble retaining her humanity. She grows less and less troubled by violence and death and has no qualms about using violence herself to get people simply out of the way. As she was always a fighter in the first book, this change is gradual and artfully done. It suggests that maybe the dokojin are more a reflection of humans than people would care to admit. And maybe Inzerious latched on to her for a reason?
Like the first book, while Jaclice has some chapters in her pov, the book is less about her but the repercussions of what she's done. This is fine by me because Jalice is hard to like. You don’t hate her, but sympathy for her is pretty lacking.
Mygo's sections were short and sweet, with some interesting developments and quite an evocative last chapter.
Kerothan's pov was new and quite fascinating, as well as bringing in some queer rep. I absolutely loved the side plot about his forbidden love of his fellow soldier, and how it has nothing to do with being gay but because the man he loves, Orphim, is bonded to another dude in this May-September romance. This added a bit of lightness to the otherwise perpetually dark tones of the rest of the book, and I loved it.
In terms of the writing, Nolan's style is a great mix of description and dialogue that's easy to understand - even with weird ethereal concepts taking over a good chunk of the story, it still is incredibly approachable. He has some great similes here and there, but I wouldn't call the writing flowery.
As with the last time, I still am having trouble understanding how big these tribes are and how they function as a society, so I hope book three gives us a bit more info about that. It seems like there are only warriors and scouts in this world - we never see the people themselves. But the dokojin are so incredibly cool as a concept that I don't really care too much about the people.
Overall, I loved this book, perhaps even more than the first one, and super look forward to the next one and intend on reading it right away this time!
That seems like a lot, but while three of the stories exist separately, they are woven together by various smaller details. It's quite intricate how the threads come together in the end. The plot is just fantastic - the story moves at a fast pace but there's still a great amount of tension.
As with the first book, I really liked the characters. Annalisia is a salty, bitter, tough-as-nails soldier who uses her stubbornness as a way to get shit done. What's interesting about her arc is that as Inzerious inhabits more and more of her mind, she seems to be having trouble retaining her humanity. She grows less and less troubled by violence and death and has no qualms about using violence herself to get people simply out of the way. As she was always a fighter in the first book, this change is gradual and artfully done. It suggests that maybe the dokojin are more a reflection of humans than people would care to admit. And maybe Inzerious latched on to her for a reason?
Like the first book, while Jaclice has some chapters in her pov, the book is less about her but the repercussions of what she's done. This is fine by me because Jalice is hard to like. You don’t hate her, but sympathy for her is pretty lacking.
Mygo's sections were short and sweet, with some interesting developments and quite an evocative last chapter.
Kerothan's pov was new and quite fascinating, as well as bringing in some queer rep. I absolutely loved the side plot about his forbidden love of his fellow soldier, and how it has nothing to do with being gay but because the man he loves, Orphim, is bonded to another dude in this May-September romance. This added a bit of lightness to the otherwise perpetually dark tones of the rest of the book, and I loved it.
In terms of the writing, Nolan's style is a great mix of description and dialogue that's easy to understand - even with weird ethereal concepts taking over a good chunk of the story, it still is incredibly approachable. He has some great similes here and there, but I wouldn't call the writing flowery.
As with the last time, I still am having trouble understanding how big these tribes are and how they function as a society, so I hope book three gives us a bit more info about that. It seems like there are only warriors and scouts in this world - we never see the people themselves. But the dokojin are so incredibly cool as a concept that I don't really care too much about the people.
Overall, I loved this book, perhaps even more than the first one, and super look forward to the next one and intend on reading it right away this time!
September 24, 2021
First of all this is dark fantasy, meaning bad things happen to the characters....lots of bad things....lots of very bad things. I have never read so many different ways to describe gore and body parts. If dark fantasy is your thing this is a great book.
Secondly, I generally approach second books of trilogies with lots of apprehension. The well established pattern is the first book is exciting and new and the third book is a race to find out how it ends and what happens to everybody. Second books tend to be a less than thrilling way of getting from book one to book three. We already know the characters and we already know the problem they are facing, but we also know we are not getting the ending we want. So many so-so trilogies would have been better as a duology.
That being said, I believe The Spawn of Spiracy is probably one of the best second books I've ever had the pleasure to read. It starts off like a gang buster - hyper speed adrenaline. New elements are introduced, lots happen to characters - lots of very bad things, some things become a lot more clearer in book two. There is a lot going on and it is all extremely captivating.
Several times I thought 'oh, I know where this is going' then wait to smuggly go 'see, I was right' only to have Bailey pull the freaking rug out from under me and throw me a curve ball I never saw coming that was far superior to my expectations. Well done.
Dark fantasy readers - you absolutely need to read this. It is phenomenal. But gory, very gory.
Secondly, I generally approach second books of trilogies with lots of apprehension. The well established pattern is the first book is exciting and new and the third book is a race to find out how it ends and what happens to everybody. Second books tend to be a less than thrilling way of getting from book one to book three. We already know the characters and we already know the problem they are facing, but we also know we are not getting the ending we want. So many so-so trilogies would have been better as a duology.
That being said, I believe The Spawn of Spiracy is probably one of the best second books I've ever had the pleasure to read. It starts off like a gang buster - hyper speed adrenaline. New elements are introduced, lots happen to characters - lots of very bad things, some things become a lot more clearer in book two. There is a lot going on and it is all extremely captivating.
Several times I thought 'oh, I know where this is going' then wait to smuggly go 'see, I was right' only to have Bailey pull the freaking rug out from under me and throw me a curve ball I never saw coming that was far superior to my expectations. Well done.
Dark fantasy readers - you absolutely need to read this. It is phenomenal. But gory, very gory.
May 27, 2021
I received an advanced copy from Jesse for The Spawn of Spiracy. I would recommend reading the first book in the series so you know the characters when the story starts. I enjoyed the story because of the world(s) that Jesse has created, by painting a great picture of what is happening. This allows better understanding, especially with the different events happening to the characters throughout the story. I also enjoyed the character development during the story. The main characters come a long way from the beginning until the end. I recommend this story to people who enjoy dark fantasy stories.
December 28, 2022
"You have every right to be angry with me," she said. "But I need you to forgive me."
"I don't have to forgive you," he spat, nostrils flaring. "There's no cosmic law that compels me to do so. Perhaps I should, as far as Sahruum's mercy goes. But as one human to another, I don't owe you anything. Especially after everything you've done."
Setting:
We see a bit more of the world in the novel. We get to meet a couple new groups of people and there is further mystery around the flayers and the strange ancient technology that can be found scattered about.
Character:
Annilasia: Annalisa is doing her best to not die. Her dokojin is doing its best to make her life as short and unpleasant as possible. Despite her immense hatred for them, she's joined a coven of twisters hoping that they might be able to help her free herself from this monster.
Jalice: Jalice is desperate to find her brother and make amends for ruining his life (and everyone else's)
Plot:
Annalisa needs to remove her unwanted passenger before she can set about killing the Sachem. Doing so proves no easy task though. She's had to become one of the twisters she so despises and even that may not be enough.
Jalice is looking for her brother when two of her traveling companions are killed and she's captured. She finds him though, as one of the very men holding her captive but does she have any hope of getting him to forgive what she did?
My Thoughts:
This was a rather significant disappointment after the first book.
The main issue is that this book is a very very slow burn. For around half the novel both of the main characters are prisoners, Jalice more explicitly so, but while Annalisa could leave doing so would definitely result in her being killed by the dokojin in short order so there's little difference for her. Neither of them are told much if anything they want to know and it feels like essentially nothing is happening. Annalisa is in theory spending precious time before her gruesome demise and the entire world might just go up in flames if Hydrim ever does the bad thing but all this tension feels rather irrelevant when both of the main characters are made to sit around telling their thumbs. I should have DNFed the book during this section but I pushed through it.
All the time spent sitting around in this state meant that when things did eventually start to happen, I struggled to care about any of it. The things that happened were dramatic and violent and that's all very interesting but I was simply over it by then and it was too late.
The first book I still think is fantastic but if you want to read this, do so knowing that the pacing of this one is much different.
"I don't have to forgive you," he spat, nostrils flaring. "There's no cosmic law that compels me to do so. Perhaps I should, as far as Sahruum's mercy goes. But as one human to another, I don't owe you anything. Especially after everything you've done."
Setting:
We see a bit more of the world in the novel. We get to meet a couple new groups of people and there is further mystery around the flayers and the strange ancient technology that can be found scattered about.
Character:
Annilasia: Annalisa is doing her best to not die. Her dokojin is doing its best to make her life as short and unpleasant as possible. Despite her immense hatred for them, she's joined a coven of twisters hoping that they might be able to help her free herself from this monster.
Jalice: Jalice is desperate to find her brother and make amends for ruining his life (and everyone else's)
Plot:
Annalisa needs to remove her unwanted passenger before she can set about killing the Sachem. Doing so proves no easy task though. She's had to become one of the twisters she so despises and even that may not be enough.
Jalice is looking for her brother when two of her traveling companions are killed and she's captured. She finds him though, as one of the very men holding her captive but does she have any hope of getting him to forgive what she did?
My Thoughts:
This was a rather significant disappointment after the first book.
The main issue is that this book is a very very slow burn. For around half the novel both of the main characters are prisoners, Jalice more explicitly so, but while Annalisa could leave doing so would definitely result in her being killed by the dokojin in short order so there's little difference for her. Neither of them are told much if anything they want to know and it feels like essentially nothing is happening. Annalisa is in theory spending precious time before her gruesome demise and the entire world might just go up in flames if Hydrim ever does the bad thing but all this tension feels rather irrelevant when both of the main characters are made to sit around telling their thumbs. I should have DNFed the book during this section but I pushed through it.
All the time spent sitting around in this state meant that when things did eventually start to happen, I struggled to care about any of it. The things that happened were dramatic and violent and that's all very interesting but I was simply over it by then and it was too late.
The first book I still think is fantastic but if you want to read this, do so knowing that the pacing of this one is much different.
March 21, 2022
I was granted complimentary access to The Spawn of Spiracy by Jesse Nolan Bailey as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Escapist Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
I'll start off by saying that I wasn't aware that this was a sequel when I signed on to the tour. I haven't read the previous book and I do truly feel that this isn't the sort of series where you can jump around. I'm definitely missing some key information that might have made the difference between the four I'm giving it and the five many others have.
Warning to potential readers, especially those who also haven't read the first book (or maybe that's not relevant in this case, I don't know!) This book is gory! This is being officially billed as Dark Fantasy Horror and I would say that's very accurate. You would also be forgiven for calling it Grimdark, though the inclusion of "horror" right there in the genre label is very fitting.
The Spawn of Spiracy is full of vivid description that will ensure you see exactly what was in the author's mind as the story formed. I can see this world, the buildings and places, the people. If this book is ever optioned for screen adaptation the screenwriters would be foolish not to lean on all of the very visual work done here, and if they don't honour it I can tell there will be a lot of angry fans of the book who know exactly what looks right or wrong about everything. Although I jumped into this series at the deep end without my floaties, it was a beautiful swim.
The characters have so much depth and nuance to them, and although I don't know which ones I'm supposed to have already met vs who's new, or what sort of character growth anyone has already gone through, I can tell that these are characters anyone who reads the whole series will feel that they know as intimately as their closest friends and family in the real world. They're reliable, they're realistically flawed, and their emotions ring true. I truly don't understand what happened between Jalice and her brother, that must have been book one, but somehow I can't help but side with both of them at the same time!
This series is definitely worth checking out, and after I figure out what I missed back in book one I think I'll be eagerly looking forward to book three.
I'll start off by saying that I wasn't aware that this was a sequel when I signed on to the tour. I haven't read the previous book and I do truly feel that this isn't the sort of series where you can jump around. I'm definitely missing some key information that might have made the difference between the four I'm giving it and the five many others have.
Warning to potential readers, especially those who also haven't read the first book (or maybe that's not relevant in this case, I don't know!) This book is gory! This is being officially billed as Dark Fantasy Horror and I would say that's very accurate. You would also be forgiven for calling it Grimdark, though the inclusion of "horror" right there in the genre label is very fitting.
The Spawn of Spiracy is full of vivid description that will ensure you see exactly what was in the author's mind as the story formed. I can see this world, the buildings and places, the people. If this book is ever optioned for screen adaptation the screenwriters would be foolish not to lean on all of the very visual work done here, and if they don't honour it I can tell there will be a lot of angry fans of the book who know exactly what looks right or wrong about everything. Although I jumped into this series at the deep end without my floaties, it was a beautiful swim.
The characters have so much depth and nuance to them, and although I don't know which ones I'm supposed to have already met vs who's new, or what sort of character growth anyone has already gone through, I can tell that these are characters anyone who reads the whole series will feel that they know as intimately as their closest friends and family in the real world. They're reliable, they're realistically flawed, and their emotions ring true. I truly don't understand what happened between Jalice and her brother, that must have been book one, but somehow I can't help but side with both of them at the same time!
This series is definitely worth checking out, and after I figure out what I missed back in book one I think I'll be eagerly looking forward to book three.
March 29, 2022
First, let me say, you really need to read book one before diving into this one. It is a bit gory, but not overly so. I do like that the world building is just as rich as in the first book, and we get a little more insight. It certainly started off much faster than book one, and the pace stayed quick, which was nice. There were plenty of twists to keep you guessing, and it was easy to get lost in the story. A good read, but definitely start with book one.
September 28, 2021
This book was a great read. I liked the characters and the world they survive in. Descriptive battle scenes, with plenty to keep you guessing what will happen next. Highly recommend. I can hardly wait for the next book!
September 26, 2021
I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
I was blown away by this book!! The characters have so much depth to them, having seen then through the first book and oh! the plot just keeps getting better. It's dark, gritty, with so much heart, unexpected twists and turns.
I absolutely loved it. Can't wait to read more of Bailey's work.
I was blown away by this book!! The characters have so much depth to them, having seen then through the first book and oh! the plot just keeps getting better. It's dark, gritty, with so much heart, unexpected twists and turns.
I absolutely loved it. Can't wait to read more of Bailey's work.
September 21, 2021
another great entry in the A Disaster of Dokojin series, the story was well done and I enjoyed going on this journey.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 5, 2021
Based on the cover I wasn't sure what to expect but turns out it was an amazing story. Will definitely seek out more by the author. Very well written and great characters. Recommended to all.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews