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A review by books_and_cocktails_afterhours
Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo
4.0
This novella is an urban fantasy that intertwines east asian culture, a thriller murder mystery and parasitic monsters that completely blew my expectations.
The supernatural elements are seamlessly integrated into the urban landscape of Seoul, creating a unique setting for Detective Kim Han-gil, a detective with a side-hustle of trying to exorcise soul eating parasitic worms that seem to be undetectable to anyone but him. He is both misunderstood in the magic community and at work, but he keeps trying to do the right thing and exorcise these demons. I knew I was going to like him once I read the last phrase of chapter 2:
“Han-gil just waves dismissively. He’s officially exhausted his communication stamina for the day."
The pace of the story is quite fast, as expected of a Novella that includes as much story and context as this one, but it has the right pacing overall. It slows down perfectly in the right moments to show us flashbacks of what brought the characters to this point. The change of pace and tone once we get a perspective from a different character was a really nice touch as well.
An honorable mention goes to the description of the different character’s souls and how they were perceived by different people who somehow could feel/see/hear/... them. It really made me wonder about the different colors, tastes, feelings and smells. More than that, the description of how they were perceived was detailed enough to paint the picture, but left just a bit of room for your mind to fill in the gaps.
The only complaint I have is the one I usually have with Novellas: I felt like it ended right when I was connecting with the characters. I wanted more: more about the Han-gil’s detective partner, who surprised him time and time again by not listening to rumors and trying to help; more about Azuna, as she seems like an amazing character that could be so much more; even more of Yoonhae and why he was able to do what he does.
My main critique and something to take into consideration is that this is a urban fantasy with a side of murder mystery. But it is just a side, as the entire thing is not the only focus of the story and it was quite predictable. However, the fantasy setting more than makes up for it!
Overall, I really enjoyed this beautiful story about grief, guilt, forgiveness and making peace with our own demons.
Thank you very much Interstellar Flight Press and NetGallery for providing me this ARC.
The supernatural elements are seamlessly integrated into the urban landscape of Seoul, creating a unique setting for Detective Kim Han-gil, a detective with a side-hustle of trying to exorcise soul eating parasitic worms that seem to be undetectable to anyone but him. He is both misunderstood in the magic community and at work, but he keeps trying to do the right thing and exorcise these demons. I knew I was going to like him once I read the last phrase of chapter 2:
“Han-gil just waves dismissively. He’s officially exhausted his communication stamina for the day."
The pace of the story is quite fast, as expected of a Novella that includes as much story and context as this one, but it has the right pacing overall. It slows down perfectly in the right moments to show us flashbacks of what brought the characters to this point. The change of pace and tone once we get a perspective from a different character was a really nice touch as well.
An honorable mention goes to the description of the different character’s souls and how they were perceived by different people who somehow could feel/see/hear/... them. It really made me wonder about the different colors, tastes, feelings and smells. More than that, the description of how they were perceived was detailed enough to paint the picture, but left just a bit of room for your mind to fill in the gaps.
The only complaint I have is the one I usually have with Novellas: I felt like it ended right when I was connecting with the characters. I wanted more: more about the Han-gil’s detective partner, who surprised him time and time again by not listening to rumors and trying to help; more about Azuna, as she seems like an amazing character that could be so much more; even more of Yoonhae and why he was able to do what he does.
My main critique and something to take into consideration is that this is a urban fantasy with a side of murder mystery. But it is just a side, as the entire thing is not the only focus of the story and it was quite predictable. However, the fantasy setting more than makes up for it!
Overall, I really enjoyed this beautiful story about grief, guilt, forgiveness and making peace with our own demons.
Thank you very much Interstellar Flight Press and NetGallery for providing me this ARC.