Upon the black sands and beneath the ever-watching eyes, a tale of shadow magic and ancient mysteries unfold in this new dark epic fantasy series.

In the desert city of Yontar, Nya cares for her sick mother. But when Nya is arrested, her mother’s death is all but certain unless Nya joins a secret project that promises her freedom. If she survives.

Rai, a mercenary, has a shadow dark enough for two. In his quest to discover the nature of the creature living in his shadow, Rai collides with old friends and new enemies, stumbling into an ancient mystery that could mean the end of the world as they know it.

All the while, a darkness stirs and rebellion threatens, helmed by a man who promises justice will reign.

Title: Harbinger of Justice

Series: Shadowbinders

Author: Andrew Watson

Genre: Fantasy

Hardcover: 488 pages

Publication Date: 06/09/2023

Publisher: Independently published

Language: English

ISBN: 9781739340001

GOODREADS

My Review

I may have read a few fantasy debuts over the years since I fell for this genre, and it isn’t always smooth sailing, though, in his instance, it absolutely was. If you took Andrea Stewart, Chris Wooding, John Gwynne, and C.L. Clark and created a product of their respective styles, you will land on Andrew Watson, a promising new writer not to be missed. His self-published new novel Harbinger of Justice, the first in the Shadowbinder’s series, is filled with compelling scenes, interesting new takes on magic, and wondrous world-building.

Here is what you will find when reading Harbinger of Justice

Flawed characters, light and dark, shadow magic, and blood magic.
A well-imagined world with an Egyptian-inspired flair of sands and a daring underworld and torment realms.
Friendships, heists, discoveries, rebellion.
Great scene formations and landscape terrain changes, from markets and palaces to dunes and caves and more.
Myth mystery and interesting beings like phantoms, sand serpents, ayas, husks, ancient gods, and goats!!!
Fast-moving plot and some hair-raising moments.

“Don’t be foolish. What do you owe them? They didn’t come back for you. They left you to die,'‘ the shade said. “

Nya has lived on the streets with the Sand Rats for the longest time till she finds a little attic room in exchange for helping a spice merchant set up a market stand every morning. She takes care of her ailing mother, and unlike the amazing mother we find in Gwynne’s Bloodsworn Saga, Orka, hers is demeaning and foul, despite Nya taking care of her after her dad’s passing.

“You know, if it weren’t for you, we would be eating like kings right now, “ Mother said between bites.

“We could have lived in the palace,” Mother said reverently. “You stole our happy life. Our life of luxury and security.”

And so Nya continues to do her best till she finds herself arrested after a heist gone wrong with the Sand Rats, and is forced to take part in a secret project that would gain her freedom and ensure her mother’s well-being. Where it will take her is unimaginable!

Rai is a mercenary and with his snarky shade Fox, finds himself in a peculiar situation after he kills a merchant on one of his missions. As he stumbles into the mystery that the prologue of the book alluded to, his storyline forms as he is thrown into the past and collides with old friends and those recently made enemies - all connected to the darkest secrets of shades and a different realm.

Nya finds herself baited into that same ancient mystery, and Rai isn’t far behind but coming into the story from another angle. Both are equally hair-raising and so well-imagined, it was hard to put the book down at times.

The Egyption-themed world with the rich underworld and myth created by Watson was stellar. There is a scene in an ancient dark library that is so fantastic and reminiscent of dark scenes in Harry Potter, it was truly captivating and visually stunning as I imagined the plot unfolding with a raised pulse.

Bone-like spikes wrapped around a grey membranous head unset with two glowing red eyes. The silverwater ran off it as the god rose. Ma-atan The Harbiner of Justice. The Wheiger of Souls.

The ending, oh the ending!!!

So well done and a great gateway into the next novel.

As I had mentioned, there are possible traces of the influence of the authors above that could be found in this wholesome fantasy. The shades in Harbinger of Justice are like the conversing companions found in Stewart’s The Drowning Empire. Rai and his shade Fox make a great team, though overall, there was a much darker pull in the meaning of the shades. Fans of animal companions will enjoy this part of the novel a lot. Then there is my favorite of Gwynne’s characters, Orka, and Nya’s relationship with her mother is explored at several points in the novel. I found it clever that Watson made Nya’s mother the complete opposite of Orka, who is the ultimate mother bear. Because I have followed Watson for a while and he recommended Wooding’s The Ember Blade, which I loved as well, is it easy to see how the different bands of friendships and mercenaries embody some of that companionship and banter found in The Darkwater Legacy reflected in this novel. There is this old-fashioned/traditional fantasy vibe that never dies or gets old for me with these ragtag friendships. What made me think of C.L. Clark’s recent novel, The Unbroken, was the influence of the setting and the rebellion/justice of the people in the storyline. Elements of such were found in Harbinger of Justice, though cloaked in an Egyptian-inspired setting and mythology that reached far into the past. These are just my impressions but it can lend a good idea if you have read any of the above mentioned in terms of setting and characters.

Harbinger of Justice is off to an excellent start and I can’t wait to continue the series. If you are interested in reading a bit more about Andrew Watson and his writing process, check out my interview with him on The Fantasy Hive.