Published: August 2, 2022
Publisher: Artemisia Books
Series: Maradaine Saga Story #1
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 158 (Paperback)
My Rating: 4.0/5.0
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Phadre Golmin and Jiarna Kay are perfectly matched. Both astounding intellects, sharing a passion for academic pursuits and each other. Traveling from the University of Maradaine to Trenn College in Yin Mara, they are excited for the opportunity to study magical and mystical theory with the famed Professor Salarmin. So when they come across a dead body that defies all logic, they should leave it alone.
But Phadre and Jiarna tasted adventure in Maradaine, so the discovery of similar victims, paired with their scientific curiosity, makes the situation far too intriguing to ignore. Knowing that they alone have the knowledge to unravel the mystery, Phadre and Jiarna are determined to resolve it, no matter the cost to their academic careers.
If you’re a reader of Maresca’s Maradaine series, you may recall Phadre Golmin and Jiarna Kay, two brilliant University of Maradaine graduates that helped out Veranix Calbert on occasion. Now they’ve set off on their own adventure to teach at Trenn College in Yin Mara. On the way there, someone from their caravan is killed in a most unusual way – they are a shriveled husk as if the life was sucked from their body and it’s clearly unnatural. When another body shows up after they’ve begun their tenure at Trenn College the two get involved.
This was a very short story, clocking in at 158 pages, and yet it managed to have a gripping quality. I think it helps that we are already familiar with Phadre and Jiarna and the greater world of Maradaine. The mystery of drained bodies was intriguing and though it opened a whole host of new questions, I think these events may be important in further Maradaine books.
The secondary characters however were largely an unmemorable lot. I despised Professor Salarmin, who treated all of his graduate students/research associates quite poorly and pandered to the elite who fund his program and while that *does* make sense and happen in real life, it’s still very frustrating to read about. The only other character that made an impression on me was the associate that everyone conveniently forgot to mention whose mind was broken by his research.
Overall, this was a nice addition to the larger Maradaine universe and made for a great bite-size read. According to the author’s website, there will be four more Maradaine Saga shorts in the next two years.
Powder & Page 
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