So a while back, my boyfriend downloaded this free ebook from Brandon Sanderson in an effort to get me more interested in the planes that exist within Magic: The Gathering. Since I was trying to quickly read more fantasy in time for Wyrd & Wonder this month, I finally picked up the book and was surprised by how quickly I finished it!

Children of the Nameless is a dark fantasy set in the plane of Innistrad, a gothic horror/fantasy world where vampires and angels exist. Tacenda is one half of a pair of twins, gifted with a special curse and blessing. She loses her sight for twelve hours each day, but she also possesses a voice that can sing songs to repel the dangers that haunt her village. But one day, her song fails and everyone she knows dies while she’s unable to see. Desperate, she decided to take her revenge against the man she thinks is responsible: Davriel, the Lord of the local area.

What she doesn’t expect to find is that Davriel, while powerful, is more fond of taking naps than killing the subjects that supply him with his creature comforts. And so she badgers him into reluctantly looking into the mystery of why her whole village has been destroyed.

I found this to be a really fun book, mostly because of Davriel’s character. Davriel is lazy, though he has a good heart, and he provides most of the laughs in the book. That’s not to say he’s an object of ridicule – it’s just that his banter with the demons that he’s made contracts with provided a lot of levity.

I also liked the mystery here – exactly who, or what, is behind the deaths of all the villagers? And why are they taking care to dress up like Davriel? As always, I did not figure out who the true villain was until it was revealed to us. Through the process, I had a lot of fun following Davriel and Tacenda and the entourage of demons as they went around investigating. It might have been better if Davriel and Tacenda built up more of a friendship, but that was always a very unlikely thing given the difference in their personalities and status so I can accept how they always held each other at arm’s length.

Did this book get me more interested in the lore behind Magic? I’d say yes and no. I’m still not terribly interested in the flavour text on the cards and wouldn’t be scouring them to piece together mysteries found on the cards (there is, apparently, an actual made-up language on the cards which people have deciphered). But I am interested in this world that Sanderson has created. What is up with the angels? What are the entities? I wouldn’t mind delving more into the background of this book, it sounds pretty fascinating to me.

Overall, I found this to be a fun and interesting book. I didn’t know much about Innistrad going into the book and I still managed to follow along. There’s also not much about the game mechanics of Magic: The Gathering as well, so if you’re just looking for a fun fantasy to read, this might be up your alley.

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