Review: Soul Cage by L.R. Schulz
Blurb:
Murder Breeds Magic
All power comes with a price. In a world where magic is transferred by the act of killing another, Myddrin stands above the rest. Having accidentally killed the most powerful mage in all of existence, Myddrin now lives a peaceful life in isolation. But there is no such thing as peace in the land of Otor. War calls. The voices of the dead haunt him, and there is nowhere to hide.
Cursed with the deathly taint of magic, young Will must seek acceptance among the Knights of Aen. There, he must learn to touch the otherside, control his abilities, and decide for himself what is right, and what is wrong.
Tvora’s soul is broken. The price of vengeance was her sanity. Her companions help her keep a tenuous grasp on herself, but with the urgent need to absorb enough magic to sustain them, she is pushed to choose a side in the upcoming war. The question remains, will she choose the right one?
Review:
The driving force behind L.R. Schulz’s fantastic Soul Cage is drawing to mind a classic bit from a Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons:
“To gain magic, you must kill someone.”
“Oh, that’s bad.”
“You will gain all of their souls to make you more powerful.”
“That’s good.”
“The souls threaten to drive you mad.”
“That’s bad.”
“But the more souls you gain, the more powerful you become.”
“That’s good.”
“If you allow the souls to overcome you, you will become irreparably soul-broken.”
“…”
“That’s bad.”
“Can I go now?”
In crafting one of the most unique and consequential magic systems I’ve seen put to paper, Schulz has laid the foundations for a true epic, one that focuses marvelously on the pursuit of power, and the price one must pay once they’ve obtained it.
In the land of Otor, former educator Myddrin becomes one of the most powerful beings in all of existence after accidentally killing the land’s most powerful and infamous mage and taking all of his souls. Ten years later, he is constantly haunted by the souls of the dead, finding relief only in alcohol and drugs in his isolation. War approaches, however, and his powers are needed, whether he wants them to be or not. Meanwhile, a former student of Myddrin’s named Will becomes an apprentice of the magic-wielding Knights of Aen, but he is looked upon with suspicion when he is able to use magic before he even becomes a Knight. And, approaching the Gracelands alongside the power-hungry emperor Carthon of the Skull Throne is Tvora, soul-broken but having reclaimed her sanity…and seeking revenge.
The consequences of gaining and using magic is what drives Soul Cage forward. Being a powerful mage means having taken innumerable lives, and Schulz masterfully navigates the questions of morality surrounding the system. The souls of the dead constantly haunting the mage, bringing them closer and closer to the brink of madness the more they use their magic, is a fascinating parallel to one’s own conscience, as well as when one becomes soul-broken and can no longer be reached. Likewise, the character arcs of Myddrin and Will illuminate this perfectly, with Will constantly acting as a moral compass and not wanting to kill, while Myddrin is overwrought with both the sheer number of souls within him, and the survivor’s guilt of having been brought to kill.
The plot is otherwise simple in its approach, but masterful in its execution. The impending war brought by Carthon serves as the backdrop to the tale, with political maneuvering, ecclesiastical deceit, and back-stabbing playing a large role as well. Schulz weaves these plot threads extremely well, and I was always eager to know what would happen next. He grips you right from the start, opening the book with the question, “Why do people kill each other?” As the plot progressed, I was constantly thinking back to that question, because the characters’ individual reasoning for why they kill informs so much about their goals: Protection. Power. Revenge. Love. Because they must. Because they have no choice. Each character has their own motivation to kill, and that brings so much depth to the story just by asking a single question that most other books wouldn’t even spare a second thought to.
Overall, Soul Cage is a blast. Deeply thought-provoking, engrossing right from the start, with one of my favorite magic systems in quite some time. This is gonna be a series to watch out for.
