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:

These days a good fantasy story needs a new, original and exciting magic system. Brandon Sanderson has triggered a level of innovation which means fantasy can explore new ground via its use of magic. We’ve moved beyond the magic of Harry Potter, wands are passé. Such simplistic magic has been replaced by systems with dark and desperate consequences. This is certainly true of Soul Cage by LR Shultz. Magic comes at the expense of people’s souls. It’s a dark source, people have to die to enable the use. Kill someone with a large number of souls in their ‘cage’ and you inherit them too – and become proportionately more powerful as a result. It’s a fascinating system and one that, as Sanderson insists, underpins the plot as well as character development.

We follow three characters. Myddrin could be defined as the least sympathetic of the three. Selt-pitying, he mourns the loss of his wife. Drink and drugs have claimed him, rendering him a pathetic character in many ways. Yet he’s also the most powerful. Not a good combination and one that leads him to make dramatic mistakes.

Tvora is a dark character, yet engaging. A woman who commits terrible acts but whose core is intrinsically good. Oh, and has three magical animals under her control. 

Will is the classic hero, in the Harry Potter mould. Possessed of magic he shouldn’t possess, much of the story’s exposition comes through him. For me, he was the least interesting because I found him predictable, even down to his secret love for a princess. He’s a necessarily bland character at this stage though, I suspect his role will grow (and darken?) in the next part of the series. 

The plot is fairly conventional. The villain intends defeating everyone to achieve his goal and battles his way into the climax without any decency, morality or willingness to surrender. This was true for most of the villainous characters, they were truly villainous but perhaps a little two dimensional for that reason. That said, there are exciting battles and moments of high tension. The conflict is relentless. There is political intrigue too. 

It’s a fun story, I enjoyed it, primarily because of the ethical considerations provoked by the magic system and its impact on our three protagonists. This is the best feature of the book.