Cait’s Review of “Requiem’s Reach” by R. M. Garino

By: Cait Marie

*I received a copy of this book from the author for my honest review.*

First and foremost, this is a novella in the Chaos of Souls series. It takes place before the first book, The Gates of Galorath. However, I recommend reading it after the first two books. They will get you better acquainted with this elaborate world R. M. Garino has created, and you will have a better appreciation for events that happen in Requiem’s Reach. This review will not contain spoilers for the other books.

Review for book one: The Gates of Galorath
Review for book two: Angels of Perdition

If you are unfamiliar with this series, it is, in short, about fallen angels who train to guard their world, and the human world, from demons. There is a so much more to it, but that is the gist for you newbies.

In this novella, we have Malachite, who thinks he has found a way to the mythical, sacred city of Raqui. He is putting together a group of Magi and Blades to find a way there, with the goal of lining up the realms and opening a gate for the rest of the Lethen’al to follow. Before they can, though, they are betrayed and their home is attacked.

While trying to defend their people from the Lo’ademn, someone activates the “Needle,” which pulls the group who planned to leave into the other realm. Their only hope of returning and saving the Lethen’al lies in their ability to properly line the realms up. Two of the powerful demons followed, however, so they must deal with that while working on opening the gate.

R. M. Garino continues to amaze me with this series. The story is so original and intriguing. I love that this gives a deeper look into the history of the Lethen’al. The way everything ties up and leads to the main books of the series blew my mind. I’m one who can normally predict where stories are going to go, but not with Garino’s books. They are always surprising me. I literally said, “Oh my God” out loud, multiple times, during the last few chapters.

Like the other books, this one is very well written. There are a lot of names and terms Garino has created, but he writes in a way that is easy to get the meanings with the content. Plus, there is a glossary in the back with pronunciation guides and definitions. The world building and his descriptions are incredible. They’re beautifully done, painting a vivid picture.

The characters are well written and interesting, too. There were some familiar characters with the new, which was fun getting to see. I actually want to go back and re-read Angels of Perdition now because of what all we learn in this book.

As some might know, this is my first real epic fantasy series. I’d always been too intimidated to read them, and when I tried, I was often bogged down by too many descriptions. This series does a wonderful job of balancing the descriptions, dialogue, and action.

This book in particular had a lot of action. It kept my attention very well from the beginning and was intense in all the best ways. I will warn you that a couple parts do get a little gory. I don’t mind, personally. I feel like it really added to the story by showing what they were really dealing with and why it was so important to get their people safely to Raqui.

If you like fantasy, absolutely give these books a try. I cannot wait for more of the story and anything else Garino may write in the future. He’s quickly become an auto-buy author.