First published 2018
Nicholas wants to become a Living Artist, but his demons drive him into the shadowy depths beneath Veniss. There he strikes a dangerous bargain that may cost him everything. When Nicholas vanishes, his twin sister Nicola searches the mysterious city above, uncovering secrets that pull her deeper into its web. She discovers truths about Veniss that change everything she thought she knew. Then Nicola herself disappears without explanation. Her lover Shadrach refuses to accept her loss. Driven by desperation and love, he descends into the nightmare levels far below the city's surface. In those depths, he encounters wonders that defy understanding and horrors that test the limits of what a human heart can endure. Each journey deeper into Veniss reveals new layers of the city's dark magic, where the boundaries between creation and destruction blur, and love becomes both salvation and curse.
Genres: science-fiction, literary-fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller, dark-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: descent-into-madness, found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Veniss
320 pages · Paperback · Pan
Content warnings: body-horror, graphic-violence