Crimson Eyes
L.L. McNeil
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Seila has been slaying demons for as long as she can remember.
A Phantom, she travels the length and breadth of England in a quest to reclaim her humanity—and her soul. With her Sieken Blade, she cuts down the demons in her path while inching closer to freedom from the endless hunt.
When an Elite Demon makes sport of London’s Kouzlo—a secret organisation of supernaturals dedicated to ridding the Earth of demons and sealing the portals they slink through—its leader, an Enchantress called Fallow, implores Seila to join their cause before they’re wiped out.
Desperate to save her Kouzlo and the people they protect, Fallow pledges to help Seila reclaim her soul in return for the Phantom’s formidable skills.
The demon hunter is torn between her lone hunt and joining Fallow’s decimated forces—and perhaps the chance to stop the demons once and for all.
Thrown in with Damon, a fledgling half-Fire Elemental with limited control of his powers, and Tej, a reckless human with a penchant for crossbows, can Seila and her new allies keep it together long enough to save London?
I loved L.L. McNeil’s epic fantasy series, Moroda, so when I heard she was writing an urban fantasy I just had to pick it up as I was so excited. I read through Crimson Eyes so quickly and finished it in only a couple of days (although my reviews are behind so this was a while ago now).
Our main character Seila is a Phantom and a demon slayer, she’s hell bent on hunting the demon that stole her soul. Throughout the book she learns to trust the new people in her life, and she must become more of a team player. Her character development from someone who has no emotional attachments, to basically finding a new family was so well written.
She first meets brother and sister duo Damon and Amber, when a demon nearly attacks Amber in her home. After realising they are half fire elementals, they form a small team to hunt down some demons. Damon and Amber’s sibling relationship was really well done, you can tell when you’re reading that they care about each other, even when annoying each other. I also liked the contrast to their relationship, and that Seila couldn’t even remember her family.
The siblings bring Seila into the fold of the Kouzlo, which is our series title. The Kouzlo is an organisation which fights demons, and tries to protect Earth. Fallow is the leader, and is an enchantress. I loved Fallow because there was something a tad bit ethereal to her and you can’t quite put your finger on who she is. I loved the magic system of Fallow not being able to be this all powerful sorceress and the inclusion of a Djinn – which I’ve been seeing more and more of in fantasy’s recently.
The characters, their relationships to one another and their development are really the shining stars of this book. The plotline itself isn’t so different to other books, but I loved the family feel of these characters. All of them had their own strengths (and flaws!) and these were touched on at different parts of the book.
The start of the book does have a few fights, but it can feel a little slow as we are introduced to characters, this world and the reasoning behind Seila’s story. However, once we / Seila has enough info – we start off on an action packed and fast paced area of the book. Like I mentioned first, I managed to read this in a couple of days – it’s not a long book, and most of it you race through to find out what will happen next.
Similar to McNeils other books – this book doesn’t have a romance arc which is really refreshing. If you’ve read some of my other reviews, I don’t like sub-plots which are just romances that give nothing to the story, and Crimson Eyes didn’t have this. For an urban fantasy as well, this is rare to be honest!
The world-building is also something to talk about! Urban fantasy normally doesn’t focus on the actual world, and this book takes place in London, so it doesn’t need to. But I loved that McNeil includes world building around the demons and the magical elements that are in this world, and how they alter the reality we’re in – and why it makes this place different (or the same…) to the London I’m currently in.
Whilst I enjoyed Crimson Eyes as a book, I didn’t enjoy it as much as McNeil’s other books. But I do think this is because I prefer epic over urban when it comes to fantasy. I think it hits all the wants and needs from an urban fantasy book, and it takes unique aspects like Seila being a Phantom to make itself different.
Positives of Crimson Eyes
- Character development
- World building of this London
Negatives of Crimson Eyes
- Slow start to a short book
I received Crimson Eyes by L.L. McNeil from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review
