Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead

K. J. Parker's Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead completely flew under my radar last year. I had never heard of it until last month's ebook sale. The blurb immediately piqued my curiosity and I decided to give it a shot. The premise appears to be similar to that of Joe Abercrombie's The Devils. But other than being two fun and often hilarious reads, the two novels have very little in common.

Brother Desiderius is by far the most endearing and sarcastic narrator I've encountered in recent years and, despite certain flaws in execution, he truly made this book a memorable read.

Here's the blurb:

From World Fantasy Award-winning author K.J. Parker comes a devilishly clever tale of murder, intrigue, and existential crisis.

Not even the Church of the Invincible Sun is invincible – and somebody has to do its dirty work. Enter Sister Svangerd and her accompanying priest, both first-rate practitioners. Their mission is simple: to make a meddlesome princess disappear (permanently).

To get to her, they must attend the legendary Ecumenical Council, the once-in-a-century convening of the greatest spiritual minds the world has to offer. But when they arrive, they find instead a den of villainy that would make the most hardened criminal blush.

To complicate matters further, it appears that some people who were definitely grim reapered might be not quite dead after all. What began as a little assassination is about to escalate into a theological debate with terrifying consequences for everyone.

Brother Desiderius, reluctant priest of the Church of the Invincible Sun, scribe, and self-proclaimed top-of-the-line forger of documents, must accompany Sister Svangerd, devout nun and eager assassin, on a mission to kill a troublesome member of the clergy during the upcoming Ecumenical Council convened by the patriarch in the far-away city of Choris Anthropou. Business as usual for the unlikely duo, or so it seems until they are attacked on the road at the beginning of their journey. To make matters worse, someone else murders their target before they have the chance to do so. Soon, the would-be assassins are thrust into an unanticipated episode of the Long Game, the eternal struggle between the forces of Good and Evil. Various factions have decided that Brother Desiderius is at the heart of everything that must transpire during the council for their side to ultimately claim victory. But what can a cynical atheist who doesn't even believe in the Long Game do when people around him start to die and, even more worrisome, don't stay dead? It's quite the connondrum for this poor unbeliever.

The title can be a bit misleading, as Sister Svangerd is not the main protagonist. Not even close, to be honest. If not for the fact that the narrator is so entertaining, it could perhaps have been a bit of a problem for me. Given the title, one would expect the nun to play more than what turned out to be a marginal role in the tale that is Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead. And yet, it's definitely Brother Desiderius' first-person perspective that gives this novel its unique flavor. Through the priest's cynicism and ironic world views, K. J. Parker explore themes such as the nature of good and evil, faith, religious dogma, free will and predestination, and much, much more. The dark humor that permeates every page of this book worked its magic on me from start to finish.

The author keeps his cards close to his chest regarding the worldbuilding aspect of this new trilogy. Moreover, given the atheist nature of the main character, the fact that he believes in nothing and figures that religion is rubbish, it forces those who are trying to pressgang him into furthering their own agenda, be it for good or evil, to explain every little thing to Brother Desiderius. Which means that, after meandering for the better part of the entire novel, the plot only begins to make sense following a number of info-dump conversations which come late into the story. Again, though it's part of the title, the use of the walkers/zombies became a bit redundant after a while. I didn't mind, so enamored was I of the priest's POV. But yes, execution was lacking to a certain extent, especially in the second half of the book.

Sister Svangerd and the Not Quite Dead doesn't suffer from any pacing issues. True, it's a slow-moving plot that can be a little confusing at times. And there isn't anything that can be called an exciting endgame or a riveting finale. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I'm looking forward to the next installment.

How an irreverent and cynical unbeliever ended up as the lynchpin for all the factions involved in the generation-spanning battle between the forces of Good and Evil, Brother Desiderius has no idea. God knows I want to discover what happens next!

The final verdict: 8/10

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