The Boneman will have his due… the Tithe of goods and treasure and…other things…that keep the dead from rising from their rest. A sharp-tongued acolyte with a holy blessing that clashes with his magic was not part of the deal.
When the dead reject the Tithe, the ancient magical contract fractures. Niamne must choose–fulfill the contract and bring down the curse of her goddess on Orphios, or break it and unleash the restless dead on the world of the living.
Before the week is up, Orphios and Niamne must outmaneuver the treachery of townsfolk and outwit the rules of the gods before the dead take matters into their own hands.
Slake your craving for gothic fantasy romance and enter the world of Strange Magics. Magic is capricious when hearts get involved.
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An unusual fantasy romance that finds beauty in darkness. Orphios the Profrane is a necromancer who serves the god of death. Shunned and reviled by normal people, he is more comfortable with the spirits of the dead than the living. The only time he interacts with people is when it comes time to receive the annual tithe, the tribute he receives in exchange for his protection. Tribute the villagers see as extortion by an evil sorcerer. A beautiful acolyte of the fire goddess is sent to deliver the yearly tithe with no idea that the woman who delivers it is part of the offering.
Now a guest in the necromancer’s domain for one week, Niamne will discover the strangely beautiful world of the dead and that the feared dread lord is not what she’s been led to believe. Rather than a monster is he a solitary man whose dark magic is necessary to protect the world of the living. Armed with the truth of Orphios’s nature, Niamne may be the only person who can protect him from the villagers and scheming priests of the fire god who want to see the last necromancer driven from their land. Intriguing world building with gothic flare and sympathetic characters made me fall in love with this one. It seems to be part of a series, but it stands completely on its own. I’ll be waiting eagerly for the second installment.
I read and enjoyed a bunch of other books by this author, so I bought this book on release and promptly forgot about it for a while. Until now when I finally decided to pick this up. This was a great fantasy romance read with an interesting plot line and well done world building. It’s different from her sci-fi books, but I quite enjoyed this one too.
Tithed to the Dread Lord follows the story of Niamne and Orphios. This is a world with magic and gods, but also people who start believing less in the magics and gods. When it’s time for the yearly tithe to the dread lord, the council decides to give him less than what’s his due and instead of a full priestess they send Niamne, an acolyte, to deliver the tithe. She’s only an acolyte and doesn’t know the full truth about the tithe and the council’s scheme. Niamne then meet Orphios, the dread lord, and the two form a connection.
This is mainly a romance story, but it also has an interesting plot line surrounding the tithe and council’s plan. It has the quite the gentle pace, but it did keep my attention. I did feel at times that there was something missing to fully hook me and make me really care about these characters, but I can’t quite put my finger on what that something is. The setting underground felt a bit dark at times, but it also had it’s own appeal and the author definitely did a great job to give the underground setting it’s own appeal. And it was interesting how the dead have their own personalities and roles as well.
I liked Niamne and Orphios, although at first it’s a bit hard to get a full feel for their personality and I feel like they get more interesting the more we learn. Niamne comes from a farm family and is chosen as an acolyte, she doesn’t quite fit in and only late in this book you find out why. Orphios has a lonely existence as a the dread lord and I wasn’t sure if he would have chosen this life for himself. he didn’t have a choice in becoming the dread lord, but he does seem to do his job well. I liked how he acted around Niamne and how she helped him.
The romance between these two seemed to develop quite quickly, but it did feel realistic. I liked the way Niamne saw the true him and how Orphios slowly opened his heart to Niamne. They have some struggles to overcome and some misunderstanding, but in the end they both realize the truth about their feelings.
There is quite the exciting bit at the end, where everything comes to a head. Both the romance and the plot line surrounding the tithe and it was quite exciting to see how things unfolded and see the characters show their true feelings. The ending felt a little bit sudden and I would’ve loved to see an epilogue of how things go next, how Niamne and Orphios make a home together and also how the above ground world reacts now.
There are some interesting side characters even tough the focus is mainly on the two main characters. There are a bunch of dead characters that have an important role and one who speaks in sort of riddles, which were difficult to understand at times. I liked how the dead had their own personalities and also in how they reacted to Orphios. Then there is Nianme’s sister who also makes an appearance.
As I’ve come to expect from Athena Grayson’s books the world building is done really well in this book. From the magics, to the tithe, to the council who doesn’t believe in magic anymore. I really liked all the details and scenes where we see how the dread lord’s magic works. And also the magic of the flame and the hints of more of these types of magics and gods in the world. Even though these are the only two we see. I also liked how all magic comes with a price.
To summarize: Tithed to the Dread Lord is an unique fantasy romance book. Both the romance and plot surrounding the tithe captured my attention and I enjoyed reading this book. Niamne and Orphos are interesting characters and over the course of the book I felt like I got to know both better. I liked seeing them fall in love with each other. And there’s an exciting part at the end were both the romance and story line come to a conclusion. There are some interesting side characters among the dead and living. I especially liked the world building, which was done very well and I liked getting a feel for this world.