Book Impressions - The Soul Ripper by Cege Smith

The Soul Ripper is a fantasy/post-apocalyptic novel that starts with an interesting premise. The world has fallen is some undermined time in the past and babies are now born without souls, as such they are in effect little monsters that grow up as such until they are granted a soul through a special ceremony.

The story concerns a group of parents who have been chosen to have souls granted to their offspring and the people involved in that particular day's ceremony. Unfortunately someone long forgotten also has a need for souls and has their own plans for that day.

I enjoyed reading the book, as I've said the basic premise is interesting and it weaves a believeable world and more importantly it provides a vision of people's lives in that world. The writing is solid and leads you happily through the plot right up until the moment it abruptly ends.

In fairness the end is a reasonable one and oes leave you anticipating the next book in the series, however it is a pet peeve of mine when a significant chunk of the book you are reading is taken up with a section of the next book. In this case I hit 85% (far from the worst offender I've encountered) and the book was over.

As I say that's a pet complaint of mine, other than that it is a fine read, well worth checking out.

 

In a post-apocalyptic world known as the Territory of Malm, infants are born soulless. With a hideous appearance and unquenchable hunger, they are kept out of sight until they are Chosen.

Long ago, the residents of Malm placed their faith in the Office of Souls to lead them and keep them safe after the human race was almost destroyed in the time known only as "Before". But someone long forgotten has other plans, and that means unleashing unspeakable evil into their world.

Soul Implantation Day 3675 starts out like any other, and follows the paths of six people who are destined to meet in the courtyard of the Fountain of Souls. They bear witness to a soul implantation ceremony gone terribly awry.

Not all of them will survive, and some will suffer a fate worse than death.

This title was previously published as "The Soul Garden".*

Length: 25,000 words

Currently available in the Twisted Souls series:
The Soul Ripper (Twisted Souls #1)
Twisted Souls (Twisted Souls #2)
Soul Cycle (Twisted Souls #3)

The Soul Ripper is available from Amazon (and is a fun, if brief read)