The Crimson Road by A.G. Slatter fantasy book reviewsThe Crimson Road by A.G. Slatter fantasy book reviewsThe Crimson Road by A.G. Slatter

The first A.G. Slatter book I’ve read, 2025’s The Crimson Road was a treat. Violet Zennor is a smart, witty, bitter young protagonist with an unusual upbringing, who reluctantly embarks on a quest she has no desire to undertake. The story is a vampire-themed fairy tale, filled with magic and danger. I wanted to know how Violet would fare against the dreaded vampire Leech Lords, who rule in the north. Violet has been trained to fight and kill, but she’ll need more than the arts of war to prevail against the being who has risen as their new leader.

I loved Slatter’s world. It is filled with magic, which I would call mostly conventional, and socially and economically it seems to straddle pre-industrial-revolution and mid-19th century Europe. Violet inherits a manor house and a fortune, which she can’t access without the permission of the banker who was her father’s friend. The locals in her town assume without question that she will get married and be the Lady of the Manor, which Violet has no taste for. On the other hand, she defiantly refuses to pursue the quest her father insisted on.

That quest has its roots in the not-so-secret tragedy of her family. When Violet was a child, her mother died giving birth to another child, a boy who was stillborn. Strangely, her father sold the body of her dead brother to a mysterious man, for a huge sum that was the kernel of the family fortune. Her father then trained Violet to be a warrior and demanded that she go north to the Leech Lords to retrieve her dead brother’s body, before his thirteenth birthday. Violet refuses, but her father’s companions, a bishop and the banker, conspire to force her to continue. It is, however, three murder attempts by assassins that finally convince Violet to take up the quest.

A.G. Slatter

A.G. Slatter

Violet is a vivid and acerbic first-person narrator, and the secondary characters are almost all wonderful. I especially liked Violet’s housekeeper and her stepmother. Violet befriended the town’s feral child, Freddie, who trails her once she sets off on her quest. Freddie has her own secret and her own story. In the nature of a certain type of fairy tale, Violet encounters people on the road, and helps many of them. Some of them help her in return later in the story.

Part fairy tale, part vampire-hunter quest, the book also adds the mystery and fun of a secret journal, which reveals, over time, the origin of the Leech Lords. Witches play a major role, and so does Violet’s horse.

The Crimson Road is a fun, exciting read. It isn’t overly complex and you will see some plot beats coming, but if you’re like me, you will still enjoy the visuals, Violet’s sardonic view of things, and her challenges with the vampires. Summer is on its way; I’d put The Crimson Road near the top of the summer reading/vacation book list.

Published in February 2025. Violet Zennor has had a peculiar upbringing. Training as a fighter in underground arenas, honing her skills against the worst scum, murderers and thieves her father could pit her against, she has learned to be ruthless. To kill. Until the day Hedrek Zennor dies. Violet thinks she’s free – then she learns that her father planned to send her into the Darklands, where the Leech Lords reign. Where Violet’s still-born brother was taken years ago. Violet steadfastly refuses. Until one night two assassins attempt to slaughter her – and it becomes clear: she’s going to have to clean up the mess her father made. By turns gripping and bewitching, sharp and audacious, this mesmerising story takes you on a journey into the dark heart of Slatter’s sinister and compelling fantasy world in a tale of vampires, assassins, ancient witches and broken promises.

Author

  • Marion Deeds

    Marion Deeds, with us since March, 2011, is the author of the fantasy novella ALUMINUM LEAVES. Her short fiction has appeared in the anthologies BEYOND THE STARS, THE WAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, STRANGE CALIFORNIA, and in Podcastle, The Noyo River Review, Daily Science Fiction and Flash Fiction Online. She’s retired from 35 years in county government, and spends some of her free time volunteering at a second-hand bookstore in her home town.

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