Odd Spirits – Beyond The Veil

In anticipation of book two in S.T. Gibson’s The Summoner’s Circle coming out in July, I decided to read the series’ prequel novella, Odd Spirits. Book one of the series, Evocation, was fantastic, and I was curious to see the characters before they became entangled in David’s deal with the devil. So let’s take it back to the beginning when Rhys and Moira are newly wed and navigating their whirlwind relationship and differing occult practices. 

A witch and a sorcerer fall in love, but even their combined magical expertise is no match for the paranormal activity disturbing their home. Rhys loses himself in Latin-laced rituals while Moira lovingly crafts her spells, but no one can seem to address the spirited haunting wearing down the couple’s relationship. As the activity heightens, the further Rhys and Moira drift apart. Will the horrible haunting break a love match?

Having read Evocation first put a slight damper on the tension that Gibson tries to build between Rhys and Moira in this book. Because I knew where these two ended up, I couldn’t fully convince myself of the couple’s heartbreak that gets so vulnerably laid out throughout the novella. If you haven’t started the series yet, I highly recommend you start with Odd Spirits so you can follow the progression of Rhys and Moira’s relationship in proper order.

But no amount of chronological reading could fix the thin conflicts that are supposedly pulling Rhys and Moira apart. The story doesn’t provide enough exposition on the disagreements and frustrations between the couple. The reader knows that the couple is unhappy, but we lack a lot of the context of why they’ve ended up that way. There are light references to differing religious backgrounds and occult methodologies, but the short page count didn’t give the reader insight into how those differences are ultimately creating the relationship issues. 

While Odd Spirits is a snapshot of Rhys and Moira’s beginnings, it’s superfluous and ultimately not critical to the overall story. Evocation takes place years later, and I learned everything I needed to know in that book to come to love Rhys, Moira, and David. Sure, it’s nice to see how the studious sorcerer and the generationally gifted witch met, but the love story that takes place in book one expands on the relationships and their dealings with the paranormal in a much more satisfying manner. 

Odd Spirits is short and spooky, so if you’re anxious to kill time before the adventures in The Summoner’s Circle continue, then give it a go. Book one expands beautifully on the relationships, but you can easily scratch that itch if you want to know where it all began.

Rating: Odd Spirits – 6.0/10
-Brandee