The Helm of Midnight (The Five Penalties, #1)
by Marina J. LostetterPublished by: Tor Books on April 13, 2021
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror
Pages: 464
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
Rating:
A legendary serial killer stalks the streets of a fantastical city in The Helm of Midnight, the stunning first novel in a new trilogy from acclaimed author Marina Lostetter.
In a daring and deadly heist, thieves have made away with an artifact of terrible power--the death mask of Louis Charbon. Made by a master craftsman, it is imbued with the spirit of a monster from history, a serial murderer who terrorized the city with a series of gruesome murders.
Now Charbon is loose once more, killing from beyond the grave. But these murders are different from before, not simply random but the work of a deliberate mind probing for answers to a sinister question.
It is up to Krona Hirvath and her fellow Regulators to enter the mind of madness to stop this insatiable killer while facing the terrible truths left in his wake.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- Dark fantasy filled with harrowing magic and serial killers.
- A fantasy take on Jack the Ripper.
- A dark world full of secrets and twists.
- Plot twists you won’t see coming until it’s too late.
- An ill-fated maybe-romance you can’t help but root for.
- Complicated, complex sibling bonds.
I’m not sure which part of this made it more obvious that I would pick it up. The dark fantasy? The serial killer? The idea of death masks being magical? I don’t know. All I know is that I obviously had to read this one, because it sounded too good to pass up.
The Helm of Midnight is set in a world where masks can have magic, everyone has secrets—even the gods—and there’s a dangerous serial killer roaming the streets. Filled with bad-ass women, fun flirtations, and plenty of plot twists, it’ll keep you turning pages on the edge of your seat.
There were a few places it felt like the plot dragged, mostly in the beginning, but once I was into the story, I was hooked. I didn’t realize, when I picked the book up, that it would be the first book in a series, but boy am I glad of that! I am so not ready to leave this world or these characters. There’s so much to do! So much has happened and yet there’s so much more to come. I’m ready for book two now, please!
The Helm of Midnight is set in a dark, magical world with five gods, creatures that’ll tear you apart as soon as look at you, magical death masks … oh, and a deceased serial killer on the loose.
In other words, this world is freaking fun. I’m ridiculously glad this is a series, because this is a world I want to spend time in and get to know. So lets start with the beasts, shall we? Vargers, they’re called, and I actually have no idea what they’re supposed to look like because I’m bad at paying attention to details, but I picture giant battle bears. You know, the kind you really want on your side in an MMORPG but would rather not be on the wrong end of. Except green. I don’t know why. I’m pretty sure there was mention of green somewhere?! I could be making that up …
Anyway, vargers, come in three types, and they’re terrifying war bears (allegedly). You follow so far? Vargers exist because of the gods. There’s five of them: Emotion, Knowledge, Time, Nature, and the Unknown. I’m pretty sure all of their names rather speak for themselves, yes? The last one is all mysterious, of course. *waves fingers at you and makes spooky noises* There’s a whole backstory behind these gods, though, and it’s fascinating. I can’t wait to find out more about them. This is a pantheon I don’t want to mess with but I am utterly curious about.
More about the serial killer in a minute, but about those masks. I’m sure you’re probably familiar with the idea of a death mask, right? Person dies, you make a mask of their face to preserve a likeness of it. Pretty simple idea. Well, it’s a little different in The Helm of Midnight, because the mask doesn’t actually look like the person (though the design should capture their personality/essence). Instead, it captures an echo of the person, which is basically their specialized knowledge and personality. Great if you’ve got a renowned medical expert whose knowledge might die with them. Less great if you have, say, a serial killer. Which leads me to …
What exactly makes a serial killer? We may never know, but The Helm of Midnight sure paints a pretty clear picture.
In fact, this Jack-the-Ripper-esque killer even gets his own point of view and the reader gets to watch the birth of a serial killer. It’s actually quite fun. Which now that I think about it, probably isn’t terribly surprising to any of you that I enjoyed it, but hey, people are complicated and sometimes you get the urge to murder someone, okay?
It’s no secret by now that complex/grey characters are my favorite. Nobody’s black or white, so miss me with that mess. The serial killer in this book is so thoroughly grey that he might as well be the suit of armor on the cover. (Though don’t worry, he’s not. Obviously.) I’m not going to say I’d ever give him a pass for what he does, but I do love the complexity with which Lostetter tells his story and describes his character. It’s a little peek behind the curtain, and while I don’t love everything I see, it’s brilliant just the same.
This also goes back to those messy moral questions, too. Can a serial killer have a compelling backstory? Even if he does horrible things? My answer, of course, would be yes, and Lostetter certainly makes a case for it. Everyone starts somewhere. Even serial killers. This exploration into his motives and crimes was fabulous!
Krona was determined to know him as the putrid, human thing he must have been. A murderer didn’t deserve to be feared even in death. If Patroné was right and Carbon had sought power through killing, she would not give it to him. She would not allow him to dominate the living, still.
The currency of this world is time (yes, literally, exactly what you think), which is bottled and traded and turned in as needed to extend lives. This raises a lot of really apropos questions regarding the value of time and whether this is a practice that should exist.
Totally changes the meaning of the phrase “time is money,” right? Take the idea of classism and ramp it up to about 130 on the Unfair-O-Meter. The difference between the rich and poor in this world could easily be dying at 40 and dying at 140, and if that sounds ridiculous and wrong to you … well, duh. It’s something the characters in this book have to grapple with at some point.
I’ve said it before, I love when books make you think and stick with you. Well, this is one of those instances. There are so many conversations about what it really means to give up this time. When everyone is born, five years of time is drawn from the child. What if five years is all they get? What happens when people have too little time to buy medicine, while others are cashing it in for abnormally long lives?
I suspect this isn’t the end of this discussion, and I look forward to seeing what the next book brings. There are so many delicious moral dilemmas raised around this, and I enjoyed exploring each and every one!
He nodded. “Because real time is worth more than bottled time.”
Melanie’s heart fluttered. “Life is always worth more when it’s lived.”
The sibling bonds in this are absolutely *chef’s kiss*.
I laughed. I cried. I cringed, relating a little too much to certain sibling feelings. Krona is very much a little sister, and it shows in her interactions with her sister, De-Lia. Krona looks up to her older sister and thinks she can do absolutely no wrong (a fact which is super annoying sometimes, of course). In turn, De-Lia thinks it’s her place, as the older sister, to protect Krona in any way she can, even if it means taking the weight of the world on her shoulder. It’s such a painful dynamic sometimes, because you want to shake both of them and make them see sense when it comes to the other, but this is how siblings are. *shrugs* I have enough of them, I ought to know.
I appreciated that there were some touching and moving sibling scenes, but there were also the deeper, darker interactions, too. The ones that you usually just think quietly to yourself about your sibling from time to time until the moment passes. I do love reading touching sibling bonds in books, but I think it’s all the more powerful here because it accurately portrays the good and bad moments of being an adult with siblings. It’s not always rainbows and sunshine, and I appreciate the accurate portrayal of that.
“You? Were going to prepare food?”
“I’m a grown woman, I can feed myself.”
“And others, without poisoning them?”
De-Lia made a point of frowning deeply, but couldn’t keep the corners of her mouth from twitching upward.
Favorite Quotes
This book had so many wonderful quotes that I just couldn’t fit them into my normal review, so I wanted to share a few extra ones I enjoyed! There were more than this (seriously, I had little quote flags everywhere), but I think I’ve done to narrow it down to these, at least. Don’t ask me to do more than that! I refuse! Just enjoy a few extra quotes, free of charge.
“You beat it out of me,” he said firmly, his tone despicably conspiratorial.
Disgusted, Krona almost lashed out with the butt of her sword to give him a black eye. For good measure, of course. To aid in his chicken-shit story.
“It won’t help with the sleepwalking, they say. Or sleep … what was I doing?”
“Sleep-stabbing,” Krona said frankly, trying to maintain a lilt of humor. It wasn’t funny, of course. Nothing about the past few days was humorous. Which was exactly why she did her best to maintain her smile. Everything weighed twice as heavy on De-Lia as it did Krona. She wanted to stay positive, for the captain. “You can have your saber back as soon as you apologize to the wall. I think it’s questioning its integrity.”
De-Lia chuckled half-heartedly. “Ha, puns. You are taking this much better than I would, had it been the other way around.”
Krona shrugged. “I’ve always been the stronger Hirvath. About time the fixtures around here knew it.”
Krona thanked her, feeling the words work deep in her bones, giving her hope.
All they leave are echoes.
About Marina J. Lostetter
The open skies and dense forests of the Pacific Northwest are ideal for growing speculative fiction authors–or, at least, Marina Lostetter would like to think so. Originally from Oregon, she now resides in Arkansas with her spouse, Alex. In her spare time she enjoys globetrotting, board games, and all things art-related. Her original short fiction has appeared in venues such as Lightspeed, Uncanny, and Shimmer Magazine. Her debut novel, NOUMENON, and its sequels, NOUMENON INFINITY and NOUMENON ULTRA, are available from Harper Voyager. Her first fantasy novel, THE HELM OF MIDNIGHT, is forthcoming from Tor. In addition, she has written tie-in materials for Star Citizen and the Aliens franchise. She is represented by DongWon Song of the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency, and she tweets as @MarinaLostetter.
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I’m so glad you loved this! I just didn’t have time to read it this month😥 but its definitely on my May schedule. It sounds like my kind of story!
Tammy @ Books, Bones & Buffy recently posted…The Friday Face-Off: Current Read
Ooof, I feel that not having time thing. I think you’d enjoy this one! The world is just *chef’s kiss* and I’m excited to think about all the possibilities for book two.
This one is definitely on my TBR. Definitely moving it up a bit after reading your review.
I hope you’re able to get to it soon! It was a bit of a slower read for me, so I could take the time to digest the world and appreciate it, but definitely worth bumping up your list!
This definitely sounds right up your alley! A bit too dark for me, though…
Nicole @ BookWyrm Knits recently posted…Book Review: Paladin’s Strength (T. Kingfisher)
I agree that this one’s probably too dark for you. I enjoyed it, though!
… wait. How does that make me sound now? xD
[…] ★★★★☆ || GoodreadsThis was a really fun read! If you’re a fan of dark fantasy, this one will definitely be for you. It’s a high fantasy world that introduces a serial killer into the mix. The magic in this world is really interesting, and I’m super curious to spend some more time there. Parts of this book definitely dragged, but Lostetter creates a world that is incredibly interesting and fills it with characters that are fun to follow and root for. […]