Storm Constantine here creates a dark and fantastical other world where ancient thoughts and races combine with a humanity that is part 18th century nobility and part druidic lore; where monsters in your dreams are as real as you or i. Pre-dating True Blood, Anne Rice and all the interminable Team Edward style horromances, Constantine sets her story in a wild new fantasy world where blood suckers and lay people live side by side in a mutually beneficial symbiosis.Here the ancient race are sponsored by powerful and wealthy families and create lauded works of immaculate art in return for their regular feeds and occasional sacrifices. Families bask in the reflected glow of these works getting richer and enjoy long lives of indulgence and splendour whilst keeping the dread nature of the 'artisans' a secret.But now, after centuries, something is killing the immortals, and in ways that scare the vampiric caste to their core, forcing some even to the unthinkable: suicide.In the petrified woods and forests, trainee healer, soulscaper, Rayojini is plagued by visions she doesn't understand. Her new guardians in the soulscape are somehow more than the bestial avatar she was expecting. Her quiet life and the turbulent, garish world of the immortals are entwined and set to collide.Burying the Shadow is a dark fantasy and whodunit far more-so than it is horror and Constantine has a coolness and depth that easily shakes off any 'pulp' tag. This is a riveting journey that, although it follows the 'man-on-a-mission' style of many fantasies, also combines enough otherworldliness and genuine innovation to rise above more populist authors in the genre. Her writing is immaculate, dark and sensual and rich with description and her characters are memorable and unique; it is refreshing to have two strong female leads. The world she builds is new and impressive if not exactly one you'd really want to live in, but genuinely fantastical. All her earlier works create beautifully realised, slightly off-kilter, ethereal worlds to enjoy and the lives of both protagonists here feel strange but real and substantial.This is a wonderful, mature book full of rich details and a thoroughly intricate plot that takes the reader out of themselves. Certainly recommended for those jaded by the Rice/Meyer cabal that currently dominates, but also for anyone that likes fully constructed fantasy more than a little out of the ordinary.But please, try not to buy a copy with the red and black headed couple on the cover. Ugh!
