Liam O’Connor is special.
When a Fissure opens in someone’s mind, he’s the one who sews it up again. When a parasite creeps through that Fissure, Liam is the exterminator who purges it. And when Liam loses everything, he’s the coward who runs.
But when he moves to an old house in coastal New England, hoping for isolation, something from his past follows. Fissures start tearing open; minds are devoured. People die. It’s not long before Liam realizes a murderer has come to Shoalport, and he’s the only one who can stop them.
Well, him, and the man who keeps haunting his dreams.
Fourth up in our run through the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) Finalists is A Light from the Nether by Molly Dowd Sullivan. A Light From the Nether is talis.library‘s pick for this year’s finalist. You can read their review here. And you can see the finalist spreadsheet here.
Opinions split a little on pacing and some of the side characters, but the atmosphere and that endlessly inventive magic system won nearly everyone over, and more than one of us finished the book completely wrecked in the best way. Here’s what we thought.
Maureen
Whoa, what a head trip.
The small things in our past, the passing comments that turn into cruelties that, in turn, become festering wounds in our psyche, most of us shy away from those memories, unsure anyone else would see or understand the totally reasonable gaping wounds we carry. Or perhaps worse, validate them.
I can see why this book was chosen as a finalist. The writing, plotting, and the reveals: exquisite. The worldbuilding on both timelines was amazing.
Despite that, there were misses for me. For one, I named the culprit in the middle of the book. The reveal took a bit of a different turn, but it was an easy person to identify.
As well, the pacing was too start/stop as we dived into memories, wallowed in Liam’s pity-party, investigated the spooky island, and interacted with humans who (mostly) weren’t jerks like the protagonist seemed to be.
Other characters felt a bit off or rang hollow. Captain Hamley and Officer Sloane were too immediately angry, and there didn’t seem to be a reason for the latter character. Cedra was pushy while being labelled as chill, I think the author missed the mark with her.
Still, A Light from the Nether is a decent read, and I may recommend it to others, but for now, I’m going to try to actively not think about things that go bump in my brain.
Julia
I went in unsure about this one. The deeper I got, the more the dark pulled me in, and by the end I was completely won over.
The atmosphere is the real strength here. It’s creepy in a way that never tips into horror, which suits me fine since horror books usually bore me. This one stays in the shadows, almost gothic feeling and heavy, the kind of gloom that settles over you slowly instead of jumping out.
The worldbuilding is something else. Liam is a Tryp, one of the rare people who can travel safely into the Nether, an inverted dreamscape that mirrors the waking world like a reflection gone wrong. There he fights flukes, parasites that creep in through people’s worst traits and feed until nothing’s left. Red for vice, yellow for neglect, white for subjugation, violet for violence, blue for despair. None of it is predictable. Someone drowning in despair might never get touched, while someone with barely any darkness in them gets torn apart anyway. Then there’s the Phren, each person’s own private mindscape, and husks, people whose souls have been eaten or cut off so their bodies just keep breathing with nothing behind the eyes. Souls mutilated in the Nether can turn into Wicks, and a Wick attached to a living person becomes a Hitch. There’s much more underneath all of it, and the whole system gives the book a dark, layered pulse that never lets up.
Liam himself is broody and depressed, the kind of character who wants to disappear into himself, and loses a piece of his soul every time he steps into the Nether, marked by streaks of color bleeding into his hair. He had a toxic relationship he never really grieves, more like something he fell into because it’s what people do. Then he loses his best friend early on, and I was sure that loss would be where the story’s heart went. I was wrong, in the best way.
Along the way he also picks up Jasper, a man tied to his family’s past and to the string of deaths pulling Liam back into the world. Jasper lived close to where Liam’s grandparents once did, in a house that mirrors Liam’s own on a small island, and exploring that overlap was one of my favorite threads in the book.
Liam also ends up with a small circle of people who keep showing up for him, more or less whether he wants them there or not. Nobody expects anything from him, they just keep inviting him back in. It reminded me of the animals in the Winnie the Pooh books who never give up on Eeyore, in the best way.
There’s a slow, quiet thread of romance showing up later in the book, and I loved that it stayed small but strong instead of taking over the story. I wasn’t sure where it would land until almost the very end, and I liked not being able to guess. No spice either, which fits the mood perfectly.
The murder mystery is the weakest part, but I’m not really a mystery reader anyway, so it didn’t bother me much. I was far more pulled in by the magic and the people carrying it.
A dark, gothic urban fantasy with one of the most creative magic systems I’ve read in a while, carried by a broken but compelling main character and a slow burn that earns its quiet ending.
Adawia
This story had me thoroughly engrossed from the beginning. It’s very much a character-driven story, with interpersonal relationships, including those between regular humans and the gifted, done particularly well.
I think my favorite aspect of this book is the author’s ability to foreshadow, and misdirect. I found myself suspecting pretty much each character, to varying degrees, at some point or another based on hints and suggestions dropped by the author. On more than one occasion I was actually tempted to go back to the beginning to look for any clues I might have missed. And, given the nature of the story, even dead characters are suspicious.
Even though some details are mentioned to (a slight) excess, and others are a little too convoluted, I recommend paying attention while reading, the details will help in piecing together the complete story. That said, I would also recommend not trying too hard to piece things together and just going with the flow as all the bits and pieces are gradually and organically brought together through the course of the story.
Eva
Some books are fine, in a way that you pick them up when you’re in the mood. Some books are enjoyable, in a way that you’re looking forward to getting back to them when the work day is over. And some books, like A Light from the Nether, fully engross you to the point where you don’t know your own name. My brain has been fully jumbled (in the best way) since finishing this, but here goes my attempt at organizing my thoughts.
This story doesn’t fit in clean lines. It breaches contemporary fantasy, sci-fi, 19th-century gothic, thriller, mystery, light horror, and romance. While some may feel jostled by this, I’m a color-outside-the-lines kind of woman, and it worked for me.
Our main character (MC), Liam, is quite simply dismally morose. His job, by nature, is horrific and he is regularly exposed to extremely disturbing things. Liam experiences a life-changing event in the beginning of the story, leaving him feeling more alone, wracked with guilt, and depressed than ever. He relocates halfway across the country to New Hampshire in hopes of fleeing unwanted attention. Wishful thinking considering he spent summers here with his grandparents as a child and is living in their abandoned, broken down home.
The first quarter of this book is a gut-wrenching portrayal of someone at rock bottom and this part of the story completely sunk its claws into my heart. Sullivan’s ability to bring despair off the page is incredibly special. Despite knowing Liam isn’t exactly a likable person, I still ached for his happiness. His desire to be alone, paired with his underlying need for human connection really resonated with me. That balance in his character carries throughout the entire story and kept me wanting more.
At its core the story hosts a murder mystery. While this is technically a main plot point, I didn’t feel as connected to that thread as I did some of the other subplots. Despite this, I still enjoyed trying to guess the murderer. Surprisingly, Liam ends up building a small group of friends who become something of a lifeline, leading him towards friendship and a life worth living.
Liam also finds a friend in an unexpected place; his own phren. Jasper, a soul who has escaped from The Nether, is a character you can’t help but fall in love with. He and Liam begin to explore their inexplicable connection and work to regain Jasper’s memories, all in hopes that doing so will help lead them toward uncovering the murderer. What follows is a series of twists and turns that kept me on my toes for the remainder of the story, and I voraciously read well into the night to finish it.
This one is going to stay with me. I was on a rollercoaster the whole time, my stomach dropping and soaring at a moment’s notice. This kind of story reminded me why I love reading in the first place. It made me ache, kept me guessing, and completely swallowed me whole. I loved how messy, strange, and unexpected it was. I finished this one feeling emotionally battered and totally fine with it. I’d recommend it to anyone looking to get their heart zapped in the best possible way.
Stacey
A Light From The Nether gave me everything I wanted in an urban fantasy. It has a very cool magic system based on our deep psyche and memories, a murder mystery spanning decades and eras, and finally, it has characters that really touched me. Our main character, Liam, is a giant mess and we do spend a lot of time watching him struggle and rage against that which haunts him. He doesn’t get everything right, none of the characters do and that felt so real. There was only one hero in my eyes and that was Macoto.
This is dark and violent but the darkness doesn’t overshadow the heart that glows from the plot. I was truly rooting for Liam and Fraser along with the superb cast of side characters. Give me all the Kermit!
Definitely does not read like a debut, Molly Dowd Sullivan’s writing is crisp and detailed. This is imagination on high, all while giving us a beautiful slow burn queer romance and deep friendships. There is a moment near the end where I actually teared up. It was a scene so perfectly written and full of emotion.
Well done!
That’s our take on A Light from the Nether! This one split a little on pacing and side characters, but the atmosphere and the Nether’s magic system won nearly everyone over, and more than one of us ended the book thoroughly wrecked in the best way.
Our Score: 8.04/10
Our Official SPFBO Score: 8
A Light from the Nether is one of the ten finalists in this year’s SPFBO. Here’s how our current standings look:
- A Light from the Nether by Molly Dowd Sullivan: 8.04
- Carrion Saints by Hiyodori: 7.25
- Dogged by Michael R. Fletcher
- The Hallows by H. L. Tinsley: 8.9
- The Honorable Con by Michele C. Shaw
- Jester by Tim Carter: 8.44
- No More Levels by Benjamin Barreth: 7
- Of Mages and Makers by Rel Carroll: 7.9
- To Touch a Silent Fury by R. A. Sandpiper
- Violence & Vigilance by David T. List
A huge thank you to Molly Dowd Sullivan for putting this book forward, and to all the other teams working through the Finalists alongside us. Stay tuned as the scores come in for the rest. You can see the list of all the finalists and their scores here.
Our judges for Round Two are Adawia, EG, EVA, Kerry, Maureen, Max, Sara, Sherry, Stacey, Tianna, Yaniv, and Julia (me). If you’d like to learn more about us, including our likes and dislikes, you can read about them here.
Any queries should be directed at our editor, Jennie Ivins, via Bluesky, Instagram, or Threads.
