I was absolutely delighted by this book, since the very beginning until the last page, and have already pre ordered the paper book. I’ll be very happy to read the sequel, and will certainly re read this one first.

Curiously it’s often easier to explain why some read didn’t agree with me than explain about my enthusiasm. I will thus start with a possible trigger for a random reader: corpses.

If the story is settled is a fantasy world, with magic, and not an uchronic one, the atmosphere holds a certain historical tonality, as the theme of Resurrectionists is based on a reality of the beginning of the 19° century in many European countries. The idea is to exhume illegally some corps to sell them to medical institutes, to allow dissections and learning. The character whom activity is to be a Resurrectionist isn’t indifferent to people, quite the contrary. His dream is to be a real doctor someday and he tries to survive and to train himself. His philosophy is that learning to protect and to treat the living is more important than respecting the dead – even if he’s never disrespectful or indifferent toward the corpse he used that way.

So if you believe in medecine and for caring for the living above all, and don’t mind (or even crave) frequent allusions to graveyards, corpses and death (nothing really gore, mind you) and if you’re not shocked because of some ethical convictions of yours, you’ll have all the chances to love this book as much as I did.

The story is very entertaining, a mix between social comedy, mysteries, criminal investigation and old grievances. The atmosphere isn’t dark, even if the themes are, but rather positive and heart-warming.

The characters are great, with colourful interactions, strong personalities but never stereotyped thanks to some clever nuances: the young princess, quite rebellious, is just dragging out things, she knows that she’ll have to marry the right person someday and not the one she’d have chosen. The young hero, intense and caring, is also impetuous and prone to premature judgement, and the perfect young man has quite a funny part. The relation between the main character and the little girl is wonderful, subtle, touching but never mushy, bittersweet and credible.

I also loved how the magic (rare and only reserved to the royal family, with assassination of all illegitimate children to guarantee the purity of the line) was treated: some rather weird and even a priori useless magic, but which have been very useful in specific circonstances. This point has driven the population to worship their royalties, alive and dead alike, in a colourful way.

Speaking of the past, the manner used to draw the background is faultless: if you’re an intolerant info-dump reader you’ll be delighted! Many hints and very short stories are told during the book, quite naturally, bringing all the required informations while painting a vivid and substantial background. Really outstanding writing.

One of my best read of the year, I’m looking forward reading more of the authors!

Princess Sibylla doesn't want to gt married to her cousin, she is shipped off to the country to rethink her position on marriage. Caligo is ruled by a royal family with magic in the blood. Princess Sibylla's magic is nothing impressive but with her marriage she maintains the standing of her family. There is also a killer on the loose. Roger Weathersby is a medical apprentice with a side job of grave robbing. A childhood friend of the princess when he is caught and accused of being the murderer. The investigation is being approached from two different points will they meet? This is an intriguing mystery with politics, murder, and magic.

I didn't LOVE this book. It was just okay for me. The plot was a bit hard to follow at times, and I was never really quite sure of the magic that was in the world created. I did love the relationship between Roger and Sybilla, and hope there is more to their story for us to learn about.

Just not for me. The ornate style seemed forced, which in turn made reading a slog. It also struggled from a common problem native to two narrator works...one narrator is appalling while the other is decidedly more interesting. Once a strong favorite has been asserted, it's hard to not dread chapters narrated by the least favored character and harder still to focus on them.

An enjoyable read with an appealing cast of characters and interesting world building. Three and a half stars.

The Resurrectionist of Caligo is a murder mystery set in an alt-Victorian Gothic world and the story told in chapters alternating between Roger Weathersby, a sometime student of medicine and body snatcher and princess Sybil, exiled to backwater by her grandmother the queen for refusing to marry a royal cousin. Roger and Sybil were childhood friends and more before the queen put a stop to their budding relationship due to their disparate social positions. The royal family’s divine right to rule is due to the magic in their blood and one of the main themes of the book is the relationship between religion and science, as well as the social inequality between those that have magic – the nobility and everyone else. When a number of women are gruesomely murdered and Roger accused for the killings, the pair are unwittingly brought together to solve the crimes.

While some of the ideas in the book might not be the most original, I really liked how Trimboli and Zaloga brought it all together. The writing is good and the characters intriguing. I did however, wish for more courtly scheming and intrigue, more scenes with the queen and more from the Kalishkan emperor and I felt the ‘villainy bits’ (don’t want to spoil this for anyone) were slightly signposted. Still, I enjoyed the book, it felt fresh and would make a good start to a series. If there was a series, I would want to read more.

My thanks to Angry Robot and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review The Resurrectionist of Caligo.

'The Resurrectionist of Caligo' by Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga is a cleaver and creative tale with a unique writing style and witty dialog. The premise, alone, is rather exciting and the authors pulled it off quite well. Sadly, not exactly my cup of tea, but many readers of YA, Steampunk, Adventure, Fantasy, and even Paranormal will enjoy this book.

Enjoyable book that takes many ideas from other more classical stories and intertwines them into the authors vision

THE RESURRECTIONIST OF CALIGO is gothic fantasy in the extreme. Its pages are packed with fog shrouded streets, eerie blood magic, grave-robbing, court intrigue, bitter rivalries, shattered hearts, faded dreams, elegant clothing, and perhaps the strangest literary mushrooms since ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

The debut novel from Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga is a delight, filled with impeccable worldbuilding and compelling characterizations. I’m happy to say that every time I felt like I knew where things were headed, a new revelation came along that turned my understanding upside down. The prose is sharp and clever and kept me turning pages, while the characters -- both those I loved and those I despised! – made me care about the resolution.

I’m hopeful for a sequel, though in the meantime I’ll simply have to while away my days sipping gin in the dark and brooding… and also by making a fan-build tallycracker set.