As the title says, Book of Souls is a prequel to the Prof Croft Series. I read the first book, Demon Moon, in 2019.

Book of Souls

At 124 pages, Book of Souls is a short but satisfying read about how Everson Croft was attracted to and then entered the world of wizardry.

The story starts with the 13-year-old Croft breaking into his grandfather’s study and finding more than he bargained for. Fast forward a decade, and Croft is in Romania, searching for the Book of Souls, a book he once saw on his grandfather’s bookshelf but is now missing. Croft wants to find the book in the hope of it shedding light on his grandfather’s mysterious life.

The story features disfigured peasants and their dire, superstitious warnings, a dilapidated monastery with things that go bump in the night and werewolves. To make matters worse, there are three others also searching for the book: two academics—one British and the other American—and a Spanish femme fatale.

In the author notes, Magnarella mentions how he wanted to write a story that paid homage to Stoker’s Dracula and Shelley’s Frankenstein. While he succeeded in creating several dark and creepy scenes, what makes Book of Souls so enjoyable is how the author takes what feels like a series of unreleated events and weaves them into an inevitable conclusion that explains how and why Croft became a wizard. We also learn how Croft ended up with his Thelonious incubus problem.

Whether you read this book before or after the others in the Prof Croft series, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Image: Amazon, 14-Jan-2020

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