The Crimson Road by A.G. Slatter
Sourdough Universe
Dark Fantasy
February 11, 2025- Titan Books

Review by Angela

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year- and it did not disappoint.

When the book opens Violet Zennor sits at her father’s bedside dreaming of his death. Then when she wakes, he is gone. She isn’t too upset over his demise, after all he made her life a living hell for years and years. Yet, just when she thinks she finally has her life back, free to live as she pleases, her father’s accomplices, a lawyer, banker, and bishop, remind her that she still has one last mission to fulfill at his behest. To travel north to the Darklands, where the Leech Lords rule, and find her missing brother.

Violet is determined not to be controlled by the will of her dead father and steadfastly refuses, but after finding out her inheritance hinges on this mission and when a string of assassination attempts threaten her and those she loves, she knows she has no choice but to make the journey and clean up the mess her father created almost thirteen years ago.

After enduring years of lessons in fighting and tactics, Violet is deadly weapon but knows this won’t be an easy task to complete. As she travels north, with the orphaned girl she has befriended, she encounters others that are willing to help her to keep the world safe from the threat of the mysterious Anchorhold and the Leech Lords.

What began in The Murmuring Bones and continued on in The Path of Thorns and The Briar Book of the Dead, really comes to a head with The Crimson Road. This is the book that weaves the entire Sourdough Universe together. Every part of Violet’s journey brings familiar faces and needed help. I was thrilled to see Miren, and Asher, and Ellie. They are all an integral part of Violet’s journey and provide much need advice and aid.

This is a dark gothic fantasy, Violet has a troubled backstory, and the actions of her father thirteen years ago after the death of her mother in childbirth and then handing over of her stillborn brother to a mysterious stranger is where it all began. I won’t get too into the plot specifics, but it’s a long and winding path to the north with Violet learning as she goes.

There is a slight romance, and the hope that she has found a family of her choosing. Violet is both engaging and flawed, being set upon this quest after years of training, willing to do what she must to see it through yet still yearning for a quiet life. Deadly to those who might harm, yet gentle with those she trusts and loves. Like all of Slatter’s protagonists she is fierce, smart, and competent.

The Crimson Road is a captivating read. If a world full of vampires, witches, and all manner of mythical creatures is your jam, this series might be for you. A.G. Slatter never disappoints. I look forward to more tales in the Sourdough Universe.

Final grade- B+