These are a series of novellas meant to fill in gaps between the three books in the Tarot Sequence. I’m reviewing them because it gives me an excuse to share more epic quotes from my favorite new characters.
The Sunken Mall
I had started to pull on my magical sight when Ciaran spotted a convenience store pharmacy combo behind us called CVS. He pointed and said, “You will leave that store alone in particular. I called dibs. Anything with a -cet after it goes in my luggage. The eighties. Such a lovely decade.”
― K.D. Edwards, The Sunken MallCiaran studied me carefully. “Mmmhmm. You’re doing that thing you do, trying to pull me aside for a quick, heartfelt, draining little moment that leaves us both feeling emotional. Well, no thank you.”
― K.D. Edwards, The Sunken Mall
This novella takes place between the first and second books of the Tarot Sequence trilogy.
By the end of the first book, Rune and Brand’s family and friends group has grown to include their ward, Max, Rune’s boyfriend Addam, and Addam’s youngest sibling, fifteen-year old Quinn.
Living together for so long, Rune and Brand are used to one another’s quirks, but it takes them a while to notice that Max, their new seventeen-year-old ward, tries to be as helpful and as unobtrusive as possible. After being neglected by his own family, Max looks up to Rune and Brand and even goes as far as to get a haircut like Brand and mimic his mannerisms. After living together for a few months, Rune realizes that Max never asks for anything. His bedroom is only filled with the few clothes he brought with him, and everything else is borrowed.
After explaining this to their extremely powerful and chaotic friend Ciaran, Ciaran suggests that they do a bit of harmless looting at the Sunken Mall. This mall from 1980’s Pennsylvania was “lost” when New Atlantis was created. Ciaran knows where it is hidden and suggests a field trip of sorts to check it out and get some clothes and gifts for Max for free.
Addam and Quinn join as backup and for the adventure. When the gang portals into the mall, they face off against a supernatural threat while collecting forty-year-old fashion and gifts for themselves and for Max.
We get some heartwarming scenes between Max, Brand, and Rune, as well as a bit of explanation from some of the events in the first book. For those of us who enjoyed wandering food courts and Spencer’s gifts in the 80s and 90s, this is a fun little time capsule of a story.
Scenes from Quarantine
“What is causing these?” Addam sighed, tracing the stress lines around my eyes.
“Socks,” I said, mentally scrambling for another topic. “I saw what you did to my socks. You mated them.”
“I think you mean to say that I paired the correct socks together and rolled them into a unit.”
“It’s so formal. Did you say vows over them? Did they agree to it? What if a purple sock wanted to shack up with a green sock?”
― K.D. Edwards, Scenes from Quarantine
This story was written by the author as a way for him to cope with being trapped indoors. So, he wrote a novella about how his characters coped with the pandemic. It takes place between the second and third books of the Tarot Sequence trilogy.
The novella covers the period of time in which Brand and Rune move their family and extended family into the rehabilitated Sun throne compound. There are ghosts, both literal and figurative, that they must face. The lovely thing about this is that the author doesn’t force his characters to push through the pain to accelerate their healing process. Instead, it shows them making a conscious decision to give themselves the time and space to face their past on their own terms and on their own schedules. At the end of the novella, there are still many open questions and unhealed wounds. But they do not beat themselves up for not trying to go back to normal as fast as possible.
Scenes from the Holidays
This could have easily been included in Scenes from Quarantine. However, it is very Christmassy, or “Atlantean Christmas”- centric. We get Secret Santa gift exchanges, snowball fights, cutting down and decorating the tree, found family, and a surprise off-campus holiday party that involves a secret raid, too much alcohol, and magic perfected to induce instant sobriety as needed. Also, it gives us this excellent exchange between Brand and Rune.
“Humans are so weird,” Brand said. “They like that shit.”
“Skateboarding?” I asked.
“Santa Claus. They literally take comfort in the idea that a strange stocky man breaks into their house while they are sleeping. Even better? He steals their food, and has a list on which he’s marked the names of the unworthy.”
― K.D. Edwards, Scenes from the Holidays
This novella takes place between the second and third books of the Tarot Sequence trilogy.
The Great Atlantean Battle Royalchemy
This novella has the most traditional story structure so far. In it, Rune has agreed to be a celebrity judge on a reality TV show. The contestants compete to see which one is the Top Alchemist in all of New Atlantis. Familiar faces pop up throughout the story, including someone from Max’s past. It also provides a glimpse into how the Atlanteans and the humans coexist and learn from one another. Up until this point, there has not been any mention of the human world, other than Arcana such as the Tower and Lord Shield have benefited financially from creating new businesses that thrive in both worlds.
This novella takes place between the second and third books of the Tarot Sequence trilogy.