Esoterica Part 1 by Virgil Knightley Review
Hey, you crazy cats and kittens. Step into the spear line with me as we talk about the most recent #HaremLit book that I’ve ever read! This book was a lot different than anything I’ve ever read. It was a bit darker, with the main character being a necromancer. But, even with that bit of queasiness, it was a lot of fun to experience this world. It had everything: hot girls, a fun harem dynamic, and all of the paranormal shenanigans you could ask for. So, join me on this crazy adventure and dive into the deep end of crazy with me, Lance Spears!
Book Title: Esoterica Part 1 (The Lovecraftian Harem Lit Saga)
Author: Virgil Knightley
Narrator: Bruno Anderson and Peggy Greyson
Audio Publisher: Royal Guard Publishing
eBook Price: $4.99 USD
Audiobook Price: $17.46 USD or one Audible Credit
Whisper Sync Pricing: $12.48 USD
Pages: 225 Pages
Audiobook Length: 8 Hours 36 Minutes
Keywords: Paranormal Fantasy, Vampires, Dhampir, Half-Vampire, Celestial, Necromancy, Necromancer, Familiar
Summary
Liam Elloway is the survivor of a terrible accident, but when he gets swept up into the world of the occult and enrolled at a strange academy for practitioners of dark magic, things get really interesting really quickly. As the first necromancer enrolled at the school in years and the only mage of a certain type known to exist in centuries, all eyes are on Liam as he begins to discover his destiny. But can his sneering headmistress be trusted? And between the gorgeous celestial girl, the raven-haired vampire, and the pink-haired, red-horned half-demon, how will he manage his new relationships?
This was the blurb that hooked me and summarized what we could and should expect from this novel. It was spot on and perfectly captures the conversational tone of the author.
Characters
This Harem Lit novel was told from the point of view of the main character, Liam Elloway. He’s an injured college student who is struggling with a disfiguring leg wound and the loss of his entire family in a car accident. On his birthday, he’s transported through an interdimensional portal to a magical school where he learns to control his new powers. We get to explore the world of the supernatural through his eyes, though sometimes the point of view does switch to the ensemble cast. This very much felt like a novel where the collection of characters was greater than the sum of their individual parts. I liked the dynamic that they all had amongst themselves, and everyone felt actualized and real.
Liam Elloway: He is the main character, a human from our earth struggling with the loss of his family and the limitations of his leg wound. He is an unusually rare necromancer with more power than they’ve seen in hundreds of years; however, unlike the others, he possesses no secondary magical affinities, which partly explains why his main affinity is so strong. I liked that he fought against the urge to wallow in how cruel fate or the universe or whatever were to him. Instead, he just trudged ahead, one foot in front of the other. I also loved that this was not a main character who wallowed in the transition phase. Instead, he jumped into the deep end feet first. I also loved his familiar, who was named Uther. This being is an Arctic Fox that has eyes to match Dahlia and an irreverent personality.
Carmilla Tepes: She is a pale, raven-haired vampire who is described as curvaceous. She has a bubbly personality to match that build and is a good foil for when the situation in the book gets dire. She is skilled in the magical art of enchanting items, balancing the places Liam lacks, which is anything not necromantic. She can thus make magical artifacts for him, has a cool vampire squirrel familiar, and is generally a joy to interact with on the written page. She’s the first student at Esoterica Academy that Liam meets and serves as his guide into the world of All Things Magical. She gives me very much Valley Girl vibes based on the vocal fry that we hear in the audiobook rendition of this story. As far as her relationship with the main character, I feel like they were a good fit. Carmilla was a great first romantic partner for him. Her accent was too Valley Girl for my tastes, but otherwise, she kicked ass. I even liked that they used her vocal nonsense to explain the concept of magic and alien tech to Liam at the beginning of this story. This had me chuckling several times as I listened to this adventure. Seriously, Carmilla’s the kind of girl you’d feel lucky to take home after any social situation.
Dahlia White: She is a pale, white haired celestial half-human woman who is described as a lithe lady. Her eyes were very non-human; they were star-filled and captivating. Her specialty is Divination Magic, and she is extremely gifted with her ability. Personality-wise, she’s very much a woman I’d describe as steel-wrapped in velvet. While she is an extremely caring mother hen type, she has steel in her spine. She is Liam’s soulmate and complements his personality, smoothing out the rough edges of his temperament. I liked the voice of reason she adds to the harem, counterbalancing the wild nature of Carmilla and Mimi. There is an unstable wild side, at least where Rebecca was concerned. I would say more, but I have a no-spoilers policy.
Memento Morikawa (aka Mimi): She’s a petite, half-Asian and half-demon woman. She’s the stereotypical goth girl, except she has pink hair and a partially demonic appearance. She has glowing red eyes and two sharp horns on her forehead. Except, on this necromancer, it looks good, and the rest of the harem thinks so. While she shares the same natural magical affinity with Liam, she seems to focus on spells different from his. She is a fun insight into the many, often darker, aspects of this death magic.
Plot and Pacing
This story was expertly plotted by Virgil Knightley. I believed in the character’s transition from Earth to Esoterica and the process that brought him there. I wanted to believe, and the author made it easy to do. The other important part of this story was how well-paced the adventure was. I had zero complaints about the plotting and pacing of this novel. The story progressed along nicely, with appropriate interspace lulls in the action for a spicy time, magical development, and world-building. This story wasn’t all action, and it wasn’t all sex. This book kept you on your toes, never knowing what was going to happen next.
Audiobook Quality
First, let’s start with the part of this audiobook that I didn’t like. The vocal fry that the narrator chose to use for Carmilla was annoying as all get up. The rest of this novel was read in an extremely professional manner. There were a few places where you could tell that corrections were inserted, but it wasn’t horrifically noticeable. For the most part, the final product was smooth and polished. Outside of the choice of character accents, I really liked these two narrators. They did a good job in setting the mood and tone for the various parts of the story. They are definitely on the short list of narrators that I would want for my own books.
Sizzle Factor
The sex scenes in this book were well-written and imaginative, though the language was blunt and left little to the imagination. There was not a lot of kinky stuff other than occasionally biting from Carmilla, the Friendly Neighborhood Vampire. That said, what was there in this book, while vanilla, was extremely steamy. Like, it sizzled and made you need a moment of personal time. Just get the tissues ready; you’ve been warned. Even better, there were plenty of those naughty scenes in this book. You won’t feel cheated by the coitus here!
Overall
Okay, let’s dive into this epic book! This was a darker novel than I expected in this genre, but I loved it! The story was well-written, and the audiobook was professionally produced. The voice actors did a good job… no, they did an amazing job. Other than the annoying vocal fry used for Carmilla, I had zero complaints on the audiobook. I truly think that Royal Guard Publishing sets the standard on how to make audio sexy again.
From the writing side, Virgil Knightley had a mastery of the craft. He was a joy to read; it was flowery in the magical scenes and clear and precise during the schmexy times. This book was told in conversational first-person prose, which I’m a fan of. The characters were all believable, and I wanted to hang out with them in real life. Well, except for Dahlia, she was scary in the crazy, rip-your-eyes-out sort of way. The sex was written with the highest sizzle, and the monster fights were a lot of fun.
One of my minor annoyances with this novel was what happened to the character Rebecca. We meet her early in this novel, and then something happens. Don’t worry; no spoilers here, but that interaction seemed pointless. I hope we get some payoff in the later books. If not, I’ll be irked as hell! But, in a related topic, the author definitely baited enough hooks that I don’t know exactly where things are going. I like that he’s keeping me on my toes that I can’t predict everything in this novel. That might be because I’m not as familiar with the eldritch horror gods, but we’ll discuss that in another paragraph.
Since I just mentioned it, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. This novel’s series title is “The Lovecraftian Harem Lit Saga,” so you know what is inside. We’re talking full-on about Elder Gods of the Eldritch horror variety. Gird your loins and protect your sanity because things went weird in all the best ways. I had to dust off my Call of Cthulhu bestiary, but it was fun, and I had no complaints! If you are a fan of Lovecraft or dark horror themes, then you’re going to love this novel. I’m definitely going to recommend this to some of my friends who have macabre interests.
In a nutshell, this book was good; it made me buy the rest of this series! I’ll be reviewing those as well when I get through them! Even better, this book definitely makes me want to buy more of Virgil Knightley’s other books. What can I say? Buy these books, or Cthulhu will come for you!