Reviewed by Asher Syed for Readers' Favorite

Salvation Taverns by E.M. Goldsmith is a fantasy set in the world of Aerda, maintained for centuries by rookes—anonymous storytellers—where an imperial takeover introduces advanced technologies, suppresses religion, and targets the rookes to erase old mythology. After fifty-seven years, the ancient spiritual order known as the Seven Aspects of the Relic warns the last rooke that dragons, emerging from hibernation, threaten widespread destruction unless the forbidden stories are told. The rooke embarks on a journey with allies, including the scrivener and guardian knight Kentigern Dagan Leesh, master puzzle solver Ghita Mist, imperial defector Tavares Flaco, and his two adopted sons, Thiago and Kostas, narrating the myths about the sorceress Phaedra and the lost land of Alleysiande to inspire rebellion. “My life was good. The people I know are good. They only wanted to do good. We just want a better world.”

I absolutely love the magical system E.M. Goldsmith has created in Salvation Taverns. It's unique and extremely imaginative to incorporate intricate lore, the concept of rookes who have traded their names for magic, the descriptions of their powers and roles, and the rules and consequences of them. The formatting of how Goldsmith delivers the story is equally original, as readers are brought into the taverns, one after the other, as the tale is skillfully told. We learn alongside those who are listening to “our” rooke. These are stories within a story that immerse readers twofold and are full of skillfully written symbolism. For example, we are told of the transport of Husk into a dark realm with demons, combined with the implications of his interactions with dark magic, that offers an immediate threat with broader, overarching issues, such as what is being faced outside the rooke's stories. Goldsmith's style is elegant without being forced, and this book is a singular piece of literature for more discerning fantasy readers. Recommended.