Another wonderful review for CRIMSON IN QUIETUS—this time from Booklist.
They call Eugen Bacon’s novel a “genre-bending murder mystery” set in the Sauútiverse, praising its dreamlike atmosphere, compelling metaphors, and the powerful friendship at its heart.
We’re thrilled to see this strange and beautiful book finding its readers. 🖤
Crimson in Quietus, set in a fictional future Africa called the Sauútiverse, is a genre-bending murder mystery. Muso’mi and Fin’Lei’s different voices and perspectives weave together to create a complex story that combines their love for each other and their shared world. Compelling metaphors and bits of poetry create a dreamlike atmosphere. While the main antagonist is terrifying, much of the novel’s tension comes from misogyny and ignorance and Muso’mi and Fin’Lei’s struggles to overcome both. Recommended for fans of African futuristic authors like Wole Talabi, Nnedi Okorafor, and Tade Thompson.
Ashley Rayner, BOOKLIST
Crimson in Quietus
From the queen of genre-bending speculative fiction, comes the newest Sauútiverse offering, a mystery like no other, where the investigator is not a detective, but a sound scientist.
In a world where sound is a tangible force, Muso’mi is a maadiregi—an expert in the art of consuming it. At the prestigious Mahadum, she researches the language of silence, seeking to master the gift her mother calls theft. But academic intrigue turns to deadly peril when her friend vanishes after unearthing a hidden truth. Pursuing clues through pools of quietude across worlds, Muso’mi stumbles upon a horrifying discovery: a pattern of carnage left in fields of harvested silence. Now, the hunter becomes the hunted, as her unique expertise draws her into the orbit of a serial killer who understands the power of sound all too well.
Includes a glossary of Bantu, Afrocentric and made-up words from this cross-cultural tale written in gorgeous lyrical language packed with emotion.
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