by David Rae

All things must die. If death will come regardless, then we do not need to fear it or to run from it. We can live instead.

The priests of Vatu are locked in an endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Their constant reincarnations are defined by service to the dark spirit, hatred for each other, and ruling the world of eternal night in which they live, broken only by a single day each year when Vatu releases the Sun. They have suffered and enjoyed this existence for millennia, for an eternity… until now.

In the Tower of the Sun at the centre of the world, the reborn Utas returns to fulfill his destiny to become High Priest. He has scarcely completed his education, however, when a shocking secret of his resurrection emerges. Now questioning everything he knows, he takes a path never before followed in his long existence. Yet darkness and pain still shadow everything he does, and all his attempts at freedom seem only to lead back to Vatu.

Can Utas ever escape hatred and death, or will darkness forever rule his heart as it does the shadowed land?

Content warnings: Abuse (child/sexual), death, gore (medical/graphic injuries)

ISBN: 978-1-928011-50-7
Genre: Dark fantasy
Series: The Sun Thief trilogy, book 2
Age: 16+
Pages: 290
Formats: Paperback, ebook
Released: June 2021

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Labyrinthine, magical, and engrossing, David Rae has once again filled each page with mesmerizing imagery, elegant beauty and chilling corruptions. If you long to lose yourself in a truly spell-binding read, look no further.

Reedsy 5-star review

David Rae once again mesmerises and enthrals with his second instalment in The Sun Thief trilogy. Just as in Crowman, the incredible prose draws the reader in, and holds him spellbound in a place filled with light and dark, exquisite beauty and bleak depravity. We see the deep complexities that make up the man Utas. How he grapples with his destiny, his place in the world. Crowtower expands on the mythos and inner workings of Tower of the Sun, treating the reader to a journey of discovery, despair and forgiveness.

Elizabeth Eckstein, author of Quicksilver & Brimstone

“I loved the explorations of free will in this book, along with the themes of identity and personable responsibility. This is a very spiritual book, and I found it very intellectually satisfying. Rae’s writing is spot on. His beautiful descriptions combined with succinct prose means he juggles complex ideas, symbolism and action without losing the reader.

Iseult Murphy, author of 7 Days in Hell