Author: Waqas Khan
Genre: Fantasy, Adult, Dark Fantasy, Horror, Grimdark (the protagonist can't change the system, and the setting tends towards darkness)
Publisher: Victory Editing Co-op
Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)
Release Date: January 24, 2026
TW: gore, body horror (grafting of body parts onto skin), torture (broken bones, jabbing with hot pokers), rape and sexual assault (threatened), cheating, slight homophobia (alluded to), murder, animal death (undead rat), sexism/misogyny, child death (flashback, on page), pregnancy, birth
The Blackstone Chair is a book about horrible people trying to avoid a horrible fate. It was a difficult read for me. I still really liked parts of it, however and think it might be worth someone’s time.
But first the plot. Ciaran Ryker is the Darkling Prince, heir to the Blackstone Chair. he lives in the lap of luxury and is about to be married to a noble and powerful woman. There’s just one problem. Ryker does not want to be the heir; as the heir is the next person in line to die feeding the Blackstone Chair. The King’s life force gets sucked out to grow darkroot; the plant that makes necromancy possible, and therefore enables the Ryker family to stay in power. Ciaran is said to have a while before he perishes, but when that turns out not to be true, Ciaran, his uncle Romney and his squire Martigan flee together for one last desperate meeting with the deposed kings of the tundra like south.
First off, all of the Rykers are bastards, and that includes the main character. I hated Cirian as a protagonist. He was an incredibly complex character, and his upbringing definitely showed through the pages, but as he kept getting into worse and worse situations and continued to be absolutely horrible to the people around him, I found that I didn't really want him to succeed. He is arrogant, cowardly, and mean, fitting for such a setting. If the narrative was getting me to hate him, it succeeded.
But Ciaran is a peach compared to the rest of his family. They all scrabble like rats in the dark trying desprately to avoid the chair, and none of them are redeemable at all. I enjoyed reading about Menshe Ryker, as he was definitely my favorite villain, as he was competent and ruthless, as well as a mastermind. He was always two steps ahead for most of the novel, and I liked being drawn along with Ciaran into his schemes.
My favourite character was Ciaran's arranged wife, Kathrine. She was a delight to read about, even as she also did some horrible things. I sympathized with her, as she was effectively shipped off to marry a dead man, leaving behind a man she loved. I was rooting for her and was disappointed that she was de-emphasised in the end. I hope she gets more time in the sequel.
The novel is in third person limited, so it holds you away from the characters and really adds to the bleak setting. The setting was a character in its own right, and was definitely the best part of the book. In this world, undead do all of the labour where the Rykers rule. Naturally there are a lot of discontented peasants which come into play later. There are also unique gods and enough distinction between cultures that it doesn't feel like the stereotypical European fantasy setting.
The thing that made me keep reading was the world-building. I love the concept of people not wanting power because is not really power, it's a cage. I love seeing the effects of extreme propaganda on the sacrifice for slaughter. I loved that the magic here was much more real than a lot of other books, using plants instead of more esoteric things. It made the magic feel visceral.
There wasn't the only thing in the book that was visceral. There is gore galore, torture and various other things that might turn someone's stomach. This is not very tame, and you can be blindsided if you're not prepared as a reader. Sex however, is de-emphasised, although childbirth is shown on screen. There wasn't any romance here, but the world does have and talks about sex. Also, there is a lot of misogyny, so be aware.
In my copy, there were a few typos, and repeated sentences; I assume that will be corrected when the book is published.
All in all, despite everything, I want to read the sequel, just to see how these people end up. I also want to explore the worldbuilding a bit more, and see if there are more systems of magic that can be just as real.
If you like bleak settings, with realistic magic systems, and can stomach all of the content warnings, I'd give it a shot! Just be prepared to roll your eyes at the main character.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (rounded up to 4)
Drink Paring: 1985 ding dong oolong, for the darkness and licorice flavor
