Overview: In the Grasp, a realm on the threshold of enlightenment, the dactyli guard the fading embers of their ancient brotherhood, dedicated to the pursuit of absolute truth. Lovelace and Gunnar, two of the order’s last rangers, find themselves on the precipice of a changing world.

Verdict: When the order faces a fatal threat from within, Lovelace and Gunnar embark on a dangerous ranging, whereon they discover that more than the welfare of the order is at stake: a rogue dactyli named Alev amasses an army of those he calls the Burned Ones, mercenaries wielding elemental forces. Lovelace and Gunnar are forced to grapple with the unimaginable implications.

Meanwhile, the Grasp languishes under the oppressive rule of Osbert, who exploits the recent advent of the printing press to smoor the fires of budding enlightenment. A young woman named Kylene undertakes a journey to find her missing father, a prominent printer wanted for sedition. Her path leads her to the kapnobatai, a mysterious group of outcasts with whom Kylene takes up refuge and the mantle of her father’s fight for freedom.

In the mountains of Droch Fhortan, Lovelace and Gunnar encounter a feral young woman, Cora. Her mere existence uproots an age-old belief and puts to ground a new truth: magic can be awakened, magic can be taught. As their paths intertwine, a shared purpose emerges - to expose Osbert’s tyranny, thwart Alev’s dangerous plot, and rekindle the flame of enlightenment.

So begins the battle for the minds of the Graspish people, and a quest for the heart of magic itself.

In what is an engrossing read from start to finish, author Maressa Voss not only brings forth a secret society beset by evil, one that is dutifully, and at time magnificently rich in textured prose, that is both engaging and entertaining, but at the very same time it provides an atmospherically tender coming of age tale for the generations.

Instilled with the most unlikeliest of heroes, along with swirls and twirls of magic and fantastical endeavors, we are brought into a world where nature has been stripped of its resources and there is an overbearing sense of corruption and big brother overshadowing everyone.

But what ebbs and flows throughout the book is a genuine sense of prevailing compassion, and moreover, what can be done when heroes rise to the occasion within this fast-paced, enjoyable, and at all times empoweringly magical new novel.

About the Author - Maressa Voss lives with her husband and son in California, between the mountains and the sea. She holds a degree in Classics from UCSB with an emphasis in Language and Literature. When Shadows Grow Tall is her debut novel. She is currently working on “writing what she knows” with a dys/utopian novel set in a near-future alternative Southern California.

Official Book Purchase Link