Voidwalker

• Author: SA MacLean
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: August 19, 2025
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: Beasts of the Void #1

Thank you to Orbit and Oliver Wehner for sending me an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

WOULD IT BE SO BAD TO BE DEVOURED?

Fi smuggles contraband between worlds, stockpiling funds and stolen magic to keep her village free from the blood sacrifices humans have paid to an immortal special for centuries.

Only legends whispered through the pine forests recall a time when things were different, before one world shattered into many and the flesh-devouring beasts crept from the cracks between realities, with their sable antlers and slender tails, lethal claws and gleaming fangs. Now mortal lives are food to pacify their carnivorous overlords, exchanged for feudal protection and for the precious silver energy that fuels everything from transport to weaponry.

Fi has always known the dangers of her trade. But nothing could have prepared her for crossing paths with Antal. For the deal she’ll have to make with him, or for it to grow into something far more dangerous.

A revolution. And a temptation—of how sweet the monster’s fangs might feel.

WALK THE VOID. AVOID THE MONSTERS. STEAL THEIR MAGIC AND—IF THEY SEE YOU—RUN. BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER OUR MOST IMPORTANT RULE: NEVER, EVER FALL IN LOVE WITH ONE.

After falling in love with MacLean’s queer romantasy debut, I was really excited to read this one. I had some pretty high expectations, and wanted to see what she would do with a duology. I wasn’t let down, and I enjoyed this book immensely.

I absolutely adored Fi right from the start, and I loved her just as much for her brash, cocky ways as I did for her unapologetic moral grayness. And both are out on full display in this book. She’s skilled and knows what she’s doing, making her cockiness read more as confidence for me. 

Since this is a duology, I expected things to move slowly at first to let readers get acclimated to a new fantasy world and accordingly, a new magic system. And while there was a hint of the faster pacing in the beginning—with both a shocking opening scene followed by a quick descent into a chaotic start of political intrigue. But then MacLean backtracked to a slower pace, although the pacing didn’t feel even throughout the story. The slow part was longer than I would have liked, and while I love reading a big book, this one felt to me as though it could have been a bit shorter.

At heart, this is both a fantasy with political leanings and a romance, and I really liked both aspects of the story. Fi finds herself unknowingly party to a treasonous act, and that brings her directly to the attention of the daeyari ruler whose city was attacked. Avoiding the attention of daeyari has been the main goal of Fi’s life, so she is beyond dismayed to realize that one job gone wrong can lead to a brutal death at the hands of Antal, the daeyari ruler of her territory. Unwillingly on both sides, they are forced to team up to fight a mutual enemy.

As for the romance, I really enjoyed how it was given the space to develop from a true enemies-to-lovers situation. I also loved the fact that this is very much a queer romance as Fi is bisexual, even if she is involved with a man. Well, sort of a man. Daeyari are described as having red irises and black sclera, a pretty serious set of teeth, antlers, and a tail, along with a wide range of magical abilities and powers. The way the relationship worked out was my favorite part of the book—being forced allies pushes them to interact and spend time around the clock together, and their dislike and fear slowly turn into trust, friendship, and then more. I really enjoyed the scenes where Fi is lusting over Antal, since it is such a big change from her fear and distrust when they first team up. 

Overall, this was a strong start to a duology, and I was engaged from start to finish. While the romance made for some fantastic (and spicy) reading, it began to overtake the fantasy plot line, which I was also enjoying. There were a lot of things that I did enjoy about the book—the character development, the romance, the storyline, and the witty banter—but there were a few things that didn’t work for me. The uneven pacing, the primary focus shifting from the fantasy storyline to the romance, and the constant mentions of Fi’s rainbow curls every single time it can be shoehorned into a sentence, as if we can’t see her beautiful hair on the cover, which is gorgeous by the way. I’ll be looking forward to the sequel. 

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