I had such a great time reading Dark Moon, Shallow Sea that I finished it in less than 24 hours. The mix of the fast pace, approachable prose, and relatable characters just sucked me in and wouldn't let go. The plot of this story was also a bit wild, with so many exciting reveals, twists, and turns.

I loved all of the fantasy elements and the world-building in Dark Moon, Shallow Sea. The world had an interesting history, with warring gods and demons, that slowly came to light over the course of the story. Nothing was really what it seemed to be in the beginning, and I enjoyed how surprised I was by how it all came together in the end. The creepy atmosphere of the setting made this a great spooky season read, and the use of the ghosts as raving hordes out for blood was chilling at times.

There were so many great themes in Dark Moon, Shallow Sea, but I'm only going to touch on a couple of my favorites. Faith was a huge one, especially as it relates to being faithful to one's beliefs versus one's church. The story also examined how propaganda can be used to re-write the narrative of history. It highlighted how authoritarians gain and maintain power through manipulation of the masses, including by co-opting faith/religion and the eradication of centers of learning and knowledge. Needless to say, there's plenty of heavy-hitting material in this book, and the author uses fantasy elements and imagery/symbols to weave it all seamlessly into the story.

I enjoyed the stories of both main characters in Dark Moon, Shallow Sea, but Seth's story spoke to me the most. I think many queer people of faith will find a part of themselves in his story. He experienced so much religious trauma and spent most of his life hating parts of himself because of it. I loved his journey of discovering that he doesn't need to be perfect or just like everyone else to be good or faithful. I was impressed by his disillusionment with his church rather than with his god and his growth in faith despite everything he experienced. It was a beautiful character arc.

There were only a few nit-picky things that didn't work for me in Dark Moon, Shallow Sea. While most of the reveals were fascinating, some of them felt like they came out of nowhere. I also thought the romance elements were a bit too rushed. The pace was fast, and it made the depth of their connections feel a little too developed for the amount of time spent together. Neither of these things should be a deal-breaker, though, because this was a really great story and a fascinating start to what promises to be another great series by Slayton.

Overall, Dark Moon, Shallow Sea was a great epic fantasy that had me hooked from beginning to end. I think fans of Tara Sim's The Dark Gods series might like this series, too. They have a similar dark vibe with warring faiths, ghosts on a rampage, and the threat of demons. This story wasn't quite as epic in scope, though, but it was much more fast-paced. All in all, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars, and I'll definitely be picking up the sequel.

I enjoyed this story from start to finish. The character development, plot, and quick pace kept me engaged and anxious to know what was as coming next.

I already adored Slayton's work from the Adam Binder trilogy and was excited to read this mythologically-driven, Greco-Romanesque fantasy set in a world of his own design (instead of, say, a Trailer Park. No shade at TRAILER PARK TRICKSTER, I loved that, too). Immediately fell for both the SUN (Seth) and MOON (Raef), and also, a Hyperion Hound, because dogs really do know who the good folks are. Immersive world building at its best, sometimes to a terrifying degree (might have nightmares about certain places), with a dual point of view storytelling that kept me switching allegiances (cinnamon roll sunshine! No wait, shadowy angst sexiness! Yes to both!) and kept me guessing as the plot twists and surprises kept coming. Fast-paced fantasy without skipping on the epic feel or expanse, I cannot wait for the next book in THE GODS OF NIGHT AND DAY series!

Initial Thoughts/Expectations:
As a big fan of David R. Slayton’s Adam Binder series, I jumped at the opportunity to dive into Dark Moon, Shallow Sea a little on the early side. What I expected most was wonderful world building with complex characters. From the title of the series, The Gods of Night and Day, I expected there to be plenty of mythology, which is something I enjoy when done well. From the blurb and author commentary, I knew this book would be darker than what I am used to from this author.

What I Loved:
As expected, the world building is wonderful. I had to read a little slower to make sure I didn’t miss anything, because it all felt so important. The world is dark with a dystopian feel. I found the concept of a world without a moon to be absolutely fascinating and got caught up in the visual imagery of the shallows along with the shades and Grief lurking at every turn.

The characters in David R. Slayton’s books continue to be complex and troubled, with more than a little bit of a dysfunctional family aspect. I enjoyed getting to know the main characters and appreciated the themes of self-acceptance worked in, especially with Seth. Seth reminds us that being alone in a crowded room remains one of the worst feelings, and that trying to fit in with people who do not accept you for you is a choice that can destroy you a little bit at a time if you let it. Rafe reminds us that learning who you truly are and what you come from can be freeing, but come with unexpected consequences and responsibilities..

What I didn’t Love:
The most challenging aspect of this book was the limited dialogue. While the conversations picked up as the story progressed and the pieces fell into place, I struggled in the beginning with all of the actions taking place without conversations to drive them. There are good reasons for some things remaining in the dark, and I could appreciate them on the backend.

Final Thoughts/Recommendations:
This is a solid book one in a new series by David R. Slayton. The book is dark and just a tad sparse on moments of levity, but I feel like future books could see more levity as a focus perhaps shifts from building a world to providing more time with the main male characters. The darkness is tempered by complexity and the reader will be intrigued and busy documenting.

Readers who enjoy a focus on plot and action over romance will appreciate the romance-story balance; the romance is there and drives a storyline or two, but we do not get bogged down in the details.

The book did not disappoint and my expectations of wonderful world building and complex characters was exceeded! I look forward to seeing where book 2 takes us now that book 1 has set the stage!

Review by Crystal @ FunkNFiction.com

A fascinating and gripping dark fantasy. It's original, well plotted and twisty. It's dark but also entertaining and I loved these characters and this world.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A thief steals the contents of a mysterious box. Which turn out to be a handsome young man that does not remember how he got there. A knight that is shunned by others and ashamed by the truth of his lineage, on a mission to find the man that was in the box. A YA fantasy with a MM love triangle. A reminder that men are bad at flirting lol. Oh and did I mention that in this world the dead walk the earth as ghosts and monsters. Creepy.

I'm a fan of David Slayton's White Trash Warlock series so I was very excited to read a new series by him. In this one we follow Raef and Seth both young acolytes of different, warring gods. 12 years ago the knights the god of the sun murdered all of the followers of the goddess of the moon and death and trapped their goddess in the underworld. Since then no souls have been able to rest and ghosts hungry for blood haunt the land.

I enjoyed this book but I was also often confused by the reasonings. I didn't understand why they killed the moon goddess until towards the end of the book and I never understood the long term plan (considering how bad humanity was doing after her death). The pacing also felt a bit off at time.

The plot twist at the 75% mark was AMAZING. It has been a long time since a plot twist in a fantasy book got me and that one did a great job. I knew something was coming with the relationships but did not expect that.

Overall I enjoyed my time with this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for queer MM fantasy written by an actual man.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Really intrigued by the dueling religions aspect of this book, in my opinion not enough fantasy series delve into developing religions and how they impact characters and motivate them which can add a lot to a fantasy worldbuilding.

Spooky ghosts etc here made this a great fall read.

The only thing I don't like about getting an ARC for Dark Moon Shallow Sea is that I have to wait even longer until the next book is released. I suspected I would like this book, as I enjoyed the author's Adam Binder series, and I'm so glad I wasn't wrong.

From the beginning, there is a momentum that carries the reader through the world-building that introduces blood-thirsty ghosts, dueling religions, and some of my favorite characters in recent memory. It's a dark book that explores systemic problems alongside personal growth in a way that is compelling and satisfyingly creepy. It's not all darkness, though- there is a counterbalance of light and hope that makes me want to follow Seth and Raef wherever they go. I can't wait for the next book.

Welp, I hate starting a review with the dreaded "I wanted to love this book". But I genuinely did go in hoping and expecting to love this book.

I had so much fun reading Slayton's Adam Binder series and found them totally addictive, so I was really excited when I got this ARC. Unfortunately, this one was mostly a miss for me. I think the biggest issue here was the world building. I just could not get a foothold on what was going on for so much of the book. And while I found the characters likeable, I didn't find them particularly memorable or interesting. Two of the leads seemed to have somewhat interchangeable personalities. So feeling lost in the world and unconnected to the characters and dealing with POV changes throughout, I never felt like I could sink into this story or follow the flow of it. It felt much more stilted and confusing than I'd have liked.

Because I couldn't really connect to the characters or the world, I just really struggled to stay engaged with this story. If it hadn't been an ARC I would have DNF'd. There were some interesting elements of the fantasy world and some clever plot twists. But I really wanted more development and explanation with the world building and more fleshed out characters. This could very well be a personal preference thing, my brain didn't vibe with the storytelling here, but other people might have a very different reading experience. I'd say give it a go if you enjoy high fantasy and are more invested in plot than deep character development.

Wanting revenge on the knight who killed the goddess of the moon, Phoebe, and everyone Raef knew and loved he aims to get revenge on those knights. He opens a locked box where he finds Kinos, so Raef steals Kinos. Raef thinks he may be able to bring his goddess back and maybe even find love with Kinos.

I really enjoyed the world building, this was a dark story and the ghosts that haunt this world are terrifying. The magic in this world was interesting and doesn't always come easy to the users.

The duel POV between Raef and the knight helping hunt Kinos and Raef down, Seth, really helped keep the story interesting and exciting. The character development for both was so well done. There were twists that I really did not expect throughout the book.

I flew through this book and really felt connected to these characters. Although not exactly a love story, love is very important in regards to all the choices they make. I will happily read more stories involving Raef, Seth and Kinos!

Thank you Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Atmospheric and haunting, Dark Moon Shallow Sea left an ache in my chest. Slayton does an excellent job creating an atmosphere that immediately pulls you in and doesn't let go. He plays with mythology in a fun, refreshing way. I did struggle at points with the world building and felt like I could've used some more exposition; we're plopped right in so I was trying to grapple with how the world functioned and how it was structured. It didn't take away from my enjoyment of the work, though. A lot of this does some good groundwork and, once the second half of the novel gets going, I couldn't stop. I'm excited to see more adventures in this world.

In Dark Moon, Shallow Sea, the religious order of the sun god Hyperion murdered Phoebe, the goddess of the moon and destroyed all of her temples. The reason for this religious crusade is that the priesthood of Phoebe was accused of being in league with demons. Since Phoebe was the psychopomp of this cosmology, this has resulted in a blood drinking ghost apocalypse complicated by a lack of tides due to the absence of the literal moon. This is not a great situation, but the Order appears to be pretty much oblivious to what is obviously a Very Bad Situation.

(I kept waiting for riots against the Hyperion Order but it kept not happening even though "we are hip deep in murder ghosts and we can't make a living because there are no fish and our boats are beached because there's no tide," seems like a very good reason for the denizens of a sea side city to start hanging members of the Hyperion Order. Also the city's patron goddess is Phoebe so really, that would be just another reason, demons or no demons.)

The plot instead focuses on Raef, a survivor of the massacre of Phoebe's priests, and Seth, a young knight of the Order of Hyperion. Raef has unusual abilities he takes care to hide, and is a thief. Seth is a knight whose power to control flame is...lacking. (Which causes other knights to dislike and mistrust him. This is fine, as most of the other knights are...really not great people.) Seth has been assigned to protect a box. Raef steals the contents of the box, which turns out to be a person named Kinos. Raef decides he wants to help Kinos, and seeks to escape the city with Kinos with Seth and the other Knights of Hyperion in pursuit.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It has a slow start, and it took a while before I could really warm to Seth. (I liked and sympathized with Raef more, even though I feel that Seth has been suffering from spiritual abuse from early childhood.) The plot also has some shaky moments that are a little too convenient, and moments where characters who should be more suspicious, are instead too trusting. (And also somewhat the reverse.) On the other hand, the story goes in some unexpected directions and has some interesting ideas. The worldbuilding is interesting, and I read the entire thing in a couple of days.

Only one, tiny, individual quibble. There's a scene where someone gets hit with a large piece of shrapnel. (A "giant splinter of wood.") The character yanks it right out, and somehow doesn't bleed out. Now, I'm imagining a sharp bit of wood anywhere from a foot to maybe a yard long impaling the guy at very high speed. I am imagining something that can't be taken out with a pair of tweezers. Pliers maybe. You do not just "yank" something like that out. You will bleed out. You will cause as much damage yanking it out as was caused by it going in. Especially if you decide to do this, and don't even bother to push pressure on the wound. (Sometimes I am a pedant.)

Anyway, the book grew on me, and I think this is the first book of what's going to be a series, so I'm looking forward to it.

With Dark Moon Shallow Sea, Slayton brings his ability to take genre fiction and explore deep truths of the human condition into a new genre. This time, Slayton uses the deep lore of epic fantasy to explore hard truths about religious trauma and the ways uncritical devotion to religiosity can erode society.
While exploring these ideas, he also introduces readers to two of the most wonderful characters he’s ever dreamed up. Seth, the sunshine in the grumpy/sunshine equation, is the quintessential himbo that will warn readers hearts. While Raef, the grumpy, will steal their hearts while he steals across the city. Both characters have hidden depths and more than a few secrets to explore. Nothing is what it seems in Dark Moon, Shallow Sea. Not even this slow burn.
Ultimately, this book represents a lovely new adult coming of age in a fantasy setting. It captures a feeling of youthfulness that took me back to the beginning of adulthood when people surprise you, for good and for bad, and when betrays hurt the most for being firsts.
David R Slayton continues to show his ability to master any genre he sets his mind to. If we, the readers, are lucky, there will be far more to come from this fantasy world and far far more to come from Slaytons wonderful, creative and compassionate mind.

I absolutely loved this author’s previous series, so I was excited to see he had a new series coming out. I wasn’t quite as excited when I realized it was high fantasy because I’m not fond of that genre, but I gave it a try. I immediately liked Raef. He was a poor soul just doing his best to survive. Things become even more interesting after he “found” Kinos. I really enjoyed Seth as well. Add in an interesting plot with the mythology interlaced, and I enjoyed my time reading this book. This was a well-written, high fantasy book that those who love this genre will definitely enjoy. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

I was so excited to get an advance copy of this book! I love the author and his story-telling and enthusiastically threw myself into this book. From the first few chapters I was hooked, the pacing was excellent, the characters relatable and world building was quick enough that I was able to sketch out the landscape of the story with relative ease. I usually don't like switching perspectives but both characters, while flawed, had hearts of gold and it was easy to construct and follow their separate perspectives while waiting in anticipation for their paths to cross. There were emotionally poignant moments and I felt myself immersed in and invested in these characters and their destinies. I really hope this is the start to a new series because I am already itching to read the next book and continue the journey with The Moon and The Sun protagonists.

I am a big fan of David Slayton's Adam Binder series, so I was quick to request Dark Moon, Shallow Sea when it showed up on NetGalley. The Binder books are some of my favorite urban fantasy books, so I was interested to see what Slayton would do when creating a high fantasy series.

Dark Moon, Shallow Sea tells a tale of gods, demons, knights who wield fire like the sun, and a man named Raef who scrounges to stay alive and mourns his murdered goddess, Phoebe. There's magic, romance, reversals, betrayals, and all the fun things a good story needs.

Slayton uses the Greek Titans as the basis for his gods, and there's a mythic overlay that runs throughout the book. There are lots of cool references and some interesting new ideas. Raef, Seth, and Kinos are all interesting characters, and the journeys they take are well thought out.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to fantasy fans. I also very much like that, while this is most likely the start of a series, Dark Moon, Shallow Sea absolutely stands on its own as a standalone novel. It reminds me of fantasy books I read back in the before times when I was a teen.

Just safe this book for your full day off, you will want the time to just plow right through each chapter! Wonderfully complex characters and world building .

Absolutely love this book. I’ll read anything Slayton writes, and this was no exception. A beautiful balance of religion and fantasy, with a sweet love story built in. I am excited to read more!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced ecopy of this book!! This is a good dark fantasy book for people who like betrayal, heartache, and conspiracy. But also for hope and love with a touch of orphan finding their family.