A young adult series written by Rena Barron. The first book, Kingdom of Souls, was released in 2019. The sequel Reaper of Souls, was released in 2021. A third book, Master of Souls, is expected in 2023.
Arrah is a young girl living in Tamar, also known as the Kingdom. As the daughter of a powerful witchdoctor and the influential Ka-Priestess, she struggles with the fact that she has no magic of her own. When the children of Tamar begin disappearing, Arrah enters a dangerous bargain to gain magic of her own. Little does she know that danger lies much closer to home than she realizes...
Tropes found in the Kingdom of Souls:
- Ambition Is Evil: The Vizier and the Ka-Priestess are willing to do anything to maintain power, no matter the cost to others.
- And I Must Scream: The demons are stuck without physical form and their kas are unable to ascend into the afterlife. As such, they've been trapped in a sort of unlife for eons, fully aware, but unable to affect the physical world.
- The Demon King has been conscious inside his prison for millennia.
- Anti-Magic: Cravens are creatures that naturally possess anti-magic. Their bones are used to make charms with the same properties.
- The Archmage: The edam, the six most powerful witchdoctors in the tribes.
- Astral Projection: Powerful witchdoctors can do this. There's a risk of losing the connection to one's body though, so it's risky.
- Blood Magic: Many rituals require the use of blood. However, these spells aren't inherently bad and most of these rituals use only a little bit of the caster's own blood.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: The previous Ka-Priest was found naked, strung up on a fish hook. That was only after he'd undergone days of torture.
- Divine Conflict: Stories tell of the great war between the orishas and the Demon King.
- The Emperor: The Almighty One rules Tamar, but not the tribal lands.
- Evil Chancellor: The Vizier. He isn't exactly evil, just a massive Jerkass. He's also responsible for what happened to Arti.
- Evil Overlord: The Demon King. He was defeated by Re'Mec and Kore and trapped in a box.
- Fantasy Pantheon: There are several orishas, each responsible for a particular aspect:
- Re'Mec, the sun orisha. Twin brother to Kore
- Kore, the moon orisha. Twin sister to Re'Mec
- Nana, the orisha that shaped the earth
- Mouran, the orisha of the sea
- Yookulu, the orisha of seasons
- Kiva, the protector of children and innocence
- Oma, the orisha of dreams
- Kekiye, the orisha of gratitude
- Ugeniou, the harvester
- Fayouma, mother of beast and fowl
- Fram, the orisha of life and death
- The Unnamed
- There is also Heka, who is primarily worshiped in the tribal lands
- Fantastic Racism: The people of the tribes look down on those without magic, calling them ben'ik. It doesn't help that magic is common among the tribal peoples, but not in the Kingdom.
- High Priest: The Ka-Priest or -Priestess. They oversee the Temple in Tamar and religious rites. They also head the social programs offered by the Temple, including free education for the poor.
- God Was My Copilot: Re'Mec, aka Tam. Also, Kore appears before Arrah in human guise several times.
- Jerkass Gods: The orishas. They aren't nearly as benevolent as they seem in the stories. Arrah notes that they see humanity as toys or pawns, caring little about how their actions affect mortals.
- Immortality: The orishas and the demons both possess some form of immortality. They are also extremely hard to kill off, as Kore demonstrates. The orishas were unable to find a permanent solution to the demons, so they were forced to trap the demon kas in a form of stasis.
- The Demon King's ka is trapped in a box because the orishas were unable to kill him for good.
- Mark of the Supernatural: All demons have green eyes.
- Mind Rape: Ren-Eke;, the former Ka-Priest, loved to kidnap young women and screw around with their minds. He'd have fun rooting around in their deepest, darkest psyche and replacing their memories with twisted ones of his own. Little wonder that Arti, Nezi and Ty ended up so screwed up.
- Oh, My Gods!: People in the Kingdom tend to use 'Twenty-Gods' when swearing.
- Our Demons Are Different: Demons are thought to have been exterminated by the orishas. The demons are actually another race of beings, each possessing green eyes and wings. They no longer have physical forms and must possess the body of a mortal being. They consume ka in order to grow stronger and can heal from almost any wound.
- Physical God: The orishas. Each represents an aspect, such as life and death, and are worshiped by people in Tamar and the tribal lands. They also do not age and are very, very difficult to kill permanently.
- Power at a Price: Those born without magic can enact a ritual to gain power, but not without a significant cost. They must trade years of their life, which tends to come with a variety of physical ailments.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: Arti sacrifices the kas of the kidnapped children in order to summon a demon. The kas of children are highly desirable to demons because of their purity.
- Power Tattoo: The Zu people have magical tattoos. They can glow in the presence of magic and protect the bearer, among other things.
- Prehensile Hair: Kore is portrayed with snake-like hair. Indeed, her hair is made of snakes and will attack threats.
- Primordial Chaos: The Supreme Cataclysm. It's the void from which everything began and in which everything will end.
- Sealed Evil in a Box: The Demon King is sealed in a box, which is guarded by Kore.
- Soul Eating: Demons eat souls, or kas, in order to gain power.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The Unnamed orisha, Dimmah, was responsible for the Demon King's insatiable lust for souls and the eventual war between the demons and the orishas. All because she fell in love with the wrong guy.
- Villain with Good Publicity: Ren-Eke is remembered for being a good, gentle man. That's because the Vizier pulled strings to hide Ren-Ede's penchant for torturing young girls and spread lies about his character.
- Written by the Winners: The myths and legends in both Tamar and the tribal lands were written by the orishas. Unsurprisingly, the orishas took the opportunity to cover up the less savory aspects of their characters and their deeds.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Time doesn't work right in Kefu. It can be morning one minute, then midnight the next, then back to dusk, all with little warning.
