“The Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship (SFINCS, pronounced “sphinx”) is a yearly competition to recognize, honor, and celebrate the talent and creativity present in the indie community. We are a sister competition to both SPFBO and SPSFC, and we highlight greatness in the novella format in all areas of speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc.).” – From the official SFINCS website.
Note: The following review contains only my personal thoughts as a judge and does not reflect the views of the team as a whole.
REVIEW
Fans of expansive, detailed worldbuilding, smooth prose, and child protagonists in adult fantasy have much to look forward to in B. S. H. Garcia’s From the Depths, a prequel to her celebrated main series title, Of Thieves and Shadows. Although I haven’t yet had the pleasure of 
reading Of Thieves and Shadows, it’s been on my TBR since 2023, and promises exactly the kind of expansive setting and complex world that I love to see from epic fantasy. If FtD is anything to go by, that promise is very likely to be realized.
FtD itself is packed full of loveable (yet complex) rogues, scenic detail, and fantasy adventure that makes you wish it were a videogame so you could explore its myriad visual delights. While being fully impressed by each of these facets of FtD, however, I did have a few small criticisms that impeded my ability to fully immerse myself in the story. I suspect FtD will work best for fans of the main series who have more of an already-established stake in FtD‘s characters and world, though I should note that the story was easy to follow and that there’s certainly no requirement to read OTaS.
From the Depths features a dual POV split between young siblings Karliah and Konar. The children of impoverished smugglers and pirates, Karliah and Konar spend their days getting into trouble, scamming the wealthy, and exploring the lush and vivid landscape of their maritime home. Despite the siblings’ hardships, there’s a lightness to their play and an exuberance to their personalities that bursts from the page. Things at home are less rosy though, with frequent spats breaking out between their parents, who seem anchored to one another more by necessity and habit than any remaining affection. When the opportunity to hunt down a mythic artifact lands in their father’s lap, the struggling family throws their all into locating the object.
An air of future tragedy hangs over the story from its start, a little like the first few scenes in an RPG just before the main character’s hometown is burned to the ground by the evil emperor’s goblin army. Not that Karliah and Konar’s world is simplistic (or easy for them to navigate)–it’s anything but. Rather, Garcia does a fantastic job priming the audience for emotional upset to come. It’s a form of foreshadowing that doesn’t rely on specific moments so much as audience familiarity with form and genre, and, I suspect, this sense of vague unease and anticipation will be even harder felt by fans of OTaS. Despite this sense of horrors to come, however, the word that comes most to mind for me when reflecting on the novella’s opening is “upbeat.” There’s a sprightliness that sparks from FtD‘s protagonists, imbuing their fantastical surroundings with a child’s sense of deeper wonder. Konar’s protectiveness of his sister and Karliah’s boldness are aspects of the characters that immediately stand out and help deepen the sense of their familial dynamic; their bond, their connection, feels essential to them as individuals and to how FtD (and, presumably, any future stories featuring the characters) plays out.
The world could do with fewer ambitious people. What it needs is more folks dedicated to living quiet lives, ones that don’t leave damage when they’re gone.
One of FtD‘s most standout features was, for me, the detailed worldbuilding glimpsed in its pages. Garcia doesn’t hold hands, incorporating in-world terminology to describe flora, fauna, and environment.* It’s a decision that can cut both ways: some readers absolutely hate the approach, while for others it’s necessary in order for a world to feel fully real. For me, although it meant I couldn’t always picture what was being described, it pulled me into the sibling’s surroundings in a way that clunky pauses to explain terminology would have pushed me out. It also speaks to the tremendous strength of Garcia’s writing that, even when I wasn’t entirely sure what a particular leaf or animal looked like, the way it was written about or the cadence of the vocabulary, were enough on their own for the vibe to come through very strongly. I can’t guarantee Garcia and I are picturing exactly the same thing when we read a passage, but I can guarantee that what her words inspire in my head is very cool, and that’s an enviable skill.
The last twenty-five percent or so of the novella was, for me, a standout in this competition. The highest rating I’ve (privately) given for a book has been 9.5, and that last twenty-five would have matched that. Without dwelling too much on spoilers, it’s in this last fourth of the book that I feel FtD truly becomes Karliah and Konar‘s story, rather than that of their parents, and where the stakes both ramp up and transform into something visceral and real. A measure of sweetness and a narrative lull are, for me, vital ingredients to ensure that the darker or more action-packed moments hit harder. Contrast like this is something that’s often missing from the work of both beginner writers and from a lot of contemporary, traditionally published fantasy (through no fault of the author, usually. It’s rather that, in an industry obsessed with brevity, the most “obvious” parts to cut are precisely those lulls, especially if you’re a bad editor with low reading comprehension). That said, a large chunk of FtD rests a bit too long in the lull, focused not on Karliah and Konar, but on their parents. To some degree, this makes sense. Realistically, children tend to lack the agency of adults in most situations, and it’s clear that this would be one of those instances. However, FtD is also a work of fiction, and it’s the author’s choice to centre one character or another (or several). The meat of what happens could remain the same in FtD, but perhaps giving less page time to the various manoeuvrings, verbal spats, and decision-making scenes ruled by the surrounding adults would allow FtD to feel more powerfully Karliah and Konar’s. As a consequence of the uncertain focus, and what felt like a few repetitious scenes, I did find my mind drifting a lot through the middle fifty percent of the book, and I wasn’t finding myself compelled to pick it back up when I set it down. It’s a shame, because Garcia is undeniably in incredible talent, and anyone who knows me knows I love a long book.
Some of my favourite passages and images also occur in the novella’s final chapters. Taking refuge on a farm, Karliah and Konar are witness the birth and near-immediate death of two foals (and their mother). The actual event itself is off-page, recounted in the first lines of a chapter, and it hits harder for what you don’t see. As a metaphor for the childrens’ relationship with their parents (or, even more tragically, how the children have come to view that relationship), it strikes a perfect balance of clarity and subtlety that matches the voice of the two young protagonists. Where a less skilled author would focus on the blood and guts here, Garcia has the restraint to emphasize the much darker and spare hurt that the simple comparison evokes. Here, too, we see tantalizing hints of future conflict between Karliah and Konar themselves: at once sworn to protect his sister, Konar also recognizes on some level that one day that promise is one he’ll have to break. It’s the perfect tease for future stories, giving just enough away to raise tense and exciting questions in the audience’s mind, without leaving them feeling as though there are loose ends.
Overall, From the Depths is an easy book to recommend for the competent, professional quality of its prose; its delightful worldbuilding; and a roller coaster finish that found me deeply invested in its characters. It’s also a story that feels absolutely complete in itself. Although the middle portion of the story lost its footing for me in a way that meant I couldn’t fully sink myself into the story in places, it’s a strong finalist overall and you should absolutely take a look if you love fantasy adventures that feature roguish protagonists, difficult choices, and a pitch-perfect balance between the dark and the humourous. In particular, I suspect From the Depths will be fully satisfying for fans who’ve already fallen in love with Of Thieves and Shadows.
*Garcia does include a helpful glossary at the back of the book–something I love to see in epic fantasy–but because I was reading the eBook I didn’t flip to it like I would have with a physical copy.
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