A Crow Named Torment by Silas A. Bischoff

Book Review

Sarah Deeming

Torment was once a regular crow, carrying messages from the Baroness around The One City; secrets, orders, threats. Her desires lay no further than the treat she is given once she has delivered her messages and shiny things. But all that changes when she is captured by Phileander, an alchemist with devious and deranged intents. Phileander is studying the Everstorm, a storm of such immense power that it holds the secrets of the beginning of life. But Phileander is too important to go into the storm, so he wants to send Torment instead. Using a potion made, in part, from a vampire’s brain, Phileander gives Torment human intelligence with empathy, understanding and conscience, which means she will be able to relay what she saw in the storm accurately. Ultimately, this mission will kill her, but that is a consequence Phileander can live with. But it is torture for Torment. She has been given the gift of awareness, only to be told she will die for it.

Torment is determined to escape the alchemist, but Phileander is tricky, and he has added compulsions of obedience to Torment’s self-awareness. She is not free to act as she wants, so with the help of Vladimir, a cat who Phileander has also given a human-like awareness, Torment searches within herself for the key to her freedom. Can she do it before Phileander orders her into the Everstorm and her death?

A Crow Named Torment is a Gothic horror with a crow as the heroine. It is a fast-moving story told exclusively from Torment’s point of view as she travels from a simple, message-carrying crow to a complex character focused on self-preservation. Her voice is strong, coming loud and clear from the page, and she captivated me. Sometimes, when a story only has one point of view, it can become a little stilted, but not in this case. There are vampires, secrets, lost loves, a few more secrets, and an innocent young crow trapped in a high tower.

Torment’s character journey drives the narrative forward as much as the imminent threat to her life. A moment of Torment’s development that stood out to me as particularly clever is when Torment tries to enlist the help of Sister Catalina, who is also being manipulated by Phileander. Torment has the recipe for a potion Catalina needs, but she withholds that information until Catalina helps her. Torment’s life experiences haven’t shown her that someone might help her because they want to; she thinks everything should be transactional. This episode marks the start of her journey to understanding that people are not all like Phileander.

Much of the narrative takes place in Torment’s consciousness, called a Mind Palace, which contains all the knowledge she has picked up along the way, even things she observed as a normal crow but understands better with her heightened intelligence. Here, she explores who she is, who she wants to be, and learns to be more than what Phileander wanted her to be. This philosophical aspect is well-handled and doesn’t feel too heavy. Torment explores it both in discussions with others as well as physical exploration, which makes it easier to understand what is happening.

The writing style is incredibly lyrical, perfectly fitting the story and genre and making the whole thing so easy to read. I slipped easily into the tale and enjoyed every minute I was there, really investing in the characters and their plight. I will definitely be looking out for more of Bischoff’s work because it is beautifully written, and also a gorgeous book with elaborate decoration in keeping with the story. The whole reading experience has been taken into account with this book, and the attention to detail shows.

A Crow Named Torment is a delightfully dark Gothic novel about self-discovery and escaping certain death. It has an unconventional main character who easily carries the story, being both sympathetic and determined at the same time. A Crow Named Torment is an example of the quality that can be found in indie publishing and is well worth your money. Highly recommended.