REVIEW : Silverweaver – an Ilia Archives Novella- Cameron Montague Taylor

Review By S.C. Principale

Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team

Silverweaver is perfection in small bites, combining amazing and deft worldbuilding, subtly
woven relationships, and a compelling plot of mystery, horror, and romance.
Anya is a ghost hunter, much to the chagrin of her talented metal weaver mother and her
medical student brother. She’s not bad at her job, but she isn’t reaching the high expectations the
finest families in Ilia set for their children, especially those who have brains and talent. Despite the
disparity in career paths, Anya and her brother Taran are close and rely on each other. So when
Taran asks Anya to share a ghost hunting tour so he can they can both make some money to handle
their bills, Spiritweaver (ghost hunter) Anya says yes.

And that’s where things begin to go wrong. For one thing, Eleira (El) Soti shows up as the tour
guide—and that is none other than Anya’s former lover. Another ghost hunter is also on the tour, and
Taran has some pretty harsh reminders for Anya before the tour even starts, reminding her that at
almost 30, there’s nothing she’s ever stuck with and he’s not sure he would trust her to go ghost
hunting—in case she leaves when things get tough. With all the emotions swirling, maybe Anya isn’t
in the best frame of mind for hunting… but it’s time to prove ghost hunting is the one thing she has
stuck with, though her family doesn’t really count it as a success.

At this point, we also get a little lesson in the mythology of the world Taylor creates in Ilia. In
Ilia, there is a large chunk of abandoned city. In these parts of the city, all the old iron in the sacred
metals and fixtures acts as a barrier to ghosts, most of whom are fairly peaceful and are just hanging
out in old cathedrals and the like. But to hunt a ghost, you have to use silver. Ghost tours of the old
city are not uncommon, but as El, Anya, and the guests set foot inside one particular building, Anya
can tell right away that something is off. However, when her former lover comes up to express her
sorrows that Anya hasn’t prospered more in her absence, Anya is distracted by pride and bitterness.
She loved El and wanted the sweet, sunshine-y girl to stay with her. They had been destined for great
things as both lovers and weavers…until El took a job in a bigger city and left both futures behind.
Inside the old church, a dark, vicious spirit is lurking. It was not summoned by Anya, and it
immediately wreaks havoc. But Taran blames Anya for it, claiming she must have bungled the job.
Calix, the other spiritweaver who Taran brought along as insurance against his sister’s failure (the
nerve!) throws his superiority around and hatches a plan to stop the spirit, but it may put the tour
guests in harm’s way. While Anya protests, El reluctantly agrees and has a plan to shield them.
The plan fails and soon reveals that the malignant spirit is a very ancient one. It manages to
trap the entire group in a small inner room of the church. Why not just kill it? El reminds Anya that the
spirit is that of another, father, or child and salting the spirit will completely destroy it, not just send it
back to sleep on the other side of the veil. But as it becomes apparent that this spirit is immune to
silver and ready to attack and harm them all, will salt even work? El thinks that she can perhaps talk
to it.
As El triesevery dialect she can think of, Calix and Anya have her back. When Anya notices
Calix seems particularly cocky (yes, even more so than earlier) she ends up in a scuffle with him.
There she finally discovers a summoning stone hidden in his pocket, and it is revealed that the spirit
is no ghost—it’s a demon. A demon who cannot wait to possess a human and remain on earth.
The rest of the story has three big goals—stop the demon, help Taran understand that Anya
was right all along and Calix (now dead after being briefly possessed by the demon) was a con man
who used shady methods to get them into this mess, and get El and Anya back together.

Taylor delivers beautifully as she writes a heroic divide and conquer scene that gets the tour
group out, but leaves El alone with the demon. Anya, having just learned that El has returned from
the big city for good to be with her both professionally and romantically, cannot leave her to face the
demon. And, in a rebellious move, Taran abandons his sensible stance and declares he must also go
with his sister and save El. He believes in Anya—and even if he doubts her abilities in some things,
he now understands that in her craft, she is one of the best there is.

In a thrilling battle with a resurrected and possessed Calix, Taran and Anya slay the demon,
save El, and the city learns that Anya is truly gifted, not just some metal weaver trying to hunt ghosts.
The book is100% satisfying, sweet, enthralling, and I can’t wait to read more!