“My mother told me
Someday I would buy
Galleys with good oars and
Sails to distant shores
Stand up on the prow
Noble barque I steer
Steady course to the haven
Hew many foe-men
Hew many foe-men.” – Vanessa Kramer (Great Desolation)
Vanessa Kramer is an imaginative author of dark fantasy, paranormal romance, and mystery. Her books include ‘My Mother’s Spirit’, ‘Temporarily Forever’, ‘Great Divide’, and ‘Great Desolation’. Encouraged early on by a teacher’s words and influenced by Stephen King, she crafts atmospheric tales blending tension, human struggle, and the supernatural. She enjoys connecting with her audience through social media and community events. You can follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
In ‘Great Desolation,’ Vanessa Kramer takes Emma’s journey to darker, more ambitious heights. Now decades into her existence as a death angel, Emma narrates a life shaped by guilt, memory, and the heavy cost of choices made in the past. She is no longer the fragile young woman struggling with illness but a death angel, burdened with the weight of her past and the long shadow of choices she cannot undo. Time has taken away her family and reshaped her friendships. She is haunted by guilt over the deaths of those close to her—Dumah, another death angel, and Sam, her beloved childhood friend who carried her own share of secrets.
Determined to reclaim what was lost, Emma embarks on a quest to bring Sam back from the depths of the ‘Sea of Anathema’ while also grappling with Dumah’s rebirth into mortal life, where he has no memory of his past as an angel. Her journey ahead is riddled with traps, sacred trials, and betrayals that shake her faith. Along the way she encounters a host of new characters—Thalia the Virtue, the angelic figures Barraqiel, Hutriel, Matariel, and others whose allegiances are never simple. Some join her cause, others resist it, and the archangels themselves warn against the dangers of her mission.
Her journey takes her through sacred and forbidden places, including the Temple of Da’at. Her very role is questioned, her motives scrutinized, and the politics of angels, archangels, and virtues weigh heavily on her every move. At the same time, her ties to Ankou (the figure once known as Alastor) complicate her resolve. His power to twist human despair binds her to a relationship both alluring and agonizing, mirroring the darker side of her existence.
What begins as Emma’s reckoning becomes a sweeping quest of trials, alliances, and blurred fates. Bearing the hopes of many, she pushes forward towards an ending shrouded in uncertainty. Will her journey restore what’s been lost, or will it uncover consequences far more unimaginable than anyone could have foreseen?
Kramer’s ‘Great Desolation’ is a deliberate expansion: where the first book dramatized a single life’s collision with the supernatural, the sequel opens that lens wide, transforming Emma’s personal grief into a sweeping meditation on duty, memory, and the ethics of the afterlife. The author’s mythmaking draws openly from biblical imagery and epic precedents, and she relishes theological detail: from the hierarchies of angels to the rituals of judgment, each layer expanding her world with symbolic weight.
The book’s strength is in imaginative detail and emotional weight. It brims with carefully rendered worlds—paradise’s rules, the texture of afterlives, and the camaraderie (and betrayal) among celestial beings. However, the pacing can sag, long stretches of reflection and worldbuilding sometimes slow momentum and the prose occasionally feels uneven. At times, the book’s ambitious scope can feel overwhelming. Some secondary characters lean toward archetypal roles, and while they add depth to the story, a few could be explored more fully.
Readers seeking tightly controlled plotting or strict cosmological logic may find the rules here intentionally fluid. Still, for readers who want dark theology, imaginative world-building, and a protagonist whose long journey has forced her to confront loss, loyalty, and impossible choices, ‘Great Desolation’ delivers a bracing, often unforgettable exploration of how far one will go for love and redemption.
Calling all fans of dark fantasy, mythology, and adventure: enter a world of angels, forbidden quests, and timeless mysteries. Great Desolation promises suspense, wonder, and the thrill of the unknown.
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