Review: A Necromancer Called Gam Gam by Adam Holcombe

A grandmotherly necromancer seeking resolution for her past with the help of her loyal entourage: an undead cat and a spectral knight.

A girl on the run from the Eternal Empire for the mysterious power she possesses.

When a chance encounter pulls them together, Gam Gam will do what it takes to protect Mina from the rogue sergeant hounding her–including raising the dead. As long as they’re dressed for the occasion.

My Review

Thanks to the team at The Write Reads for sending me the ebook and media kit, and for arranging this tour. The book sounded like fun when I received the marketing email so I decided to sign up for the tour, although I already had three tours booked in for August and I have to read three books by the end of the month for the BFS Awards. I’m having a busy month…

Mina runs to escape murderers, and finds Gam Gam, an elderly necromancer. Mina has a secret of her own, a forbidden magic she was born with, inherited from her dead mother. Gam Gam decides she has to do something about the man sending soldiers after her new friend. There are zombies, animated skeletons, and knitwear. Over the course of this book, both Mina and Gam Gam confront loss and grief, while learning the limits of their skills, and reaching peace if not closure.

This was a short book but left me blubbering like a baby. I am very affected by grief and love, even the fictional kind. The relationship between Mina and Gam Gam is sweet and protective, as Gam Gam teaches Mina valuable life lessons and Gam Gam comes to understand her own limitations. They develop a familial relationship very quickly, accelerated by grief and undead battles, and a skeletal cat.

I loved Gam Gam’s choice of hobby – there is no such thing as too much yarn – and her need to dress everyone warmly. There’s a lot of love goes into handmade clothes, even hats, scarves, and socks. That’s what they represent to Gam Gam. She wants to help people, even the dead, and that is expressed through knitting. It’s quite lovely. And funny at times.

I can see why this novella was second place finalist in the BBNYA 2024. It shows great understanding of human nature, strong character development, and world building in a concise form.

Recommended.

Author Bio

Adam Holcombe daylights as a programmer and moonlights as an author. After spending years toying with the idea of writing, he decided to fully commit and work toward releasing his first novel. Then Gam Gam got in the way, and his first novel became his first novella. The novel will come later. When he’s not locked in a cold basement, typing away, he can be found hanging out with his wife, his dog, and his tortoise or playing D&D or board games with friends

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A Necromancer Called Gam Gam was the 2nd place finalist in BBNYA 2024!

About BBNYA

BBNYA is a yearly competition where book bloggers from all over the world read and score books written by indie authors, ending with 15 finalists (16 in 2024) and one overall winner.

If you want some more information about BBNYA, check out the BBNYA Website https://www.bbnya.com/ or take a peek over on Twitter @BBNYA_Official. BBNYA is brought to you in association with the book blogger support group @The_WriteReads.