A blood-soaked clashing of V FOR VENDETTA and BLOODBORNE, NON SERVIAM is written in the spirit of poetry and art cinema—suffused with visceral symbolism, lush purple prose, and philosophical pondering—its vividly complex worldbuilding inspired by Venice, Sardinia, and Etruscan Civilisation among much more. A dark and deadly web of intrigue.
Non Serviam: The Hypostasis of Dissent Book 1
Publication Date: May 7, 2024
Genre: Gridmark Political Mystery/ Gaslamp/ Gothic Fantasy
❤️🔥Revolution & revenge
🫀Female hysteria, dark femininity, complex womanhood
🦷Found family
🥀Slow burn yearning enemies to lovers
🕯️“Whimsical grimdark”
🏛️Philosophy
🩸Bløød & gûts
🧠Mad scïence
💐Fully LGBT cast~
🎭Baroque/Venetian setting
❤️🩹Tragedy & navigating tråuma
Expressing emotion is prohibited by law in the city state of Vencenza.
Beneath its tyrannical shadow, Giorgianna, a deranged former playwright turned political fugitive, flees a brothel to seek justice for the murder of a beloved friend.
When the last remnants of her bloodline are reaped by the incorrigible Minister of Dominion, Giorgianna’s crooked path to retribution crosses with Vencenza’s Machiavellian revolutionary hellbent on regime overturn.
All the while, the weight of unending tragedy erodes Giorgianna’s psyche into a vengeful bloodlust plagued by cabbalistic visions hinting at an ever-darker face of the violent Powers That Be.
The first in a grimdark political mystery duology with gothic fantasy undertones, NON SERVIAM is written with a unique, experimental style in the spirit of poetry, art cinema, and classics—suffused with visceral symbolism, lush, archaic-esque purple prose, and philosophical ponderings aimed at interrogating totalitarianism, colonial legacy, and state violence. Venice, Sardinia, and the Etruscan Civilisation inspire its vividly intricate, queer-normative setting.
The paperback edition features 25 illustrations by the author, Sfarda L. Gül, as well as one illustration each by Ayşe-Mira Yaşın, Nadia Sampellegrini, and Sophia Arnaout.
Take note that this book is very heavy on worldbuilding and conlang (including footnotes and several POV types (1st person limited; 3rd person limited; 2nd person limited every other chapter for the first ~10% of the book; all past tense)), and features very dense, metaphorical poetic prose, something which some readers may find detracts from immersion for them.
Content Warnings: government oppression, death, graphic gore, self-injury, mental illness, sex trafficking, sexual harassment, police brutality, violence against women and trans-identifying peoples, birth-related trauma, gun violence, religion, classism, discussions of sexual violence (humans, minors, corpses), child abuse, workplace violence, divorce, smoking (tobacco and opium), alcohol, mention of intravenous drug abuse, surgical procedures and needles (singular instance), fires and burns, strong language.
ALL ROYALTIES earned from the title are donated to Doctors Without Borders, the Kurdish Red Crescent, and All For Armenia.
Rating & Review
4 out of 5
If you enjoy extensive world-building, with unforgettable characters, and a unique writing style, you’re going to enjoy reading this. The thing I enjoyed most was that the protagonists were all artists of some kind, and each banned from practicing their art by the tyrannical rulers. My biggest complaint has to be that I was constantly having to stop and look up words when new characters were introduced or described. I didn’t mind the more flowery/old-fashioned prose overall, it gives the story a unique and dramatic vibe. Like something you’d expect to read in a classic literature class. The world-building is extremely deep, and you’ll want to use the guide at the start of the book as well as the pronunciation and explanation footnotes (which I appreciated). I’m a little on the fence about how things change between narration perspectives, and not just POV. It definitely makes the story more interesting, but can feel a little jarring at first. The story itself moves along pretty smoothly, and we get to follow each of the protagonists as they navigate this dystopian world. If you’re looking for a unique reading experience, you’ll want to grab this!
Book Tour Organized By:
