Review: The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead

Adventure, sex, and magic collide in The Nephilim’s Fate by Eliza Hampstead, the first book in a tantalizing new fantasy series for adults, War of the Nephilim. With a cinematic writing style and surprising plot twists, Hampstead gives free rein to her imagination and fascinates the reader with her original take on the supernatural, mixed with a good number of steamy scenes.

Combining a memorable set of characters, fast-paced battles, and a heavy romance, The Nephilim’s Fate blends fantasy with erotica in a way that challenges the boundaries of love, pleasure, and magic itself. This is not only a world of erotic bliss and fantastical wonders – great dangers and troubling events await the reader, who will be confronted with difficult themes such as kidnapping, rape, and death. These, among others, are the harrowing consequences of long-standing hatred and suspicion in the magical community.

Alissia is a scientist and researcher in London who has found the man of her dreams, but that is her problem – he seems to exist only there. It has been a long time since her recurrent dreams with him started, sometimes sweet and tender, sometimes spicy, and after seven years she has given up on meeting a man who can make her feel like that in the real world.

When her best friend Charlie drags her to a strange nightclub one night, Alissia meets Nate, and her life changes forever. Love, mystery, magic, and a whole world full of powers and creatures she had never imagined could exist, suddenly opens up to her. However, even this extraordinary world proves to have its own deep-rooted prejudices and archaic rules, and when Alissia challenges them conflict brews. Will she and Nate manage to bring peace and understanding between magical species?

Nate and Alissia are the clear protagonists of this enticing read, and their bond is carried even more strongly on the page by the author switching between her and his point of view chapter by chapter. Looking at the story through their eyes, we immediately grasp the full depth of their mutual feeling, which also has the effect of enhancing the intensity of the passionate scenes they share.

Perfectly in line with the genres it moves between, this is not necessarily a book for deep introspection or contemplation, as little time is left to explore the complex implications of the plot in a reflective, pondering way, instead moving at a quick pace with fluid and natural prose. Hampstead avoids slowing down the progress of the plot with excessive lyricism, opting for a more direct approach, though some of her original ideas about how magic works can be seen as poetic. Balancing out the more explicit content, it could be interesting for the next books in the series to explore more this side of Alissia’s magic.

Delightfully sensuous and gripping, The Nephilim’s Fate can satisfy the reader looking for a charismatic, sexually charged fantasy with a dark edge and an epic feel. With more books to come, this is an incredibly strong start to a new romantic fantasy series.