The Vestigial Tales are a series of short stories by Laura Lam set in the same world as Pantomime. Some feature characters from the novels and others are completely separate. Each story contains an item of Vestige, the mysterious artefacts of unknown power, left behind by the Alder, beings who have now vanished from the world. So far, there are three ebooks available, with more to come.

In The Snake Charm, we get to revisit R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic. The story follows Drystan, the white clown, in the days before he met Micah. It’s lovely to read about the circus again even if reminded of how awful the ringmaster is. It doesn’t contain any spoilers for the novels but I still think you’ll get the most out of it after reading Pantomime.

The Fisherman’s Net is a short fable about greed, which doesn’t feature any character overlap. I like to think it’s something children of Ellada would be told, just as we have Aesop’s fables. It tells the story of a fisherman who finds a net which never fails to bring in a good catch.

The Tarot Reader is my favourite of the three stories and centres around Cyan who we meet in Shadowplay. As with Drystan’s story it’s a prequel, showing how Cyan ended up at Jasper Maske’s theatre and the development of her powers against a backdrop of suspicion. Again, the story works by itself but I do recommend reading Shadowplay first.

If you’ve enjoyed the novels (and who wouldn’t?) these shorts are a wonderful addition and will keep us going until Micah’s future is decided. The Snake Charm is currently free on Amazon until 25th August.

Goodreads | Amazon

Book Source: Purchased