I'm sure no one is surprised when I say that I read this book in one sitting, adore it, and am even now restraining myself from jumping up and down wiI'm sure no one is surprised when I say that I read this book in one sitting, adore it, and am even now restraining myself from jumping up and down with glee.
"Is this girl ever going to read anything that's not a Tuyo book?" you ask.
Well, yes, probably, because there's only one more currently published Tuyo book. But if there were an infinite number, I have to confess that I might struggle to force myself to ever read any other series.
Anyway, this book is an entry in the "soldier and a woman evading pursuit and causing shenanigans as they travel across the country" subgenre of this series, but it's much more serious in tone than Esau and Keraunani's book. This is partially because the stakes are higher, and partially because Kior and Rihasi, the two POV characters, are more serious people than Esau.
Rihasi is fleeing pursuit and assassination at every turn as she struggles doggedly toward her goal - to reach Lord Aras and lay her petition before him. Kior just took her on as a job, but before long finds himself an inextricable part of her mission, even though it may cost him his own long-held secrets.
The whole thing is great. There's an atmosphere of intrigue as we gradually learn more about both Rihasi and Kior's pasts, and ratcheting up suspense as they race against the clock to reach Lord Aras. There's only one hearing of a capital crime in this book, which is fewer than usual, but it was a pretty good one. I wouldn't have complained about seeing more drama up close, or about seeing Kior's reunion with his family, but to be fair Kior and Rihasi had been through a LOT by that time, so it's probably reasonable to pass lightly over the epilogue matters.
I loved getting to see Aras post-Tasmakat, since there's a LOT we don't yet know. However, many questions remain, most urgently: what is the state of Aras' sorcery now? Did the madness just start over at square one, ready to be triggered again if he uses coercion? I noticed that he did NOT mind-control ANY of the people in the hall of judgment even when it might have been convenient to do so. Or now that he's been judged by the Sun and counseled by whoever that guy was, is the madness no longer a concern?
I will not be fully at ease until I know these things, but I acknowledge that Aras is just a side character in this story. Regardless, it was good to see him back where he belongs, and at harmony with the prince. It was nice to see the prince a little more up close, and meet his daughter!
Overall, an excellent experience characteristic of this whole series. No notes....more
This story follows Tano, a character introduced in book 2 of Ryo's trilogy, but it's hardly a mere sidenote. This was just one punch to the heart overThis story follows Tano, a character introduced in book 2 of Ryo's trilogy, but it's hardly a mere sidenote. This was just one punch to the heart over and over and over again.
Tano is a young man recently adopted into the inGara tribe from a very abusive situation. And can I just say, I LOVE HIM. He is wracked by self-doubt, trauma, and guilt, but he's so smart and such a little snake and I enjoy following him so much. (He's trying to learn NOT to be a snake, but as we see in this book, it's not always a bad thing!)
In Tarashana, Tano brings about the downfall of his abusive father and his father's tribe. In Tano, we see that that story is hardly over. Tano and his friends set out to chase down some members of his old tribe for what seems to be a good reason, and end up landing themselves in extreme danger very quickly. It was jarring to me how fast they went from lowkey to the most awful circumstances and narrowest escape ever known to mortal man. The TENSION. The SUSPENSE. I was flipping pages (metaphorically, on a Kindle) compulsively. It's really hard to work out and read at the same time, but today I managed it.
In the end, Tano has to face several of his deeply trauma-rooted fears, and comes out of it with steadying experience, on the road to confidence and healing. It's great to see the inGara in this, and how they strive to handle difficult situations with wisdom and thoughtful consideration. I also loved Aras' small part, because I am THE Aras stan. Truly this felt more like the cornerstone of a whole new series than just a side-character novella, and I can't wait to hopefully see more of Tano in the future....more
This novella is an aside taking place after the end of Tuyo, the first book, in which a renowned Lau doctor travels into the Winter Country alone to tThis novella is an aside taking place after the end of Tuyo, the first book, in which a renowned Lau doctor travels into the Winter Country alone to treat the wounded left there after the battle.
The doctor is a little thoughtlessly arrogant, set in his ways, and high-handed without meaning to be. He's also selflessly dedicated to the sick and injured, and despite crashing into the Ugaro camp and culture gracelessly, they find a way to work together toward a common goal. He has surprising things to teach the Ugaro, and they have things to teach him in turn that he never expected.
This is an interesting addition to the series, because we see far more of "good" Lau magic and how it works than we've ever been shown before. I liked all the nitty-gritty medical details, the negotiation of culture clash, and overall thoroughly enjoyed this story....more
This book takes place concurrently with Tarashana.
While Aras and Ryo are striking off into the Winter Country, we're left at home with the developingThis book takes place concurrently with Tarashana.
While Aras and Ryo are striking off into the Winter Country, we're left at home with the developing assassination attempt aftermath. Esau, one of Aras's men, is sent off on a confidential mission which he thinks will be pretty simple. It turns out to be a complete shenanigan from start to finish.
In addition, it's told half in the current time and half in flashbacks. Esau's present-day mission is the covert extraction of a woman from a dangerous situation, which is complicated when she decides to be uncooperative with her rescue. It's pretty fun, I have to admit. In the flashbacks, we see Lalani's introduction to the talon as a 17yo talon wife (Yikes!!!!!! This is creepy and gross, but the Lau don't think so and it is not presented that way in the story.) and Esau's development from a regular soldier into a man known for pulling success out of odd situations and impossible missions.
There are zero Ugaro in this story, so as you can imagine there is a lot less extremely serious negotiation of customs and cultural mores. Esau is a much more fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants type of guy. It is enjoyable to see how the soldiers relate to each other, and Esau's role as Shenanigans McGee certainly doesn't leave any time for getting bored. Overall, this kept my attention the whole time and the resolution was surprisingly wholesome....more
This book dragged me through a slow-motion, multi-part roller coaster ride.
Part 1: The Summer Country and Journey to the Ugaro
This was FABULOUS. I wasThis book dragged me through a slow-motion, multi-part roller coaster ride.
Part 1: The Summer Country and Journey to the Ugaro
This was FABULOUS. I was so happy to see Ryo and Aras again. Their dynamic remains immaculate. Aras is perfect. He is right about everything. Ryo is unflinchingly loyal, even when he has to tell Aras to his face that he's wrong. Starts off with a bang and then continues through tense negotiations of morality, loyalty, law, and relationships. You know me, I LOVE that.
When they started on the journey to the Winter Country, I was a little sad to leave the developing assassination attempt situation behind without seeing it resolved, but I was consoled by how Ryo almost immediately picked up a pathetic life form. This was engrossing, and Ryo's developing mentorship and relationship with Tano held my FULL ATTENTION. His situation only becomes more gripping with every little detail we learn about his backstory.
Part 2: Land of the Shades
This part seemed to take the longest. I wasn't disinterested in this save-the-universe plot, although it did seem very under-explained, but it was a long journey with a lot of environmental description. I don't really care about the people of the starlit lands. And this section has a lot less of the relationship/morality/values negotiation that is my most beloved throughout this whole series. Finally, at the end, the great climax comes, and it is HORRIFYING. I was stunned with horror. And it just goes on. And on. And on. For so long.
Part 3: Aftermath and Convocation
We're completely done saving the world and it's only like 2/3 through the book. That's when you know that you're really in for it.
I was glad the book didn't end leaving Aras and Ryo in their immediate post-battle state, because I don't think I could have emotionally withstood that. I read this book until 2AM and deeply regretted it the next day, but I COULDN'T put it down until I knew if they resolved their problems. Yikes yikes yikes. This was good, because Aras and Ryo are the heart of this whole series and it was such a high stakes and probably necessary moment for their dynamic, but still so painful. You mean Aras isn't perfect, and right about everything?
The Convocation plotline when they finally made it back to the Ugaro was RIVETING. Satisfying. Excellent. I love the Ugaro's extremely systematic, custom-based form of dealing with issues. Lots of talking. Lots of telling and re-telling things that happened. I couldn't look away the whole time. Tano is a great character, and I very much enjoyed getting a look behind the curtain of his story and seeing him get justice for his family. Loved it.
And then, in the middle of all this talking about what Tano did, the Aras and Ryo problem gets WORSE. SO MUCH WORSE. What is happening??? I'm worried now! But then it gets solved. Kind of? Overall, I went through the wringer with this book. It felt quite long and slow in parts, but I don't regret a minute of it. It definitely left me with the sword of Damocles issues hanging overhead that the second book in a trilogy often does, so I'll be going on to the next book forthwith. I have to resolve this tension asap.
Brief note on negatives: this book goes a lot more into the Lau types of wives, and Ugaro polygamy (and polyandry?) than previous series installments. We'll see how that goes, moving forward....more
This is possibly the most unhinged re-read experience I've ever had.
Like, what is even happening? Is it 2005? Am I 12 years old? THE ANSWER TO THAT ISThis is possibly the most unhinged re-read experience I've ever had.
Like, what is even happening? Is it 2005? Am I 12 years old? THE ANSWER TO THAT IS DECIDEDLY NO. And yet, here I am, frothing at the mouth because of Eragon of all things. Respectfully, what the hell?
This book will go down in my personal history because, as a goody-two-shoes teen, I was only ever grounded one (1) single time. And it was because I sassed my mom after she kept trying to talk to me when I was in the middle of something VERY IMPORTANT. (Reading this book.) I was grounded for a week from reading books. And I had to wait... to finish it. Only the fellow nerd kids can understand how agonizing that was.
Anyway. It's odd because I didn't even end up liking the book that much, the first time I read it. My vague memories are that it was slow, and that Eragon's unrequited crush on Arya became deeply cringeworthy.
This time - yes, it's slow. I don't care, though. And Eragon's crush is certainly cringeworthy, but not NEARLY as cringeworthy as I remember it being. There are only two brief awkward scenes and on the whole he holds it together pretty well, given how boneheaded he tends to be. It's a lot of traveling and dwarves in the beginning, and then the vast majority of the rest of the book is Eragon's education conducted through slow and painstaking infodumps.
I don't care though. I had FUN.
I do enjoy Roran's perspective a lot, so that helps. I love the crazy dissonance of him and Eragon finally meeting up again and they're both completely, totally different people than they used to be. I like the post-apocalyptic aspect of everything, with Eragon blindly stepping in the footsteps of an eradicated society. There is a LOT of worldbuilding and honestly, I respect it. I really enjoy Eragon coming back to rejoin the Varden and it's a completely different experience for both of them after his training. I like the return of MURTAGH, because that's my BOY. I continue to be intrigued and fascinated by Elva and her curse.
What can I say? I had fun and can't wait to read the next one.
I thought I was past the time in my life where I could be brought to such peaks of emotional investment by YA books, but apparently not! I'm humbled and it's actually awesome....more
When I read these as a kid I thought they were fun, if a little cutesy. Now it's the same except I cry every time Aslan speaks. When I read these as a kid I thought they were fun, if a little cutesy. Now it's the same except I cry every time Aslan speaks. ...more
I finished this book in two quick swallows. Fundamentally, it's an odd, homey creation allegory. It's not my favorite of the series, but it's impossibI finished this book in two quick swallows. Fundamentally, it's an odd, homey creation allegory. It's not my favorite of the series, but it's impossible not to take Aslan seriously and I love the cabby. ...more
This is the story of Biddy, who is not a magician.
She was raised on a magic island by a mage and his rabbit-shaped familiar spirit, but she herself haThis is the story of Biddy, who is not a magician.
She was raised on a magic island by a mage and his rabbit-shaped familiar spirit, but she herself has no magical powers. She has never been off the island. She has never met anyone else. She is, in fact, beginning to feel a little stifled by her life. As lovely as it is, it is always the same, and Biddy is a teenager. She wants change.
Very quickly though, change comes into Biddy's life.
She learns about the world: it is brutal and terrible, in ways that she could hardly have imagined from her past experience on the island.
She learns about magic: it is draining away out of the world, being hoarded and stockpiled by the powerful in the magical community, who leave none for anyone else.
She learns about Rowan, the mage who raised her: he has lied about many things, and may not even be the person she grew up believing him to be.
The best things about this book for me were Biddy's relationships with Rowan and with Hutch, his familiar. This is very much a coming-of-age story, where Biddy's understanding of herself, her family, and her place in the world go through many adaptations.
Her fluctuating love for and trust in Rowan was one of the highest-stakes conflicts. I needed him to prove himself and them to come out on the other side with their relationship intact, and they did. If I changed anything, it would be to insert MORE of this dynamic.
The part where the puca calls Biddy the magician's daughter? Excellent.
The other best thing was Biddy's own character growth. As a former homeschooled kid, I can relate.
She goes out into the world knowing absolutely nothing but what she's read in books, and has to confront a lot of unsettling truths. She is as awkward and scared as you would expect and very quickly learns to see her past "stifling" life on the island as the sanctuary it truly was. Biddy grows and adapts quickly, though, facing her fears and coming to discover her own confidence in herself.
The vibe of this book is old-timey and wholesome, like the children's classics and fairy tales Biddy is always referencing, but it looks at harsh realities unflinchingly. There is torture, corrupt selfishness, ordinary unkindness, and systematic injustice, but through it all the main thesis persists: that everyone deserves a bit of magic in their lives....more
Me picking this book up: Okay. Cover's kinda cringey, but the description seems interesting.
Me after reading it: *foaming at the mouth* AMGHFMHGFJGJHGMe picking this book up: Okay. Cover's kinda cringey, but the description seems interesting.
Me after reading it: *foaming at the mouth* AMGHFMHGFJGJHGKFG I NEED THE REST OF THE SERIES
Listen. Listen. This book has what I most adore... that thing which I have always unhelpfully called "loyalty dynamics."
Ryo is an Ugaro, a warrior from the winter lands, given as a ritual sacrifice to a general from the summer lands to buy his clan's safe retreat from battle. He is meant to die, only he doesn't. The general, Lord Aras, instead wants to use Ryo in a different way: as translator, and teacher of the customs and political landscape of the Ugaro.
Then everything goes wrong, roles reverse, and they both find themselves facing a shared enemy at great disadvantage. There's danger, magic, adventure, pain, etc. etc. That's not important. What's important is the LOYALTY DYNAMICS between Ryo and Lord Aras. They develop a trust and friendship, despite their peoples' long enmity, that is tested and twisted but still holds strong. It was great. It was amazing. I loved it.
What adds to this is the intricate work that went into the customs and norms of both peoples. The Lau, from the summer lands, have their own culture and rules of behavior that Ryo has to learn. But the Ugaro have a much stricter, ritualistic, society which prizes honor above almost everything. Ryo loves his family and has an unshakable tie to them, as well as to the values of his homeland. I loved seeing the politics that went into negotiating these rules, as well as the way Ryo worked to explain and interpret them for Lord Aras.
The magic was also interesting, and there were many secondary and tertiary characters that stood out. All of it was great. Nothing was nearly as great as the dynamic between Ryo and Aras and, as I said before, I cannot WAIT to go on to the rest of the series. ...more
The cover of this is one of the ugliest things I have ever seen, but the book inside is FANTASTIC.
Seyonne has been a slave for so long. He has learnedThe cover of this is one of the ugliest things I have ever seen, but the book inside is FANTASTIC.
Seyonne has been a slave for so long. He has learned to forget the person he was before, the life he used to have. Now he thinks only of survival, and the present moment. It's the only way his current existence is bearable.
Then he is sold to the mercurial, spoiled crown prince of the empire that subjugated his people. The prince is just another master - or at least, Seyonne tries his hardest to think of him that way - until it becomes clear that forces bigger than the empires of men are at work. The past Seyonne has worked so hard to try to forget becomes the only thing that can save them.
The slavery here is brutal. Right away the story shows us branding, starvation, casual violence, and violation. The numbing effect of such constant treatment and the fear and hopelessness it engenders are depicted very well. It's not hard to understand Seyonne's coping mechanisms, or why he might hesitate to put them aside.
Aleksander is terrible. Sure, he's a person with thoughts and feelings and a backstory. But he's also cruel, thoughtless, selfish, and terrifying. Not at all the kind of person that, given any kind of choice, a slave would want for a master.
Still, as Seyonne begins to see Aleksander differently, so did I as the reader. I was rooting for him just as Seyonne was, to learn and become a better person, and to fight the evil influence that surrounded him.
There's also the mystery surrounding Seyonne's past. I was ravenous the entire time for more details explaining who he was, why he knows the things that he knows, the origin of his strange skills. The explanation was doled out tantalizingly, just enough to keep me reading at a breakneck pace.
Overall, I loved this whole book. I love Seyonne and Aleksander's dynamic as it shifts and they become like brothers, both provoking and protecting each other at turns. I loved the intricate detail put into the world and the different cultures and customs of the peoples.
I am hesitating a little go to on with the rest of the series, mostly because I'm sure more pain awaits. But eventually I will. It's inevitable as long as I know there's more of these two out there....more
You already know the story. Celehar, numb with depression, continues to go about his daily life.
His dailFully engrossing. This world can do no wrong.
You already know the story. Celehar, numb with depression, continues to go about his daily life.
His daily life just happens to be hearing the dead and dispatching supernatural horrors from beyond the grave. He drinks tea, visits friends, and worries about the shabbiness of his clothes. He also gets an apprentice foisted upon him, which is a bright moment in this series that I highly enjoyed.
I cannot express how much I love returning here with every installment of this series. Can't wait for the next one (Will Celehar Defeat Depression? Inquiring Minds Want To Know) as always....more
Yeah, I read this in one night, on accident, intending to just get a head start on it and then unable to put it down until I finished it after midnighYeah, I read this in one night, on accident, intending to just get a head start on it and then unable to put it down until I finished it after midnight when I had to get up early the next morning.
Yeah, I loved it.
No, I'm not going to be able to write a review that makes any kind of sense.
So. The standout part of this book for me was not at all the El and Orion relationship. That was a huge part of what I loved about book one. Then it was present in book two, but much-reduced. Book three is barely about El and Orion at all. Which I thought would make me sad, but this book actually doesn't need it. The Golden Enclaves does well on its own.
What is the book about, then? I will do my weak and feeble best to tell you. It's about:
1. El. She continues to hold herself and her emotions at a distance, but the book still does an absolutely stunning job of showcasing them. El's grief, her anger, her sorrow, her trauma. I was extremely impressed at how well everything was explored unflinchingly even when El herself as a character is doing her best to flinch away from it.
2. Community and systematic injustice. El's chip on her shoulder regarding her mom, her childhood, her father's family, the enclave system in general, etc. was all very visible inside the Scholomance. Now, however, we've left that closed system and are in the real world confronting all these things directly.
All the revelations in this book hit me right where they were supposed to. Orion's parents. The enclaves. The truth about who was destroying them. Honestly? It was great.
Add in a sprinkle of all the side elements I have enjoyed in the other books such as El's wantonly destructive power, her using it for good despite her predispositions, her web of slow-built allies, infodumps on lore and monsters, and it's a recipe for an excellent late-night read. Even if I did suffer the next day.
The only thing that wilted a little was, as I mentioned, the core of the "El and Orion" dynamic. It was so good in book one. It was so much FUN. And here we are, with it relegated to a little aside for a couple chapters. Overall, the book did well regardless, but it was still a little bittersweet to see the way everything ended up....more
Sherwood Smith somehow has a laser-accurate bead on my entire reading taste. It would honestly be deeply uncanny ifGUYS... WHY IS THIS SERIES SO GOOD?
Sherwood Smith somehow has a laser-accurate bead on my entire reading taste. It would honestly be deeply uncanny if it were not for the one huge exception:
1. Sexual Content
The previous book started when the main characters were children and we had to endure their adolescent discovery of sexuality in far more 4k HD than I ever wanted. It wasn't explicit, but it took up a large amount of story space.
Here, everyone is growing into adults. People have one night stands and dalliances, and sex is discussed frequently and casually by the narrative. This is still way, way more than I want and more than I am comfortable with. This is the one thing that takes this series down a notch from currently being a strong contender for an All Time Favorite spot.
Everything else... amazing.
Inda is still in exile on the sea. This whole book is a piratical, seafaring setting - which I honestly don't even LIKE very much. But it's fantastic.
The themes of loyalty? Inda's Ender Wiggin energy? He is my FAVORITE kind of Mary Sue military prodigy who commands the instinctive love of everyone around him and yet is oblivious. The intricate worldbuilding, with countless complicated names, cultures, languages, etc. and yet still I remember and recognize them? That's a true sign of author skill, honestly. The political plots, a mixture of strategic scheming and people being dumb people?
The whole thing is great. I can't say too much more because the strongest impulse in my soul right now is "ON TO THE NEXT ONE IMMEDIATELY."...more
This is a time-travel story, with not one but TWO plague narratives.
In a near-future timeline, the world has gone through some vaguely-alluHell yeah.
This is a time-travel story, with not one but TWO plague narratives.
In a near-future timeline, the world has gone through some vaguely-alluded-to horrific disasters. In a mostly unrelated circumstance, time travel has become part of accepted science. Oxford historians travel to the past in order to learn. Kivrin, a history student, is sent to the Middle Ages. (This whole part? Hell yeah hell yeah. Both for the detail and attention paid to portraying the Middle Ages in general and also the Black Plague.)
Meanwhile, back at home, a mysterious flu-like illness begins to strike people down, precipitating a quarantine and endangering Kivrin's hopes of getting home. (This whole part is extremely prescient-feeling to the point of being awkward.)
Overall, the whole thing is deeply enjoyable. The tone of the story is mostly serious, and gets grimmer as it goes. It doesn't shy away from punching pretty hard when it comes to character deaths, either or agonizing circumstances either.
It's only May, but I can already tell this is going to be one of this year's standout reads....more
I intended to start this book yesterday and accidentally swallowed it whole.
I didn't love this one quite as much as Isle of Blood and Stone, but I've I intended to start this book yesterday and accidentally swallowed it whole.
I didn't love this one quite as much as Isle of Blood and Stone, but I've never met a Makiia Lucier book yet that wasn't effortless to read.
This was a lot of fun. Not a deep, complex, epic scale fantasy. It's a tightly-written story with focused scope and no unnecessary flab, and I enjoyed it a lot.
Reyna is a royal mapmaker on a voyage for St John de la Mar when disaster strikes her ship. She washes ashore in a foreign land, and from there adventures begin that end in uncovering a far bigger threat than just ordinary pirates. Reyna and Levi's romance was just at the level I approve of -- present, but not oppressive, and the story never lost my interest.
I always wish Makiia Lucier's books included more. Would it hurt us to spend a few chapters doing nothing to advance the plot, just learning more about the characters and world? But this is her style and it works well, so the only real weak spot I would point out is the ending.
Reyna simply spills her guts to a foreign king, and boom. Problem solved. It certainly makes one wonder why this couldn't have been done a lot earlier, and seems like a poor option to count on. The king had done nothing to make himself seem particularly kind, honest, or trustworthy. What if he hadn't been? This could have gone terribly for everyone involved.
Overall, though, this was a shot of compressed fantasy adventure injected directly into my veins, and it was great....more
FINALLY. I have been searching long and hard for a Neil Gaiman book I could actually like, and here it is[Gordon Ramsay "finally some good food" meme]
FINALLY. I have been searching long and hard for a Neil Gaiman book I could actually like, and here it is at last.
Bod grows up in a graveyard, and his family and friends are the ghosts that inhabit it. (And Silas, who I assume is a vampire.) The actual story of the people coming after him and the Honour Guard and whatever their worldwide conflict is doesn't make a ton of sense to me, and honestly doesn't matter at all.
The point here is the story of Bod's growing up -- the adventures he goes on, people he meets, and discoveries he makes about himself and the world -- and it was great. It kind of reminded me of if you mixed Tom Sawyer and a slice-of-life children's adventure like The Penderwicks but then made it supernatural.
The whole thing is deeply bittersweet in almost every way, and at the end it was almost too much for me. (I also thoroughly loved the very cool, sketchy illustrations.)
I'm so glad to finally get to experience the signature bittersweet, macabre Gaiman vibe in a story I truly enjoyed....more
This is an Austen I had never before consumed in ANY form. A rare delicacy!
I did enjoy it a lot. It's different, moving very very slowly at first and This is an Austen I had never before consumed in ANY form. A rare delicacy!
I did enjoy it a lot. It's different, moving very very slowly at first and then almost seems a little fast and hasty at the end. I liked Anne, and the story of meeting again after having grown up and learned a lot about yourself, who you are, and what you value. Overall, I continue to imbibe Jane Austens and ask for more....more
Why did it take me so long to get around to continuing this series?
There were reasons, but now they all seem dumb. This was a GREAT experience and I lWhy did it take me so long to get around to continuing this series?
There were reasons, but now they all seem dumb. This was a GREAT experience and I love one (1) Justice of Toren One Esk Nineteen.
Honestly, I have no idea what the plot-relevancy of this book even was. Anaander Mianaai's schizophrenic civil war barely even featured. We just jet over to that planet where Lieutenant Awn was, and then spend the next short age ruthlessly attacking all of its crimes and injustices. I'm sure this connects to the bigger plot somehow, but honestly I don't care. It was great.
It's like Breq spent a thousand years standing around impassively while having a LOT of opinions and now that impassiveness is no longer the rule, decides to wage a systematic military campaign with those opinions. The way (she?) keeps an intense, instinctive eye on everyone she cares about should be creepy, but it's not. Instead, the way she pays attention to everything, from the smallest detail to the most massive, just feels like caring.
The entire time was just Breq maneuvering to emotionally, materially, and politically improve people's lives. Why? Not sure. But I'm not complaining. I loved the whole thing. The politics were great, the loyalty dynamics of ships and crews were great, the intricate dynamics of relationships -- everything was great.
I can't wait to read the next one and have faith it will be just as fabulous....more
Best fairy tale retelling since Shannon Hale's Goose Girl y/y?
Honestly, this was GOOD. It's been a while since I read a truly excellent YA, and while Best fairy tale retelling since Shannon Hale's Goose Girl y/y?
Honestly, this was GOOD. It's been a while since I read a truly excellent YA, and while I was reading it so many things kept surfacing in my mind that I wanted to praise in the review. I did not keep notes, however, and I've certainly forgotten most of them by now. Just know that, for everything I mention here, there were probably two other things that stood out as enjoyable that I'm not mentioning.
Anyway, this is partially a goose girl retelling, and partially something new and/or a different fairy tale that I'm not familiar with. It reminds me of the one where the girl has precious stones drop from her mouth whenever she speaks, but that was a good thing whereas Vanja is cursed.
Regardless, it's got its own very strong character, and the retelling elements show up as familiar echoes and faint references rather than defining the details of the entire story. Which is how I like it.
The beginning was a little slow. Vanja comes off as smug about pulling off her heists, and there are a lot of details and no one in particular to like. After the 20% mark, though, things started to pick up. There's LOTS of stuff to have fun with here.
• RELATIONSHIPS. This is a huge one because there are so many and they all have a particular poignancy. Vanja and Gisele's fraught, soured friendship. Their breach is entirely understandable from every direction, and I wanted them to make amends SO badly.
Vanja's relationships with Death and Fortune. Nice! Nice! Nice!!!! I love this.
Ragne was a great character, just quirky enough to be entertaining but real enough to like and not dismiss as a gimmick.
Even the relationships between enemies had an excellent weight. Adalbrecht was a truly compelling villain, and Gisele's parents were the kind of selfish, ordinary evil that rings as true in real life as it does in a story like this. Both confrontations and victories were VERY satisfying.
There is a romance, and guys. I liked it. It was complex, and tied inextricably into both characters' growth as people. It was gradual enough to not be instalove -- didn't even really appear until about halfway through the book. It was cute. It was difficult, but understandably so. It was present enough to allow you to enter into the emotions, but never seemed to unrealistically overshadow the actual life-and-death threats and adventures facing them at the time. There's really nothing here I can complain about and that is truly the highest praise for a romance in a YA book.
• Character development!!! This is HUGE. A lot of minor characters show some admirable growth, but really this is about Vanja. I have a massive amount of respect for the writing that went into Vanja's character. She's the evil handmaiden in the goose girl story, so.
Vanja is a twisted-up ball of abandonment issues, trauma, bitterness, fear, and desperate survival mechanisms. She's annoying, selfish, smug, and teeters on the edge of self-destructive. Like I said, I didn't like her very much in the beginning and you can see why she gets cursed. At the same time, she becomes so incredibly sympathetic.
As more of her story and inner life is revealed, I came to have so much more interest in her as a person. There is some true authorly finesse here in walking the line between acknowledging Vanja's hurt and trauma, and ALSO acknowledging the hurt and trauma she herself has visited on others. It's done really, really well and I wound up liking and sympathizing with almost everyone involved (except for the obvious villains). There are relationships healed and difficult, hard-won apologies. Vanja is an extremely strong character, but she's also allowed to break down.
Really, the whole thing is an incredible work of balance and nuance. I enjoyed it so much.
• A bunch of other random details, like the humor. Ragne is a big part of it, but Vanja also does a great job at being wry, funny, and genre-self-aware without being glib and tacky about it.
The magic was cool, and the way all the fairy tale elements blended in a non-traditional but still recognizable way.
Classic Ocean's Eleven audience-misdirection moment. This had me truly worried for a second, and I was so relieved when it turned out to be all under control. Also I love how after all this magic and tightly-coordinated switching of roles, Vanja defeats Adelbrecht's final trap in such a low-tech, almost anticlimactic way. It made me laugh.
I know there's a lot of stuff I missed, but all in all? DEEPLY enjoyable read. I would give it 4.5 stars, and the only reason it's not 5 is because of the work it took to get into the first fourth of the book. Honestly, this was a big surprise. At first I wasn't even looking particularly forward to reading Little Thieves, but it truly knocked my socks off by the end....more
D. B. Guin
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