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Isles of the Forsaken

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 54 ratings · 14 reviews

The Forsaken Isles are on the brink of revolution. Three individuals are about to push it over the edge and trigger events that will lead to a final showdown between ancient forces and the new overlords of the land. Spaeth Dobrin is destined to life as a ritual healer - but as the dhotamar of the tiny, isolated island of Yora, she will be caught in a perpetual bond between...more

Paperback, 287 pages

Published August 9th 2011 by Chizine Publications

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Feb 15, 2013 Jacqie rated it 5 of 5 stars

The book is set in a rough analogue (very rough) of American colonial times. Probably more Caribbean than continental America. Not much about geography is similar, it's more that there's an imperial culture which is now considering moving in more closely on a little island chain called the Forsakens.

I thought that the author did a good job of having POV characters with very distinct voices and philosophies. We have the idealistic, naive,restless young scion of a privileged family who decides to...more

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Dec 04, 2011 Marlene rated it 4 of 5 stars

Isles of the Forsaken by Carolyn Ives Gilman was one of those books that I picked to review because I thought I was going to like it. Then I nearly didn't. Then I read it all in a big clump, because I had to find out what happened. And about two-thirds of the way through, I realized that the author couldn't possibly loop all the holes in the pages remaining. And she didn't. Dammit, there's a sequel.

The story starts out in very familiar territory. A young man, Nathaway Talley, is the youngest son...more Isles of the Forsaken by Carolyn Ives Gilman was one of those books that I picked to review because I thought I was going to like it. Then I nearly didn't. Then I read it all in a big clump, because I had to find out what happened. And about two-thirds of the way through, I realized that the author couldn't possibly loop all the holes in the pages remaining. And she didn't. Dammit, there's a sequel.

The story starts out in very familiar territory. A young man, Nathaway Talley, is the youngest son of the most prominent family in the kingdom. The Talleys run everything, and they excel at everything. At least, all of them do except Nathaway. Nat can't find any profession to put his heart into, until he joins the expedition to the Forsaken Islands as a junior Justice. He discovers that enlightening the "heathens" about the impartial beauties of law and civilization are the calling that he has been waiting for.

Harg Ismol is a captain in the Native Navy. But that is not quite enough of a description. Harg is the one, the only Adaina captain in the Native Navy. His people are the "heathens" that Nat's expedition is coming to civilize. Harg's people in the South Chain islands have remained isolated, and kept to their old ways. They still believe in the balance of nature and the spirits of their islands. Harg's people are not just subjugated by Nat's empire, which has until now been far away fighting another war, but they have been under the much closer thumb of the people of the North Chain Islands, under the rule of the Tiarch, who have been collaborating with Nat's people, the Innings.

At the opening of Isles, Harg Ismol resigns his Naval commission and returns to his tiny home island of Yora. He thinks he is returning to the paradise he remembers from his youth. But nothing is as he remembers it, because he is not the same.

On Yora, the final subject of the story resides. Spaeth Dobrin is a ritual healer She is one of the people that Nat is planning to save. Ritual healers don't cure with herbs, or even with spells, although that is what the Innings believe. Ritual healers, Lashnura, are a different race altogether. They are compelled by their nature to heal. They cure by binding themselves to the people they heal by giving up their blood, and their life essence, as part of the healing. But Spaeth does not want to be bound. She rebels against her nature.

Everyone in this story is in rebellion. Nat's is a quiet rebellion against his family's expectations. Harg was a youthful rebel against the Adaina spirit of compromise, so he joined the Navy. Returning, he becomes the voice of the Adaina rebellion against Inning imperialism. Spaeth rebels against her nature, her own body's need to become a healer.

Even the secondary characters are in revolt. The last spiritual leader of the Islands hides on a tiny outpost and refuses to name a successor. The Tiarch, the Satrap-like governor of the Islands, finally rebels against the Inning empire. Even the Admiral of the Inning Fleet revolts against the rule of Law and Order he is sent to bring to the Islands.

The Inning imperials' civilization is itself a rebellion against the very nature and naturalism of the Forsaken Islands. And the living spirits of the Islands rise up in rebellion to overthrow that civilization, taking the confused son of the empire as one of their representatives.

Does the plot of the story confuse? Yes, it does at points. A little backstory on how the Talleys and the Inning Empire got to where they are, and who they fought in that previous war, would have helped this reader. But once all the players in this drama are gathered together it is impossible to turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens next.(less)

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Mar 05, 2013 Wise_owl rated it 4 of 5 stars

A fantastic read of a book that takes a look at issues of Imperialism, Politics, and Magic in ways that I haven't seen done before. The book was... refreshing in a number of ways.

It's set in a world you believe, but that isn't a direct 'reflection' of any particular aspect of ours(say unlike some worlds you can't directly 'map' the cultures onto Earth cultures). The Inning are an Imperialist Group who have conquered various Islands and intend to bring their 'culture' of 'Law' to all. The idea of...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Lydia Presley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, fantasy, fiction

One of the biggest gripes I have when it comes to fantasy is how difficult it can be to get involved in the world. I mean, think about it - when you open a fantasy book you are giving yourself over to that author, that creator of the world and you are trusting them to explain to you just what exactly is going on. Strange words, names, places, things - all these are in abundance and on top of that.. there's a story they have to tell and importantly, that you have to follow.

That paragraph is exact...more One of the biggest gripes I have when it comes to fantasy is how difficult it can be to get involved in the world. I mean, think about it - when you open a fantasy book you are giving yourself over to that author, that creator of the world and you are trusting them to explain to you just what exactly is going on. Strange words, names, places, things - all these are in abundance and on top of that.. there's a story they have to tell and importantly, that you have to follow.

That paragraph is exactly where I have an issue with Isles of the Forsaken. Now, let me just say that I enjoyed this book, as much as I was able to. I found the story to be an interesting one, the politics to be top-notch, the action kept the story moving at a solid pace, the characters were fleshed out and fun to get to know but, and this is a big BUT, I had no idea what half the words, the religion, the basis for the discord was even about until I was 70% of the way through the book. (Thank you, Kindle, for providing me with that exact percentage.)

Finally, 70% in I got an explanation for what it was the Adainas do, or as much as an explanation as I would get. At this point in the story, I'd just accepted that I wouldn't understand, it wouldn't be explained, and I got some sort of general idea of it but nothing specific and I really am a "love specifics" type of reader when it comes to things like world building and crafting.

So at 70% it really felt as if the book was finally taking off and then, I found I couldn't put it down. And I loved it. I was so excited, I understood what was happening and the significance of events that were unfolding. But then.. a short 30% later, it ended with the promise of a sequel in the future.

I don't want to discourage anyone from reading this book, because I really do think it is worth the read and I found it to be a fascinating look into fantasy through the politics and racism that were heavily involved in making up the story, but I will caution you to be patient, to just accept what you are reading and understand that it will all be made a bit more clear as you read.(less)

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Jun 25, 2011 Bibliotropic rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It's a clash of cultures in Isles of the Forsaken when the Innings, a culture who hold law and legality above all else, decide it's high time they went and civilized the heathen Adainas of the South Chain islands, bringing to them the wonders of the legal system and freeing them from their barbaric beliefs and superstitions. The reality of the situation is never so black-and-white, though. The Adainas don't want to be ruled over by another culture. They're perfectly happy living the way they do,...more It's a clash of cultures in Isles of the Forsaken when the Innings, a culture who hold law and legality above all else, decide it's high time they went and civilized the heathen Adainas of the South Chain islands, bringing to them the wonders of the legal system and freeing them from their barbaric beliefs and superstitions. The reality of the situation is never so black-and-white, though. The Adainas don't want to be ruled over by another culture. They're perfectly happy living the way they do, and their so-called backward system isn't as backward as the Innings would believe. Just because you don't believe in gods and magic doesn't mean they don't exist, as Nathaway Talley comes to learn the more he spends time with the Adainas, and in particular a young healer girl names Spaeth.

Nathaway well and truly believes in the power of the law, holds it sacred. Spaeth, a Lashnura, heals others by sacrificing herself, binding herself to whomever she heals in order to take their ills into herself and free the hurt from their hurts. Harg is an ex-Navy captain, returned home, who finds himself the accidental leader of a rebellion to oust the Innings from his home islands and leave them as self-governing. Nathaway's brother Corbin is the Admiral of the Navy, who wants nothing more than an excuse to crush the South Chain and control the inhabitants, to the point where he will overturn the laws that his very society is based on. Tiarch, a much-despised governer, has been working for decades to slowly convince the Innings to ignore South Chain so that they can go on governing themselves as they always have, without the need for an official policy to dictate such. It's a good, solid, fleshed-out cast of characters, each with their own personality quirks and foibles and deep history, and all together they made this a difficult book to put down.

At the same time that powerful mundane forces are changing the course of history, so too are supernatural forces at work in the forms of the Ashwin and the Mundua, rivaling factions of gods bent on tipping the scales of balance in their favour and gaining a greater foothold in this reality.

While the story itself was not the most original I'd ever seen, it was -- much like Daniel Abraham's The Dragon's Path -- a piece of comforting and familiar fantasy fiction that soothed the soul and took me back to days where this kind of book was all I'd read. It was like comfort food to me, and the interesting cast of characters did wonders for propelling me onward through the story. Gilman's talent really shows here, as well as in her ability to write politics without getting bogged down in them and making the plot so full of twists and turns that it's hard to tell where you stand.

Piece of the plot were pretty transparent from the beginning, though. It wasn't hard to tell, for instance, that when we start off with Nathaway talking about how he wants to civilize the people of the South Chain and free them from barbarism, that the Adainas aren't going to be nearly as barbaric as he makes them out to be, or that their superstitions are not without merit. And while there were some events that I didn't foresee, they weren't surprising when I did encounter them.

But overall, I'd say this is a very well-done novel, and an excellent start to a series I know I want to continue with! Gilman made an easy impression on me, and my only regret here is that I'm going to have to wait for the second book to be published. If you're a fantasy fan who longs for a good piece of literary "home cooking", then don't pass over the chance to read Isles of the Forsaken.(less)

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Aug 19, 2011 Tahlia Newland rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

‘Isles of the Forsaken’ is an excellent book, beautifully written and rich with meaning. It’s a unique and unpredictable story full of surprises, interesting characters and mysterious forays into the world of the spirit that lingered long after I put the book down.

This book is essentially about overlapping cultures and the frictions between their beliefs and practices. Carolyn Gilman creates a vivid world of four races. The Innings are the colonialist rulers of the Isles. They have no gods and...more ‘Isles of the Forsaken’ is an excellent book, beautifully written and rich with meaning. It’s a unique and unpredictable story full of surprises, interesting characters and mysterious forays into the world of the spirit that lingered long after I put the book down.

This book is essentially about overlapping cultures and the frictions between their beliefs and practices. Carolyn Gilman creates a vivid world of four races. The Innings are the colonialist rulers of the Isles. They have no gods and believe in ‘law’ as their highest principal. But this is a law that in practice isn’t applied equally, has cruel punishments and imposes an alien culture, including paperwork and taxes, on the natives of the Isles, the Tornas, the Adaina and the few remaining Lashnura healers. The Adaina live by a complex set of shamanistic beliefs that include a great reverence for the Lashnura healers, respect for the gods within the land and an understanding of the necessity of maintaining the delicate balance between chaos and order. The Tornas have lost these beliefs to a large extent and are simply trying to survive the best they can under their colonialist masters.

Added to this, the ancient bond between the healers and their patient, based on an extreme compassion where the healer physically takes on the pain of the patient has, through healer addiction to the ritual and selfish patient demands on the healer, degenerated into a form of slavery. The theme of addiction as slavery is continued in the Inning use of a drug as a method of control.

The story is told through the interlocking experiences of Spaeth ( Lashnura), Nathaway (Inning) and Harg (Adaina), all likeable and well drawn characters. The novel makes it clear that different beliefs create different perceptions of the same phenomena. What to the Innings is a barbaric ritual slavery, is to the Lashnura the greatest expression of love on a deeply spiritual level. What to the Innings is fair law and order, is to the Adaina the attempt to impose something rigid and uncompromising on a fluid and ever changing world. The parallel with our world’s issues between cultures is clear, and this novel gives us greater understanding by showing us the world through the different perspectives.

I loved that the book was so different to other things I’ve read recently, a very refreshing change to vampires, werewolves, witches and angels. Although it’s set in a different world, the characters and the issues are completely modern and easy to relate to. My favourite parts were when Nathaway and Spaeth slipped into the spirit world, a kind of dreamtime where myth became reality. These highly imaginative forays skilfully invoked the power and mystery of the spiritual world.

This is a book not to miss. I recommend ‘The Forsaken Isles’ to all fantasy fans. If you liked Graceling, you will probably like this one. I cannot fault it in any way, so I give it 5 stars.

(less)

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Sep 15, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an ambitious book with some complex world-building. The characters are strong and the plot is (mostly) unpredictable. The lion's share of her energy was spent on creating a world with a deep political structure as well as developing a maritime-colony based plot. I am looking forward to the next installments -- this is a terrific story with intrigue and adventure and I can't wait to see what's going to happen with her characters.

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Feb 12, 2013 Barry King rated it 4 of 5 stars

Isles of the Forsaken tells the tale of a socio-political conflict between cultures, without the pathos and bias that usually mars this kind of narrative. Gilman's prose is clear, clean, and accessible, and proceeds at a fast pace to bring out a story of a clash between irreconcilable realities, not only irreconcilable points of view. The story cascades from one character to the next, bringing a well-made-world to life, touching lightly on the greater powers at work that frame the conflicts they...more

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Jul 22, 2011 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

This one started off a little slow and rather strange, but as the story became progressively more intricate, I understood the necessity for background. I still am not totally clear on what happened, but I was intrigued enough to follow it through to the end, and will probably seek out the sequel, Ison of the Isles.

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Aug 15, 2012 !Tæmbuŝu marked it as to-read

Shelves: ebook-available, fantasy-scifi

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Mar 22, 2012 Chris Shaffer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Darn it all anyhow, there's a sequel. It's not a complete story, but there's no warning of this on the cover. I hate that.

A good read, gets better as it goes along, and really develops some empathy for the characters.

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Oct 26, 2011 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent part one of two. Culture clash, written by someone with considerable understanding about how these things unfold. Ancient, fading culture meets rising imperial technocracy. Superb.

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Sep 01, 2012 Bekki rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book a lot. The world building is amazing, but I had a hard time liking any of the characters. The story does continue in a sequel, but I didn't really feel involved enough to keep reading.

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Nov 08, 2011 Kate added it

Shelves: sample-is-meh

Not my cup of tea. I couldn't get past the sample.

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Shelves: fiction-to-read

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Shelves: iml, 300-pages, fantasy, standalone

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About Carolyn Ives Gilman

Carolyn Ives Gilman has been publishing science fiction and fantasy for almost twenty years. Her first novel, Halfway Human, published by Avon/Eos in 1998, was called “one of the most compelling explorations of gender and power in recent SF” by Locus magazine. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies such as F&SF, Bending the Landscape, The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Realm...more

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