REVIEW: The Unspoken Name (Elisabeth)

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

[review by James's assistant Elisabeth]

This was a great read. I was immediately pulled in by A.K. Larkwood's evocative language and interesting world. Ancient sleeping gods, cult-like religions, and slightly steampunk-esc vibes made for a fantastic backdrop. And Larkwood’s use of language brought everything to life so vividly.

The overarching quest narrative—to find and retrieve the mysterious Reliquary of Pentravesse—was a bit standard and most of the twist surrounding it and Sethennai where predictable. But this didn’t bother me because those events weren’t really the focus of the story, the characters were. The more significant and impactful quest was not the search for the Reliquary but Csorwe’s search for identity and freedom. To me this felt like a coming-of-age story in the skin of a fantasy epic (in a good way).

The characters were the core of the story, and they were really well written. Csorwe’s gradual development from quiet and naive to confident and full of agency was superb. Larkwood did a great job of showing the characters personalities and ideals not only through what they said, but through how characters spoke and acted toward each other.

Talasseres was probably my favourite character. For the most part he is a snide little jerk that deserves several slaps in the face, but I was a fan of him and Csorwe’s banter—I would love to read a book with just the two of them going on quests and being mean to each other the whole time. But there where also snippets where he let his vulnerability show, revealing genuine depth to his character. Like most of the characters he was real, fully-formed and independent. And his conclusion at the end was beautiful.

While for the most part Larkwood does a great job writing her characters there were some who fell short for me. Shuthmili in particular didn’t come across as genuine or self-defined as the other characters, and I just couldn’t get invested in her. Which is a shame because I felt like she had a lot of potential.

Overall though, I really enjoyed The Unspoken Name and am keen to read the next book in the series when it comes out!

4/5 Stars

NOTE: This book does contain quite a bit of crude language and some sexual references, so if you’re looking for clean fantasy it might not be for you.

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