Review of The Tainted Dominion by Krystle Matar (Book 1 and 2)
BlurbFollow the law and you’ll stay safe. But what if the law is wrong?
Tashué’s faith in the law is beginning to crack.
Three years ago, he stood by when the Authority condemned Jason to the brutality of the Rift for non-compliance. When Tashué’s son refused to register as tainted, the laws had to be upheld. He’d never doubted his job as a Regulation Officer before, but three years of watching your son wither away can break down even the strongest convictions.
Then a dead girl washed up on the bank of the Brightwash, tattooed and mutilated. Where had she come from? Who would tattoo a child? Was it the same person who killed her?
Why was he the only one who cared?
Will Tashué be able to stand against everything he thought he believed in to get the answers he’s looking for?
Now, I’ve been warned that this is a very dark book. So many people had warned me, including the author in her notes at the start of the book. If you’re planning to pick up this book, I suggest you heed those warnings.
I’m usually not okay with darker books, but this was very much an exception. If I am warned ahead of time, I can tolerate most things, and this did have enough warnings, so I could not only get through it, but enjoy the journey immensely as well.
The book centres around Tashué’ Blackwood, a Regulation Officer whose duty is to monitor the Tainted, which is what the Authority, the gestapo like arm of the Crowne, calls people with Talent/magic. Tashué’ himself has a Tainted son who refused to register and has hence been imprisoned in the Rift, where the feral and non-compliant Tainted are locked up, their talents suppressed by something.
Tashué’ has some talent himself, but it has never quickened/awakened and hence he never had a reason to register. Though a just man, Tashué’ believes in the laws of the Authority and holds the Tainted are dangerous and needs oversight and control.
Seeing his son diminish in the Rift has him searching his soul for how he can help, but even so, he doesn’t believe that the Authority is wrong to lock up Jason. He believes Jason is the one in the wrong, refusing to register.
But everything changes when the body of a dead girl washes up on the shore of the Brightwash. Mutilated and tattooed, her face and eyes haunt Tashué’, who wants to get to the bottom of who did it to her, even if it’s not his job. But his search for answers leads him down a path from which there is no return.
Through Tashué’ and the other characters’ eyes, we get a picture of an extremely dystopian world. The rich and the nobles live in their glass houses while the poor suffer, but even more, the Tainted are seen as lesser by everyone, even people who are normally decent and kind. It’s a world where the Tainted have Breeding Programs to create extra talented children who quicken early, and whose lives are at the Authority’s discretion, where the so called Tainted aren’t even considered human.
Tashué’’s change of mind about the Authority and his slow disillusionment with the laws that he has been upholding for nineteen years is both believable and heart wrenching. Every character is brought to life vividly and they are all real and relatable. No one is truly good or bad, but all are varying shades of grey, except some characters who are evil. The writing is both evocative and visceral and succeeds in making a reader feel what the characters are feeling, in making them angry at the systemic abuse of the talented, at making them horrified at the answers Tashué’ finds.
This reminds me of Blood Over Bright Haven but on a larger scale and a society that’s not completely complacent in the cruelty that happens around them. Of course, this book was written first, but I read the other one before which is why I say this reminds me of it.
I have a new favourite author and series, and this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. I would recommend it to everyone who loves fantasy and flawed characters and dystopian worlds, but once again, heed the warnings. This IS DARK, and if anything in these pages are likely to affect your mental health and wellbeing, don’t read it.
It is a great read, and like all great books, it breaks our hearts and makes us think.
Review of Legacy of Brick and Bone (Tainted Dominion 2)
BlurbFollow the law and you’ll stay safe. But what if the law betrays you?
It all started with the girl from the river: mutilated, tattooed, murdered. Tashué couldn’t help but look for answers and in the process, he uncovered the ugly truths being hidden by the very law he used to believe in—the law of the Authority.
Now he’s fighting for his life. Mere survival isn’t enough; he desperately wants to save his son from the Authority, and he wants revolution. At any cost.
Davik Kaine has been gathering power under everyone’s noses. Ruthless, ambitious, with a rebel army backing him, he wants revolution, too. He’s probably the only person powerful enough to protect Tashué from the looming implosion of the political field. And he’s the only person with the connections to save Jason.
He may also be responsible for the death of the girl from the river.
Is making peace with Davik worth it, if it saves Tashué’s son from the Authority?
If Tashué plays along with what Davik wants, can Tashué get retribution for the girl from the river?
I started this as soon as I finished the first, and hence I didn’t need the summary of book one, but I appreciate that it was there all the same. Many a times, when you pick up a book that’s later in the series a few months after reading the previous one, you find yourself wanting to have a recap of events.
The book is a chonk and even darker than the previous one. It’s more than 1k pages in length, and the story isn’t over! I was daunted by the size, but by the end, I was wishing it were longer because I wasn’t ready for the book to end.
This actually starts before the previous one ends, from the pov of other characters and carries on to where we saw the last one end and then on to the rest of the story. Tashué’ and Ishmael are arrested by patrollers and taken away, but Rainer Elsworth isn’t letting things go. He’s determined to end them both, no matter what anyone might say.
But as everyone knows, neither Tashué’ nor Ishmael are in the habit of dying easily. But even if they escape, their only safety lies in the Bay, and Powell Iwan is not going to make it easy for them. He sends them to Davik Kane, and Tashué’ has to choose to work with him if he wants Jason to be free.
Running from the Authority is Stella with her daughter, but even Kazrani may not be enough to keep her safe from Siras Duncreek and his thugs.
Once again, this has a vast cast of characters, all with their own motivations and needs. Tashué’ is willing to do anything to free his son, but sometimes it’s not so simple. Davik Kane is a dangerous man, and he knows more than he lets on.
While they make their own plans, Ilea Winter is making sure that she comes out on top, whatever happens. Her priority is to get rid of her husband and to make sure her name and its legacy doesn’t get destroyed.
The political intrigues are as much a part as everything else in this book. We also see new characters, some whom we have heard of before, and some new. More insight into Ishmael’s character is provided and while the book does end in a hopeful place overall, we are still anxious about everything that’s going to happen.
Because, ultimately, the Authority, Maes, Clannaugh, and Rainer all have to go down, and for that Yaelsmuir has to burn, and everyone we care for in this series is in Yaelsmuir.
The tapestry of a larger world is woven in deftly among all the personal and political issues and the stakes keep climbing all the while. Some of the deaths are so shocking that I was left floundering, unable to process them. Even so, I feel just a little bit hopeful. I can’t wait for the next book, and I’m in that weird place where I find myself unable to read anything else and keep thinking about this series at every waking moment.
Again, heed the warnings if you plan to pick up this book. This is DARK. If you’re okay with it, you’re in for a book that will change you for the better.
