Kynship

The Way of Thorn and Thunder #1

by Daniel Heath Justice

The Everland, home of the Eld-Folk since time immemorial, a deep green world of ancient mystery and sacred shadow. A thousand years have passed since the world of Men and the world of the Folk collided in catastrophe. The wyr-powers of the Kyn and the other Folk have preserved their verdant homeland from the ravenous greed of Humanity since the Melding, but those powers are now under siege. As the hunger of Men turns once more to the Everland and its rich bounty, the leaders of the seven nations of the Folk gather in Sheynadwiin, the Kyn capital, to seek a way of surviving the growing storm.Born into a town dominated by the creeds of the accommodationist Shields, Tarsa'deshae, a headstrong Kyn warrior, awakens to the long-suppressed wyr-ways after an act of courage goes horribly awry. Exiled from the only home she's ever known, and struggling to understand her new calling as a Wielder, Tarsa is swept into a dangerous world of political and spiritual intrigue, where the old ways of the Greenwalkers clash with those who would surrender to the new ways of Men. As the Everland faces the ever-encroaching threat of Humanity, the Redthorn warrior arrives at the Sevenfold Council in Sheynadwiin to help find a way to heal the ravages of her wounded world....

Genres: Fantasy, Indigenous, Queer, Fiction, LGBT, Adult, Feminism

259 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2005

About the author

Daniel Heath Justice (b. 1975) is a Colorado-born citizen of the Cherokee Nation/ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ, raised the third generation of his mother's family in the Rocky Mountain mining town of Victor, Colorado. After a decade living and teaching in the Anishinaabe, Huron-Wendat, and Haudenosaunee territories of southern Ontario, where he worked at the University of Toronto, he now lives with his husband in shíshálh territory on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. He works on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Musqueam people, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Literature and Expressive Culture and Professor of First Nations and Indigenous Studies and English at the University of British Columbia.

Daniel's research focuses on Indigenous literary expression, with particular emphasis on issues of literary nationalism, kinship, sexuality, and intellectual production. His scholarship and creative work also extend into speculative fiction, animal studies (including badgers and raccoons), and cultural history. He is also a fantasy/wonderworks writer who explores the otherwise possibilities of Indigenous restoration and sovereignty. His newest book is *Raccoon*, volume 100 in the celebrated Animal Series from Reaktion Books.

A few more facts about Daniel:
-he's an amateur ventriloquist with a badger puppet named Digdug;
-he's a lifelong tabletop RPG player whose favoured alignment is Neutral Good and favoured classes are Druid and Ranger;
-his favourite Indigenous writers working right now include Leanne Simpson, LeAnne Howe, Lee Maracle, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Cherie Dimaline, Billy-Ray Belcourt, and Joshua Whitehead.
-the speculative fiction writers who had the greatest influence on his imagination growing up include Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, and J.R.R. Tolkien, and his early pop-culture loves include Masters of the Universe, Ewoks, and Thundercats;
-he's a fierce mustelid partisan with a particular love of badgers--in fact, his favourite tattoo is of the badger symbol used by his character Tobhi from *The Way of Thorn and Thunder*;
-he's a devoted Dolly Parton fan and has seen her in concert three times (but has not, alas, yet been to Dollywood); and
-he is the proud and dedicated human attendant to three very weird and awesome dogs.

In summary, he's a queer Cherokee hobbit who lives and writes in the West Coast temperate rainforest and occasionally emerges to teach and do readings. And he's good with that.

Go to his website, www.danielheathjustice.com, for more information about his published and forthcoming work as well as his irregularly-updated blog.

Reviews

[Cleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engrossing, epic fantasy set in a world inspired by 18th C North America, from a Native American point of view, with engaging (queer) characters and plenty of adventure, wonder and intrigue. Like the best fantasies, it references real world issues (specifically the Cherokee Trail of Tears) but it's also an engaging story and world that stands on its own.

This is ground breaking indigenous speculative fiction and I just kind of discovered it accidentally in my quest for more queer characters in fantasy.

I really enjoyed it, although there were a few things that took me out of the story - there are a lot of POV characters and I got lost a few times. I also wanted more character development for the two main protagonists. And the pacing was a little weird. But all of those things are pretty typical of this genre and mostly I just enjoyed the ride.

I got this book, the first in the trilogy, from my library and started panicking when I saw that they don't have the 2nd and 3rd books! I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS! But the books are still in print and it looks like the complete collection (The Way of Thorn and Thunder: The Kynship Chronicles) is also available as an ebook. So crisis is averted.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heart this book, and the whole series it's part of...it is a critical and clever re-telling of the usual tropes of fantasy writing from a decolonial Cherokee-centered Indigenous perspective. Justice creates an extremely rich and varied world of distinctive and memorable characters that i love. The pacing is excellent, too--good foreshadowing, nice mix of action and strong character development. It's just great. My one major quibble with the book is Justice's reliance on disability as a tragic narrative device. Ugh. But the rest of the book is just phenomenal. Highly recommended.

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I made a terrible mistake everyone. I had Kynship, the first book in the fantasy trilogy The Way of Thorn and Thunder by Daniel Heath Justice, sitting in the closet at my dad’s house for like two years and I only read it a few weeks ago! I had originally bought it for a course on gender, feminism, and Indigenous literature, but we ended up not covering it in the class, which is really too bad because I would have discovered this novel and Daniel Heath Justice so much earlier!

There’s so much to like about this book. It’s just phenomenal fantasy from a queer and Indigenous (Cherokee) perspective. If you like fantasy, you really cannot go wrong with Kynship. Although it’s published by a small Native press in Ontario, I found the whole series at the public library in Vancouver, so it’s not even hard to get a hold of! It’s the imaginative world-building, action, and suspense you can usually expect from fantasy, except with queer people, women, and (implicitly) Native folks at the forefront. What is not to love, I ask you?

See the rest of my review here: https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2015/05/03/a-review-of-daniel-heath-justices-kynship-the-queer-indigenous-feminist-fantasy-novel-you-never-knew-you-wanted-so-bad/

[lyns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah! I was finally in the mood to finish this gem this week. It was a great read. A nice change to the sci-fi/fantasy genre with its emphasis on colonization from the perspective of those being colonized. I really like the description of the world this novel was set in, and following the main characters. The only thing i found a little hard was following all the jumps back and forth from the characters. I felt like i was just being able to relate to one and then it skipped to the next. the result was that i didn't feel that connected to the minor characters. I really did like the portrayal of Tarsa and Tobhin.

I am excited to read the next book. I definitely want to see how the story ends. I hope the Kyn beats Mans ass!

[Big Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took awhile to get into this one, but really what's not to love about a fantastical reimagining of a fight against European colonization?

[Saige · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading this book in part for my masters dissertation, but also because I was really interested to read a high fantasy book by an Indigenous author. The political allegory in this book is more subtle and nuanced than I expected. Lots of fantasy books that allegorize the treatment of Indigenous people at colonist hands draw a really clear "colonist evil, Indigenous good" line that homogenizes Indigenous people more into a caricature of the wise old elder than an actual people. This book avoids that mistake. While it's still clear that the violent colonists are evil, there are also Men who have intermarried with the Kyn and live peacefully, divisions among the Kyn themselves, and lots of ethnic/political groups within Everland that are distinct and interesting in their own rights. On those grounds, this book is a great example of how fantasy can reflect and cause contemplation upon the nuances of our own violent history. This book also has a ton of causal queer representation that I absolutely adore, especially the inclusion of Folk who use neopronouns.

That said, the actual fantasy aspect has been a little underwhelming for me. Perhaps because book one involves so much exposition, or perhaps because many of the Folk are slightly shifted versions of fantasy races from other books, a lot of this doesn't feel very fresh. Tarsa and Tobhi are pretty typical main characters, and while I do care about them as the protagonists, there is little about them that stands out to me when compared against lots of other fantasy protagonists. I'm hoping that the second and third book will stand out more from the fantasy crowd and give me something really new to find interest in.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Everland, a place where the old ways hold sway although not unchallenged, is facing its most serious challenge yet as Humans from the surrounding areas close in and the Folk must consider an offer to relocate. As the leaders of the various Folk gather in Sheydadwiin to debate the offer a young Redthorn warrior, facing down incredible danger to her town, finds herself transformed as the ancient wyr spirit awakens in her. Daniel Heath Justice’s compelling retelling of the Trail of Tears is a richly layered fantasy novel with deep links to the colonisation of North America and many other colonies of settlement

His Worldmaking draws on Indigenous worldviews from Turtle Island woven into the generic codes of fantasy fiction, as Tarsa’deshae of the Kyn learns of her new powers from her aunt Unahi and Tetawa companion Tobhi while preparing for the Council meeting to debate the offer of new lands. He develops his characters well and weaves in tension as Men both invade the Everland and plot with supernatural forces and turncoats among the Folk to get their way, no matter what the Council decides. Justice’s grasp of the machinations of settler colonialism, historical and philosophical knowledge and his storytelling skills within the rules of the genre construct an engaging novel the promises much for its subsequent volumes telling the tales of Tarsa and Tobhi, and the struggle for survival.

This is a treat to have discovered in a bookshop packed with work by Indigenous writers and on Indigenous issues on the lands of the Six Nations.

[Celeste Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for Indigathon2020 for the intersectionality prompt. I found it after researching books that are by Indigenous authors and also include LGBTQ2+ representation.  I found reviews - mostly by librarians - explaining that this high fantasy series by a queer Indigenous author was an absolute breath of fresh air in the genre. 

I'll admit I haven't read much high fantasy beyond LOTR and GOT and it's not my usual genre. I also admit that when I first saw the cover it reminded me of my middle school friends who were obsessed with Dungeons & Dragons and other role playing games that I tried to join in on but never personally enjoyed. 

But, what's the point of a reading journey if its not constantly opening your mind and pushing your boundaries?

So I jumped in, and it was great! This is the first in a trilogy, and the trilogy is published in one big book but that's not the copy my library had.  So I'm reading them one at a time and this caused me to finish on a huge cliffhanger!

There is world building, there are other languages, there are different Folk (Kyn, Tetawa, Gvaergs, Ubbetuk, etc) that are all part of a council that is deciding what to do about the demands of Men.
The Folk live in the beautiful, ancient, and full of natural resources Everland which is being threatened by the advancement of Men.
There are warriors, protectors, and wielders (those who can wield the ancient power of the wyr,  which comes from the land and plants as far as I could gather).
There are zhe-Folk, "neither male nor female, nor truly separate from either, the zhe-Folk walked between the worlds; they had strength unmatched by other Folk and were honored for it, at least among those who followed the Old Ways."
There are Kyn who follow a newer religion and believe the only way to survive is by leaving the Everland to Men and starting over somewhere new. There are Kyn who follow the Old Ways and cannot separate their identity from the Everland.
All of this comes to a head at the council of all the Folk. Will they leave, or will they stay and fight against Men? I thought it was really well done and I totally want to read the next book in the series.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should preface this by saying I'm not much of a fantasy fan. But I was interested enough in the premise here to give this a try.

This is a pretty heavy handed allegory of the colonization of Turtle Island, where the "Men" are white people and the "Kyn" are Indigenous peoples. But it's also quite creative. I appreciate the ways it worked with fantasy tropes in familiar ways (e.g. a hobbit-like road narrative) but also the ways it departed from that and innovated the genre, borrowing from Indigenous cultures, tropes, belief systems, traditions. I also loved the incorporation of two-spirit/non-binary characters and queer/bi characters in a lovely way that just weaves it in as a part of the world (in a non-heavy-handed way!)

A word of warning if you start the series, that this is the first of three books, and it does end in medias res so if you want to know what happens, you're kind of bound to all three books...

[Bogi Takács]

My review (of the updated omnibus edition) on Tor.om -
https://www.tor.com/2019/05/21/quiltb...

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had trouble connecting to the mythology and worldbuilding of this one.

[springsnotfail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh gawd, I don't know about this - I'm two pages in, and already we've got the frightening threat of Man against the Everworld and warrior women who are twice as powerful during their Moon Time. I'm not sure if I'm going to get through this. It's like choking on treacle steeped in the mystical smell of the fir trees.

[Linnea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can appreciate this book for its allegorical references to the Trail of Tears, but it's just not my thing, and the description is a *bit* laborious to get through...

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kynship by Daniel Heath Justice is a fantasy analogy of the persecution of Native Americans by white colonialists. And it's incredibly grim. So much death and destruction and tragedy and loss. Which I guess is the point and an important story to tell. But that didn't make it any easier to read. I admit I struggled to get into the story because it was so relentlessly horrible. But I'm glad I persevered because it got a lot more interesting as it went along, particularly with the introduction of the 'converted' Kyn who were trying to erase the ancient traditions of their own culture, in order to assimilate better to the invasion of the Men. But overall, there were a few too many characters and plot strands and factions to get to grips with and I wasn't invested enough to want to carry on with the series, despite really liking one of the friendships that struck up between my two favourite characters towards the end of this instalment.

[Shannon (That's So Poe) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This epic fantasy is told from the perspective of an indigenous people who have a strong connection with their homeland, drawing their magic and power from it, but are threatened by Men, who are an outside race that are greedy and grasping and want to take their land. I loved all the indigenous themes in this book, and thought the world building was excellent, but I had some issues with other aspects of the book. The characters felt rather one dimensional, being more caricatures of traditional fantasy roles (wise old witch, eager young mage, etc.) than fully fleshed out people. The pacing was especially problematic, with huge chunks of slow moving story only occasionally lightened by some action.

[Antra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating worldbuilding and intriguing characters, but this book by itself is essentially a long prologue and setup awaiting the next book of the series where the main story begins. It looks like the other books in the series are of a similar length, and the three together come in at less than some fantasy tomes, so I'm not sure why it isn't just one book.

[Alina · Rating 4 out of 5]

More than a 3 but not quite a 4 - more of a 3.75 stars? It's an alright book, interesting world building, and by the end I was definitely intrigued enough that I will probably seek out book 2 now. i think it just caught me in the midst of a reading slump, but really appreciated Justice's spin on traditional fantasy - the genre needs more diversity!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fantasy novel formulates North American indigeneity (Cherokee) in a new light: a worthwhile read.

[corynn ☁️ · Rating 1 out of 5]

reads like a first draft and needs some serious polishing.

i could write a list of things that i’d recommend in editing, but it would just feel mean considering the book has already been published.

[Andree · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mother picked this up at a book festival we were both at uears ago. I picked through this over months. It's not that it's bad, I think it's more that it's not for me. This type of epic fantasy rarely is. While there are interesting elements, the story just didn't ever catch my interest. As I said, I think that's more just my personal taste than anything wrong with the book.

[cordelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

read this for class but was randomly fun