Wyrwood

The Way of Thorn and Thunder #2

by Daniel Heath Justice

The Sevenfold Council stands firm against Dreydmaster Vald's treaty terms--they will not surrender the Everland. Their will is strong, but there is a traitor in their midst, and Vald intends to win this struggle...by any means necessary. As the Everland is torn apart by invasion and the threat of civil war, the young warrior-Wielder, Tarsa'deshae, and the little Tetawa Leafspeaker, Tobhi Burrows, travel to Eromar City, the centre of Vald's influence, in hopes of rescuing the diplomats who have long languished in the shadows of Gorthac Hall. But only one remains alive, and he knows too well the price for fighting the Dreydmaster's will. It will take all their strength, courage, and good fortune to escape with their lives. Whether they have a home to return to is another matter entirely....

Genres: Fantasy, Indigenous, Queer, Fiction

228 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2006

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

[Saige · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars? I think? My own rating system went out the window years ago if I'm honest with myself.

I'm pleased to say that this book was much better than the first one. It was far less heavy on the exposition and included a lot more action - not necessarily fights, though there are those, but just generally more characters actually doing things other than expositing and slowly walking towards Sheynadwiin. We were told in book one that Tarsa is a total badass, but this story is the one that really bears that out. I love that she has learned Unahi's wisdom without too much temperance of her own fire. Also the way that the various characters' plotlines interact is nicely done. People come in contact with one another in places and at times that make sense, so the intersections add a lot to the story without feeling forced.

It's a tragic book though, with a tragic ending. I'm curious to see how book three concludes things. Seeing as the series is basically a fantasy retelling of the history of colonial violence against the Indigenous people of Turtle Island, I wonder if Heath Justice will choose to bear out what we know happened historically or if he will give the story a more hopeful ending. It would seem odd to me to simply re-tell Indigenous trauma through a fantasy lens, but I also know that "rewriting" this story into a happier one wouldn't necessarily be honest or right. Definitely excited to see how he brings it all together.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this better than the first volume of the Wyrwood triology. Really, it's all one book, and the first book felt a bit preliminary with too many elements thrown in. The first book also seemed to be doing a bit too simplistic of a "Kyn are good and close to the earth, men are bad and destroying everything with technology" type dichotomy that I wasn't jazzed about. But in this, the second volume, Justice does complicate that dichotomy.

He also introduces some great new characters, particularly the travelling strangeling (half-human, half-kyn) wielder (one who can wield natural forces in self defence, for healing, etc.) Denarra, as well as giving the spotlight to Tarsa (the protagonist) and Quill (a Tetawa - essentially halfling) 's wielding badassery.

I really love how powerful women and non-binary characters are in this series. Justice really has created a marvelously creative world - but hard to see it torn apart in the course of the story!

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

This continuation of The Way of Thorn and Thunder was very similar to the first book, having strong and interesting indigenous themes and world building, but lacking character depth and having some pacing issues. However, I did find some of the new characters introduced rather interesting, and the expansion of the world was fascinating.

[Bogi Takács]

My review:
https://www.tor.com/2019/06/06/quiltb...

Source of the book: A present from my wishlist from a reader who wished to remain anonymous. Thank you!!

[CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in Cherokee author Daniel Heath Justice’s fantasy trilogy The Way of Thorn and Thunder was possibly even better than its predecessor. If you want to know what this series is all about, check out my review of the first book, where I highly recommend it even if you’re not usually a fantasy fan. Give fantasy a try! If you’re interested, have a look at this page on the author’s website. It gives you an overview of the world the books are set in, and some behind the scenes sketches of the characters as Heath Justice developed them over the years. Tarsa and Tobhi started off as Dungeons and Dragons characters! Pretty rad.

Wyrwood picks up just where Kynship leaves off. Tarsa and Tobhi are off on an epic journey to rescue diplomats who have been “guests” of the enemy leader Vald in the land of Men for far too long. Right from the start, Tarsa, in classic warrior mode, is kicking some serious ass and refusing to play nice with Vald while they are staying in his castle. She’s so bad-ass, passionate, and head-strong, always thinking with her heart more than her head: you can’t help but love her. Tobhi is also lovable, with his easy-going ways and sense of humour, but you wouldn’t want to get on his bad side, either. They manage to escape the clutches of Vald—with who I won’t tell you, as I don’t want to spoil the surprise—but not before witnessing a terrible betrayal by one of their own! This is, of course, only the beginning of their journey...

See my full review here: https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wo...

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-crafted middle book that introduces my favorite character of the series, the incredibly queeny Denarra Syrene, whose dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny: "It's not at all unlike the time I got into a bit of trouble in this unpleasant little town in the Allied Wilderlands called Swampy Creek. An unfortunate misunderstanding involving a rather handsome and remarkably well-endowed spice merchant, his utterly unsympathetic wife--who was, i might add, both surprisingly agile and utterly impervious to reason--as well as a three-legged mule with an aversion to freshwater pearls." In additon to the hilarious bits, this book does an admirable job developing the relationships of the central characters further, and building the tension of the series--especially with its its cliff-hanger ending.