**spoiler alert** This book had quite a bit to like: 1) a friendship between two women at its center, the culmination of relationship growth over three**spoiler alert** This book had quite a bit to like: 1) a friendship between two women at its center, the culmination of relationship growth over three books; 2) top-notch representation all around, in a society that has its own problems while being mercifully free of the sexism and homophobia so familiar in our world; 3) a bittersweet ending that does not involve marriage; 4) a female hero (Zaira) saving the day.
Yet I wasn't quite as enthralled with this book as I was with its predecessors; I would rate them a solid four stars, while this one is more like 3.5 rounded up to four. The problem, I found, was in our first-person narrator heroine, Amalia. I liked her better in the first two books, but in this one, I couldn't help feeling she had less to offer, when it came to solving the problems besetting the Empire, than the characters around her (Zaira, Kathe). It came as little surprise to me when the Crowning Badass Moment at the climax went to Zaira, not Amalia, because in this book Zaira is, quite simply, more interesting. She has the toughness, the snark, and, of course, the magic power, and Amalia seems almost bland beside her, even though I did admire her advocacy on behalf of the Falcons.
Also, I find myself crying again, as I did with the last book: Where is the book about Bree of Callamorne? Now THERE is a fascinating woman with plenty of protagonist potential. Please tell her story sometime soon, Ms. Caruso.
All the same, I recommend this series to anyone looking for a good story about heroic female characters and friendship between women. ...more
First, it features a resourceful hero who is inches taller than her love interest (honestly, how often do we see that in YA?). Second, it has sentientFirst, it features a resourceful hero who is inches taller than her love interest (honestly, how often do we see that in YA?). Second, it has sentient books. Sentient BOOKS. Put that together with strong prose, and how can I not fall in love with it?...more
**spoiler alert** Not my favorite Lackey by a long shot.
Stories in which male detectives pursue serial killers of women are not my jam, but I decided**spoiler alert** Not my favorite Lackey by a long shot.
Stories in which male detectives pursue serial killers of women are not my jam, but I decided to read this one once I heard that Ardis, Master Wren's priestly cousin, played a key role. It's sadly rare to find "women of the cloth" portrayed in fantasy; it's even rarer to find them portrayed sympathetically. (Read N.K. Jemisin's "The Shadowed Sun" for an outstanding example.) Ardis turned out to be everything I'd hoped she would be: brilliant, competent, kind, pious in the best ways, and possessed of a powerful sense of justice. I was glad to spend time in her company, and she's the reason I don't feel too much regret for the time I spent reading this book.
The trouble is that she's just not in it enough. While she may be the brains and power behind the operation to catch a serial killer who's targeting female musicians, her position as High Bishop means that other characters, exclusively male, have to do all the legwork. As a result, pages upon pages go by without any female character appearing at all except in the fleeting and brutal role of Victim. Had Visyr, the bird-like Haspur, been female (and he could have been, with absolutely no change to the plot), I would have felt a bit better. At least some other female figure would have had an active role in bringing down the revoltingly misogynist killer and his equally revolting accomplice. But no. For two-thirds of the book it's all dudes, all the time. Another problem, for me at least: the book's second half featured way, WAY too much Villain POV. The head-space of an amoral con artist who facilitates the brutal murders of women without the slightest sting of conscience is not a place where I'm eager to spend time. I spent too much of the second half feeling like I needed a bath.
Still, despite this, I can't call the book a complete feminist fail. While we're set up to expect a forbidden romance between Ardis and the book's policeman protagonist, Tal Rufen, it turns out we're really getting a story of the growth of a friendship. Neither Ardis nor Tal chooses love/marriage over the work and duty about which they care deeply, and their choice of the latter is presented as wise rather than regrettable. At the end we see that the two friends and colleagues will go on battling crime and evil together, valuing each other. The last ten pages made me happier than the entire hundred pages preceding it. That earned it an extra star. ...more
**spoiler alert** Why This Rotten World Does Not Deserve Isabelle des Zephyrs
Isabelle des Zephyrs is a hero after my own heart, with her brilliance,**spoiler alert** Why This Rotten World Does Not Deserve Isabelle des Zephyrs
Isabelle des Zephyrs is a hero after my own heart, with her brilliance, curiosity, resourcefulness, and ability to see those around her as people worthy of consideration, even if they don't consider her in turn. Yet in the eyes of the world she lives in, she's all but worthless: disregarded because she's a woman, derided for being a "Breaker's get." No matter what she does, no matter how much she accomplishes, she is despised, and at several points in this (very good) book, I found myself driven to fury on her behalf.
Her troubles start when she saves an innocent woman from execution, which turns out to be a big political no-no. Nearly everyone is fully aware that she's innocent, but if it became known her "victim" actually committed suicide, it would bring shame upon his powerful family, so they've made this woman their sacrificial lamb. Isabelle takes a stand to say that the woman is not expendable, that she's a person who matters -- and for her trouble, she's hauled before a kangaroo court and stripped of all her rights under the law. For a moment she hopes that Le Roi, Grand Leon, will remember her past service and take her part. Instead, the "great man" abandons her to the tender mercies of her enemies.
Then along comes Le Roi's magic-less bastard son, who professes some novel ideas about who should be judged worthy and important. He claims to take her part and offers to help her when it seems nobody else can or will. Only guess what? He's a homicidal maniac with designs on the throne, and his reformist thinking is really a cover-up for his own aspirations to godlike power. Great. Now Isabelle and one of her few true friends, the musketeer Jean-Claude, must come to Le Roi's defense, since as flawed as he is, his son will be even worse. This, despite how the man treated her and the fact that he hasn't expressed a second's regret about it.
Isabelle calls upon every resource she has to stop the usurper, even to the point of pretending to ally herself with him so she can get close enough to kill him. The bound Grand Leon shouts "Traitor!" at her. No, dude, you don't get to call her that. After what you did to her, she would have been fully justified in going against you. Instead she's trying to keep your sorry ass alive. (I swear, the smoke coming from my ears when I read this should have set off the alarm.)
In the end, when she's succeeded, what waits for her? Another kangaroo court. Another scene of degradation. At least, at the end, the new ruler takes her part the way Grand Leon ought to have, but still, after all she's made to go through, I wouldn't have blamed her if she'd simply lofted a big middle finger in the direction of everyone in power in L'Empire and Aragoth and struck out for parts unknown. Surely there's a government/society somewhere not tied to a misogynistic religion, a place where a woman like her would get the appreciation she deserves.
Okay, rant over. My feelings are strong in this way because Curtis Craddock has crafted a character whom I can admire and root for, someone to whom I want to see good things happen. This isn't the last book in the Risen Kingdoms series, and I just know better times lie ahead for her.
Isabelle may be the heart of my love for the series, but I also like and admire Jean-Claude, Marie (very pleased to see this character step up and claim attention), Bitterlich, and the Trefoil, Grand Leon's three mistresses who defy every expectation we might have of them; it turns out they're much sharper, wiser, and more empathetic than Le Roi could possibly be. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the next book. Maybe true love awaits Jean-Claude....?...more
**spoiler alert** Not on a par with Marillier's best, but still delightful, with the fluid grace and lyricism I've come to expect from this author, as**spoiler alert** Not on a par with Marillier's best, but still delightful, with the fluid grace and lyricism I've come to expect from this author, as well as characters I find charming and easy to root for. I like that for a change, Marillier sets aside her usual preference for petite heroines and gives us a brawny young fighter as a female lead. Yet despite Liobhan's eagerness to defy expectations and rules regarding gender, she never comes across as "not like other girls" and interacts sympathetically with a number of other female characters in the course of the story. Also, her friendship-maybe-romance with Dau is believable and moving, one of the best heterosexual romantic plots I've read in a while.
Yet I never really felt the danger here. I knew the stakes were high, but I didn't quite FEEL the stakes were high. There were only a couple of times when I felt genuinely worried that the characters might not escape from a particular situation. Also, while it may be "First Book Syndrome," the Crow Folk plot just... stopped. Their threat was never fully understood or explained. It just ceased to be, hand-waved away. I'm used to sharper plotting in a Marillier novel.
Also, certain aspects of the misogyny in the book bothered me. Marillier has dealt with the subject effectively before, but here it seemed far more pervasive and general, so deeply ingrained in the society of the world Liobhan, her brother Brocc, and Dau enter that even men with otherwise good instincts are tainted by it. After all, the moral and spiritual leaders of the land, the Druids, welcome Brocc into their society with arms wide open, yet they can barely manage to utter a single civil word to Liobhan, and the reason for the different treatment is neither more nor less than gender. Accordingly, all the men in Briefne seem to be misogynist to varying degrees. That young Aislinn, whose obvious abuse goes ignored and unchecked for years since the men around her don't consider her worth worrying about, has to grow to womanhood in this dreadful country makes me very sad indeed. Liobhan should have carried her off and brought her along to Swan Island.
Still, I look forward to seeing what adventures lie ahead in the second book. ...more
**spoiler alert** April is Fantasy Book Cafe's "Women in SFF Month," and I was pleased to see Tasha Suri among the participants. Permit me to share**spoiler alert** April is Fantasy Book Cafe's "Women in SFF Month," and I was pleased to see Tasha Suri among the participants. Permit me to share her post as the first part of my review: http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2019/0...
One of the main things that drew me into this story and held me was the use of dance as a vehicle for terrifying power, a source of both oppression and liberation for Mehr. Suri herself puts into far better words than I ever could the reason this works so well.
Mehr is an engaging heroine, by turns hapless and mighty, realistically out of her depth at crucial points but capable when and where it really counts. She's flawed and can be self-serving at times, but on the whole her moral compass emerges in good working order. I appreciated how she and the man she's forced to marry move toward love in slow, subtle steps; this is an effective slow-burn love story at a time when insta-love seems to be everywhere. And above all I appreciated how falling in love doesn't simply erase other relationships from Mehr's thoughts, as it too often does in less carefully crafted romance plots. Other women remain important in her life. She never forgets her sister, even when she's cast out of the little girl's life.
Suri's prose has a lyrical feel to it, even at moments of violence and dread. I'm always thrilled when I discover new writers who incorporate that element of lyricism into their style. I'm looking forward to seeing more from this author, including and especially the next Book of Ambha....more
**spoiler alert** This first volume of a new epic fantasy series may not quite be The Priory of the Orange Tree, but it's a darn good read, and I'm**spoiler alert** This first volume of a new epic fantasy series may not quite be The Priory of the Orange Tree, but it's a darn good read, and I'm eager for the next book.
Pros: 1) A fascinating fantasy city and society, complex and flawed with its own brands of injustice but thankfully free of the usual gender-related nonsense; 2) Brisk, involving prose; 3) A mystery with twists I didn't see coming; 4) Good characterization, with heroes worth rooting for and villains worth despising.
For me, a new fantasy novel is only as good as its female leads, and here I find two, Kalina and Hadrea, whom I admire. I can't agree with those who dislike Hadrea. I can understand resisting her specifically as Jovan's love interest, but as a friend and ally, someone he can like and trust, she's a welcome female presence in Jovan's chapters, particularly at the climax. Without her, the only badass woman standing would be the villain. My issue with her is that I find her too interesting to be confined to the Love Interest role. She deserves an arc and a point of view of her own. Hopefully she'll get this as the series goes on.
And then we have Kalina, whose role is actually less limited, more expansive than that of Jovan even though she gets less page time. I love being in her head, because she is so determined NOT to be the passive, helpless damsel everyone expects her to be; she never stops looking for ways to be useful, and even when she seems most out of her depth, she remains competent. I wasn't too happy towards the end, when I felt her role too much resembled Hermione's role in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: she figures everything out and finds a way to get the needed information to her male co-stars, but she's out of commission, so it's up to them to use that information to defeat evil and save the day. (This was another reason I appreciated Hadrea's presence; she does get a Crowning Moment of Awesome at the climax.) But Hawke clearly loves Kalina, and I love her too, and I'll just bet she'll be up to great things in the next book.
Cons: There aren't many, but I do have a couple of pesky regrets. If you're looking for bromance, you'll find it here, as Jovan stands with his only true friend Chancellor Tain through proverbial thick and thin. Yet we see no similar bonds between women. Kalina and Hadrea get along all right the very few times we see them interact, but Kalina has no substantial time spent, no close kinship, with any female character. Apart from Jovan, she's on her own, and this made me feel a little sorrier for her than Hawke may have wished me to. Tain and Jovan are each other's safety net. Shouldn't Kalina have something/someone like that?
Another thing: what's with the deadbeat moms? Another reason I value Hadrea: she's the only one who has a halfway decent relationship with her mother, and that mother, Salvea, is the only woman past her prime to be portrayed as admirable and sympathetic throughout. On the whole, I would say, this book is quite woman-positive, but the deadbeat mom thing does trouble me....more
This review will be short and sweet. Here is a book that seems to have been written specifically to delight me. For the most part, if I like it, thisThis review will be short and sweet. Here is a book that seems to have been written specifically to delight me. For the most part, if I like it, this book has it....more
**spoiler alert** A brisk, energetic YA science-fiction novel with a heroine I found immediately engaging -- mouthy, funny, brash, flawed, impulsive,**spoiler alert** A brisk, energetic YA science-fiction novel with a heroine I found immediately engaging -- mouthy, funny, brash, flawed, impulsive, talented, brimming with potential. I loved the first-person POV in Spensa's unique voice. She doesn't remind me so much of Vin from "Mistborn" as the character I wish Vin might have been.
But then, this book has a distinct advantage over "Mistborn," at least where the characterization of its female lead is concerned. It avoids the Smurfette Principle, so Spensa doesn't have to represent an entire gender all by herself. As a Sanderson fan I recognized a number of features common in his work: the male mentor (hello, Gaetona and Kelsier), the nonhuman sidekick/voice-in-the-head (how're ya doing there, Syl and Ashe?), the male best friend (hi, Lukel). But unlike anything else by Sanderson I've read, this book depicts genuine honest-to-goodness girl-to-girl friendship. Rig may be Spensa's best friend at the outset, but by the end she's forged solid bonds with FM and especially Kimmalyn. (As for Hurl... I suppose that had to happen, didn't it?) Also delightful in this sci-fi universe is the absence of prescribed gender roles. Spensa must fight for respect, but not due to gender prejudice. Her struggle is more individual and (to me) much more interesting than that. Here we have more evidence of which writers should take note: you don't HAVE to haul out the tropes of sexism and rigid gender roles in order to give your female protagonist something to fight against.
One thing did disappoint me a little. The character of Admiral Judy "Ironsides" Ivans is something we've seen pretty often, a little too often in my view: the Evil Boss Lady. Perhaps "evil" is too harsh a term for the Admiral, but she still spends most of her time actively scheming to make our heroine's life as miserable as possible, to make her suffer for the sins her father committed. Of course there has to be an obstacle, and in isolation Admiral Ironsides could be a lot worse. It's only that I feel sometimes that if I were to count the number of sympathetically-depicted women in leadership roles that I've seen in SFF, I wouldn't need more fingers than I have on my hands. (And at least a third of them are in Wexler's Shadow Campaigns.) Female authority figures are nearly always depicted as hard, unreasonable, and antagonistic, and Ironsides is just one more of those. Sigh.
All the same, I'd recommend this book to any reader who, like me, enjoys seeing a good female-led YA SFF novel in which the emphasis is on action and adventure rather than romance....more
**spoiler alert** When I started the third volume of N.K. Jemisin's Hugo Award-winning Broken Earth Trilogy, my every instinct told me the ending**spoiler alert** When I started the third volume of N.K. Jemisin's Hugo Award-winning Broken Earth Trilogy, my every instinct told me the ending would not be a happy one. But as I read it, I still hoped, as I suspect many readers do. Our experience as readers mirrors the series' central ethos: "Hope anyway." It is the persistence of hope even in the bleakest of circumstances that distinguishes this gloomy, often violent trilogy from Grimdark, where the ethos is pretty much "Life sucks. People suck. The end."
This difference is why Jemisin's series moves me far more than Grimdark ever could.
This is not a simple heroes/villains tale. All the characters are deeply flawed people who often misunderstand situations and make mistakes that end up costing others as well as themselves. Yet with the exception of Essun's husband, who died in the last book -- he has pretty much only one mode, that of "angry bigot" -- none of them is beyond the reach of redemption. They are, by turns, terrible and wonderful, held back from the moral abyss by their capacity to love. Despite her flaws, or perhaps because of them, protagonist Essun is inspiring in her moments of heroism. (When she declared in the last book that there would be "no more voting on who gets to be people," I knew I'd follow her anywhere.)
I have to admit "The Stone Sky" doesn't stir my soul quite as much as "The Fifth Season" or even "The Obelisk Gate." My patience wears thin when I'm faced with long passages without dialogue, and Nassun spends quite a few of her POV sequences alone, caring as best she can for the incapacitated Schaffa. Also, at times the story felt less to me like epic fantasy than like dystopian science fiction, which I don't like as much. But those issues are definitely a case of "It's not you, it's me," and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the entire series for its solid prose, involving story, and complex and intriguing characterizations.
**spoiler alert** My favorite subgenre within fantasy fiction is something I call "woman-centered fantasy," which has certain features I take to my**spoiler alert** My favorite subgenre within fantasy fiction is something I call "woman-centered fantasy," which has certain features I take to my heart: 1) The hero (or co-hero, in a pinch) is female; 2) She's not the only important female character in the book, and positive relationships between women are given plenty of representation and attention; 3) The setting is either second-world or historical (that is, not urban or contemporary); 4) While romance may be a feature, it is not the female hero's sole interest or purpose; 5) The female hero plays a central role at the story's climax.
Among the authors known for writing high-quality woman-centered fantasy, featuring both strong prose and stirring storylines: Juliet Marillier, Kate Elliott, Kate Forsyth, Barbara Hambly, Patricia McKillip, and N.K. Jemisin. While these types of novels often don't get the same level of attention and number of recommendations as manly-man epics like The Kingkiller Chronicles, The Powder Mage Trilogy, The Night Angel Trilogy, and The Gentlemen Bastards, every year brings with it several good examples of woman-centered fantasy. Every year I fall in love with at least one book of this kind.
My pick for the best woman-centered fantasy novel of 2018 is Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver, a beautiful piece of writing and evocative world-building featuring not one female hero but three. The first-person narrative shifts among these three, and occasionally a supporting character will have his/her say. I confess to being slightly disoriented each time the narrative shifts, yet I grew so used to it that I came to enjoy figuring out (after only a few sentences, usually) whose voice we were getting. Each voice, as it turns out, is distinct, adding to our sense of each character as a unique individual with her/his own interests and concerns. Characterization helps build the world, as we get narrators from different social stations.
Among our three heroes, Wanda represents the working/farmer class, Miryem the middle/merchant class, and Irina the nobility. Seeing through their eyes, we experience the difficulties they face as women in a harsh medieval fairy-tale world run by men. Each woman must find a way to rise above her circumstances and survive and thrive and thwart powerful men's efforts to strip them of their agency, yet as their stories weave together, we also see them take responsibility for those around them as well -- family, friends, country. It's hard for me to pick a favorite; I loved them all; but Miryem, introduced first, defies expectations the most, being the daughter of a moneylender who takes it upon herself to do her father's dirty work (since he's too kind-hearted to do it himself). She succeeds, and while she knows she's viewed by many as cold, grasping, and selfish, she maintains her work has value. She never retreats on this point, although she does discover reserves of kindness in herself as she learns to get along in an alien world. She remains sharp, clever, and determined throughout, yet earns the name "Open-Handed."
I also love the way multiple relationships have value in each woman's life. Irina's closest bond is with her nursemaid, Magreta, who proves herself up to the task of watching over her mistress as she enters dangerous waters. Miryem has loving parents (LIVING parents! Yay) as well as grandparents and cousins, but when she enters the wintry world of the Staryk, she forges bonds with two women and a man commanded to serve her, as well as the child of one of the women. Wanda is brutalized by her father, but comes to love and rely upon her brothers. And of course the three of them come to value and appreciate each other. Not a one of these relationships is elbowed off to the side to make room for the burgeoning romances. As for the romances themselves... well, they are hard-won. I did not expect, until the last hundred pages, any true romantic love to develop. I'm still not sure how I feel about the resolution of these pairings. But I know the women involved will be all right, since I've witnessed their resilience and resourcefulness throughout.
If you love woman-centered fantasy, as I do, don't miss this one. ...more
**spoiler alert** Fine, crystalline prose. A heroine who, unlike in the previous book, gets to save the day. A story thmoves briskly. Also, unlike a**spoiler alert** Fine, crystalline prose. A heroine who, unlike in the previous book, gets to save the day. A story thmoves briskly. Also, unlike a lot of stories with the Not Like Other Girls trope (our protagonist, Vasya, spends half the story disguised as a boy and dreading the prospect of life as a girl), we don’t get a poisonous dose of girl-on-girl hate. More than once, Vasya lends a supporting hand to girls like her niece, Marya, who also fear a cage.
The down side: The society in which Vasya lives is SO sexist, SO smothering and strangling to women, that it can be depressing to read about. This book made me hungry to read about other, far more gender-egalitarian fantasy worlds. ...more
**spoiler alert** This book’s biggest strength, for me, is the prose itself, with its vivid detail and eerie, dreamlike fairy tale quality. Arden’s**spoiler alert** This book’s biggest strength, for me, is the prose itself, with its vivid detail and eerie, dreamlike fairy tale quality. Arden’s writing takes the reader through a mystical Old Russia landscape, completely with winter demons and benevolent household spirits.
The second biggest strength would be the characters, particularly Vasya, the heroine, who pushes against constraints in any way she can, striving to do her duty for her family and remain true to herself. Her father, Pyotr, is flawed but tries to be the best dad he knows how to be. Vasya also gets support from her youngest brother, Aloysha, and her mother figure, Dunya. Even her stepsister isn’t unlikable as might be expected. She loves Vasya, though she’s too passive and easily frightened to be much help. Even the villains, Anna and Konstantin, are complex rather than one-dimensionally evil.
The biggest weakness, for me, is plot-related. In the course of the novel, we see Vasya act heroically and save others, so why should she feel more like a supporting character at the climax? Also, I kept waiting for her witchy powers to make themselves known in a big way, but I waited in vain. I guess that’s coming in the sequels. I will be reading those....more
My love for Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series continues to grow. It’s just the kind of book I love most to read: an epic fantasy with 1)My love for Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series continues to grow. It’s just the kind of book I love most to read: an epic fantasy with 1) flawed but still admirable heroes, a number of them women, and 2) plenty of heart-pumping action and often disturbing violence, but without the nihilistic futility of grimdark.
The book does have flaws, in particular a subplot that promises much but in the end delivers little, but at its heart it’s a solid tale of redemption—what it costs, how it’s earned, who seeks it, who rejects it. Characters go through the wringer and even make massive mistakes, but failure proves instructive; in adversity there is strength. Through the character of Dalinar, one of my favorite male heroes in all of current fantasy, we see just how hard redemption can be.
Plus, the book is just full of Cool — living weapons (Syl is awesome!), alternate realms, creepy malevolent forces, satisfying gets-what’s-coming-to-him moments. Coolest of all, for me, are the growing challenges to Alethkar’s gender roles, with male AND female characters challenging the limitations of those roles. (Lyn in particular is a welcome addition to the cast. Hopefully she’ll get a little more page time in the next book.) ...more
**spoiler alert** Let me get the bad stuff out of the way first:
Was this love triangle really necessary? This is a strong woman-centered fantasy**spoiler alert** Let me get the bad stuff out of the way first:
Was this love triangle really necessary? This is a strong woman-centered fantasy novel, with plenty of action and intriguing politics, but the introduction of "bad boy" Kathe and the evolution of the triangle gave off a strong YA vibe at times. When I'm reading about intelligent, courageous, resourceful Amalia, I don't want to find myself thinking of the leads of Stephenie Meyer or Cassandra Clare books. Alas, the ending makes it clear that the triangle isn't going anywhere. We'll have to put up with it in Book 3 as well.
Also, while many may disagree, I find Prince Ruven a boring villain. I like villains who are the heroes of their own stories, whose vile actions have at least some understandable motivations. Here we have a guy who just likes to hurt people. That's it. He wants to expand his territory so he can gain the power to hurt more people because hurting people is so much fun. Yawn. Supporting villains like the Lady of Thorns and the Raverran doge's up-and-coming emissary interest me much more. I hope we'll see more of the latter in the next book.
All the same, this book gets a big thumbs-up from me. With "Spinning Silver" (Novik), "Den of Wolves" (Marillier), "The Broken Earth" (Jemisin), and now this, I've been very happy with the strong quality of women-centered fantasy I've been reading. It doesn't quite match Novik's or Marillier's work where prose style is concerned, but it's solidly readable and involving, and it's full to overflowing with memorable female characters in leading and supporting roles.
Amalia and Zaira, of course, occupy center stage, with Amalia serving as our POV character. Of the two, Zaira is the more charismatic, the sharp and funny attention-getter with wry powers of observation and awesome fire-starting abilities. Some readers might regret from time to time that the perspective follows Amalia rather than her, but I can see the wisdom in author Melissa Caruso's decision. Amalia is not a flashy character. She's a young woman who tries hard and is often out of her depth. She recognizes that she's less powerful than many of those around her. She doubts her courage and her skill. We may catch ourselves underestimating her as she underestimates herself. But when she sees there's a job to do, she's going to use every resource she has at hand to see that the job gets done. She doesn't give up, even when faced with hard, painful decisions. I look forward to seeing how she grows in the next volume.
Other female characters worthy of mention: Terika, Zaira's love interest; Istrella, an artificer whose eagerness and brilliance remind me, in the best way, of Shuri from the MCU's "Black Panther"; Queen Galanthe of Callamorne, Amalia's formidable grandmother; the Lady of Eagles, her even more formidable great-grandmother; and my favorite, Amalia's brash, kick-butt cousin Bree, who (attention, Ms. Caruso) deserves her own book series.
But what makes this series special, for me, is the gender-egalitarianism of Raverran society. This society isn't perfect, but strict and limiting gender roles aren't among its problems. Men and women occupy all roles and levels of society. We see homosexual as well as heterosexual relationships depicted as natural and normal. Injustice can never be completely eradicated from any society, but it's a relief to see a different set of problems depicted here, instead of the institutionalized sexism found in nineteen out of twenty fantasy worlds.
**spoiler alert** Something we don't see very often: a fantasy version of ancient Rome. Jim Butcher tried something like this with his "Codex Alera,"**spoiler alert** Something we don't see very often: a fantasy version of ancient Rome. Jim Butcher tried something like this with his "Codex Alera," but while I'd classify that series as straight-up adventure, this one offers more detailed and intricate world-building and a more complex political story. At times I found it almost disturbingly relevant, as the two forces we might call "villainous," while they're on opposite sides, actually have the same goal in mind: to root out foreign influences and return their countries or tribes to a state of homogenized "purity."
There's much to like in this book, the first in a new epic series. Capable, interesting female characters abound, from our female lead Latona, a fire mage with a history of being oppressed and abused, now moving step by step towards full ownership of her power, to her two sisters, one a sharp-witted socialite and the other a prophetic priestess, to Hanath, an Iberian spear-wielder who's one of Latona's brother Vitellus' most useful allies. There are paranoid and narrow-minded bigots like Aemilia, the high priestess of Juno, determined to throw every possible obstacle into Latona's path, and potentially untrustworthy frenemies like Vibia, who regards Latona with a kind of "jealous mother-in-law syndrome" as she sees our heroine getting too friendly with her brother. Yet overall, the dominant feeling between female characters is sisterly loyalty and solidarity, not girl-on-girl hate.
The male characters are no slouch, either. Debut novelist Cass Morris develops a slow-burn romance between Latona and the progressive politicial Sempronius Tarren, a champion of change and the expansion of rights. Their relationship is based on mutual respect and admiration. While Latona's boorish husband tries to squelch her at every turn, Sempronius builds her up and encourages her to believe in herself. As in the best love stories, the two bring out the best in each other, and never is either character reduced to a mere love interest for the other.
Most of the problems I have with this one likely stem from "First Book-Itis." None of the subplots is resolved, and the ending feels more like a good stopping place than like an actual conclusion. Worst of all, at what we might consider the climax, which should have been Latona's moment to shine and to overcome the burden of self-doubt, she's incapacitated and needs to be rescued, a situation that never sits well with me (see also my reactions to Lackey's One Good Knight, Sanderson's Warbreaker, and Hartman's Shadow Scale). Yet Latona, at least, has future volumes to grow into full awesomeness, and I have faith she won't be sidelined or damselled at the climax of the overall series. The narrative does give her other moments when she is rescuer rather than rescued, so I'm ready to follow her journey for the long haul. ...more
**spoiler alert** YA Epic Fantasy— let’s see more of it!
Instead of all this contemporary-setting stuff, let’s see more mythic worlds we can’t visit**spoiler alert** YA Epic Fantasy— let’s see more of it!
Instead of all this contemporary-setting stuff, let’s see more mythic worlds we can’t visit with plane or bus tickets. This one takes its readers to an Africa that never was, where magic lies in forced dormancy, waiting for brave souls to revive it.
Instead of featureless blank slates (Ordinary High School Girls, TM), let’s see heroines with power and purpose, who keep fighting no matter what’s thrown at them, who save their worlds through hard work and determination. This book has not merely one such heroine, but two.
Instead of girl-on-girl hate, let’s see female friendships treated as just as important as romance, if not more important. Here we see two heroines who don’t know what to make of each other at first, but in the end bring out the best in each other.
I don’t like everything about this book. The loyalty-shifting Inan is NOT the love interest Zelie deserves, and I felt no pity for him at the end; he got exactly what he deserved. But Zelie and Amari didn’t let me down. Both shone so brightly at the climax that I’m already hungry for the next book. Books where female characters save the day give me life. We need them now more than ever....more
**spoiler alert** My quibbles first: This book felt a little longer than it needed to be. There was always something going on, but at times I thought**spoiler alert** My quibbles first: This book felt a little longer than it needed to be. There was always something going on, but at times I thought the action sprawled a little out of control, as if O’Malley was having way too much fun throwing problems at his protagonists to see what they could handle. The pacing was neither as tight nor as breezy as in The Rook.
Also, while the two heroines have their share of awesome moments throughout the novel, they’re both more passive than I would prefer at the climax. Felicity doesn’t do anything, really, and while Odette dispatches the villains, it’s not of her own will. Thankfully O’Mallley caps the whole thing with some major badassery from Shantay. Can we have a Shantay centric book next, please, Mr. O’Malley? Pretty, pretty please?
But for me, these negatives are outweighed by the positives: 1) This book is all about the growth of a friendship between two women. I like Felicity, I like Odette, but they initially loathe each other. It’s gratifying to see these characters coming to like each other as much as I like them. In the long run it’s friendship that saves the day. 2) No shoehorned romance! I love a good romance when it’s well done and suits the story’s needs. Here, such a thing would have just been in the way. 3) The world where these characters live and work is as close to a post-feminist society as I’ve seen in urban fantasy. Gender comes up only once (when Myfanwy says a woman should be promoted). Otherwise we see male and female operatives working together in an atmosphere of mutual respect. At times both Felicity and Odette have to prove themselves, but never due to gender prejudice. 4) The villains are terrifying— true believers who don’t mind turning vast scores of innocents into collateral damage for the sake of their “righteous cause.” Their hatred rings true and it’s especially relevant in these trying times. 5) Odette’s POV as a Grafter is welcome, as it adds complexity to the hostility established in the previous book. 6) Myfanwy! Still awesome. ...more
This series of books makes me happy. The only thing I really don't like is that I have to wait till next year for Vol. 3.
If you're looking for worldThis series of books makes me happy. The only thing I really don't like is that I have to wait till next year for Vol. 3.
If you're looking for world building and plotting that makes old-fashioned epic fantasy feel fresh and new again, read this book.
If you're looking for breezy and engaging prose, read this book.
If you're tired of reading stories that set female characters against one another and wish you could find stories featuring a circle of loyal and supportive female friends, read this book.
If you're keen on reading about multiple heroines with a variety of strengths and capabilities, read this book.
If you wish more fantasy books portrayed women as competent and sympathetic authority figures, read this book.
If you'd like to see a hero openly reject the toxic masculinity his father tried to pass onto him, read this book....more
**spoiler alert** A bracing follow-up to Red Sister, with plenty of action, magic, politicking, betrayal, and double-dealing. And friendship. Lots of**spoiler alert** A bracing follow-up to Red Sister, with plenty of action, magic, politicking, betrayal, and double-dealing. And friendship. Lots of friendship. The central place given to friendships is, for me, the big selling point of the series. In the last volume, we saw how staunchly Nona Grey had her friends' backs. In this one, we see how much they have hers. Here we see her scramble, climb, and fight her way out of seemingly impossible situations -- no surprise there, for those of us who got to know the resourceful and persistent Nona in the last book. But the new book develops other characters as well, giving them their moments in the sun. Abbess Glass gets her own POV sections and continues to be a powerful force. Sister Kettle gets down and dirty to do what needs to be done. Among Nona's fellow novices, Zole, Arabella, and Darla are particularly formidable. I admire them all, and I look forward to seeing them again. (Except Darla. Darn you, Mr. Lawrence!)
Be warned: this book doesn't work as a stand-alone. You might be able to make a kind of sense out of it if you haven't read the first book, but it won't make nearly the impact it will if you have. In the first book, we were introduced to the vile, despicable pukestain known as Raymel Tacsis, the privileged golden boy of the aristocracy who routinely abuses peasant girls for his amusement and whose actions are enabled and excused because 1) a young man has "needs" and 2) nobody cares about his victims anyway. It takes Nona to stand up and say No, he should NOT get away with this, he murdered her friend and he should pay. In Red Sister, he meets his end not a minute too soon, and Nona ends up harboring the demon who formerly inhabited him because she enjoys killing him a little too much (I mean, honestly, can you blame her?). In Grey Sister, Nona is bullied, pursued, imprisoned, and tortured by an entire corps of villains who have, as one of their chief objects, "justice for Raymel." This makes them the most repulsive baddies I've read about in recent memory, especially since real-life situations like that of Brock Turner and other privileged young men who commit rape and assault but are still somehow seen as having "bright futures" add a frightening realistic edge to their villainy.
Nona is a hero who stands up for people whom the powerful ones of her world would deem worthless at worst, expendable at best. At the core of this often dark and violent series is a heartening ethos: Every person has value. ...more
**spoiler alert** An intriguing and quick-paced adventure with not one, but two capable female leads, as well as a number of smart supporting**spoiler alert** An intriguing and quick-paced adventure with not one, but two capable female leads, as well as a number of smart supporting characters both male and female. (I particularly like Istrella, sister and Falcon to our POV heroine’s love interest; she dashed straight to my heart when she and Amalia bonded over their mutual interest in the artificer’s craft at their very first meeting.) Zaira, the fire warlock bound against her will, is the sort of fiery, street-smart, acid-tongued rebel that engages the rooting interest early on. Amalia, the privileged intellectual POV character, may take longer to grow on you, as she spends much of the book in over her head, the object of Zaira’s eye-rolling ridicule. Yet she too emerges as a figure of courage and resourcefulness. By the end they’d both won my admiration, and I’m keen to read more of their adventures.
Also delightful: the world they live in, while echoing Renaissance Italy, is refreshingly free from sexism. When a female character is judged wanting, it’s never because of her gender. These heroines have other obstacles than gender prejudice. And honestly, it’s a tremendous relief to see that.
One flaw: I found one of the key villains, Prince Ruven, a little too over the top, more of a caricature of the Privileged Sadist than a compelling personality. We’re meant to think certain characters are deceived by him, but he’s so forthcoming about his contempt for “inferiors” that I don’t see how he could fool anyone....more
Gritty novel featuring a complex female protagonist who was "made" for violence yet still possesses a solid ethical code and values friendship aboveGritty novel featuring a complex female protagonist who was "made" for violence yet still possesses a solid ethical code and values friendship above all things. I find myself rooting for her as much because of her dark side as in spite of it. She'll do the dirty jobs that really need doing.
Nona, our protagonist, isn't the only intriguing female character in the cast; in fact, since most of it is set at a convent, 90 percent of the characters are female. All the significant ones have a touch of mystery about them; even now I'm not entirely sure whose side they're on -- but I look forward to reading the rest of the series and finding out more....more
**spoiler alert** I picked up this book partly because I was disheartened by the conspicuous lack of anything resembling female solidarity in another**spoiler alert** I picked up this book partly because I was disheartened by the conspicuous lack of anything resembling female solidarity in another recent read, Tchaikovsky's The Tiger and the Wolf. I thought that in the wake of that, it would do me good to spend some time in the company of Granny Weatherwax and her coven. Unfortunately it didn't quite work for the purpose intended, as Granny and Magrat spend most of the book at each other's throats, with the hapless but awesome Nanny Ogg trying in vain to mediate.
For every other purpose, however, the book worked beautifully. Whether they're in harmony or not, each of the witches is a splendid heroine in her own way, and as much as they might quarrel, they end up working well together, playing off each other's strengths. Pratchett is one of the few comic fantasy writers I know of who writes women as characters rather than caricatures, with little or no "male-gazey" descriptions or body-shaming or other nonsense that goes on when a lot of funny writers deal with female characters. Here we have a wry look at what can happen when a "fairy godmother" takes her role too seriously and tries to force the people around her into the "happy ending" she wants for them, regardless of what they want. I don't imagine many of Pratchett's readers would share Granny's hearty dislike of stories, yet this viewpoint helps her win the day. Is Pratchett tweaking the average fantasy fan, reminding us to keep our feet on the ground even as we relish a splendid tale? Maybe -- but he does it beautifully.
Some delights include: Nanny's efforts to "speak foreign"; Granny winning at poker; Magrat demolishing a pair of serpentine shape-shifters; wicked feline Greebo temporarily transformed into human; Nanny's rendevous with the amorous dwarf Casanunda....more
**spoiler alert** This should have been one of my Favorite Books Ever. It contains so much that I love seeing.
Monster heroines? Check. Four times. **spoiler alert** This should have been one of my Favorite Books Ever. It contains so much that I love seeing.
Monster heroines? Check. Four times. Capable heroines? Check. Female friendship? Check. Story centering on women that isn't swallowed by an overemphasis on romance? Check. Respectful friendships between men and women? Check.
I love all these things so much. They gladden my heart. So why did this book fail to land with me? I'm not entirely sure. The author uses an airy, elegant prose style, with nice humorous touches, and I was impressed by the cleverness of all the reference points (and there are many -- even the names of the half-sisters, Mary Jekyll and Diana Hyde, is a call-back to Jane Eyre, with Mary and Diana Rivers). But while the book engaged my mind, it left my heart untouched. The stakes were high and I should have FELT their height, but somehow I didn't. I wanted to care more, and ended up disappointed.
Still, I may give the next book in the series a try based solely on principle. Because I do believe the fantasy genre could use more monster heroines. ...more
**spoiler alert** Let me start with this novel's Most Valuable Player: Lady Vintage de Grazon.
A mature woman, a seeker after knowledge unafraid to**spoiler alert** Let me start with this novel's Most Valuable Player: Lady Vintage de Grazon.
A mature woman, a seeker after knowledge unafraid to venture into dangerous territory, a writer whose wise insights flow freely from her pen, a kind and empathetic human being -- what's not to love? For me, Vintage comes close to being a perfect character without ever coming across as the dreaded "Mary Sue." Her voice is too sharp, too witty, too distinctly individual for any accusations of Mary Sue-ness to stick. Vintage made the book for me. I felt privileged to travel on her journey with her, and frustrated each time she disappeared from the page, since I couldn't embrace the other characters quite as whole-heartedly.
Noon did grow on me, though. I came to appreciate her struggles to figure out who she is once she's finally gained freedom from imprisonment and exploitation. How far does her power go? What can she do -- and also, what SHOULD she do? Despite black moments in her past, she moves slowly but surely, thanks in no small part to Vintage's example, toward being a good person, and by the end I liked her. I'm a bit ambivalent about her romance with Tormalin -- honestly, am I going to keep running into that "Huge Guy, Tiny Girl" trope in every other book I read? -- but I'm curious to see where it goes. Tormalin didn't quite spring to the same kind of vivid life for me as the other two, but then my interests tend to gravitate toward female characters, so I can't put that down to any serious flaws in characterization.
I did have issues with this one, however.
First, every single villain -- Agent Lin, the abbess of the Winnowry, Hestillion, Mother Fast, the Ju'relia queen -- is female. This isn't to say female characters can't or shouldn't be villains, but when we're dealing with multiple bad guys, couldn't at least one of them be, well, a guy? If Team Good has a mix of genders, Team Evil should as well.
Related to this, and a more serious concern of mine, is the portrayal of the story's nonhuman characters. I've noticed this in books I've read in the past, and it continues to bother me no end when nonhuman characters can be heroes, even romantic heroes, as long as they're male, while the females of the same species are portrayed as evil at worst, antagonistic at best. I was disappointed to see this book, despite its many virtues, follow this same playbook with its Eboran characters. Tormalin, a male? Redeemable, and a romantic lead. Aldasir, a male? Decent, and a romantic lead. Hestillion, a female? Bad, bad news, as we see right away from the novel's first scene, in which she slits a human child's throat and thus crosses the Moral Event Horizon right out of the starting gate. For 99% of the book, she's the only female Eboran we see; we meet Nanthema at the very end, but it's too soon to know if she can be trusted. This problem was slightly redeemed by the introduction at the climax of Vostok, a female dragon, who will pretty clearly be important in the next book. But the characterization of the Eborans along gender lines leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. ...more
**spoiler alert** A highly worthy sequel to Six of Crows. We're back in Ketterdam, catching up with the friends we made in the first book and learning**spoiler alert** A highly worthy sequel to Six of Crows. We're back in Ketterdam, catching up with the friends we made in the first book and learning that their lives are even harder, their situations more fraught with drama and danger, than they were before. Kaz amps up his scheme for revenge against the man who wronged him and his brother long ago. Jesper confronts his past, and his guilt over his ongoing cycle of irresponsibility, when his father shows up. Nina deals with the ripple effects from her heroic drug-ingestion sacrifice near the end of the first book, as well as a dramatic shift in the nature of her Grisha power. Matthias hopes that his country can be rescued from its own bigotry. Inej starts the story as a distressed damsel, a villain's captive, but she makes up for it later with some major-league badassery. Then there's Wylan, the character I felt I'd come to know least by the time I finished the last book. Here, finally, we get to know him, as he learns the depths to which his villainous merchant father will sink and fights with everything in him to rise above that heritage. I loved spending time with these characters and regret bidding them farewell.
This duology has a lot going for it -- plenty of action, betrayal, double-dealing, trickery, heroism, and humor -- but I'm especially pleased with how well it succeeds where YA fantasy fails all too frequently: the love stories. In so many YA fantasy novels/series, love plots are superficial and barely believable, prompting our pop-culture critics and reviewers to coin the term "insta-love." Here, Leigh Barduro takes the time to show us just why and how the couples fit together, as we see them listen to one another, learn from one another, support and help one another. All three couples are adorable together. I wasn't sure in the first book whether I believed in the bitter, vengeful Kaz as a romantic hero, but his final act for Inej in this one is a wonderful moment of redemption.
My only regret: Nina, still my favorite character, doesn't get the happy ending she deserves. I understand the reason for the death near the climax of the book -- in the vengeance game, not everybody can make it out alive -- and I doubt I would have been able to choose, among this set of characters, which one should be sacrificed. But darn it, was it really necessary? ...more
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