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starccato's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Torture, Emotional abuse, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Child death, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Self harm, and Vomit
ruthlessreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This book was exactly the dark epic fantasy I wanted but didn't know it. It starts a little slow while the world building is established but once it gets into gear, the plot doesn't stop until the last page. There are so many twists and turns, I was never able to predict what would happen next. It's also SECRETLY GAY. Well, not really secret, but it's not mentioned anywhere in the summary or elsewhere that there's a sapphic romance at the core of the novel. It's still primarily a fantasy novel, with plenty of slash and stab adventures & sparkle and bang magic to fulfill all your fantasy adventure desires. But it's also a tender coming of age story about learning who to trust and who to fight for when you've been raised to believe a fight is all you're good for. It's about defying & subverting expectations by being true to the person you discover along the adventure of your life. I really loved this book & highly recommend it for fans of Gideon the Ninth! The main characters give me Harrow & Gideon energy.
Okay, so brief summary: Csorwe, though she's only 14, is a clergy member at the temple of the Unspoken One. As she is poised to sacrifice herself in a religious ritual, she is rescued & smuggled away by Sethennai, a powerful & brilliant mage. Sethennai raises Csorwe to be his weapon, training her to fight, and tasking her with retrieving The Reliquary--an object of extreme power & knowledge. On one of many trips to discover the location of this item, Csorwe meets Struthmili & everything she thought she knew about herself, her job, and her path in life will be called into question when she is faced with a difficult decision: fight for the item she's tasked to recover or save the life of someone for whom she's developing complicated feelings. Again and again, Csorwe will be faced with decisions that alter her fate & lead her down paths she never expected to return. What is at the end of her story? I guess you'll have to read it to find out!
Okay, so brief summary: Csorwe, though she's only 14, is a clergy member at the temple of the Unspoken One. As she is poised to sacrifice herself in a religious ritual, she is rescued & smuggled away by Sethennai, a powerful & brilliant mage. Sethennai raises Csorwe to be his weapon, training her to fight, and tasking her with retrieving The Reliquary--an object of extreme power & knowledge. On one of many trips to discover the location of this item, Csorwe meets Struthmili & everything she thought she knew about herself, her job, and her path in life will be called into question when she is faced with a difficult decision: fight for the item she's tasked to recover or save the life of someone for whom she's developing complicated feelings. Again and again, Csorwe will be faced with decisions that alter her fate & lead her down paths she never expected to return. What is at the end of her story? I guess you'll have to read it to find out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Toxic friendship, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Religious bigotry, and Violence
Minor: Child death and War
There are some pretty dark themes and scenes. Please read content warnings & summaries before starting this series. This is the first book in The Serpent Gates series!local_hat's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the first book in a long time that I sank in to and devoured within about 24 hours. At least the pannacotta didn't totally take that away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is the kind of book that made me ask "what was the point of everything else, then?" more than once. It is a pretty epic story, and I enjoyed having queer characters simply exist without their queerness being a major point of contention. This book wasn't for me (I thought for sure it would be!), but it's an excellent read
đź“š The gist đź“š: When a mysterious stranger rescues Csorwe from a sacrificial death, she devotes her new life to his murky quest.
đź“’Representationđź“’ wlw mc, mlm sc
đź’• For readers looking for đź’•: epic fantasy, multiple worlds, morally ambiguous and ancient gods, LGBTQ characters, magic, assassins
đź“š The gist đź“š: When a mysterious stranger rescues Csorwe from a sacrificial death, she devotes her new life to his murky quest.
đź“’Representationđź“’ wlw mc, mlm sc
đź’• For readers looking for đź’•: epic fantasy, multiple worlds, morally ambiguous and ancient gods, LGBTQ characters, magic, assassins
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Torture and Xenophobia
Sacrifice, religious cultkylieqrada's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the perfect book to finish my 2021 reading challenge on. I absolutely loved this!!! It will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea, but my god, it was mine! All the cups!!! Dark, eerie, queerie (hehehe), and character-driven with the most epic world-building. Csorwe and Shuthmilie are everything and Tal??? He adds that levity that balances it all out. It sort of gave me Senera/Relos Var from the A Chorus of Dragons series by Jenn Lyons vibes, which is HIGH PRAISE. I cannot wait for The Thousand Eyes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
Minor: Child death
anxiousnachos's review against another edition
5.0
Does this still hold up on reread? FUCK YEAH IT DOES. I love it so much. It feels like I’d Dragon Age and Mass Effect had a baby but with orcs.
Content warnings: torture, blood and gore, death, murder, ritual sacrifice, self harm (for magic), amputation, animal cruelty, snakes, tooth injury, violence, animal death
——
Hello to another incredible fantasy of 2020. I absolutely loved this debut! It set itself up to be a pretty incredible sounding fantasy: sacrifice, necromancy, terrifying gods, a deal with a wizard, portal travel, f/f slow burn romance, TUSKS. And I definitely thought it delivered! It’s one of those “it’s definitely not for everyone” fantasies. It’s quite slow in places, and has extensive (and I mean extensive) worldbuilding with all of these cool flying ships, portals, the Maze and the different worlds to explain and explore. But if you like a long, detailed, super queer fantasy, then this is for you!
The story begins with Csorwe, a young woman destined to be sacrificed on her fourteenth birthday to her god. But, when it comes her time to die, she instead runs away with a wizard, Sethennai, who offers to take her on and train her to be his sword and right hand person. We follow Csorwe on her journey to help the wizard find an ancient artifact, the Reliquary of Pentravesse, an object that claims to hold incredible magical knowledge developed by the legendary Pentravesse himself.
First of all, I had no idea this had portal travel going in, and it was so much fun! This novel really blends sci fi with fantasy, combining the best parts of magic with technological advances to create this incredible world. At the start, it can be difficult to get your head around – I wasn’t quite sure how The Maze worked for a while. But as Csorwe expands her knowledge of the world and discovers what living is really like, so do you! Larkwood has created such a huge, expansive world, full of imagination and wonderfully describes it. Each different world we enter is fully realised and created such a perfectly clear picture in my head, from the Shrine where Csorwe grew up, to the city of Tlaanthothe, to the dying world within the Maze (the inbetween space of the portals). It reminded me rather of Dragon Age actually, with the same type of expansive world, these gates that lead to an inbetween space, so full of different peoples and of course, magic. I think if you love the Dragon Age games, this book is definitely for you. Like DragonAge, religion is a huge element of this book which is something I always love in fantasies because I find them so creative and unique in every book I read. In The Unspoken Name we are introduced to several gods and the people who follow them, from Csorwe and the Shrine of the Unspoken orc priestesses to Shuthmilli’s nine gods, one of the nine fallen to evil who attempts to re-enter the world through mages (of which Shuthmilli is one). I loved exploring each of these and I expect we’ll see more of these religious theories play a part in the next book.
As much as I loved the worldbuilding (and given this is perhaps one of my favourite world’s I’ve ever read about, I love it a lot), my favourite thing about The Unspoken Name were the characters. There is something about a character who is just a total mess that makes you love them (and we have several!!)
Csorwe: our main character, so devoted to Sethennai, the wizard who rescued her and determined to pay him back for what she sees as giving her life. Her growth over the book is so brilliant, from the quiet sacrificial bride, to the fiersome, but blunt, sword of Sethennai, to a woman who must toy with betrayal to do the right thing.
Tal: the much needed lightness and humour of the book! God he has had a rough ticket in life. He’s so full of anger and resentment that he is never noticed by Sethennai and thus spends the entire book attempting to undermine Csorwe so for once he will be centre of Sethennai’s attention.
Shuthmili: probably my favourite because there’s nothing I love more than the most powerful, in control woman in the room completely losing it. I LOVE HER. She’s able to wield incredibly powerful magic, and is due to be bound into a group of magic soldiers with one mind. But then she meets Csorwe, and well, things go a bit off course.
Oranna: our wonderful necromancer. She dances in and out of our gaze and we’re never really quite sure if she’s the villain we should be looking at. Searching for immortality, she is always two steps ahead of Sethennai and his crew.
And then there’s Sethennai himself: the wizard controlling all the strings and so secure in the faith and loyalty of his crew. Well, see for yourself what that gets him….
I really just adored this fantasy. It kept me so immersed and distracted from the real world. Csorwe and Shuthmili’s relationship is of course a delight. My heart was bursting, there’s one particular scene which killed me (see above comment about a very in control woman losing all sense of control). I was so invested in all of these characters, I understood all of them so much (even if I wasn’t the best fan of them at first – sorry Tal. But then he ended up being one of my favourites!!) I really liked that we got to see short insights into the minds of each of these characters, breaking away from Csorwe at times to see what the rest of them are up to. I think that really helped get me so invested in all of them, rather than just our main character.
Is there probably a few problems with this book? Sure. I’m never the biggest fan of time hopping in books, and there were some scenes were things fell into place a bit too easily. But I still adored this book. My issues with it didn’t detract at all from my love of these characters and my desire to see more of them!! I cannot wait for this sequel.
Content warnings: torture, blood and gore, death, murder, ritual sacrifice, self harm (for magic), amputation, animal cruelty, snakes, tooth injury, violence, animal death
——
Hello to another incredible fantasy of 2020. I absolutely loved this debut! It set itself up to be a pretty incredible sounding fantasy: sacrifice, necromancy, terrifying gods, a deal with a wizard, portal travel, f/f slow burn romance, TUSKS. And I definitely thought it delivered! It’s one of those “it’s definitely not for everyone” fantasies. It’s quite slow in places, and has extensive (and I mean extensive) worldbuilding with all of these cool flying ships, portals, the Maze and the different worlds to explain and explore. But if you like a long, detailed, super queer fantasy, then this is for you!
The story begins with Csorwe, a young woman destined to be sacrificed on her fourteenth birthday to her god. But, when it comes her time to die, she instead runs away with a wizard, Sethennai, who offers to take her on and train her to be his sword and right hand person. We follow Csorwe on her journey to help the wizard find an ancient artifact, the Reliquary of Pentravesse, an object that claims to hold incredible magical knowledge developed by the legendary Pentravesse himself.
First of all, I had no idea this had portal travel going in, and it was so much fun! This novel really blends sci fi with fantasy, combining the best parts of magic with technological advances to create this incredible world. At the start, it can be difficult to get your head around – I wasn’t quite sure how The Maze worked for a while. But as Csorwe expands her knowledge of the world and discovers what living is really like, so do you! Larkwood has created such a huge, expansive world, full of imagination and wonderfully describes it. Each different world we enter is fully realised and created such a perfectly clear picture in my head, from the Shrine where Csorwe grew up, to the city of Tlaanthothe, to the dying world within the Maze (the inbetween space of the portals). It reminded me rather of Dragon Age actually, with the same type of expansive world, these gates that lead to an inbetween space, so full of different peoples and of course, magic. I think if you love the Dragon Age games, this book is definitely for you. Like DragonAge, religion is a huge element of this book which is something I always love in fantasies because I find them so creative and unique in every book I read. In The Unspoken Name we are introduced to several gods and the people who follow them, from Csorwe and the Shrine of the Unspoken orc priestesses to Shuthmilli’s nine gods, one of the nine fallen to evil who attempts to re-enter the world through mages (of which Shuthmilli is one). I loved exploring each of these and I expect we’ll see more of these religious theories play a part in the next book.
As much as I loved the worldbuilding (and given this is perhaps one of my favourite world’s I’ve ever read about, I love it a lot), my favourite thing about The Unspoken Name were the characters. There is something about a character who is just a total mess that makes you love them (and we have several!!)
Csorwe: our main character, so devoted to Sethennai, the wizard who rescued her and determined to pay him back for what she sees as giving her life. Her growth over the book is so brilliant, from the quiet sacrificial bride, to the fiersome, but blunt, sword of Sethennai, to a woman who must toy with betrayal to do the right thing.
Tal: the much needed lightness and humour of the book! God he has had a rough ticket in life. He’s so full of anger and resentment that he is never noticed by Sethennai and thus spends the entire book attempting to undermine Csorwe so for once he will be centre of Sethennai’s attention.
Shuthmili: probably my favourite because there’s nothing I love more than the most powerful, in control woman in the room completely losing it. I LOVE HER. She’s able to wield incredibly powerful magic, and is due to be bound into a group of magic soldiers with one mind. But then she meets Csorwe, and well, things go a bit off course.
Oranna: our wonderful necromancer. She dances in and out of our gaze and we’re never really quite sure if she’s the villain we should be looking at. Searching for immortality, she is always two steps ahead of Sethennai and his crew.
And then there’s Sethennai himself: the wizard controlling all the strings and so secure in the faith and loyalty of his crew. Well, see for yourself what that gets him….
I really just adored this fantasy. It kept me so immersed and distracted from the real world. Csorwe and Shuthmili’s relationship is of course a delight. My heart was bursting, there’s one particular scene which killed me (see above comment about a very in control woman losing all sense of control). I was so invested in all of these characters, I understood all of them so much (even if I wasn’t the best fan of them at first – sorry Tal. But then he ended up being one of my favourites!!) I really liked that we got to see short insights into the minds of each of these characters, breaking away from Csorwe at times to see what the rest of them are up to. I think that really helped get me so invested in all of them, rather than just our main character.
Is there probably a few problems with this book? Sure. I’m never the biggest fan of time hopping in books, and there were some scenes were things fell into place a bit too easily. But I still adored this book. My issues with it didn’t detract at all from my love of these characters and my desire to see more of them!! I cannot wait for this sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Torture, Gore, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty
giuliagoolia2k's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Violence
beforeviolets's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
The only reason it's not a 5 star is because it took me a little while to get into - though that might be because of a reading slump - but I have a feeling the second book will be a 5 star! (fingers crossed!)
For the rest of my life I will be desperately craving a queer fantasy book set in the world of LOTR and though this is most definitely NOT that (it can't exist until 2050 :/ ), it helped to temporarily fill that void as best it could and for that, I am grateful.
My thoughts on this book aren't particularly deep or poetic but let's get into it anyways. I loved the world that this was set in; it was like a society made up of fantasy religious cults - tell me you don't love that! - and there always seemed to be more to learn and understand about the corruption that is woven deeply into the foundation of each of those groups and the people in charge. All the information and action that was given to the reader felt well-earned, though I think the stakes took a bit of a hit in favor of the discovery and slow unraveling of the secrets of this world by our more innocent and curious narrators.
I absolutely adored Csorwe and found her to be such a strong, and easy-to-connect-with narrator. Even though I couldn't personally relate to her disposition or her personal experiences, I found her to be a reliable touchstone, and was easily able to understand and sympathize with her thoughts and feelings and actions. I loved Shuthmili (!!) and her strength and confidence and hunger for knowledge. Frankly, she's just so cool. Tal just might be my favorite character though. His dialogue was so funny and witty and snarky and I found myself laughing at his one-liners more than once. His narration is addictively charming and I couldn't help but want to spend more time in his mind. I hope we get to see more of his story along with Csorwe's and Shuthmili's in the next one. Thank goodness I only need to wait a month or two.
P.S. Dear Authors: please write more queer adult high fantasy because there is NOT enough and it's all my queer nerd heart craves.
For the rest of my life I will be desperately craving a queer fantasy book set in the world of LOTR and though this is most definitely NOT that (it can't exist until 2050 :/ ), it helped to temporarily fill that void as best it could and for that, I am grateful.
My thoughts on this book aren't particularly deep or poetic but let's get into it anyways. I loved the world that this was set in; it was like a society made up of fantasy religious cults - tell me you don't love that! - and there always seemed to be more to learn and understand about the corruption that is woven deeply into the foundation of each of those groups and the people in charge. All the information and action that was given to the reader felt well-earned, though I think the stakes took a bit of a hit in favor of the discovery and slow unraveling of the secrets of this world by our more innocent and curious narrators.
I absolutely adored Csorwe and found her to be such a strong, and easy-to-connect-with narrator. Even though I couldn't personally relate to her disposition or her personal experiences, I found her to be a reliable touchstone, and was easily able to understand and sympathize with her thoughts and feelings and actions. I loved Shuthmili (!!) and her strength and confidence and hunger for knowledge. Frankly, she's just so cool. Tal just might be my favorite character though. His dialogue was so funny and witty and snarky and I found myself laughing at his one-liners more than once. His narration is addictively charming and I couldn't help but want to spend more time in his mind. I hope we get to see more of his story along with Csorwe's and Shuthmili's in the next one. Thank goodness I only need to wait a month or two.
P.S. Dear Authors: please write more queer adult high fantasy because there is NOT enough and it's all my queer nerd heart craves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
candidceillie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Torture, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, Gore, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Body horror, Animal death, and Blood
kamreadsandrecs's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
... there’s truly something wonderful in this novel. The world, the characters, the plot, the themes – all have immense promise. But sadly, they are all smothered by the writing style, which muffles and dims the parts that ought to be memorable and striking. There are stories, of course, that suit such dry and deadpan delivery, but that style does not serve this novel well at all. Where the reader ought to be drawn in close to the characters, ought to inhabit the setting, ought to be moved by the plot or ponder upon the themes, they are instead set back at a distance, observing everything with dispassion. This is not exactly something I want to feel from a fantasy novel, and I’m sure there are plenty of other readers who would agree.
Full review here: https://wp.me/p21txV-KE
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Torture, Violence, and Self harm