Reviews

A dense, multifaceted fantasy novel. Samatar consistently writes work that isn't quite like anyone else's, and this novel is no exception. I am only deducting one star because I feel like the last part focuses overmuch on pre-war flashbacks, at the expense of the post-war narrative. But Samatar is also a very deliberate and thoughtful writer, and I would not be surprised if, were I to reread the novel, I would reevaluate that choice to the novel's benefit.

bowman's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Like A Stranger in Olondria, this is a wonderfully vivid poetic masterpiece of fantasy. Unlike Olondria, where the land itself is essentially the main character (as viewed by the titular stranger), Histories is more character-focused. The fate of Olondria is much more precarious in this book, but the heart of the story is still about the intimate lives and ambitions of four women struggling to maintain agency in a world that works against them. As always, the world-building is stellar, and the prose itself is absolutely wonderful. I was also delightfully surprise at the true genre of this book, which disguises itself as political fantasy but ends up actually being

a paranormal teen vampire romance?!

. Like honestly, this is one of my least favorite genres ever conceived, and Sofia Samatar pulls it off. It's almost infuriating how good she is.

wmhenrymorris's review against another edition

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Astonishing. Heartbreaking. Ravishing. And it really is fantasy -- straight up secondary world fantasy. Just different from most fantasy. I'd also say better than most, but that's just my tastes and biases coming into play.

It's also a novel about women. Interesting women. Flawed women. In fact, it's rather ruthless about them, but in being ruthless about them it's even more ruthless about the structures (including the patriarchy -- but that word in a very historically-sound, very particular and precise sense; not some caricature of it) that amplify or prey upon those flaws. But also how these flawed women resist.

turtlenecks's review against another edition

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3.0

gorgeous prose, compelling themes, but the geopolitics AND the interpersonal relations / family dynasty plots weren't dwelt on long enough to be fully enjoyed either way

spiringempress's review against another edition

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3.0

To echo the sentiments of other reviewers, The Winged Histories probably deserves a higher rating than I am giving it. However, I lost interest pretty quickly on and only continued because I was convinced that something would grab my attention. It never did. The premise was interesting, but the characters failed to make an impression and did not make me want to know more about their story.

Ultimately, I think this was due to the fact that the story was told in a manner that is not my favorite. The narration seemed to be omnipresent and not told from the perspective of the character, this made it hard for me to form a connection as the characters and the events unfolding felt distant from the reader. Just not my favorite style of writing and it is disappointing because I had this book on my TBR for a long time.

tiltingwindward's review against another edition

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5.0

This is a beautiful book, I feel lucky to have read it, and I'm so grateful that Sofia Samatar shares her gifts with us. It's definitely a book that requires *work* - emotional work, imaginative work, and a serious time commitment. I found it hard to read unless I was able to devote at least half an hour to sit down with it; anything less was insufficient to immerse myself in the story and the language to the degree this book demands. But it's absolutely worth it.

If you haven't read A STRANGER IN OLONDRIA, you don't have to do so before you read THE WINGED HISTORIES. It will help, but these are standalones - or rather, STRANGER is a story that runs through the middle of HISTORIES, and the HISTORIES surround the trajectory of STRANGER in a nebulous cloud of creation and reaction. It's about war and the narratives we tell ourselves about who we are (as individuals, as nations); it's about memory and story; it's about who gets to be in the story at all and whether they get to speak in their own voice; it's about empire and also about love and a whole lot about how people handle loneliness. Having read it, it's easy to forget that Kestenya and the Balinfeil and the Valley aren't real places in our world.

You'll love this book if you like stories told from different perspectives, if you like stories that spend as much time thinking about what it means to be a society as they do on action, if you like war stories that don't glorify war, and if you love dreamy but precise writing where you can always feel the weather exactly right. (For the very small contingent of people who read and loved CASTLEDOWN as children, this feels in some ways like an adult cousin of that.)

You probably won't love this book as much if you don't like stories that move slowly, if you don't like to spend a lot of time looking at the map, if you want exposition to tell you what's going on clearly, or if you want your stories to proceed in a linear fashion. On the other hand, if you don't like some of these things but *do* love stories that feature the internal life of the POV characters, I'd encourage you to give this beautiful book a try.

hwarium's review against another edition

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4.0

Recommended by ash

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