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nikkisbooknook's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
In Crache, you need to keep your enemies close and your friends closer. Not every ally is an advantage - some have their own agenda and their loyalty can spin on a penny!
Crache should be a paradise, no singular ruler, run by a bureaucracy. But every paradise has a seedy underbelly and in this one The Bottoms is that underbelly. Filled with the disenfranchised, the unwanted, the poor and criminals, the Bottoms is a place no one wants to venture. All except Lexi's husband Brio. He has been the pleader (kind of like an MP) for The Bottoms and now he has gone missing. Lexi is going to kick up a stink but those in power seem to have a vested interest in Brio staying missing!
Elsewhere Evie would appear to have some secrets to hide and an undercover mission of her own within the ranks of the Savages. Her ally from The Bottoms, Dyeawan aka Slider, has also managed to get herself entangled in the festering rebellion. She has caught the eye of the Planning Cadre. The Planning Cadre would appear to be trying to implement and invent new technologies to help Crache but are they as benign as they appear?
This is a story very much led by the female characters; Evie, Lexi and Slider. Don't get me wrong the males get involved too but this is very much a female led story for me. This entire world sucked me in. It's almost a fantasy version of real life with zealots, militarists, extreme disparity between rich and poor, disenfranchisement and the discarding of those deemed "unworthy".
Each FMC has a POV and it was a great way to see inside the workings of their minds and motivations. There was, to me, great diversity in ethnicities and abilities within the main characters. There are also some brilliant non-binary characters who get to shine, especially Taru, Lexi's retainer/friend. I loved watching allyships fall apart as agendas became known and former foes become allies! There is a lot going on in this book and I'm really invested in getting to read book 2!
Crache should be a paradise, no singular ruler, run by a bureaucracy. But every paradise has a seedy underbelly and in this one The Bottoms is that underbelly. Filled with the disenfranchised, the unwanted, the poor and criminals, the Bottoms is a place no one wants to venture. All except Lexi's husband Brio. He has been the pleader (kind of like an MP) for The Bottoms and now he has gone missing. Lexi is going to kick up a stink but those in power seem to have a vested interest in Brio staying missing!
Elsewhere Evie would appear to have some secrets to hide and an undercover mission of her own within the ranks of the Savages. Her ally from The Bottoms, Dyeawan aka Slider, has also managed to get herself entangled in the festering rebellion. She has caught the eye of the Planning Cadre. The Planning Cadre would appear to be trying to implement and invent new technologies to help Crache but are they as benign as they appear?
This is a story very much led by the female characters; Evie, Lexi and Slider. Don't get me wrong the males get involved too but this is very much a female led story for me. This entire world sucked me in. It's almost a fantasy version of real life with zealots, militarists, extreme disparity between rich and poor, disenfranchisement and the discarding of those deemed "unworthy".
Each FMC has a POV and it was a great way to see inside the workings of their minds and motivations. There was, to me, great diversity in ethnicities and abilities within the main characters. There are also some brilliant non-binary characters who get to shine, especially Taru, Lexi's retainer/friend. I loved watching allyships fall apart as agendas became known and former foes become allies! There is a lot going on in this book and I'm really invested in getting to read book 2!
hobbleit's review
adventurous
dark
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? Yes
4.0
amybraunauthor's review
5.0
A true epic that promises a wild saga to come! There are so many unique and thrilling moments in this story. There are unique characters, strong women, betrayal, a rich world, and intense combat scenes. I thought the ending was fantastic and would love to know what happens next!
The story primarily follows three different characters, all of whom have their own distinct voices and conspiracies to unravel. Evie is a strong character who keeps finding herself in positions she didn't expect, but adapting to them with strength and courage. Lexi is smart, big-hearted, and willing to do anything for her people. Dyeawan had my favorite plot line, as she unwound a huge conspiracy and turned everything on its head. All this said, Taru is my favorite character. A loyal badass who never lets anyone stand in their way, I want to see more of them!
The book focuses heavily on action and set-up and wold-building in the beginning. There were some explanations that took a while to understand, at least for me, though they were well written. The battles and intense and bloody, and Wallace does not hold back.
I was a huge fan of the twists and surprises near the end. I fully understood what the stakes were and how dire things had become for the heroes, and wanted to know what happened to them next.
This is a great book for fans of epic war/battle fantasy. The heroes are strong, the characters diverse, the action visceral, and the writing solid. Go check it out!
The story primarily follows three different characters, all of whom have their own distinct voices and conspiracies to unravel. Evie is a strong character who keeps finding herself in positions she didn't expect, but adapting to them with strength and courage. Lexi is smart, big-hearted, and willing to do anything for her people. Dyeawan had my favorite plot line, as she unwound a huge conspiracy and turned everything on its head. All this said, Taru is my favorite character. A loyal badass who never lets anyone stand in their way, I want to see more of them!
The book focuses heavily on action and set-up and wold-building in the beginning. There were some explanations that took a while to understand, at least for me, though they were well written. The battles and intense and bloody, and Wallace does not hold back.
I was a huge fan of the twists and surprises near the end. I fully understood what the stakes were and how dire things had become for the heroes, and wanted to know what happened to them next.
This is a great book for fans of epic war/battle fantasy. The heroes are strong, the characters diverse, the action visceral, and the writing solid. Go check it out!
thewenzl's review
4.0
3.5 stars - A solid premise. I would have liked to have seen a bit more character growth, and I hope the sequel explores some of the supporting characters more to give them more depth. The overall story was interesting though with good action sequences.
roguebiblio's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
SAVAGE LEGION deals with entangled systems of oppression and marginalization in a colonial empire which does its best to hide its wars from the citizens. It engages with classism, xenophobia, ableism, and transphobia in a complex way that understands these biases as tools of subjugation by empire, within and without their borders. Moreover, it does it in a setting where the connections between these bigotries make sense in how they would arise in this particular setting. The titular "Savages" are the epitome of the civilization’s hunger: people torn from their lives to die in service of perpetuating myths of rightness and hope. For all that, their underlying ordinariness is central to this churning machine of power and subjugation: those within the empire are tools to maintain its myths, those outside are irrelevant (except when they’re being attacked).
The core of the tangle of marginalization and bigotry is this: in the Empire, people should be useful and definable. Anyone who fails one of these criteria usually does so by being poor, disabled, refusing to declare a binary gender, or making too much noise to be worth leaving alone. The mix of protagonists means that there’s someone for all of these supposed failings, perhaps more than one. What they have in common is the way they impede the system or highlight its failures, neither of which is acceptable to those in power. I’ve become used to stories which pick one or two marginalizations and ignore the rest, or which treat them as individual problems which happen to coexist. Disability in particular tends to get ignored in fantasy unless it's the entire point of the book. That is not the case here. Not only is one of the main characters physically disabled, she's far from the only disabled character who is named and matters to the story.
I’m intrigued by where this late-stage-empire story will head next, but no matter what it promises to be fascinating.
The core of the tangle of marginalization and bigotry is this: in the Empire, people should be useful and definable. Anyone who fails one of these criteria usually does so by being poor, disabled, refusing to declare a binary gender, or making too much noise to be worth leaving alone. The mix of protagonists means that there’s someone for all of these supposed failings, perhaps more than one. What they have in common is the way they impede the system or highlight its failures, neither of which is acceptable to those in power. I’ve become used to stories which pick one or two marginalizations and ignore the rest, or which treat them as individual problems which happen to coexist. Disability in particular tends to get ignored in fantasy unless it's the entire point of the book. That is not the case here. Not only is one of the main characters physically disabled, she's far from the only disabled character who is named and matters to the story.
I’m intrigued by where this late-stage-empire story will head next, but no matter what it promises to be fascinating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation
Moderate: Transphobia, Medical content, War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Ableism, Violence, Genocide, and Murder
Minor: Excrement and Rape
ameserole's review
3.0
Savage Legion was an interesting introduction to the Savage Rebellion series. In this, you will sort of follow three points of views. Sort of because you don't really know who is talking until it's too late. Or maybe that's just how I felt? For example, we get chapter titles but not who is talking or who it's about. It was definitely annoying and kind of frustrating at times.
Then I got the book and that didn't even help either. So, yeah, I suffered a little trying to figure out who was speaking when and by the time I figured it out, I just tried to enjoy the rest of what was happening. Some of what happened was interesting. Unfortunately, the entire book didn't hold my attention because of being confused for so long. I'm secretly hoping that the next book will make more sense to me. If not, then I will suffer slightly.
In the end, it was an okay book with lots of potential to be better. A little excited to see what will happen next for everyone involved.
Then I got the book and that didn't even help either. So, yeah, I suffered a little trying to figure out who was speaking when and by the time I figured it out, I just tried to enjoy the rest of what was happening. Some of what happened was interesting. Unfortunately, the entire book didn't hold my attention because of being confused for so long. I'm secretly hoping that the next book will make more sense to me. If not, then I will suffer slightly.
In the end, it was an okay book with lots of potential to be better. A little excited to see what will happen next for everyone involved.
dryad3's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This book was recommended to me as being incredibly queer and that you'd never know a cis, white man had written it.
Savage Legion is an epic fantasy with multiple POVs. I was initially thrown off by the POV switches because each one was in another layer of society, so the feel of the story changed quite a bit (slaves to ivory towers). I was hooked with the first chapter in a wealthy, organized, supported environment of all disabled characters creating inventions for society. It was such a delight to see disability integrated into a fantasy society in such a pivotal way. All the main POV characters are women or nonbinary. As the story develops, we learn more of how this is far from the utopia it purports to be. POV characters show us the inside of the war front lines, government speaking for the impoverished, and behind-the-scenes government. This allows us to understand a layered world, see the struggles happening for change (both personal and societal), and imagine how these forces might continue to clash as the story continues in the trilogy.
Savage Legion is an epic fantasy with multiple POVs. I was initially thrown off by the POV switches because each one was in another layer of society, so the feel of the story changed quite a bit (slaves to ivory towers). I was hooked with the first chapter in a wealthy, organized, supported environment of all disabled characters creating inventions for society. It was such a delight to see disability integrated into a fantasy society in such a pivotal way. All the main POV characters are women or nonbinary. As the story develops, we learn more of how this is far from the utopia it purports to be. POV characters show us the inside of the war front lines, government speaking for the impoverished, and behind-the-scenes government. This allows us to understand a layered world, see the struggles happening for change (both personal and societal), and imagine how these forces might continue to clash as the story continues in the trilogy.
alt_air's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
nelsonseye's review against another edition
3.0
I quite enjoyed Savage Legion, and my rating is maybe 3.5 stars. It was a slow read, and there was a lot of world building to absorb. I think the world building was well done, but I did have to go back a few times to understand some parts. The characters were sympathetic, though I will say I was disappointed with Overall I did enjoy the book, and I might upgrade my rating later.