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thatssoleo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
theshaggyshepherd's review
4.0
The Black Coast // by Mike Brooks
The Black Coast is one of those books that all of a sudden popped up all over Twitter as my favorite SFF reviewers started to get their hands on it. Of course, I didn't want to be left out so I made sure to get in on the action as well. I'm really glad I did because even though it wasn't entirely perfect for me, it still had some very interesting aspects to it that I'm excited to explore more when the series continues.
The biggest thing that stands out about this book is the attention to detail when it came to the different cultures that we were introduced to. After reading an article about the world-building by the author himself, I realized that the big goal for this book for him was to write those different cultures with varying language structures that could be used in the English language but would be easy to tell apart from each other without having to resort to borrowing words from other languages or making up an entirely new one. One people, the Tjakorshi, use English the way we are used to ourselves. The Naridans, who feel strongly about identifying their own roles in relation to the people they are interacting with, do not use the personal pronouns "I" and "me." That in itself did not bother me so much but rather that someone would refer to themselves as "this man" but then in the same sentence use "we" as well. It didn't feel inclusive of themselves but rather as if they were talking about a man separate from the group referred to as we. This also though made a little more sense after reading the above mentioned article. The most interesting language device for me though was how he decided to distinguish between different genders in the city of Kiburu ce Alaba. The use of diacritics allows people to identify themselves on a spectrum of gender (or as non agender) or to keep their identity to themselves if they so wish. I don't want to take too much space to talk about the use of language here but this is definitely something I very much enjoyed once I thought about and evaluated it more in relation to the story itself.
Something else that was different about this story was the focus on finding similarities in each other's cultures and trying to live together in peace rather than conquering and destroying each other. While I wasn't 100% happy with its execution, it stills was a nice change of pace compared to a lot of other books lately. In some areas, this took away a little bit from the believability, for example when a previously much feared person showed a lot of unexpected mercy. Don't get me wrong. There is still a lot of violence in this book. We are after all talking about nations full of warriors and soldiers. But it really was nice to see an author attempt to reach a goal of unity rather conquest for once.
These two things really propelled the story forward for me and kept me glued to the pages. But there were a couple of things that I felt would've benefitted from some more fine-tuning. A language example that has nothing to do with the cultural differences but rather is something that probably stood out to me because English is my second language: Saana's speech patterns felt inconsistent. Most of the time, it is obvious that the Naridan language is new to her by the simple sentence structures she uses, but every once in a while she would use much more complicated words and sentence structures that stood out in a big contrast. In the same vein, for the most part, the languages felt like they often do in fantasy books: while not necessary medieval, definitely still older. Here and there though, very modern phrases found their way into the book, which just didn't seem to fit well. The dialogue overall felt a little choppy. It didn't always flow as well as it could have and it sometimes seemed to hinder the characters more than help. Their conversations really pulled me out of the story a few times, both due to their flow as well as their word choices.
The author tried to cover a lot of different things in his book. Some are popular fantasy genre-related things, such as dragons and honor, while others were current issues in our own society, such as LGBTQIA+ rights and gender identity. All of these are things I enjoy reading about but I felt as if they were covered mostly superficially and that it was more important to get them in there at all rather than explore their importance more deeply. I also sometimes felt that their priorities were a little... off? Two of the main characters seemed to enjoy arguing over little things while ignoring the big glaring issues that would've helped them prepare their peoples more for upcoming conflict. What I did find awesome though was that there wasn't one nation that was accepting of all kinds of people and therefore portrayed as "the best" out of the three. Each country had something they were accepting of but also biased against, showing that nobody is perfect and that there are things to learn for everybody.
Overall, I am really glad to have read this book. It took me a couple of days to really get my thoughts together. Reading up on the author's process also helped put things into perspective for me. It makes me want to look into more authors' writing processes because there are probably more things I have missed that may influence my opinion of their works. Contrary to popular belief, we reviewers aren't perfect either (I kid I kid). I do want to take this moment to point out though that I don't consider myself a member of the LGBTQIA+ community so take my opinion on those aspects of this book with a grain of salt. The plot for this book is really intriguing. The author has shown that he puts a lot of thought into his work and I am looking forward to see what he presents to us in the next book of this series!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
The Black Coast is one of those books that all of a sudden popped up all over Twitter as my favorite SFF reviewers started to get their hands on it. Of course, I didn't want to be left out so I made sure to get in on the action as well. I'm really glad I did because even though it wasn't entirely perfect for me, it still had some very interesting aspects to it that I'm excited to explore more when the series continues.
The biggest thing that stands out about this book is the attention to detail when it came to the different cultures that we were introduced to. After reading an article about the world-building by the author himself, I realized that the big goal for this book for him was to write those different cultures with varying language structures that could be used in the English language but would be easy to tell apart from each other without having to resort to borrowing words from other languages or making up an entirely new one. One people, the Tjakorshi, use English the way we are used to ourselves. The Naridans, who feel strongly about identifying their own roles in relation to the people they are interacting with, do not use the personal pronouns "I" and "me." That in itself did not bother me so much but rather that someone would refer to themselves as "this man" but then in the same sentence use "we" as well. It didn't feel inclusive of themselves but rather as if they were talking about a man separate from the group referred to as we. This also though made a little more sense after reading the above mentioned article. The most interesting language device for me though was how he decided to distinguish between different genders in the city of Kiburu ce Alaba. The use of diacritics allows people to identify themselves on a spectrum of gender (or as non agender) or to keep their identity to themselves if they so wish. I don't want to take too much space to talk about the use of language here but this is definitely something I very much enjoyed once I thought about and evaluated it more in relation to the story itself.
Something else that was different about this story was the focus on finding similarities in each other's cultures and trying to live together in peace rather than conquering and destroying each other. While I wasn't 100% happy with its execution, it stills was a nice change of pace compared to a lot of other books lately. In some areas, this took away a little bit from the believability, for example when a previously much feared person showed a lot of unexpected mercy. Don't get me wrong. There is still a lot of violence in this book. We are after all talking about nations full of warriors and soldiers. But it really was nice to see an author attempt to reach a goal of unity rather conquest for once.
These two things really propelled the story forward for me and kept me glued to the pages. But there were a couple of things that I felt would've benefitted from some more fine-tuning. A language example that has nothing to do with the cultural differences but rather is something that probably stood out to me because English is my second language: Saana's speech patterns felt inconsistent. Most of the time, it is obvious that the Naridan language is new to her by the simple sentence structures she uses, but every once in a while she would use much more complicated words and sentence structures that stood out in a big contrast. In the same vein, for the most part, the languages felt like they often do in fantasy books: while not necessary medieval, definitely still older. Here and there though, very modern phrases found their way into the book, which just didn't seem to fit well. The dialogue overall felt a little choppy. It didn't always flow as well as it could have and it sometimes seemed to hinder the characters more than help. Their conversations really pulled me out of the story a few times, both due to their flow as well as their word choices.
The author tried to cover a lot of different things in his book. Some are popular fantasy genre-related things, such as dragons and honor, while others were current issues in our own society, such as LGBTQIA+ rights and gender identity. All of these are things I enjoy reading about but I felt as if they were covered mostly superficially and that it was more important to get them in there at all rather than explore their importance more deeply. I also sometimes felt that their priorities were a little... off? Two of the main characters seemed to enjoy arguing over little things while ignoring the big glaring issues that would've helped them prepare their peoples more for upcoming conflict. What I did find awesome though was that there wasn't one nation that was accepting of all kinds of people and therefore portrayed as "the best" out of the three. Each country had something they were accepting of but also biased against, showing that nobody is perfect and that there are things to learn for everybody.
Overall, I am really glad to have read this book. It took me a couple of days to really get my thoughts together. Reading up on the author's process also helped put things into perspective for me. It makes me want to look into more authors' writing processes because there are probably more things I have missed that may influence my opinion of their works. Contrary to popular belief, we reviewers aren't perfect either (I kid I kid). I do want to take this moment to point out though that I don't consider myself a member of the LGBTQIA+ community so take my opinion on those aspects of this book with a grain of salt. The plot for this book is really intriguing. The author has shown that he puts a lot of thought into his work and I am looking forward to see what he presents to us in the next book of this series!
Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.
cathepsut's review against another edition
adventurous
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
Epic Fantasy, dragons, a god-king, criminals, battles, thieves, rich and poor, feudal and tribal, straight, queer and everything else.
In terms of settings and society/cultures this is an interesting mix. We are somewhere in medieval times, reminiscent of the vikings raiding English shores. Not really, but based on names and early narrative it feels like that. A tribe of not-vikings/Icelanders are fleeing their home and want to settle on not-English-flatlands. The Flatlanders are understandably not to keen to let a tribe settle amongst them, that has been raiding their shores for generations. Can old enemies find common ground and live together? And what made the Tjakorshi flee their ancestral lands?
Every chapter heading is another name and indication of the chapter’s POV. I started taking notes early on, because I realized that I would struggle to keep the many names and settings straight. I did that well into Part Two, see below.
The various societies, each with their own particularities, were a little challenging at first, down to religion, belief systems, style of dress, types of weaponry and fighting styles, gendering and sexual identities. It‘s all well fleshed-out and believable.
Good character development, even for side characters and the bad guys and gals.
Well drafted action sequences.
Loved the dragons / dinosaurs. The main ones reminded me of Velociraptors and a feathered Triceratops/Ankylosaurus mix. Not the kind of dragons I was expecting. Nicely done!
There was enough there for me to want to continue with the next book. This man has already procured it!
+*+*+
Here are my notes from the beginning of the book, mainly names and locations.
Do not read them, obviously, if you want to find out for yourself.
The Black Coast (Anglo-Saxon)
Narida, „centre of civilisation“, lands between the Catseye mountains and the ocean
Idramar, the Sun Palace
Nari, the God-King
Princess Tila Narida, his sister
Livnya The Knife, undisputed head of Idramar‘s criminal underworl
Barach, her bodyguard
High Marshal Brightwater
Copper skinned
Black Keep (Black Coast)
Daimon Blackcreek
Lord Asrel Blackcreek, his law-father
Darel, his older brother
Alaba (Indonesian)
Kiburu Ce Alaba, City of Islands
The Splinter King
The seven hierachs
Jeya, a little thief
Kurumaya, a criminal shark
Grand Mahewa, the court of the deities
Ngaiyu‘s place on stilts
Skhetul, Livnya‘s informant
Morlithia, far west beyond the Catseye mountains, desert, silk, dark skinned
Adrania, deserts of the East, dark skinned
Sailing tribes of the Northern Seas, leather-skinned
Fishing folk from the islands to the South
Tolkar, the last sorcerer
Koszal, the Tjakorshi (Vikings / Icelanders)
Saana Sattistutar, chief of the Brown Eagle clan
Ristjaan the Cleaver, her friend
Zhanna, her daughter
Tjakorsha (their lands)
The Golden, a draug
Rikkut, from an enemy tribe
Amal Tyaszhin, warrior and sailor
„Milk-faces“
Deadly blackstone weapons
+*+*+
Someone compared this favourably with The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker. And their covers look like rip-offs of Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. I felt vaguely reminded in parts.
In terms of settings and society/cultures this is an interesting mix. We are somewhere in medieval times, reminiscent of the vikings raiding English shores. Not really, but based on names and early narrative it feels like that. A tribe of not-vikings/Icelanders are fleeing their home and want to settle on not-English-flatlands. The Flatlanders are understandably not to keen to let a tribe settle amongst them, that has been raiding their shores for generations. Can old enemies find common ground and live together? And what made the Tjakorshi flee their ancestral lands?
Every chapter heading is another name and indication of the chapter’s POV. I started taking notes early on, because I realized that I would struggle to keep the many names and settings straight. I did that well into Part Two, see below.
The various societies, each with their own particularities, were a little challenging at first, down to religion, belief systems, style of dress, types of weaponry and fighting styles, gendering and sexual identities. It‘s all well fleshed-out and believable.
Good character development, even for side characters and the bad guys and gals.
Well drafted action sequences.
Loved the dragons / dinosaurs. The main ones reminded me of Velociraptors and a feathered Triceratops/Ankylosaurus mix. Not the kind of dragons I was expecting. Nicely done!
There was enough there for me to want to continue with the next book. This man has already procured it!
+*+*+
Here are my notes from the beginning of the book, mainly names and locations.
Do not read them, obviously, if you want to find out for yourself.
The Black Coast (Anglo-Saxon)
Narida, „centre of civilisation“, lands between the Catseye mountains and the ocean
Idramar, the Sun Palace
Nari, the God-King
Princess Tila Narida, his sister
Livnya The Knife, undisputed head of Idramar‘s criminal underworl
Barach, her bodyguard
High Marshal Brightwater
Copper skinned
Black Keep (Black Coast)
Daimon Blackcreek
Lord Asrel Blackcreek, his law-father
Darel, his older brother
Alaba (Indonesian)
Kiburu Ce Alaba, City of Islands
The Splinter King
The seven hierachs
Jeya, a little thief
Kurumaya, a criminal shark
Grand Mahewa, the court of the deities
Ngaiyu‘s place on stilts
Skhetul, Livnya‘s informant
Morlithia, far west beyond the Catseye mountains, desert, silk, dark skinned
Adrania, deserts of the East, dark skinned
Sailing tribes of the Northern Seas, leather-skinned
Fishing folk from the islands to the South
Tolkar, the last sorcerer
Koszal, the Tjakorshi (Vikings / Icelanders)
Saana Sattistutar, chief of the Brown Eagle clan
Ristjaan the Cleaver, her friend
Zhanna, her daughter
Tjakorsha (their lands)
The Golden, a draug
Rikkut, from an enemy tribe
Amal Tyaszhin, warrior and sailor
„Milk-faces“
Deadly blackstone weapons
+*+*+
Someone compared this favourably with The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker. And their covers look like rip-offs of Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb. I felt vaguely reminded in parts.
dawn_marie's review against another edition
1.0
No. Nope. Absolutely not. I did not like The Black Coast by Mike Brooks. At. All. Which is a shame, as in theory I should have very much enjoyed this book: two different, often warring cultures are forced to work together in order to survive, characters who talk to resolve issues instead of needless violence, a looming magical threat, pirates (kinda), and dragons.
There was little world building; the reader is informed (often through large exposition dumps) that the Naridans (Black Keep) are often raided by the clans of Iwernia (Brown Eagle), except this time it is different; the clan is running from a greater, magical threat. As is wont to happen when two very differing people come together, there is a ton of tension when their beliefs system, culture, and traditions clash. That should have made for some interesting plot threads; sadly, these situations were handled in a forced, ham-fisted, and at times preachy manner completely devoid of tension.
The author used many different character POV chapters to advance the plotline. Normally I enjoy novels with numerous characters, each having a unique POV. However, it did not work in this story, mainly because of the character work was lacking. The characters were flat, ranging from utterly forgettable to moustache twirling villain. I gather that the author wanted the reader to “root” for Daimon (Black Keep leader) and Saana (Brown Eagle leader), but he never gave me a reason to. The minor characters (who were little more than caricatures) felt randomly inserted into the narration, having no crossover/relevance to the plot (at least in this book, they might be setting up future instalments).
The pacing was slow; glacially slow. I enjoy a good slow burn as much any reader (Hello, Brandon Sanderson!) but this was especially slow. The action started out well enough with the very tense and fraught with danger arrival of the Brown Eagle Clan on the shores of the Black Keep and then, it went nowhere. There were side plots involving an orphan girl who resorts to stealing, a conspiracy to undermine Black Keep, and a plan to assassinate the king’s rival; sadly, these side plots were just as dull and boring as the main plot. This felt less like one cohesive novel and more like three or four novellas cramped into one book.
While I appreciate Mr. Brooks inclusion of non-binary gender identity, I did not need him to spend pages and pages and pages detailing why a certain pronoun was more acceptable than a different pronoun, or how a certain individual created a major faux pas (and potential scandal) by using the incorrect pronoun. The author would have been better served to briefly explain the pronoun usage, and then show the reader; instead, he told us (which is the greatest drawback of this novel - way too much tell, not enough show). I found it interesting that in Mr. Brooks’ world, the patriarchal society was more accepting of same-sex relationships. While detailing Sasna and the rest of the Brown Eagle clan’s reaction was useful to show the differing attitudes, the author’s narrative veered into hit you over the head, bombastic preaching.
Generally, Mr. Brooks stayed away from fantastical naming conventions that leave the reader confused on how to pronounce the name; and his writing is rather straight forward. However, the decision to forgo the use of personal pronouns (I, me, my) created needlessly clunky dialogue (when there was actual dialog). Instead of saying “I understand” it was “This man understands” . . . why?
And the dragons weren’t dragons at all, they were some kind of dinosaur. Which is cool. But don’t tell me there are dragons when there aren’t dragons.
There was potential for a really great book here, however between the lack-luster character work, glacial pace, and weird writing choices that potential was never fulfilled. The Black Coast is an excellent idea that failed to execute.
There was little world building; the reader is informed (often through large exposition dumps) that the Naridans (Black Keep) are often raided by the clans of Iwernia (Brown Eagle), except this time it is different; the clan is running from a greater, magical threat. As is wont to happen when two very differing people come together, there is a ton of tension when their beliefs system, culture, and traditions clash. That should have made for some interesting plot threads; sadly, these situations were handled in a forced, ham-fisted, and at times preachy manner completely devoid of tension.
The author used many different character POV chapters to advance the plotline. Normally I enjoy novels with numerous characters, each having a unique POV. However, it did not work in this story, mainly because of the character work was lacking. The characters were flat, ranging from utterly forgettable to moustache twirling villain. I gather that the author wanted the reader to “root” for Daimon (Black Keep leader) and Saana (Brown Eagle leader), but he never gave me a reason to. The minor characters (who were little more than caricatures) felt randomly inserted into the narration, having no crossover/relevance to the plot (at least in this book, they might be setting up future instalments).
The pacing was slow; glacially slow. I enjoy a good slow burn as much any reader (Hello, Brandon Sanderson!) but this was especially slow. The action started out well enough with the very tense and fraught with danger arrival of the Brown Eagle Clan on the shores of the Black Keep and then, it went nowhere. There were side plots involving an orphan girl who resorts to stealing, a conspiracy to undermine Black Keep, and a plan to assassinate the king’s rival; sadly, these side plots were just as dull and boring as the main plot. This felt less like one cohesive novel and more like three or four novellas cramped into one book.
While I appreciate Mr. Brooks inclusion of non-binary gender identity, I did not need him to spend pages and pages and pages detailing why a certain pronoun was more acceptable than a different pronoun, or how a certain individual created a major faux pas (and potential scandal) by using the incorrect pronoun. The author would have been better served to briefly explain the pronoun usage, and then show the reader; instead, he told us (which is the greatest drawback of this novel - way too much tell, not enough show). I found it interesting that in Mr. Brooks’ world, the patriarchal society was more accepting of same-sex relationships. While detailing Sasna and the rest of the Brown Eagle clan’s reaction was useful to show the differing attitudes, the author’s narrative veered into hit you over the head, bombastic preaching.
Generally, Mr. Brooks stayed away from fantastical naming conventions that leave the reader confused on how to pronounce the name; and his writing is rather straight forward. However, the decision to forgo the use of personal pronouns (I, me, my) created needlessly clunky dialogue (when there was actual dialog). Instead of saying “I understand” it was “This man understands” . . . why?
And the dragons weren’t dragons at all, they were some kind of dinosaur. Which is cool. But don’t tell me there are dragons when there aren’t dragons.
There was potential for a really great book here, however between the lack-luster character work, glacial pace, and weird writing choices that potential was never fulfilled. The Black Coast is an excellent idea that failed to execute.
bookish_benny's review against another edition
3.0
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The Black Coast is a good starting book for The God-King Chronicles. It is not an excellent book and it is not a bad book.
The worldbuilding in this book is really good. It's believable and the mention of crossing the ocean really puts this image in your head that the world is two large continents or more, with warring tribes and differences of opinions via religions and personal beliefs.
Some parts in this book really stood out, namely the action parts with people like Rikkut and The Golden and other parts just seemed to be bits that I didn't want to read as much. The characters are believable which is great but I wanted more from some of them as they really faded into the background of the story.
The unique parts of this book were really hit and miss. On one part you have dragons who don't fly (as far as I can tell) and the Naridans ride them into battle which is really cool. Then you have the whole gender language and take, which for me, I have no interest in if I'm completely honest. At times, initially, it made the book trickier to read since I was having to re-read sentences to understand what was being said between each person.
To summarise, I enjoyed the book. I think the story is unique and I love multiple POV stories. I enjoyed the fantasy elements within this story and only wish some other parts were more fleshed out and more exciting. It is obvious to see that the author, Mike Brooks, is creating something bigger here. I just hope he can pull it off.
The Black Coast is a good starting book for The God-King Chronicles. It is not an excellent book and it is not a bad book.
The worldbuilding in this book is really good. It's believable and the mention of crossing the ocean really puts this image in your head that the world is two large continents or more, with warring tribes and differences of opinions via religions and personal beliefs.
Some parts in this book really stood out, namely the action parts with people like Rikkut and The Golden and other parts just seemed to be bits that I didn't want to read as much. The characters are believable which is great but I wanted more from some of them as they really faded into the background of the story.
The unique parts of this book were really hit and miss. On one part you have dragons who don't fly (as far as I can tell) and the Naridans ride them into battle which is really cool. Then you have the whole gender language and take, which for me, I have no interest in if I'm completely honest. At times, initially, it made the book trickier to read since I was having to re-read sentences to understand what was being said between each person.
To summarise, I enjoyed the book. I think the story is unique and I love multiple POV stories. I enjoyed the fantasy elements within this story and only wish some other parts were more fleshed out and more exciting. It is obvious to see that the author, Mike Brooks, is creating something bigger here. I just hope he can pull it off.
scorpiobookfairy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Was almost 5 stars but i took one off for the middle of it kind of dragged. We spent a lot of time in the Blackcreek area and not a lot of story progression... hopefully this was setting up a nice storyline for book 2 which I'm definitely going to read... but I wanted a little more in the world and less on the characters struggling with the same thing for multiple chapters.
ladygeekface's review
4.0
A slow start to this series, but it definitely builds!
Pros: a fleshed out world with LGBTQIA representation.
Cons: several POVs and gore galore.
Read if you like Game of Thrones!
Pros: a fleshed out world with LGBTQIA representation.
Cons: several POVs and gore galore.
Read if you like Game of Thrones!
angelod24's review against another edition
3.0
Thought this was an interesting read. Reminded me a bit of Game of Thrones meets The Witcher meets Jurassic Park.
It was a bit difficult to get into at the beginning. The novel is told from multiple POV. Once I could picture the characters and what was going on in each story I can say I looked forward to reading each chapter. I’m eager to read the next book in the series.
I’d give it a 3.5/5. I’d recommend this book to others. I was pleasantly surprised, especially by an author I’ve never read from before. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
It was a bit difficult to get into at the beginning. The novel is told from multiple POV. Once I could picture the characters and what was going on in each story I can say I looked forward to reading each chapter. I’m eager to read the next book in the series.
I’d give it a 3.5/5. I’d recommend this book to others. I was pleasantly surprised, especially by an author I’ve never read from before. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.
pauline_90's review against another edition
Soft dnf. Will definitely pick it up again
siavahda's review against another edition
5.0
HIGHLIGHTS
~dragons with FEATHERS
~what flavour of gender do you prefer, we have SIX
~vikings
~gay??? lesbian??? sorry we don’t have words for those we just call them PEOPLE
~krakens
~don’t wear the brooch unless you mean it
~vote stabby princess for queen 2021!!!
The very first thing I wrote down in my notes when I finished Black Coast was: AHHHHH I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!
This is going to make very little sense, but I’m going to say it anyway: Black Coast felt like a luxury to me, like every chapter I read was a decadent gift to myself. What other people might feel during a spa day full of pampering, I felt reading this book; like I was being catered to and indulged and spoiled absolutely rotten, because Black Coast is just jam-packed full of all the things I love.
The opening of the book is a pretty good example: the ‘prologue’ of sorts is an excerpt from a fictional book, in which a Naridan is writing about another country, a series of islands called Alaba. The writer is scandilised because Alabans recognise five or six genders ‘depending on how they are counted’.
Now, from the original blurb I saw, I was under the impression that the whole of the story was going to take place in Narida. So not only was I confused as to why we were hearing about another land entirely (I really should have cottoned on!) but I was wistfully disappointed. Why did he set the story in Narida? I want to visit Alaba! were pretty much my exact thoughts.
So you can imagine my delight when I found out that Black Coast does take the reader to Alaba! The story is definitely focussed on Narida, but fear not; we spend a fair bit of time in Alaba with all its genders (which I’ll talk about in a bit).
See? My every wish, instantly granted!
The story itself is actually pretty easy to summarise: as the blurb says, a clan of Tjakorshans (you can think of them as Vikings, more or less) has appeared on the Black Coast, not to kill and steal and raid as they always have before, but to beg sanctuary and permission to settle. The adopted son of the local lord is the one who gives that permission, and is then responsible for trying to get his people to accept the arrangement, which has him working side-by-side with Sanna, the Tjakorshan clan-chief. Meanwhile, the sister of the Naridan God-King is working to hunt down and have killed a threat to her brother’s throne, a mission which almost has her crossing paths with an Alaban street-urchin who will prove very important to the outcome of that mission…
But that description really doesn’t do Black Coast any justice at all.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
~dragons with FEATHERS
~what flavour of gender do you prefer, we have SIX
~vikings
~gay??? lesbian??? sorry we don’t have words for those we just call them PEOPLE
~krakens
~don’t wear the brooch unless you mean it
~vote stabby princess for queen 2021!!!
The very first thing I wrote down in my notes when I finished Black Coast was: AHHHHH I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!
This is going to make very little sense, but I’m going to say it anyway: Black Coast felt like a luxury to me, like every chapter I read was a decadent gift to myself. What other people might feel during a spa day full of pampering, I felt reading this book; like I was being catered to and indulged and spoiled absolutely rotten, because Black Coast is just jam-packed full of all the things I love.
The opening of the book is a pretty good example: the ‘prologue’ of sorts is an excerpt from a fictional book, in which a Naridan is writing about another country, a series of islands called Alaba. The writer is scandilised because Alabans recognise five or six genders ‘depending on how they are counted’.
Now, from the original blurb I saw, I was under the impression that the whole of the story was going to take place in Narida. So not only was I confused as to why we were hearing about another land entirely (I really should have cottoned on!) but I was wistfully disappointed. Why did he set the story in Narida? I want to visit Alaba! were pretty much my exact thoughts.
So you can imagine my delight when I found out that Black Coast does take the reader to Alaba! The story is definitely focussed on Narida, but fear not; we spend a fair bit of time in Alaba with all its genders (which I’ll talk about in a bit).
See? My every wish, instantly granted!
The story itself is actually pretty easy to summarise: as the blurb says, a clan of Tjakorshans (you can think of them as Vikings, more or less) has appeared on the Black Coast, not to kill and steal and raid as they always have before, but to beg sanctuary and permission to settle. The adopted son of the local lord is the one who gives that permission, and is then responsible for trying to get his people to accept the arrangement, which has him working side-by-side with Sanna, the Tjakorshan clan-chief. Meanwhile, the sister of the Naridan God-King is working to hunt down and have killed a threat to her brother’s throne, a mission which almost has her crossing paths with an Alaban street-urchin who will prove very important to the outcome of that mission…
But that description really doesn’t do Black Coast any justice at all.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!