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hrjones's review
5.0
(Reposted from a previous edition of the book.)
Allegiance is the third novel in the River of Souls series (which also includes a number of shorter related works) and therefore this review will in some ways be a review of the series as a whole. Bernobich has created a masterpiece of worldbuilding in this epic fantasy series, as I’ve noted in reviews for the previous two books. There is a strong sense of place and history, built up of innumerable casual details, that leads you gradually and quietly into the scope of history that underlies the events of the series.
History is critically important in a world where souls are reborn, time and again, retaining memories and connections to previous lives and relationships, and political complications can carry over across centuries, whether via re-birth or magically prolonged lifespans. Allegiance brings together the consequences of the previous books, with the several kingdoms and empires destabilized both on a political and magical level, and various players racing to take advantage of the opportunities this creates.
The story continues to center on Ilse Zhalina and Raul Kosenmark, the protagonists of the previous books, but more viewpoints have been included to expand the scope of the story we’re given access to. These aren’t only the great movers and shakers, but include some of the more ordinary people who get swept up in events. Each is a clear an unique personality with their own history, desires, and concerns—never simply a tool to advance the plot. (And a number of them are ones I’d love to see get their own stories!) Particularly delightful is the strong presence of female characters in a wide variety of roles.
I feel like I could either say utterly banal things about what I liked about this series, or I could babble on at great length. Or I could sum it up with my idiosyncratic list of “bonus points”: solid and smooth prose, fantastic and believable worldbuilding, a plot that kept me riveted past the limits of my reading sessions (I read on the treadmill at the gym, so if a book causes me to over-shoot my workout because I don’t want to stop reading, it gets bonus points), and a solid diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and sexualities as an inherent part of the fabric of the story.
And I still have all the short River of Souls fiction yet to enjoy!
Allegiance is the third novel in the River of Souls series (which also includes a number of shorter related works) and therefore this review will in some ways be a review of the series as a whole. Bernobich has created a masterpiece of worldbuilding in this epic fantasy series, as I’ve noted in reviews for the previous two books. There is a strong sense of place and history, built up of innumerable casual details, that leads you gradually and quietly into the scope of history that underlies the events of the series.
History is critically important in a world where souls are reborn, time and again, retaining memories and connections to previous lives and relationships, and political complications can carry over across centuries, whether via re-birth or magically prolonged lifespans. Allegiance brings together the consequences of the previous books, with the several kingdoms and empires destabilized both on a political and magical level, and various players racing to take advantage of the opportunities this creates.
The story continues to center on Ilse Zhalina and Raul Kosenmark, the protagonists of the previous books, but more viewpoints have been included to expand the scope of the story we’re given access to. These aren’t only the great movers and shakers, but include some of the more ordinary people who get swept up in events. Each is a clear an unique personality with their own history, desires, and concerns—never simply a tool to advance the plot. (And a number of them are ones I’d love to see get their own stories!) Particularly delightful is the strong presence of female characters in a wide variety of roles.
I feel like I could either say utterly banal things about what I liked about this series, or I could babble on at great length. Or I could sum it up with my idiosyncratic list of “bonus points”: solid and smooth prose, fantastic and believable worldbuilding, a plot that kept me riveted past the limits of my reading sessions (I read on the treadmill at the gym, so if a book causes me to over-shoot my workout because I don’t want to stop reading, it gets bonus points), and a solid diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and sexualities as an inherent part of the fabric of the story.
And I still have all the short River of Souls fiction yet to enjoy!
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