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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I have to admit I wasn't convinced at the very beginning. I'd say it takes about 30% to take off, though the beginning was still nice.
I didn't know much going in, and thought this would have a lot more supernatural elements than it has - and less politics ? But I really enjoy political intrigue so it was nice to read. I have to say I'm curious enough to read the rest.
At the beginning I enjoyed Gormflaith's POV more than Fodlà's, but it reversed around 50% in the book - Gormflaith though an interesting character was becoming too mean for me to follow, and I had a harder time empathizing with her motivations. Fodla's chapter were a bit boring at the beginning but I really enjoyed her in the second half of the book !
On a side note, I didn't enjoy the aspects of the book about women's struggles, their relation with power, their place in society, motherhood... while interesting, these are things I usually avoid in books, as I think I see those enough in real life. Being historical fantasy I understand it was a bit unavoidable though.
I didn't know much going in, and thought this would have a lot more supernatural elements than it has - and less politics ? But I really enjoy political intrigue so it was nice to read. I have to say I'm curious enough to read the rest.
At the beginning I enjoyed Gormflaith's POV more than Fodlà's, but it reversed around 50% in the book - Gormflaith though an interesting character was becoming too mean for me to follow, and I had a harder time empathizing with her motivations. Fodla's chapter were a bit boring at the beginning but I really enjoyed her in the second half of the book !
On a side note, I didn't enjoy the aspects of the book about women's struggles, their relation with power, their place in society, motherhood... while interesting, these are things I usually avoid in books, as I think I see those enough in real life. Being historical fantasy I understand it was a bit unavoidable though.
Dog I could do with less modern dialogue in my medieval Irish fantasy. WHERE THE PANTHEON AT?! I was lied to!
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
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:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content
Overall, I think my lack of connection with this book simply comes down to it just feeling too modern and simplistic. When I read historical fantasy, especially fantasy that is focused on political intrigue, I want it to feel rich and layered, to transport me to that time period and to make me believe in the magic of the world. This book simply failed to do that. The first person POV, with two very different characters whose narrative voices were identical, and the lack of description and very simple prose, all led to this book's writing style feeling very flat. Even the political intrigue was not very intriguing, since it just involved people talking about their plans and then those plans working out (usually perfectly) in the next chapter. Gormflaith was at first interesting to me as a scheming Lady Macbeth type figure, but as the book went on she didn't feel internally consistent as a character and neither did she feel like she really grew or changed. Fódla on the other hand was boring to me as a character, but she at least grew and began to take a stand at the end of the book. The problem that both characters have is that 1) their voices are too similar, 2) their voices are too modern, and 3) their voices are too young-- I never really was convinced that these were ancient immortal women who had gone through marriage and childbirth and all of life's other struggles.
And now, let's talk about the feminism. This is just such a strange way to write about feminism, women's roles in medieval society, and their relationship to power in a medieval landscape. It's a world in which women are always hapless victims and men are always chauvinistic aggressors, yet all the "good" female characters are always saying "not all men" and in fact that is one of the main lessons Fódla is taught while living among the mortals. Except... it lowkey is every man--even the more sympathetic and kind male characters view women as lesser at best. All female characters want peace and all male characters want war. Every woman is good (except Gormflaith) and every man is bad (except Fódla's tentative love interest). And the Descendant's/Fódla's struggle to trust mortals is explicitly about whether to trust mortal men. Even Fódla and the other female Descendants are not interested at all in mortal women as a group of people with their own motivations and goals. Again, it was just too simplistic, which made it boring to me.
It's like Lawless wanted to write this story about historical women clawing for power in a world of men but didn't want to commit to the real horror and pain of that world, so instead we get something in between-- Gormflaith is allowed to actually face that more historically accurate hellscape for women because she's ambitious/mean/morally grey and thus unsympathetic, while Fódla as our morally pure naive healer gets to live in this kind of modern feeling multicultural town where women are seemingly given free reign and slavery is explicitly outlawed (I thought this might just be something the real Brian Boru did, but no-- I looked it up and he actually enslaved the people he conquered). I'm not saying that I need or even want to read grimdark stories about women, people of color, and other minorities suffering in the name of "historical accuracy," but when you write a historical fantasy that is specifically interested in feminism and women struggling for power, you kind of have to deal with those issues in a satisfying way and not simply when you can have a pithy one-liner about how all men are pigs or whatever.
I am mildly intrigued in what is going to happen now that Gormflaith and Fódla are in the same place, but not really enough to continue on with this series.
And now, let's talk about the feminism. This is just such a strange way to write about feminism, women's roles in medieval society, and their relationship to power in a medieval landscape. It's a world in which women are always hapless victims and men are always chauvinistic aggressors, yet all the "good" female characters are always saying "not all men" and in fact that is one of the main lessons Fódla is taught while living among the mortals. Except... it lowkey is every man--even the more sympathetic and kind male characters view women as lesser at best. All female characters want peace and all male characters want war. Every woman is good (except Gormflaith) and every man is bad (except Fódla's tentative love interest). And the Descendant's/Fódla's struggle to trust mortals is explicitly about whether to trust mortal men. Even Fódla and the other female Descendants are not interested at all in mortal women as a group of people with their own motivations and goals. Again, it was just too simplistic, which made it boring to me.
It's like Lawless wanted to write this story about historical women clawing for power in a world of men but didn't want to commit to the real horror and pain of that world, so instead we get something in between-- Gormflaith is allowed to actually face that more historically accurate hellscape for women because she's ambitious/mean/morally grey and thus unsympathetic, while Fódla as our morally pure naive healer gets to live in this kind of modern feeling multicultural town where women are seemingly given free reign and slavery is explicitly outlawed (I thought this might just be something the real Brian Boru did, but no-- I looked it up and he actually enslaved the people he conquered). I'm not saying that I need or even want to read grimdark stories about women, people of color, and other minorities suffering in the name of "historical accuracy," but when you write a historical fantasy that is specifically interested in feminism and women struggling for power, you kind of have to deal with those issues in a satisfying way and not simply when you can have a pithy one-liner about how all men are pigs or whatever.
I am mildly intrigued in what is going to happen now that Gormflaith and Fódla are in the same place, but not really enough to continue on with this series.
dark
emotional
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated