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jennkei's review against another edition
3.0
Okay, I've never been so close to a did-not-complete that managed to pull it around. I did skip swathes of the book. It's a strange mix of scifi and medieval/low-tech life. I was going to say fantasy, but, it's...not. I have to admit the sudden was one of the things that won me over, as was the .
Spoiler
elite gay fight squad and eventual gay motivation in one of the antagonistsSpoiler
romantic but utterly impractical and actually non-consensual marriagechelsl'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
midici's review against another edition
3.0
Jaran is a bit of a strange novel because it reads as though someone set out to create an intricate sort of space opera tale, then paused, and sudenly started writing a vague dark-ages-setting romance.
Tess is a human. Like all humans, she is subject to an alien race, the Chapalii. Unlike most humans, she has actual rank and consequence in their society, after her older brother led a rebellion against them. While the rebellion failed, Charles was given a dukedom, and ownership of several planets. At the beginning of the book, there is a lot of character development related to this. Tess worries about her duties to her brother, and the rest of humanity, and about not being good enuogh or strong enough to face these responsibilities.
So one of the planets Charles owns is its own sort of mystery. It's populated by humans - though how and why is a mystery. It's not only a pre-space faring planet, but one that is still set somewhere pre-technological revolution. Tess is mostly running away from responsibility at the beginning of the book and runs smack into the middle of political intrigue. The Chapalii are not allowed on this planet - Charles is keeping it as a sort of "nature reserve" legally, as a way to keep them off. But Tess finds a whole group of them, trading with the nomadic people, Jaran, and using them as guides to take them to specific sites on the planet.
This then is the set up that leads to Tess going full native with the Jaran. She's too high ranking for the Chapalii to just kill her without cause, but they are also clearly acting under orders from someone who ranks higher than her - the Chapalii emperor. So Tess joins the Jaran and the Chapalii on their journey, slowly learning the language and becoming involved in the culture and history of the Jaran.
There's a lot of plot time spent on the Jaran and Tess' integration (and of course, the romance between Tess and several characters). Tess has to navigate the fact that they can't know who she or the Chapalii really are, the fact that she really needs to discover what the Chapalii are doing and report to her brother, and the fact that she's falling in love with Ilya, who plans on starting a war.
Bak in space, her disappearance has political ramifications. Charles has no children, and therefore Tess is his heir. She is highly trained in Chapalii language and political systems, making her extremely valuable to her brothers plots.
I did like the creation of the Jaran's culture, and how Tess learns to create her own agency in their world, which translates to deciding to take control of her whole life instead of letting Charles passively use her as necessary. And the fact that it's her information to Charles that clearly holds the key to his rebellion plans. But I still think the plot was a little too romance focused for my tastes.
Tess is a human. Like all humans, she is subject to an alien race, the Chapalii. Unlike most humans, she has actual rank and consequence in their society, after her older brother led a rebellion against them. While the rebellion failed, Charles was given a dukedom, and ownership of several planets. At the beginning of the book, there is a lot of character development related to this. Tess worries about her duties to her brother, and the rest of humanity, and about not being good enuogh or strong enough to face these responsibilities.
So one of the planets Charles owns is its own sort of mystery. It's populated by humans - though how and why is a mystery. It's not only a pre-space faring planet, but one that is still set somewhere pre-technological revolution. Tess is mostly running away from responsibility at the beginning of the book and runs smack into the middle of political intrigue. The Chapalii are not allowed on this planet - Charles is keeping it as a sort of "nature reserve" legally, as a way to keep them off. But Tess finds a whole group of them, trading with the nomadic people, Jaran, and using them as guides to take them to specific sites on the planet.
This then is the set up that leads to Tess going full native with the Jaran. She's too high ranking for the Chapalii to just kill her without cause, but they are also clearly acting under orders from someone who ranks higher than her - the Chapalii emperor. So Tess joins the Jaran and the Chapalii on their journey, slowly learning the language and becoming involved in the culture and history of the Jaran.
There's a lot of plot time spent on the Jaran and Tess' integration (and of course, the romance between Tess and several characters). Tess has to navigate the fact that they can't know who she or the Chapalii really are, the fact that she really needs to discover what the Chapalii are doing and report to her brother, and the fact that she's falling in love with Ilya, who plans on starting a war.
Bak in space, her disappearance has political ramifications. Charles has no children, and therefore Tess is his heir. She is highly trained in Chapalii language and political systems, making her extremely valuable to her brothers plots.
I did like the creation of the Jaran's culture, and how Tess learns to create her own agency in their world, which translates to deciding to take control of her whole life instead of letting Charles passively use her as necessary. And the fact that it's her information to Charles that clearly holds the key to his rebellion plans. But I still think the plot was a little too romance focused for my tastes.
gfmatt's review against another edition
4.0
It must be pretty good - I think this is the third reading.
blodeuedd's review against another edition
3.0
This audiobook was long. I would say it was like anthropological sci.fi. Where to even start...
Aliens took over earth. A man named Charles tried to rebel but instead they made him a prince. His sister Tess is on her way to him, but instead spies on the aliens and is stranded. On a planet where the native population does not know about space travel, or anything. So she pretends to be from overseas and learns to know the Jaran people.
It is slow, a lot could have been left out. But still it is compelling. I wanted to know if she ever reaches her brother (spoiler she does not. Travelling by horse is slow, the world is big. There are more books.) I did not want to stop listening, I wanted to know. But yes they spend a LOT of time travelling.
And yes there is that guy that she will end up fancying, but she has some fun before she even gets to know him like that. And that is way at the end. Not a romance.
Will I read more? Well I would want to, but they are so long. I will see
Great narration. For a book that is a lot about travelling she keeps it interesting
Aliens took over earth. A man named Charles tried to rebel but instead they made him a prince. His sister Tess is on her way to him, but instead spies on the aliens and is stranded. On a planet where the native population does not know about space travel, or anything. So she pretends to be from overseas and learns to know the Jaran people.
It is slow, a lot could have been left out. But still it is compelling. I wanted to know if she ever reaches her brother (spoiler she does not. Travelling by horse is slow, the world is big. There are more books.) I did not want to stop listening, I wanted to know. But yes they spend a LOT of time travelling.
And yes there is that guy that she will end up fancying, but she has some fun before she even gets to know him like that. And that is way at the end. Not a romance.
Will I read more? Well I would want to, but they are so long. I will see
Great narration. For a book that is a lot about travelling she keeps it interesting
micahhortonhallett's review against another edition
4.0
I am genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Writing this type of fantasy romance is hard. Keeping the central characters (that are obviously destined to swoon into each others arms) apart for 500 odd pages without making the reader want to beat them to death with soggy spinach bunches is HARD. Kate Elliot does it very, very well. Also: Fantasy culture derived from the Cossack (with a smidge of Khanti, Mongol and Tatar) rather than the usual medieval English tropes was really cool.
ifalways's review against another edition
4.0
I initially picked up this novel because I had read Elliott's other novels, Cold Magic etc and liked the whole array of characters, the tension between them (and I am a HUGE sucker for one of the trops in that novel *cough* contracts *cough*) and all the other delicious things that make a novel worth biting into.
Jaran was initially a bit harder, shall we say, to get into. In my opinion, it started off a tad slow. (It was when we got to Ilya that I got more intrigued haha) but it started to pick up pace. Elliott in my opinion, does a fantastic job of creating unique characters who act according to how their personalities would dictate. She shows the reasoning behind their actions and frankly, I love when the author does that instead of just throwing in a fight there, a brazen kiss here and expects the reader to just flow along with it. -_-. No.
I skimmed all the Charles scenes because well, it didnt seem necessary to enjoying the story and bogged down the pace.
All in all, an interesting in novel and definitely worth the taste. If you like novels where things build up slowly to a climax, you will like this :)
Jaran was initially a bit harder, shall we say, to get into. In my opinion, it started off a tad slow. (It was when we got to Ilya that I got more intrigued haha) but it started to pick up pace. Elliott in my opinion, does a fantastic job of creating unique characters who act according to how their personalities would dictate. She shows the reasoning behind their actions and frankly, I love when the author does that instead of just throwing in a fight there, a brazen kiss here and expects the reader to just flow along with it. -_-. No.
I skimmed all the Charles scenes because well, it didnt seem necessary to enjoying the story and bogged down the pace.
All in all, an interesting in novel and definitely worth the taste. If you like novels where things build up slowly to a climax, you will like this :)
hawkelf's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
pepperandpages's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0