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bioniclib's review against another edition
2.0
There were some masterful turns of phrase and even entire sentences. The action was also well done and those characters, like Nala, that I found empathy for were well developed. But overall I just didn't connect well enough with the book. For me, there wasn't enough of the turns-of-phrase, action, or empathetic characters.
I think his Song of Fire and Ice inspiration set the bar too high for me. I just didn't get the same feeling from this book.
I think his Song of Fire and Ice inspiration set the bar too high for me. I just didn't get the same feeling from this book.
arallen04's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
fadingapple's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!
This was really, really well written and even though I spent a fair amount of time confused by the sheer number of characters and places and relationships and motivations....I had a really good time. This is a rich, beautiful, brutal, political, complex adult high fantasy that I think will grip lovers of the genre and not let go. I really can't think of much to say in the way of review because so much happens but I can tell you that the confusion is worth it and while you may want to DNF early, power through because the confusion and foundation building is worth it.
I'm a big fan of complex political fantasies and that's exactly what this is, mixed in with amazing battles and fights and a fair smattering of romances as well. There are elements of found family along with betrayal and espionage, prophecy and empowerment and revelations galore. It's gritty and dark and holds no punches and will leave you feeling breathless with the punch after punch in the last 10-15% where battle and war reigns.
It's a great start to a promising dark adult high fantasy series and I'm excited to continue!
This was really, really well written and even though I spent a fair amount of time confused by the sheer number of characters and places and relationships and motivations....I had a really good time. This is a rich, beautiful, brutal, political, complex adult high fantasy that I think will grip lovers of the genre and not let go. I really can't think of much to say in the way of review because so much happens but I can tell you that the confusion is worth it and while you may want to DNF early, power through because the confusion and foundation building is worth it.
I'm a big fan of complex political fantasies and that's exactly what this is, mixed in with amazing battles and fights and a fair smattering of romances as well. There are elements of found family along with betrayal and espionage, prophecy and empowerment and revelations galore. It's gritty and dark and holds no punches and will leave you feeling breathless with the punch after punch in the last 10-15% where battle and war reigns.
It's a great start to a promising dark adult high fantasy series and I'm excited to continue!
lookmairead's review against another edition
5.0
Man. I’ve been hungry for this level of original-feeling mythology + high fantasy.
I’m blown away by this debut. Mohanty writes whip-smart and holds no punches back in this war-fueled plot. Just, wow.
The conflicts are robust and brazen. The tension is stunning. The dialogue is intricate and at points just… funny. (Mohanty is a comedian also.) An absolute page turner in the category.
I can’t wait to see how he tops this in book 2.
4.5/5 (Rounded up, because Daeva take me, this is worth the TBR space.)
I’m blown away by this debut. Mohanty writes whip-smart and holds no punches back in this war-fueled plot. Just, wow.
The conflicts are robust and brazen. The tension is stunning. The dialogue is intricate and at points just… funny. (Mohanty is a comedian also.) An absolute page turner in the category.
I can’t wait to see how he tops this in book 2.
4.5/5 (Rounded up, because Daeva take me, this is worth the TBR space.)
ksmart1120's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
pstlaurent's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sheyri's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
What story is this even trying to tell? Because it sure isn't the one set up in the prologue. That barely comes up again throughout the book.
There were some good scenes and the descriptions of grief and the horrors of battle towards the end were well done.
But overall I didn't enjoy it.
Overly info-dumpy, sometimes the same details again and again. I didn't care about any of the characters. The women especially felt flat; the "strong" ones are just bad-ass warriors but little else. There was so much going on, but at the same time, nothing was really happening, or at least the plot wasn't going anywhere. Some scenes are very Bollywood (which, fair, just not my kind of thing).
I also feel like the summary doesn't really describe the book. Yes, that's roughly what it is about, but it promises more than it delivers.And why is Mati in the summary? She barely shows up. Shishupal has way more page time and isn't mentioned at all.
There were some good scenes and the descriptions of grief and the horrors of battle towards the end were well done.
But overall I didn't enjoy it.
Overly info-dumpy, sometimes the same details again and again. I didn't care about any of the characters. The women especially felt flat; the "strong" ones are just bad-ass warriors but little else. There was so much going on, but at the same time, nothing was really happening, or at least the plot wasn't going anywhere. Some scenes are very Bollywood (which, fair, just not my kind of thing).
I also feel like the summary doesn't really describe the book. Yes, that's roughly what it is about, but it promises more than it delivers.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, War, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, and Blood
Minor: Cursing and Genocide
nandivardhan's review
Since this was an epic fantasy, I need to find a suitable time to read this book to get all the references.
sandwyrm's review against another edition
Dnf at 20%
This was bad. Heres why:
From the introduction it seemed kike a secondary world. Then he mentions Greeks/Egyptians/Assyrians? Im so confused
The tone is off. It wants to be like first law, but there the humor actually fits. This wants to be grimdark i guess, but the humor is pretty lighthearted, making this a weird experience
And lastly: i just reread terry pratchetts guards guards, and then i noticed something peculiar: the author copied three scenes from that in just 120 pages, some of them almost word for word. And pratchett can write actual humor while being original, this guy seemingly cant. He copied parts of the first and second scene in guards guards as well as the one where Captain Vimes first meets Lady Ramkin. Wtf.
I do not recommend this book. The characters were fine, the rest was meh and the problems above only made it worse. Im done.
This was bad. Heres why:
From the introduction it seemed kike a secondary world. Then he mentions Greeks/Egyptians/Assyrians? Im so confused
The tone is off. It wants to be like first law, but there the humor actually fits. This wants to be grimdark i guess, but the humor is pretty lighthearted, making this a weird experience
And lastly: i just reread terry pratchetts guards guards, and then i noticed something peculiar: the author copied three scenes from that in just 120 pages, some of them almost word for word. And pratchett can write actual humor while being original, this guy seemingly cant. He copied parts of the first and second scene in guards guards as well as the one where Captain Vimes first meets Lady Ramkin. Wtf.
I do not recommend this book. The characters were fine, the rest was meh and the problems above only made it worse. Im done.
debchan's review
4.5
absolutely stunning, i'm so obsessed. this was literally the exact book i didn't even know i needed to read.
gourav mohanty, in his author's note, likened this to a smash between game of thrones and the mahabharata. i was hooked from the very first sentence to the last. mohanty really grabs you and drags you into this richly described world to the last detail, fully dunking you under and letting you soak in every aspect of the book. there's so many different countries, cultures, characters and even sideplots i'm so impressed that mohanty could keep them all straight. obviously, he draws from the mahabharata which i simultaneously really want to read now but also not because i'm not sure how closely he is following it and i think i saw something in the original tale that mohanty will follow later on. but i will be reading for sure after this is finished.
speaking of the plot! there's so many characters and each section in the book is dedicated to providing a bit of background on the conflict and the people until it culminates in The Event Where Everything Goes To Shit. what great pacing too, because i never felt like i was being dragged along, but rather that it was moving so quickly and i had to jump on before it left me behind. i love that mohanty draws on fantasy archtypes too because they're tropes for a reason! he doesn't abuse them, he takes them and fashions them into such interesting avenues. his battle scenes! it's hard to create such brutal and honest takes of warfare but he doesn't shy away from the depravity of it.
perhaps my only issues was that there were certain explicit scenes that i agree, are part of war. he's not condoning it, mohanty is just telling us how awful humans can be to each other. i'm just always so wary of authors writing on such a sensitive issue and how detailed they decide to write about it, and the brutality of it. similarly, i'm glad mohanty decided to give some agency back to his female characters, and while i think it is much better handled in the 2nd half of the book, i wasn't the biggest fan of the strong and powerful women's thoughts of other women. this is already a world where men hold the power and women are basically slaves, so for the women who do actually have agency and power, i'm a bit disappointed they would think other women to be just as weak as the men think. they're just women as well trying to survive by any means necessary. i think i'm just hyperaware of this narrative that i've heard my whole life and that i've read in books, that women must always be compared to each other. like how the upper casts keep the lower castes from rebelling, if you fill womens' thoughts with nothing but distaste for each other, men will always stay in power. of course, this only really happened in the first half, because the more time that these women did get to spend with each other, they found community in each other. which is great!
i'm not even joking there were so many characters which is a delight. i love a large caste full of complex people with their own agendas and paths. especially when they all come together, even on opposing sides.
krishna: HANDS DOWN, one of my favorite characters of all time and my fav in this book. i love a character who doesn't moan about his station but rather sneakily climbs his way to the top. i love a character who knows the precise force needed to destroy his enemies. i love a character who's so smart it's sexy. i love a character who's humor is unmatched. i love a character who'll manipulate everyone to get what he wants. i love a character who loves his wife and family. i love a character who won't give up and who stands back up again. i love a man whose solution to a problem can be to talk just as much to stab. i love krishna so much. every time i was away from his POV, all i could think about was the next time i'd get to be in his head again. i have brainrot over this man. i just know he's not going to survive this when everything's said and done but boy do i hope he goes down fighting. he's so so special to me. the only other character i can really compare him to is colin greenmantle from Blue Lily, Lily Blue and that's just vibes alone. he's the only character that no matter what can do no wrong in my books. some personal fav scenes are when his conscious nips at him a bit and he swallows it down to do what's necessary.
satyabhama: i just know she was almost everyone's favorite character and honestly, after krishna, she's tied with shakuni for faves. the war mistress. she was smart, brave, hilarious, and extremely dangerous. i really want to get a backstory for her (and krishna) for how she got to be so good at fighting. her solution was her sword. and i love how much she loved krishna's mind and how much he loved her abilities. they really do deserve each other. she also took in and rescued other women, turning them into a group of "soliders" called the silver wolves. they were such a lovely bunch, camaraderie and humor and their immense courage throughout that final battle was one of my favorite parts to read. their love for satya was incomparable and honestly same.mohanty gave us eowyn hope that she would prevail over kalyavan. i know he gave us false hope on purpose, but just once, could the trope work out? can she prevail and win in the end? did she really have to die? she brought so much stability and now she's gone. also, now krishna has nothing to lose he's gonna do something big. but most of all, i'll just miss her. . she was reliable, a constant, someone who i placed full confidence in and i loved her for it.
shishupal: let this man retire in peace. he was genuinely the most normal person in this entire book. all he really wanted was to be free from the yaksha and the empire's crimes against humanity. and then the empire goes and drags him back into it. i'm going to be so honest, it felt like he was a neutral vessel to view what was happening, like he was being dragged around all these pivotal events while trying to stay alive. he's naturally against krishna but i won't hold that too much against him. i loved his weird friendship with eklavvya simply because his true identity is wild and elkavvya's just a funny guy who loves violence (like a lot).
mati: pirate princess. she's genuinely chaotic evil/neutral. it depends on who you like. she didn't feature that much but when she did, murder and blood was soon to follow. she is so close to settling down and marrying and then the events come through the world and she turns her anger into vengeance.
duryodhan: not that he's too important. i just added him here bc i feel bad for him and i really want him to still be friends with karna. i always want him to give up delusions of honor and just be who he was born to be no matter what it takes.unfortunately, i did read that in the original, he does not take over the throne. or at least, it says the pandavans do which he is not, but then yudhistir chnaged his name so actually i'm not too sure.
karna: i'm so sorry to say i hate this man. beautiful, golden, heroic karna! poor karna! born to be a resht with an ambition so high he'd do anything to achieve it! what love he has for his nephew! what pride he has and patience to be able to wake up everyday and try as hard as he does! there goes my praises because i think he's a wonderful character and i just know he's going to be vital to this story just bc of that ending but! BUT! i hate him! i wish the worst for him, i wish him to never be happy, and i wish krishna humiliated him fr in front of everyone. perhaps it's his personality idk. i usually love a beaten down hero. maybe it's his self-righteousness or the fact that everyone can't shut up about how pretty he is or a whole of reasons i can't place right now. all i know is that i'm staunchly a krishna fan and that has somehow landed me on the karna anti side. honestly, in these kinds of books, small child = small child dies sending their protector into a fury. for karna to be son of darkness blows my mind i was so so convinced it would be muchuk und after unfreezing him. but karna? this gonna make me hate him more, why does the man i hate get to be the main character energy? and even more self-righteous bc his nephew died. i already can't wait for parshuram to kill him.
shakuni: tied with satya as 2nd fav! we actually got grumpy old man inner dialogue for him so that was fun. he's been tortured and almost every step he takes is painful, but it also means he knows exactly what to do to someone else. i was gagged at the torture scene i loved it sm. not the torture itself but the way it was written. i loved being in his head so much bc he was just so annoyed at everyone and like krishna always had a plan up his sleeve. he too is a manipulator and i love a good spymaster. his constant complaining and secret planning went great hand in hand.
nala: so at first i didn't quite care about the whole learning bit and how humans have lost their magic. but then nala really went diving deep into some of the elemental bits and it'll be cool to see how that gets explored next. nala is looking for revenge after almost getting murdered and suffering worse, and goes through that typical master-trainee sequence i love in movies like kungfu panda and mulan. i hope nala gets to enact bloody revenge but also get to hang out with masha.
masha: a young matron who has to go through torture but gets to divine the future. she gets to read the past and see what the future could mean as well. esp since the son of darkness is rising and time is running out. i think it's funny how all the matrons agree that karna is hot like ok yeah he is but he's so annoying it doesn't make up for that. but besides the point. i wish masha the best in her journey to predict the future and maybe she can be friends with nala while she goes along with parshuram.
draupadi: someone help this poor girl out. all she ever was, was a prize to be won and a thing to be had. she never got the change to explore her own personality or what she wanted. i'm really hoping she can do more with the silver wolves bc i think she would make a really great ruler - she has the character and charisma to do so. part of her was also krishna's manipulation so even though i feel bad for her, thank you for showing me just what krishna is capable of i love him even more. like the whole dung pellet to deter her from karna? genius and i'm sorry for her sense of smell, but getting her to associate that with karna was such a power move. and really continued to fuel my karna hate. anyway, i hope she gets free from her husbands and idk finds some friendship (or more) with lady rasha
muchuk und: last guy bc i think he's neat. idk how wise it is to wake up someone trapped in ice for thousands of years bc now he's pissed and wants revenge on the daeva, who in their own right aren't that bad. i even like savitre lios he seems so friendly with karna and also he's the least bloodthirsty it seems. but yeah uh oh the old gods are returning mad as ever and these humans need to get their own affairs in order bc "honey, a real storm's coming."
incredible cast of characters, incredible plot that made me go crazy, incredible descriptions especially that food i was so hungry, incredible everything! krishna is one of the best written characters i've read in a long time and i hope we get so much more before he dies (IF he dies, idk i hope he lives forever). i wish the second book was in my heads right now so i can devour it all but there's not even an anticipated release date so all i can really do is sit here and think about it. i rly do need all the books asap it's just so good and i can't believe it's mohanty's first book. what a fantastic debut! plus i have to read the mahabharata bc it'll make this book click together but also A Spark of White Fire will make a ton more sense probably.
but yeah i really do recommend it but only once all the books are out bc you do not want to be sitting on that cliffhanger. i'm thinking of that sound, show me to me please... send it to me, rachel
gourav mohanty, in his author's note, likened this to a smash between game of thrones and the mahabharata. i was hooked from the very first sentence to the last. mohanty really grabs you and drags you into this richly described world to the last detail, fully dunking you under and letting you soak in every aspect of the book. there's so many different countries, cultures, characters and even sideplots i'm so impressed that mohanty could keep them all straight. obviously, he draws from the mahabharata which i simultaneously really want to read now but also not because i'm not sure how closely he is following it and i think i saw something in the original tale that mohanty will follow later on. but i will be reading for sure after this is finished.
speaking of the plot! there's so many characters and each section in the book is dedicated to providing a bit of background on the conflict and the people until it culminates in The Event Where Everything Goes To Shit. what great pacing too, because i never felt like i was being dragged along, but rather that it was moving so quickly and i had to jump on before it left me behind. i love that mohanty draws on fantasy archtypes too because they're tropes for a reason! he doesn't abuse them, he takes them and fashions them into such interesting avenues. his battle scenes! it's hard to create such brutal and honest takes of warfare but he doesn't shy away from the depravity of it.
perhaps my only issues was that there were certain explicit scenes that i agree, are part of war. he's not condoning it, mohanty is just telling us how awful humans can be to each other. i'm just always so wary of authors writing on such a sensitive issue and how detailed they decide to write about it, and the brutality of it. similarly, i'm glad mohanty decided to give some agency back to his female characters, and while i think it is much better handled in the 2nd half of the book, i wasn't the biggest fan of the strong and powerful women's thoughts of other women. this is already a world where men hold the power and women are basically slaves, so for the women who do actually have agency and power, i'm a bit disappointed they would think other women to be just as weak as the men think. they're just women as well trying to survive by any means necessary. i think i'm just hyperaware of this narrative that i've heard my whole life and that i've read in books, that women must always be compared to each other. like how the upper casts keep the lower castes from rebelling, if you fill womens' thoughts with nothing but distaste for each other, men will always stay in power. of course, this only really happened in the first half, because the more time that these women did get to spend with each other, they found community in each other. which is great!
i'm not even joking there were so many characters which is a delight. i love a large caste full of complex people with their own agendas and paths. especially when they all come together, even on opposing sides.
krishna: HANDS DOWN, one of my favorite characters of all time and my fav in this book. i love a character who doesn't moan about his station but rather sneakily climbs his way to the top. i love a character who knows the precise force needed to destroy his enemies. i love a character who's so smart it's sexy. i love a character who's humor is unmatched. i love a character who'll manipulate everyone to get what he wants. i love a character who loves his wife and family. i love a character who won't give up and who stands back up again. i love a man whose solution to a problem can be to talk just as much to stab. i love krishna so much. every time i was away from his POV, all i could think about was the next time i'd get to be in his head again. i have brainrot over this man. i just know he's not going to survive this when everything's said and done but boy do i hope he goes down fighting. he's so so special to me. the only other character i can really compare him to is colin greenmantle from Blue Lily, Lily Blue and that's just vibes alone. he's the only character that no matter what can do no wrong in my books. some personal fav scenes are when his conscious nips at him a bit and he swallows it down to do what's necessary.
satyabhama: i just know she was almost everyone's favorite character and honestly, after krishna, she's tied with shakuni for faves. the war mistress. she was smart, brave, hilarious, and extremely dangerous. i really want to get a backstory for her (and krishna) for how she got to be so good at fighting. her solution was her sword. and i love how much she loved krishna's mind and how much he loved her abilities. they really do deserve each other. she also took in and rescued other women, turning them into a group of "soliders" called the silver wolves. they were such a lovely bunch, camaraderie and humor and their immense courage throughout that final battle was one of my favorite parts to read. their love for satya was incomparable and honestly same.
shishupal: let this man retire in peace. he was genuinely the most normal person in this entire book. all he really wanted was to be free from the yaksha and the empire's crimes against humanity. and then the empire goes and drags him back into it. i'm going to be so honest, it felt like he was a neutral vessel to view what was happening, like he was being dragged around all these pivotal events while trying to stay alive. he's naturally against krishna but i won't hold that too much against him. i loved his weird friendship with eklavvya simply because his true identity is wild and elkavvya's just a funny guy who loves violence (like a lot).
mati: pirate princess. she's genuinely chaotic evil/neutral. it depends on who you like. she didn't feature that much but when she did, murder and blood was soon to follow. she is so close to settling down and marrying and then the events come through the world and she turns her anger into vengeance.
duryodhan: not that he's too important. i just added him here bc i feel bad for him and i really want him to still be friends with karna. i always want him to give up delusions of honor and just be who he was born to be no matter what it takes.
karna: i'm so sorry to say i hate this man. beautiful, golden, heroic karna! poor karna! born to be a resht with an ambition so high he'd do anything to achieve it! what love he has for his nephew! what pride he has and patience to be able to wake up everyday and try as hard as he does! there goes my praises because i think he's a wonderful character and i just know he's going to be vital to this story just bc of that ending but! BUT! i hate him! i wish the worst for him, i wish him to never be happy, and i wish krishna humiliated him fr in front of everyone. perhaps it's his personality idk. i usually love a beaten down hero. maybe it's his self-righteousness or the fact that everyone can't shut up about how pretty he is or a whole of reasons i can't place right now. all i know is that i'm staunchly a krishna fan and that has somehow landed me on the karna anti side.
shakuni: tied with satya as 2nd fav! we actually got grumpy old man inner dialogue for him so that was fun. he's been tortured and almost every step he takes is painful, but it also means he knows exactly what to do to someone else. i was gagged at the torture scene i loved it sm. not the torture itself but the way it was written. i loved being in his head so much bc he was just so annoyed at everyone and like krishna always had a plan up his sleeve. he too is a manipulator and i love a good spymaster. his constant complaining and secret planning went great hand in hand.
nala: so at first i didn't quite care about the whole learning bit and how humans have lost their magic. but then nala really went diving deep into some of the elemental bits and it'll be cool to see how that gets explored next. nala is looking for revenge after almost getting murdered and suffering worse, and goes through that typical master-trainee sequence i love in movies like kungfu panda and mulan. i hope nala gets to enact bloody revenge but also get to hang out with masha.
masha: a young matron who has to go through torture but gets to divine the future. she gets to read the past and see what the future could mean as well. esp since the son of darkness is rising and time is running out. i think it's funny how all the matrons agree that karna is hot like ok yeah he is but he's so annoying it doesn't make up for that. but besides the point. i wish masha the best in her journey to predict the future and maybe she can be friends with nala while she goes along with parshuram.
draupadi: someone help this poor girl out. all she ever was, was a prize to be won and a thing to be had. she never got the change to explore her own personality or what she wanted. i'm really hoping she can do more with the silver wolves bc i think she would make a really great ruler - she has the character and charisma to do so. part of her was also krishna's manipulation so even though i feel bad for her, thank you for showing me just what krishna is capable of i love him even more. like the whole dung pellet to deter her from karna? genius and i'm sorry for her sense of smell, but getting her to associate that with karna was such a power move. and really continued to fuel my karna hate. anyway, i hope she gets free from her husbands and idk finds some friendship (or more) with lady rasha
muchuk und: last guy bc i think he's neat. idk how wise it is to wake up someone trapped in ice for thousands of years bc now he's pissed and wants revenge on the daeva, who in their own right aren't that bad. i even like savitre lios he seems so friendly with karna and also he's the least bloodthirsty it seems. but yeah uh oh the old gods are returning mad as ever and these humans need to get their own affairs in order bc "honey, a real storm's coming."
incredible cast of characters, incredible plot that made me go crazy, incredible descriptions especially that food i was so hungry, incredible everything! krishna is one of the best written characters i've read in a long time and i hope we get so much more before he dies (IF he dies, idk i hope he lives forever). i wish the second book was in my heads right now so i can devour it all but there's not even an anticipated release date so all i can really do is sit here and think about it. i rly do need all the books asap it's just so good and i can't believe it's mohanty's first book. what a fantastic debut! plus i have to read the mahabharata bc it'll make this book click together but also A Spark of White Fire will make a ton more sense probably.
but yeah i really do recommend it but only once all the books are out bc you do not want to be sitting on that cliffhanger. i'm thinking of that sound, show me to me please... send it to me, rachel