Scan barcode
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I feel like I should make the disclaimer that I came into this book after the book I intended to read had its release delayed, so I don't think I was entirely in the right frame of mind. That and the plot wasn't entirely what I expected it to be.
I think the story is incredibly bloated and uneven, sometimes hindered by the multiple POVs (even though there are occasions that they weave together in satisfactory way). Another review on here described the plot akin to romping around the countryside while the tension simmers, and I couldn't agree more. So much potential the plot could have had feels like it's wasted on the Kyralian magicians going from village to village, though (again) I think this partly due to my expectation that we would see Tessia get to be an apprentice longer before the war began.
Other points of contention include:
I think the story is incredibly bloated and uneven, sometimes hindered by the multiple POVs (even though there are occasions that they weave together in satisfactory way). Another review on here described the plot akin to romping around the countryside while the tension simmers, and I couldn't agree more. So much potential the plot could have had feels like it's wasted on the Kyralian magicians going from village to village, though (again) I think this partly due to my expectation that we would see Tessia get to be an apprentice longer before the war began.
Other points of contention include:
- The (hopefully accidental) racism. The Kyralians are presented as the predominantly white side who - save for one character - are all heroic and good, while the Sachakans are predominantly black, partake in slavery and are shown constantly scheming even if it isn't to their benefit.
And then the Kyralians decide that defending their homeland isn't practical and decide to invade Sachaka, arguably killing more slaves and people along the way than Sachaka did when they tried to invade Kyralia. And this is all presented in a "oh it can't be helped" and "I feel squeamish but this is war" kind of manner. - The character of Hanara is a bit of a mixed bag. I can understand his feverent loyal to Takado as him having given a chance of freedom but having a life of slavery deeply indoctrinated into him that he feels he has no choice but to stand by his master, but it's not explored much further than that. I felt like I was mentally going "oh here we go again" every time his POV came around.
And then in the epilogue he gets given to the token evil Kyralian to basically be his slave again at the end, and is complicit in an act of attempted genocide. - Speaking of the last spoiler,
it's entirely possible I wasn't paying attention during this slogfest of a book but Narvelan being the token evil "good" guy came out of nowhere, and the Kyralians just let him continue to be their mad dog because it was war time and his antics happened to benefit their side. That and him just casually stealing the storestone off-page and using it to turn Sachaka into a desert was extremely rushed. Books in the BM trilogy made this act seem like such a huge deal and it's relegated to a poxy epilogue. I had to stop and collect my thoughts when it was revealed Dakon died off-page in the epilogue and Tessia and Jayen would likely never know. The epilogue as a whole really felt like Canavan was rushing to finish the book. - I enjoyed Stara's story the most but it felt wholly incomplete. I think she could have benefitted from having her story be its own separate book instead of being shoehorned into an already bloated book.
(Disclaimer that this is more of a personal gripe) I shouldn't have been surprised by Tessia and Jayen getting together, since (barring one occasion) Caravan loves pairing up the female lead and the guy roughly her age, but for once I just want one of her books to not have that. Especially since it felt like both sides debated whether they were attracted to each other but then ended up together anyway.
TL;DR: This book was a slogfest with misplaced potential and (hopefully accidental) racism, and I don't think Canavan fully understands the complexities of slavery and oppression to be able to write these narratives properly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Medical content
Moderate: Sexism, Slavery, and Physical abuse
Minor: Torture, Sexual assault, and Homophobia
leenyx's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
*NOTE* I finished about 50% of this one.
I tried to give this one the old college try for nostalgia's sake, but the problem with reading a series you loved when you were ten is you start to notice all the problematic things you weren't equipped to notice before.
For instance, the ambiguously non-white Sachakans of this book are a slave-owning, hyper masculine society set up as antagonists to the white, virtuous, non-slaving Kyralians. Which is a great big yikes from me.
The few "good" Sachakans are somehow tempered in some way by Kyralia. There are two (??? I'm a little unsure, because their culture has literally no impact on their behavior or actions) wives of Kyralian magicians who are Sachakan, a magician who has Sachakan descent (whose wife comments that with his dark complexion, he got the only good Sachakan trait, oof), a Sachakan slave rescued by the MC and a Kyralian wizard, and a biracial Sachakan/Kyralian girl who was raised in Kyralia, and talks about Sachakan culture with the utmost disdain.
This book made me cringe so hard in the first chapter I almost dropped it then, but I decided to give it another try. But it never got any better. The author talks about slavery with *no* self-awareness. We cannot divorce ourselves - as readers or writers - from our history, especially as it pertains to white colonialism. So this book about White saviors and villians of an ambiguous shade seems like a misstep, at best.
I tried to give this one the old college try for nostalgia's sake, but the problem with reading a series you loved when you were ten is you start to notice all the problematic things you weren't equipped to notice before.
For instance, the ambiguously non-white Sachakans of this book are a slave-owning, hyper masculine society set up as antagonists to the white, virtuous, non-slaving Kyralians. Which is a great big yikes from me.
The few "good" Sachakans are somehow tempered in some way by Kyralia. There are two (??? I'm a little unsure, because their culture has literally no impact on their behavior or actions) wives of Kyralian magicians who are Sachakan, a magician who has Sachakan descent (whose wife comments that with his dark complexion, he got the only good Sachakan trait, oof), a Sachakan slave rescued by the MC and a Kyralian wizard, and a biracial Sachakan/Kyralian girl who was raised in Kyralia, and talks about Sachakan culture with the utmost disdain.
This book made me cringe so hard in the first chapter I almost dropped it then, but I decided to give it another try. But it never got any better. The author talks about slavery with *no* self-awareness. We cannot divorce ourselves - as readers or writers - from our history, especially as it pertains to white colonialism. So this book about White saviors and villians of an ambiguous shade seems like a misstep, at best.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, and Torture
More...