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tani's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars, and a content warning for rape.
I believe I had this on my bookshelf because it was on a list of fantasy featuring strong women/matriarchal societies, but it's been so long, I honestly can't remember. I picked it up recently when I went to do a read a chapter thing, and the unique writing style and setting drew me in. In the end, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one, although I enjoyed it enough that I'd like to continue with the series at some point.
First, the writing style. As I said above, it's what drew me into the story at first. It's a challenging style, simultaneously beautiful and excessively abrupt. When it works, it works very well, creating an atmosphere and a sense of urgency that I enjoyed. However, when it doesn't work... The middle of this book dragged a lot for me, despite its lack of length, because the writing style really requires a lot of concentration. Everything is so condensed that if your attention wanders for a line, you probably miss something important.
I also felt like the writing style enforced a sense of distance on me. I never really connected with the characters until almost the end of the book, which made things doubly hard. And when it wasn't making events opaque with the attention required, it was making them too obvious. I rarely guess what's going to happen in a book, especially when it comes to military strategy, and I prefer it that way. But with such a sparse writing style, it quickly becomes clear that every little thing that's mentioned is significant, which caused me to guess a thing or two near the end of the book. Which isn't too terrible, but I got the feeling that the author intended at least one of those things to be a shock, and it definitely wasn't.
My other bit of criticism is that I didn't care for the romance. I understood where Tellurith was coming from, but I found it really hard to trust her love interest, and I couldn't find it in me to really enjoy the pairing. Since a lot of the middle section focuses on that, that made things doubly hard for me.
I did really enjoy the ending. There was a lot of action packed into the sparse lines, and I really got drawn in by it all. I liked the conclusion that the story came to a lot, actually, because a lot of things that weren't quite clear earlier became quite clear, and that wasn't at all something that I was expecting.
I also really liked the societal commentary. The book centers on a matriarchal society, which is a novelty, but it also comments on the follies of that society, along with those around it. I will be interested to see where that commentary is taken in the second book, especially with the male main character. I felt like even though he was often criticizing Amberlight, he wasn't nearly as clear-sighted about his own country's issues, which made me like him a bit less.
Anyway, this was definitely an interesting and challenging read, that can be rewarding if you're patient enough.
I believe I had this on my bookshelf because it was on a list of fantasy featuring strong women/matriarchal societies, but it's been so long, I honestly can't remember. I picked it up recently when I went to do a read a chapter thing, and the unique writing style and setting drew me in. In the end, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this one, although I enjoyed it enough that I'd like to continue with the series at some point.
First, the writing style. As I said above, it's what drew me into the story at first. It's a challenging style, simultaneously beautiful and excessively abrupt. When it works, it works very well, creating an atmosphere and a sense of urgency that I enjoyed. However, when it doesn't work... The middle of this book dragged a lot for me, despite its lack of length, because the writing style really requires a lot of concentration. Everything is so condensed that if your attention wanders for a line, you probably miss something important.
I also felt like the writing style enforced a sense of distance on me. I never really connected with the characters until almost the end of the book, which made things doubly hard. And when it wasn't making events opaque with the attention required, it was making them too obvious. I rarely guess what's going to happen in a book, especially when it comes to military strategy, and I prefer it that way. But with such a sparse writing style, it quickly becomes clear that every little thing that's mentioned is significant, which caused me to guess a thing or two near the end of the book. Which isn't too terrible, but I got the feeling that the author intended at least one of those things to be a shock, and it definitely wasn't.
My other bit of criticism is that I didn't care for the romance. I understood where Tellurith was coming from, but I found it really hard to trust her love interest, and I couldn't find it in me to really enjoy the pairing. Since a lot of the middle section focuses on that, that made things doubly hard for me.
I did really enjoy the ending. There was a lot of action packed into the sparse lines, and I really got drawn in by it all. I liked the conclusion that the story came to a lot, actually, because a lot of things that weren't quite clear earlier became quite clear, and that wasn't at all something that I was expecting.
I also really liked the societal commentary. The book centers on a matriarchal society, which is a novelty, but it also comments on the follies of that society, along with those around it. I will be interested to see where that commentary is taken in the second book, especially with the male main character. I felt like even though he was often criticizing Amberlight, he wasn't nearly as clear-sighted about his own country's issues, which made me like him a bit less.
Anyway, this was definitely an interesting and challenging read, that can be rewarding if you're patient enough.
mimsy42's review
4.0
Australian author Kelso writes a story of intrigue and magic in an extreme matriarichal, capitalist society threatened by its neighbors. Sophisticated storytelling, but very, very dense and fraught style. Not an easy read, but an engrossing one. Similar to Guy Gavriel Kay.
singinglight's review
4.0
Adult fantasy–I loved the characters and the story, which teetered just on the edge of cliche but never tipped over. Also had a great sense of setting and place, which is one of my Things. Kelso’s style is very…style-y, which bothered me at first. After a bit, I managed to settle in, but others might be a bit off-put. Do give it a chance, though.
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