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sugarpal's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.5
If you've read RF Kuang's Poppy War trilogy, these books may feel eerily familiar.
Not in a bad way, definitely –– as a huge fan of TPW, I actually loved this book, and really enjoyed making note of the parallels. The similarities of the first books (grimdark-dark-dark atmosphere, grisly violence, themes of war and discrimination and colonialism, non-Western cultural focus, and the plot: main character becomes an unstoppable rage-fueled war machine, makes friends, does war ) were tropey and/or modern enough to be coincidental; but after reading this book, I'm convinced RF Kuang and Evan Winter are sniffing the same airplane glue, or in some secret author conspiracy, or something. The second books –– this one and Kuang's The Dragon Republic –– both involve (shock) more war, national infighting despite a common enemy, an absolute banger of a climax, and even an emotionally constipated romantic subplot (though it's only actually realized in TFV and not TDR). The sequels' endings strike me as similar: the setup for the third book seems to be gearing up for the real enemy, the colonizers, which is obviously a message I approve of .The dragons in Winter's books even seem to play a similar role to Kuang's gods, and the Underworld strikes me as conceptually similar to the Pantheon. Of course, there are differences, like the obvious ones in cultures and in the protagonists' genders; in general the details differ, and I think Winter's books will end up going in a different direction than Kuang's (if only because there are supposed to be four in this series as opposed to TPW's three), but the journeys feel similar. I think if you like one series, you'll enjoy the other. (The biggest difference is that Winter's series isn't complete, which makes reading this now a stupid decision on my part, because now I have to wait until 2022 to get the next one. Fuck me.)
I do, of course, have some thoughts about this book on its own. The character work is excellent. Though Winter could easily let Tau stagnate in this book as a blindly raging avenging machine, he instead treats Tau as a human, and makes sure to show his sensitivity alongside his brutality. Tau is very self-centered, but even while stuck in his perspective, I still enjoyed reading about his relationships with his friends, and their development as individuals. (The gay rep?? We love to see it!!!) And especially for a male author, the female characters, few though they are, are strong and well written. Tsiora is my queen and she could step on me any day –– but I love that he also explores her childhood, and the darker sides of her character that anyone but her sister would be blind to. Actually, on the topic of perspective, I wasn't sure how I felt about Winter's fluid approach to POV in the first book (occasionally shifting to side characters, while still mainly staying in Tau's perspective), but I decided in this book that I definitely am a fan due to how he handled Esi and Tsiora. Being in the head of a major player we had never seen, the discomfort of reading her bigotry, and her fresh perspective on the war and on Tsiora were all very well done and added a lot to the story.
Overall, I have a few quibbles about these books –– for example, how Winter's already-few female characters seem to love sacrificing themselves (seriously, they've done that3 times now), and how women have strictly non-physical roles in the Omehi military (though at least that is deliberately contrasted with the Xiddeen women, who fight alongside the men). But I'm absolutely going to be reading The Lord of Demons when it comes out in January!
Not in a bad way, definitely –– as a huge fan of TPW, I actually loved this book, and really enjoyed making note of the parallels. The similarities of the first books (grimdark-dark-dark atmosphere, grisly violence, themes of war and discrimination and colonialism, non-Western cultural focus, and the plot:
I do, of course, have some thoughts about this book on its own. The character work is excellent. Though Winter could easily let Tau stagnate in this book as a blindly raging avenging machine, he instead treats Tau as a human, and makes sure to show his sensitivity alongside his brutality. Tau is very self-centered, but even while stuck in his perspective, I still enjoyed reading about his relationships with his friends, and their development as individuals. (The gay rep?? We love to see it!!!) And especially for a male author, the female characters, few though they are, are strong and well written. Tsiora is my queen and she could step on me any day –– but I love that he also explores her childhood, and the darker sides of her character that anyone but her sister would be blind to. Actually, on the topic of perspective, I wasn't sure how I felt about Winter's fluid approach to POV in the first book (occasionally shifting to side characters, while still mainly staying in Tau's perspective), but I decided in this book that I definitely am a fan due to how he handled Esi and Tsiora. Being in the head of a major player we had never seen, the discomfort of reading her bigotry, and her fresh perspective on the war and on Tsiora were all very well done and added a lot to the story.
Overall, I have a few quibbles about these books –– for example, how Winter's already-few female characters seem to love sacrificing themselves (seriously, they've done that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, and Colonisation
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