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acornell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Gore, Torture, War, Rape, Blood, Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
tanzofalaveria's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
This is solidly my second favourite book, behind only the same authour’s Sarantinr mosaic duology.
It is he first book that ever made me cry (with tragedy and anger in the epilogue), and also the first book I’m voluntarily writing a literary analysis essay or two on (firstly on how it’s a tradgedy of legacy and legacy as a theme within it in general, the other on the really excellent things it does with water as imagery and symbolism.)
This book is the sole occasion I have seen someone set out to write a master poet, not copy the poems from elsewhere or mention rather than show them, and somehow pull it off. The one full poem we get in this is amongst the best I have read, and I wish the partial ones were full, because I would be reciting rhem in my brain forever, which in fairness I do anyways with the partial version.
This is also a book that pulls of some magnificent things with religion, in a very nuanced and gorgeous manner that discounts nothing, and has several things about it very rarely seen, the rarest of all being one thing from the epilogue that I shan’t spoil.
To begin with, the concept of our main trio with all this differences and the specific similarity of ibn Kharain and Belmonte is just magnificently done. Possibly the first and biggest thing to hit me on a reread was in the prologue, in Ammar’s internal narration:
“Whatever else he did with his life, in the days and nights Ashar and the God saw fit to grant him under the holy circling of their stars, he might ever after be known as the man who slew the last Khalif of Al-Rassan”
My initial note was “Not for the reason you think, Ammar.”, but overall the even greater thing I realized is two fold, firstly he’s not remembered for it at all, or at least not firstly. His mark on history as taught in centuries to come is that of a poet and a teacher. But, furthermore, the thing he had been fearing here and throughout the book of all that was him being sacrificed by the narrative of history to a tale of one sided victory and glory that he despised at the time is in fact what happens to Rodrigo Belmonte, as shown in the epilogue, and it was that connection on top of the tragedy and almost sacrilege of the happening itself (which is what had made me cry the first time, and the first time I’d ever cried from a book) that sealed this book for me.
There is more to be said, this book is on many levels hilarious as well, and it’s fundamentally about the myriad kinds of love, and about history, and above all else it is somehow about poetry despite not being poetry, at least not mostly, nor actually talking about it all that much. It is lots of things and all of them excellent.
It is he first book that ever made me cry (with tragedy and anger in the epilogue), and also the first book I’m voluntarily writing a literary analysis essay or two on (firstly on how it’s a tradgedy of legacy and legacy as a theme within it in general, the other on the really excellent things it does with water as imagery and symbolism.)
This book is the sole occasion I have seen someone set out to write a master poet, not copy the poems from elsewhere or mention rather than show them, and somehow pull it off. The one full poem we get in this is amongst the best I have read, and I wish the partial ones were full, because I would be reciting rhem in my brain forever, which in fairness I do anyways with the partial version.
This is also a book that pulls of some magnificent things with religion, in a very nuanced and gorgeous manner that discounts nothing, and has several things about it very rarely seen, the rarest of all being one thing from the epilogue that I shan’t spoil.
“Whatever else he did with his life, in the days and nights Ashar and the God saw fit to grant him under the holy circling of their stars, he might ever after be known as the man who slew the last Khalif of Al-Rassan”
My initial note was “Not for the reason you think, Ammar.”, but overall the even greater thing I realized is two fold, firstly he’s not remembered for it at all, or at least not firstly. His mark on history as taught in centuries to come is that of a poet and a teacher. But, furthermore, the thing he had been fearing here and throughout the book of all that was him being sacrificed by the narrative of history to a tale of one sided victory and glory that he despised at the time is in fact what happens to Rodrigo Belmonte, as shown in the epilogue, and it was that connection on top of the tragedy and almost sacrilege of the happening itself (which is what had made me cry the first time, and the first time I’d ever cried from a book) that sealed this book for me.
There is more to be said, this book is on many levels hilarious as well, and it’s fundamentally about the myriad kinds of love, and about history, and above all else it is somehow about poetry despite not being poetry, at least not mostly, nor actually talking about it all that much. It is lots of things and all of them excellent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Murder, Islamophobia, Medical content, Antisemitism, War, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Misogyny, Stalking, Miscarriage, Sexism, Vomit, Torture, Racism, and Abortion
I wanted to add a massacre tags but the only option was gun violence which this is not. There should also be a Christian phobia one on the same level as Islamophobia— it’s an alternate medieval Spain at the start of the relinquishes and changes perspective between the two sides. The medical content is that one of the main characters is a physician but again it’s alternate medical Spain so very different implications.eregriel's review against another edition
Too much murder, rape, and violence for me to handle right now
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Torture, and Murder
hasmazlom13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Religious bigotry, Rape, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Violence, War, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
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