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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I was a little wary picking this book up. Several people I know have read and raved about it. I think I'm a little more critical of such books, for fear I'll get swept away with the fervor and just unthinkingly agree with the masses. But even being extra vigilant of my own feelings about the novel, I can say with certainty that I absolutely loved it.
It was not an immediate love. It took a while to settle in. The book is separated into sections in a way I find disruptive to reading. It presented characters I fell in love with and then it moved away from them. It was slow at times and I had trouble keeping track of all the ethnicities. But by the end, I genuinely, tearfully loved it.
Someone else claimed it is the queerest thing they ever read and I have to agree whole-heartedly. Not because it has male/male or female/female pairing. Not because it allowed for bi sexuality. Not because it includes gender fluidity. Not because it presented polyamory and platonic love, but because it allowed for all of it and more. Several types of identity, relationships and types of love are presented as functional, acceptable and un-exotic, along with the implicit understanding that there could be more besides; all without ever deteriorating into any kind of indictment of modern Western mores or feeling like it was just going down a laundry list of minority statuses.
The sense of inclusiveness in this book is palpable. This I think is one of the core threads of the book. It's about Ariah, the experiences of his life and how they contributed to his becoming the man he became. But in telling his tale he invites the reader to consider those same experiences and share in some of the changes they inspired in him. I was moved by it.
In the course of this book I laughed, I cried sadly, I was anxious and angry and I ended in happy tears. OMG, please tell me Sanders has written more books. I think I need them all.
It was not an immediate love. It took a while to settle in. The book is separated into sections in a way I find disruptive to reading. It presented characters I fell in love with and then it moved away from them. It was slow at times and I had trouble keeping track of all the ethnicities. But by the end, I genuinely, tearfully loved it.
Someone else claimed it is the queerest thing they ever read and I have to agree whole-heartedly. Not because it has male/male or female/female pairing. Not because it allowed for bi sexuality. Not because it includes gender fluidity. Not because it presented polyamory and platonic love, but because it allowed for all of it and more. Several types of identity, relationships and types of love are presented as functional, acceptable and un-exotic, along with the implicit understanding that there could be more besides; all without ever deteriorating into any kind of indictment of modern Western mores or feeling like it was just going down a laundry list of minority statuses.
The sense of inclusiveness in this book is palpable. This I think is one of the core threads of the book. It's about Ariah, the experiences of his life and how they contributed to his becoming the man he became. But in telling his tale he invites the reader to consider those same experiences and share in some of the changes they inspired in him. I was moved by it.
In the course of this book I laughed, I cried sadly, I was anxious and angry and I ended in happy tears. OMG, please tell me Sanders has written more books. I think I need them all.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Minor: Rape
Lass 5 estrellas van porque me dejó soft, porque Ariah es una masita y lo quiero mucho. Hay cosas que me dejaron como a medias, el sistema de magia y el mundo en general siento que me quedó a deber en explicaciones, y siento que el pobre Ariah necesitaba una limpia porque todo lo malo le pasaba... Pero es que Ariah no es un libro sobre esos detalles, es sobre los personajes, sobre el amor, sobre aquello que no es como la norma quiere que sea. Lo más fascinante fueron las relaciones de los personajes y cómo el amor puede tomar diferentes formas. Es una historia sobre vínculos. Me rompió el corazoncito en muchos momentos, pero me hizo sonreír mucho, mucho con otros.
Ariah is an elf that struggles with his identity and his magic. He is also navigating a world where his kind is secons-class at best, and slave-fodder at worst.
I'd call this fantasy of manners because A) there's no plot and B)story is mostly told through relationships Ariah has to others, due to his magic. This became a bit repetitive after 300 pages or so, and the need to cram everything in a book took made it a bit shallow to me. Wonder of exploring becomes a chore if you have to percieve the whole world at once, through eyes of one person. Ariah changes, which was nicely done, and accepts everything at face value, which was exasperating at times.
I'd call this fantasy of manners because A) there's no plot and B)story is mostly told through relationships Ariah has to others, due to his magic. This became a bit repetitive after 300 pages or so, and the need to cram everything in a book took made it a bit shallow to me. Wonder of exploring becomes a chore if you have to percieve the whole world at once, through eyes of one person. Ariah changes, which was nicely done, and accepts everything at face value, which was exasperating at times.
Ariah is a fantasy bildungsroman, the coming of age story of a young elf in a predominately human city. It’s intensely character focused and uses it’s fantasy setting to address issues of gender and sexuality. It’s a story about home, love, identity, and family, and I’m not sure my review will be able to do this book justice.
The story opens with Ariah arriving in the big city to leave with a mentor, Dirva, and learn how to control his magical powers. Ariah is a mimic, which means he can learn languages easily and mimic other people’s voices, and more importantly a shaper, which means he has the ability to sense other people’s emotions. However, Ariah often gets lost in other peoples feelings, losing any sense of himself or what he wants.
Ariah has always abided by the rules of his culture and never questioned the possibilities of other ways of life. The first real challenge to his way of thinking is when he accompanies Dirva on a trip to his hometown because one of his fathers is dying and lives with his brother Sorcha. Ariah’s bisexual, but same sex relationships are strictly against the rules of his home culture and he has difficulty admitting that there are other elements in play in his and Sorcha’s relationship besides friendship.
Many different types of relationship norms are presented in Ariah. There’s Ariah’s home culture, which shuns anything outside of a married, heterosexual, monogamous relationship. There’s the culture Dirva comes from, where polyamorous and same sex relationships are more more accepted. Finally, there’s another that has no concept of gender at all, attaches little importance to sex, and believes that sexual and romantic relationships shouldn’t be with the same people. In sum, Ariah is one of the queerest fantasy books I’ve ever read. It’s Tiptree nomination was wholly deserving.
There are a lot of different racial and ethnic groups in Ariah, and I still don’t have them completely sorted out in my head. There’s different types of elves, different cultures the elves reside in, plus the Qin (are they the only humans we see?). Ariah is an elf living in an empire dominated by the Qin. You see the effects of the oppression Ariah lives under, but the narrative doesn’t dwell on the lurid details, instead focusing (as always) on Ariah’s emotional state.
There’s little in the way of the sort of plot you find in most fantasy books. As I said before, this book is entirely focused on and driven by the characters and the relationships between them. Reading Ariah was an incredibly immersive experience. It was so easy to keep promising myself that I’d read only one more chapter and to read far more than I’d intended when I sat down.
If you’d ask me before reading Ariah, I would have said that I dislike coming of age novels. I have trouble describing why, although it might be that I had too many I disliked forced on me during in middle school and high school. But I loved Ariah. It has a few flaws – the ending felt slower than the rest of the book and I wished I had a clearer picture of all the different cultures and races of elves – but ultimately I think it’s one of the most memorable fantasy novels I’ve ever read.
I think there’s a lot more that could be said about this book than I’ve said here. I still struggle to describe it and why you should read it, but you really should. If I haven’t convinced you, I suggest reading Foz Meadow’s review (FYI contains spoilers) on the Tor blog.
The Illustrated Page.
The story opens with Ariah arriving in the big city to leave with a mentor, Dirva, and learn how to control his magical powers. Ariah is a mimic, which means he can learn languages easily and mimic other people’s voices, and more importantly a shaper, which means he has the ability to sense other people’s emotions. However, Ariah often gets lost in other peoples feelings, losing any sense of himself or what he wants.
Ariah has always abided by the rules of his culture and never questioned the possibilities of other ways of life. The first real challenge to his way of thinking is when he accompanies Dirva on a trip to his hometown because one of his fathers is dying and lives with his brother Sorcha. Ariah’s bisexual, but same sex relationships are strictly against the rules of his home culture and he has difficulty admitting that there are other elements in play in his and Sorcha’s relationship besides friendship.
Many different types of relationship norms are presented in Ariah. There’s Ariah’s home culture, which shuns anything outside of a married, heterosexual, monogamous relationship. There’s the culture Dirva comes from, where polyamorous and same sex relationships are more more accepted. Finally, there’s another that has no concept of gender at all, attaches little importance to sex, and believes that sexual and romantic relationships shouldn’t be with the same people. In sum, Ariah is one of the queerest fantasy books I’ve ever read. It’s Tiptree nomination was wholly deserving.
There are a lot of different racial and ethnic groups in Ariah, and I still don’t have them completely sorted out in my head. There’s different types of elves, different cultures the elves reside in, plus the Qin (are they the only humans we see?). Ariah is an elf living in an empire dominated by the Qin. You see the effects of the oppression Ariah lives under, but the narrative doesn’t dwell on the lurid details, instead focusing (as always) on Ariah’s emotional state.
There’s little in the way of the sort of plot you find in most fantasy books. As I said before, this book is entirely focused on and driven by the characters and the relationships between them. Reading Ariah was an incredibly immersive experience. It was so easy to keep promising myself that I’d read only one more chapter and to read far more than I’d intended when I sat down.
If you’d ask me before reading Ariah, I would have said that I dislike coming of age novels. I have trouble describing why, although it might be that I had too many I disliked forced on me during in middle school and high school. But I loved Ariah. It has a few flaws – the ending felt slower than the rest of the book and I wished I had a clearer picture of all the different cultures and races of elves – but ultimately I think it’s one of the most memorable fantasy novels I’ve ever read.
I think there’s a lot more that could be said about this book than I’ve said here. I still struggle to describe it and why you should read it, but you really should. If I haven’t convinced you, I suggest reading Foz Meadow’s review (FYI contains spoilers) on the Tor blog.
The Illustrated Page.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Slavery, Xenophobia, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Blood, Pregnancy
Minor: Torture
This... I don't have words.
So beautiful and frustrating and great and lovely!
The world is so easy to get lost in!
And the shaping and Ariah's struggle with it felt so similar to my own HSP and high levels of empathy. This story gave me words for a thing I did not know I wanted to name or describe! Getting so thoroughly lost in other people and almost forgetting who you are...
It is also great to read polyam fantasy! And not polyam in a love triangle with just a couple as endgame!
Ariah's adventures and sufferings are just so intriguing that I had to keep reading on and on!
I actually lost sleep because I wanted to read just one more chapter.
I wish there was more or a longer epilogue but the way it is felt right and good, too.
So beautiful and frustrating and great and lovely!
The world is so easy to get lost in!
And the shaping and Ariah's struggle with it felt so similar to my own HSP and high levels of empathy. This story gave me words for a thing I did not know I wanted to name or describe! Getting so thoroughly lost in other people and almost forgetting who you are...
It is also great to read polyam fantasy! And not polyam in a love triangle with just a couple as endgame!
Ariah's adventures and sufferings are just so intriguing that I had to keep reading on and on!
I actually lost sleep because I wanted to read just one more chapter.
I wish there was more or a longer epilogue but the way it is felt right and good, too.
A fantasy novel written in the style of a literary novel, exploring everything from fluid sexuality to polyamory to gender identity.
In terms of expectations, don't expect a traditional romance arc. Ariah falls in love with several people in the course of the story, and whatever sex that happens on page is sparse and not the point. This is more about Ariah growing up and coming to terms with who he is, regardless of what society expects him to be.
I can relate to Ariah being an empath and getting sucked into other people's emotions. I can relate so hard that many part of this novel were enlightening for my own troubles of separating myself from the people around me.
I also enjoyed how several types of cultures were explored. You have the rigid traditionalists, who are heteronormative and homophobic. But then you have other places where a man can marry another man, and then he can marry a woman too. Even more so, there's a society where gender doesn't exist at all (gender-neutral pronouns ahoy), and relationships can be sexual without being romantic or romantic without ever getting sexual. It was very refreshing, especially knowing that the author is genderqueer.
If I had any gripes, it's that when describing people, there's a lot of "almond-shaped eyes" and "kinky hair." It's not a deal-breaker -- we're talking about elves -- but it's cliche and reminded me that even though plenty of progressive stuff was going on, it isn't as meticulous about racially-charged descriptors (see: eyes; hair).
But overall, it's a solid story, and I highly recommend it.
In terms of expectations, don't expect a traditional romance arc. Ariah falls in love with several people in the course of the story, and whatever sex that happens on page is sparse and not the point. This is more about Ariah growing up and coming to terms with who he is, regardless of what society expects him to be.
I can relate to Ariah being an empath and getting sucked into other people's emotions. I can relate so hard that many part of this novel were enlightening for my own troubles of separating myself from the people around me.
I also enjoyed how several types of cultures were explored. You have the rigid traditionalists, who are heteronormative and homophobic. But then you have other places where a man can marry another man, and then he can marry a woman too. Even more so, there's a society where gender doesn't exist at all (gender-neutral pronouns ahoy), and relationships can be sexual without being romantic or romantic without ever getting sexual. It was very refreshing, especially knowing that the author is genderqueer.
If I had any gripes, it's that when describing people, there's a lot of "almond-shaped eyes" and "kinky hair." It's not a deal-breaker -- we're talking about elves -- but it's cliche and reminded me that even though plenty of progressive stuff was going on, it isn't as meticulous about racially-charged descriptors (see: eyes; hair).
But overall, it's a solid story, and I highly recommend it.
Good lord was this thing an emotional roller coaster. But I suppose the amount of feelings it forced me through is the mark of great writing...
But holy CRAP. Tear my heart into a million pieces over and over, why don't you. Did everyone really have to suffer so much?
But holy CRAP. Tear my heart into a million pieces over and over, why don't you. Did everyone really have to suffer so much?
Excellent prose, moving characters. In parts, a bit slow, but it ends on such a triumphant note.
“For some of us, the places we come from are not the places we belong, and never were, and never will be.”
“For some of us, the places we come from are not the places we belong, and never were, and never will be.”