You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I could not stop thinking about this book once I finished and I still think it's one of the best books I've ever read. It makes me incredibly sad that an in-print version doesn't seem to exist anywhere as I would love to own it. Fantasy bildungsroman with incredible world and magic-building. It does deal with strong themes of internalized homophobia and settler colonialism/imperialism, but the transformation of the main character and their queer journey/found families is thoroughly worth the difficult parts of their journey (both internal and external). I don't want to give too much away but it will be one of the queerest things you've read even if it does take a while to get there.
So...like apparently everyone else, I ended up here via Foz's review and, while I take some issues with her characterization of the book (it is more like Goblin Emperor than Ancillary Justice, but they still strike me as very different books indeed and recommending this to people who liked those is not a sure bet), I'm glad I came over.
Sanders is doing something fascinating here with the bildungsroman in fantasy. More often, books in fantasy with elements of the bildungsroman are basically the story of the epic hero. This is closer to Great Expectations, in a way, than to the hero's quest. The world, life--the life one is born into and the life one seeks out, the implacable society and its dictates are not so much antagonists as obstacles to navigate. And the reward for getting through is having done so, having grown up.
What makes Sanders book different is that, in setting the bildung in fantasy, she has a chance to question and think about so much of how the world works, how we think and how we understand those who are different than us.
With all that said, it was an exhausting read. (Or I'm just exhausted). And one that I can appreciate and find technically excellent but not the kind of book with which I want to fall in love.
This is the problem - I never liked Great Expectations.
Sanders is doing something fascinating here with the bildungsroman in fantasy. More often, books in fantasy with elements of the bildungsroman are basically the story of the epic hero. This is closer to Great Expectations, in a way, than to the hero's quest. The world, life--the life one is born into and the life one seeks out, the implacable society and its dictates are not so much antagonists as obstacles to navigate. And the reward for getting through is having done so, having grown up.
What makes Sanders book different is that, in setting the bildung in fantasy, she has a chance to question and think about so much of how the world works, how we think and how we understand those who are different than us.
With all that said, it was an exhausting read. (Or I'm just exhausted). And one that I can appreciate and find technically excellent but not the kind of book with which I want to fall in love.
This is the problem - I never liked Great Expectations.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book cracked me wide open and stared right into my soul
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content, Slavery
I had so hoped I'd get on with this, but we didn't gel. The plot wandered, and the characters were dimly fleshed out - and ultimately, the main character felt very sketchy and unreal.
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was great. Covering themes of bisexuality, internalised queerphobia, polyamory, and racism. All of these were handled well, and I recommend it highly.
Merged review:
This was great. Covering themes of bisexuality, internalised queerphobia, polyamory, and racism. All of these were handled well, and I recommend it highly.
Merged review:
This was great. Covering themes of bisexuality, internalised queerphobia, polyamory, and racism. All of these were handled well, and I recommend it highly.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
This is very much an 'ideas' fantasy and deep character exploration via the medium of fantasy, so if you go into it expecting typical sword and sorcery or epic or any other fantasy sub species, then you're probably going to experience a disconnect.
I really enjoyed it. The voice is beautiful. The world building is exquisite. The characterization is very carefully drawn and developed. It is not a light read. It is not fantasy for entertainment alone's sake but it is an unusual and brilliantly well written fantasy.
It is easy to identify with Ariah as he goes from effectively a late adolescent to a grown man in the passage of the book. Those same instances of questioning and dislocation, of a sense of alienation and then finally becoming comfortable in one's own skin and, more importantly, with the fact that you will not ever have all the answers and that's ok.
Sanders cleverly draws on her well imagined and built cultures to explore issues of pairing, what it means and whether it stretches to incorporate more than a pair. I found all of the ideas fascinating - despite the tendency of the prose towards a density that many might find off putting.
I enjoyed the journey that Ariah takes the reader on. Others might argue that not much happens here but while the conflict is almost entirely internal or at least very subtle (human vs elf, silver vs red, empire vs other cultures) there is plenty going on.
I suppose where I came unstuck were several moments of severe irritation with the characters. Dirva's harsh reaction to Ariah's initial outburst in a The City especially annoyed me. I realise that this is partly me - the position of mentor is a sacred one as far as I'm concerned so I felt that Dirva, superior in years and experiences, should have demonstrated the tolerance he expected Ariah to emulate. Let's be honest the lad was barely out of the school room, Dirva neglects his training and then is willing to strand him in a foreign land because Ariah, after a severe fright, parrots opinions he has never had to confront before and probably took in with breast milk. Instances like that annoyed me. I occasionally found Ariah's decisions to be completely inexplicable too. Rage against the machine all you want but don't endanger others over it maybe?
Anyway, more me than the book I fear.
Overall this was not a light easy read but it was a very rewarding and enjoyable one. Loved it.
I really enjoyed it. The voice is beautiful. The world building is exquisite. The characterization is very carefully drawn and developed. It is not a light read. It is not fantasy for entertainment alone's sake but it is an unusual and brilliantly well written fantasy.
It is easy to identify with Ariah as he goes from effectively a late adolescent to a grown man in the passage of the book. Those same instances of questioning and dislocation, of a sense of alienation and then finally becoming comfortable in one's own skin and, more importantly, with the fact that you will not ever have all the answers and that's ok.
Sanders cleverly draws on her well imagined and built cultures to explore issues of pairing, what it means and whether it stretches to incorporate more than a pair. I found all of the ideas fascinating - despite the tendency of the prose towards a density that many might find off putting.
I enjoyed the journey that Ariah takes the reader on. Others might argue that not much happens here but while the conflict is almost entirely internal or at least very subtle (human vs elf, silver vs red, empire vs other cultures) there is plenty going on.
I suppose where I came unstuck were several moments of severe irritation with the characters. Dirva's harsh reaction to Ariah's initial outburst in a The City especially annoyed me. I realise that this is partly me - the position of mentor is a sacred one as far as I'm concerned so I felt that Dirva, superior in years and experiences, should have demonstrated the tolerance he expected Ariah to emulate. Let's be honest the lad was barely out of the school room, Dirva neglects his training and then is willing to strand him in a foreign land because Ariah, after a severe fright, parrots opinions he has never had to confront before and probably took in with breast milk. Instances like that annoyed me. I occasionally found Ariah's decisions to be completely inexplicable too. Rage against the machine all you want but don't endanger others over it maybe?
Anyway, more me than the book I fear.
Overall this was not a light easy read but it was a very rewarding and enjoyable one. Loved it.