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being_b's review
The Audacy (a task), The All Ways (holy place of fountains), the city of Task End, The Assimilate (interpretation of a holy book), The Immolan (religious leader of Taliban stand-in), The Talisman (Taliban stand-in), the Claim (stand-in for Koran)- the clunky. Combine this with a great deal of pining after beautiful men who are either hostile or sleazy or both, and I am DNFing.
gabalodon's review
2.0
Dnf at a little over 50%. There were some aspects to this that had a lot of promise but something about the execution just didn't deliver on that promise. The characters seemed very one-dimensional and it was really hard to connect with or care about any of them. Their personalities and motives were either lacking or reductive or inscrutable. Sometimes it is unclear where they fit into the larger society (is Daniyar a bartender or an esteemed wandering mage beyond reproach?). One of the big dichotomies was men vs women (which already doesn't leave a lot of room for exploring gender), and all the men were pretty much universally terrible (even the ones we're supposed to like are very uncomfortably possessive and entitled) while all the main women are supposed to be strong, which is then undermined by plot developments that require rescue from or collaboration with a man. A lot of imagination was put into world-building (geography, names, language, magic) but those aspects aren't fully or smoothly introduced or explained. For example, the Claim is supposedly this amazing power that enables Arian and Sinnia to take down slave chains, but after the opening sequence that power seems extremely limited in its application. A lot of places are introduced as "only legends" but for all that they seem to be known or easily discovered by a lot of people. It is unclear what the history is, who all the major political players are, what they all think of each other, and what their goals may be.
Overall very imaginative, but something connecting that imagination to the reader was missing for me.
Overall very imaginative, but something connecting that imagination to the reader was missing for me.
kleonard's review against another edition
1.0
This reads like a bad parody of mid-1960s fantasy, and the premise and plot are straight out of terrible Conan rip-offs.
routergirl's review
2.0
Did not like the whole "reciting scripture and causing magic to happen" thing - did not make a whole lot of sense. Also - why fill a book with all these badass strong women just to make them go goofy over how handsome men are? I was hopeful, but it was a bit meh in the end.
andrea_c's review against another edition
3.0
Loved the concept, was underwhelmed by the delivery. I can't quite put my finger on what didn't work, but in the end I just wasn't enjoying reading this the way I have Khan's mysteries. I still may check out the next in the series, there are a lot of great ideas in here that could be developed into something great.
posthumusly's review
3.0
I thought the premise was so interesting, but I had so much trouble getting into the book. It just did not capture my imagination and I kept putting it down because I was bored.
meghan_e's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written. So good I want to tell everyone about it, BUT ALSO so good I want to keep it a secret so I can give it to a ton of people as Christmas gifts in a couple months.
This is not my preferred genre, but I loved this book.
One thing I wished I'd paid more attention to while reading: there's a glossary (as well as a cast of characters) at the end of the book. There were a bunch of words I just absorbed through context, and wish I'd known more concretely. The map at the beginning was very useful.
Can't wait for the next in the series.
~~~
Read again to (FINALLY!!!) read the next book, which I got as an ARC. This time I listened to the audiobook, which is VERY well done. Still highly recommend this book, especially for people trying to figure out what to read after The Broken Earth trilogy or Children of Blood and Bone.
This is not my preferred genre, but I loved this book.
One thing I wished I'd paid more attention to while reading: there's a glossary (as well as a cast of characters) at the end of the book. There were a bunch of words I just absorbed through context, and wish I'd known more concretely. The map at the beginning was very useful.
Can't wait for the next in the series.
~~~
Read again to (FINALLY!!!) read the next book, which I got as an ARC. This time I listened to the audiobook, which is VERY well done. Still highly recommend this book, especially for people trying to figure out what to read after The Broken Earth trilogy or Children of Blood and Bone.
ccallan's review
4.0
I heard Ms. Khan speak on a Jaipur Literature Festival event last year (one benefit of the otherwise awful pandemic is that we can get access to people across the planet if we pay a bit of attention), and was inspired by her vision of what fantasy literature can be. So I put this book on my list, where then it sank in among the many other books there, waiting for the day when I could get to it. (So many books, so little time....)
Well after a string of Boys SFF books where the women served as arm candy or foils for our intrepid heroes, I picked this book out to see if it could restore my faith in the possibilities of the genre for showing us other values, other ways of being. And it delivered. But the women are more complex, and while most of them still fall into the usual tropes of beautiful and alluring, they are also heroes, trying to do their best with limited information and resources. They make mistakes, they are unsure of the next step, they are conflicted over following their own desires or serving greater purposes. And there are men in this book too, but they are the foils this time. They tend to be either dashing, loyal, and talented, or nasty, duplicitous, and evil. Not much in between.
So Jane Austen it's not, but it's nonetheless refreshing to have women drive the plot and be the agents of action and change.
But what really drew me in was the inspiration that the book draws from the long, exotic history of Central Asia and the surrounding area. The main plot of the book draws on the history of Taliban in Afghanistan, Tamerlane and Samarkand, and scripture and institutions of the region's Islamic practices. I had to read this book with my phone at hand to look up the historical references and understand the inspirations she was building on, which were fascinating. Even the map at the beginning of the book was clearly an echo of the actual map of the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia, with imagined territories redrawn over it. (And I must say I'm usually skeptical of books that start with maps -- can we get past Tolkien already?)
"There is no one but the One. And so the One commands." For me it echoed the Shahada, one of the five pillars of Islam, "There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God."
One theme that develops later in the book is how religious inspiration can be a force for good or evil, often in ways that individuals don't understand fully as they act. And it brings characters to do their best even when they don't know the way forward. And to constantly search and struggle to figure out how to act, treat people, strive. There's a fascinating subtheme of "struggle or peace" vs. "struggle and peace," which comes up over and over, often tempting people to take the easy way out.
Well after a string of Boys SFF books where the women served as arm candy or foils for our intrepid heroes, I picked this book out to see if it could restore my faith in the possibilities of the genre for showing us other values, other ways of being. And it delivered. But the women are more complex, and while most of them still fall into the usual tropes of beautiful and alluring, they are also heroes, trying to do their best with limited information and resources. They make mistakes, they are unsure of the next step, they are conflicted over following their own desires or serving greater purposes. And there are men in this book too, but they are the foils this time. They tend to be either dashing, loyal, and talented, or nasty, duplicitous, and evil. Not much in between.
So Jane Austen it's not, but it's nonetheless refreshing to have women drive the plot and be the agents of action and change.
But what really drew me in was the inspiration that the book draws from the long, exotic history of Central Asia and the surrounding area. The main plot of the book draws on the history of Taliban in Afghanistan, Tamerlane and Samarkand, and scripture and institutions of the region's Islamic practices. I had to read this book with my phone at hand to look up the historical references and understand the inspirations she was building on, which were fascinating. Even the map at the beginning of the book was clearly an echo of the actual map of the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia, with imagined territories redrawn over it. (And I must say I'm usually skeptical of books that start with maps -- can we get past Tolkien already?)
"There is no one but the One. And so the One commands." For me it echoed the Shahada, one of the five pillars of Islam, "There is no god but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God."
One theme that develops later in the book is how religious inspiration can be a force for good or evil, often in ways that individuals don't understand fully as they act. And it brings characters to do their best even when they don't know the way forward. And to constantly search and struggle to figure out how to act, treat people, strive. There's a fascinating subtheme of "struggle or peace" vs. "struggle and peace," which comes up over and over, often tempting people to take the easy way out.
irfoxwriter's review against another edition
adventurous
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
5.0
I LOVED THIS BOOK. I was transfixed throughout - Daniyar and Aryan and Sinnia are brilliant characters. I am launching into book two as soon as I get my hands on it.
varmint3's review
3.0
Good story, but the Talisman/Taliban thing was so strongly correlated it was distracting.