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snazel's review
4.0
Okay so I went back to the terrifying community-focused utopia to read a fantasy of (alien) manners. IT WAS SO TEMPTING OKAY?
Reading in this world is so interesting, because I keep finding myself thinking it reasonable and applicable to me, and then going OMIGOSH NO WHAT AM I SAYING. The whole society and how it functions is both appealing and infinitely terrifying, and this book focuses on one of the more terrifying aspects of how it functions—Correction. Correction is punishment as catharsis for a deeper wound, allowing one to move back into proper alignment with society, and it's a core aspect of this Civilization. And one of our main characters is Shame, the priest who administers Corrections to those in need of it when no one else can. If you torture someone for a good cause, and they're glad of it after— wh-whattttttt to thinkkkkkkkk.
Also this is a romance, but not a sexual one? And there's another side romance that is sexy, but we don't see it. Very alien, these manners.
Reading in this world is so interesting, because I keep finding myself thinking it reasonable and applicable to me, and then going OMIGOSH NO WHAT AM I SAYING. The whole society and how it functions is both appealing and infinitely terrifying, and this book focuses on one of the more terrifying aspects of how it functions—Correction. Correction is punishment as catharsis for a deeper wound, allowing one to move back into proper alignment with society, and it's a core aspect of this Civilization. And one of our main characters is Shame, the priest who administers Corrections to those in need of it when no one else can. If you torture someone for a good cause, and they're glad of it after— wh-whattttttt to thinkkkkkkkk.
Also this is a romance, but not a sexual one? And there's another side romance that is sexy, but we don't see it. Very alien, these manners.
tagryn101's review against another edition
5.0
This is (currently) the longest work set in the author's Kherishdar universe. We follow the story of the characters of the Calligrapher and of Shame, who were introduced in the vignette collections "Aphorisms" and "Admonishments." If you enjoyed either of those, you will likely enjoy BB as well; note that you do not *need* to have read either before BB, but it does give a good introduction to the universe within which much of BB occurs, and one of the delights of the Kherishdar series is discovering the ways in which the characters' society is similar to, but in many ways different from, our own.
While Kherishdar is sometimes slotted into the anthropomorphic/furry genre, I don't think it quite does the story justice to put it there. I never felt that the characters' alien physiology and manners made them inaccessible or unsympathetic, and one of the things I enjoyed about all three books was how very *human* almost all of them were: not idealized, but very easy to relate to.
One caution with BB: if you have a problem with m/m relationships and sex, there is a fair amount of that in here. Its handled artistically and well where it is presented, but if that's a squick-thing for you, you should be aware beforehand that it will be coming.
While Kherishdar is sometimes slotted into the anthropomorphic/furry genre, I don't think it quite does the story justice to put it there. I never felt that the characters' alien physiology and manners made them inaccessible or unsympathetic, and one of the things I enjoyed about all three books was how very *human* almost all of them were: not idealized, but very easy to relate to.
One caution with BB: if you have a problem with m/m relationships and sex, there is a fair amount of that in here. Its handled artistically and well where it is presented, but if that's a squick-thing for you, you should be aware beforehand that it will be coming.
meyarimcfarland's review against another edition
5.0
I've been following the new Kherishdar book that's being serialized on Hogarth's Dreamwidth account and hit that point of 'not moving fast enough!!!' so went back and re-read everything in the series. The Aphormisms and Admonishments are favorites that I've read many, many times before.
Black Blossom? I never made it through. I'd get interrupted or overwhelmed because wow, this goes some dark, deep places in her wonderfully gentle way.
Made it through this time.
You know that feeling you get when you finish a book and set it down and the world feels dark and grey and dim because it's not the world of the book you were reading? Where you feel kind of drunk and exhausted and floating in joy at the same time?
Yeah, that feeling. That feeling so very much.
(Now I have to wait for the serial to update.... *dies a little bit*)
Black Blossom? I never made it through. I'd get interrupted or overwhelmed because wow, this goes some dark, deep places in her wonderfully gentle way.
Made it through this time.
You know that feeling you get when you finish a book and set it down and the world feels dark and grey and dim because it's not the world of the book you were reading? Where you feel kind of drunk and exhausted and floating in joy at the same time?
Yeah, that feeling. That feeling so very much.
(Now I have to wait for the serial to update.... *dies a little bit*)
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