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ecs_etera's review against another edition
2.0
This one is less a book than a 550-page MadLibs exercise in cramming all the possible "hot topics" in one work. The remarkable thing is that not one compelling or dynamic character resulted from that effort, and there isn't even a very interesting or coherent story. Did the (non-traditional gender identity) person manage to fix (climate change/religious zealotry/demagogues) and also find (their family/love)? Who knows? The author replaced plot and timeline with a thesaurus-full of African-inspired names and phrases and hoped we wouldn't notice. Don't bother, guys. I wish I had DNF this book at 15% when I wanted to, like the wiser reviewers in this section were able. It does not get better.
siavahda's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to NetGalley for the arc!
Master of Poisons is an epic fantasy where the world needs saving – not from some Dark Lord, but from people who are good but weak, and those who are strong but corrupt. The world is being consumed by poison storms, land and rivers ruined more and more every day, and if something isn’t done…
You might expect this, then, to be some kind of preachy environmentalist book. It’s not. Environmentalism is a huge theme – climate change is literally the Big Bad – but Master of Poisons is a big, beautiful fantasy, with magic and mountains, pirates and politics, questions and the quests undertaken to answer them. Djola, the only one on the Emperor’s council advocating for deep and long-term change as a solution to the poisoned land, is exiled for not having easy answers to give. Awa, a young woman who discovers she can travel to the wondrous otherworld called Smokeland, is sold by her father – and raised by Green Elders, a society of wandering bands who live outside of normal life, keeping the old ways alive and weaving new ones for the future.
And then things get complicated.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
Master of Poisons is an epic fantasy where the world needs saving – not from some Dark Lord, but from people who are good but weak, and those who are strong but corrupt. The world is being consumed by poison storms, land and rivers ruined more and more every day, and if something isn’t done…
You might expect this, then, to be some kind of preachy environmentalist book. It’s not. Environmentalism is a huge theme – climate change is literally the Big Bad – but Master of Poisons is a big, beautiful fantasy, with magic and mountains, pirates and politics, questions and the quests undertaken to answer them. Djola, the only one on the Emperor’s council advocating for deep and long-term change as a solution to the poisoned land, is exiled for not having easy answers to give. Awa, a young woman who discovers she can travel to the wondrous otherworld called Smokeland, is sold by her father – and raised by Green Elders, a society of wandering bands who live outside of normal life, keeping the old ways alive and weaving new ones for the future.
And then things get complicated.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
jmbq_reads's review
3.0
A challenging read -- lots to admire in the storytelling, but I know I missed a lot, despite slowing down my reading in order to fully appreciate it. Definitely worth a read, but don't expect to "get it" all in a first read-through.
ktmiller_14's review against another edition
3.0
DNF 50%
I've been seeing this novel around for a while, and the cover and synopsis really intrigued me. It was really dense for me to get through in paperback, but I have a lot of respect for the world being inspired by climate change. I think I'll try it again on audiobook sometime.
I've been seeing this novel around for a while, and the cover and synopsis really intrigued me. It was really dense for me to get through in paperback, but I have a lot of respect for the world being inspired by climate change. I think I'll try it again on audiobook sometime.
vtrumpredd's review against another edition
2.0
I have DNFd this book which really isn’t something I do. I’ve been trying to read for weeks and got about 1/3 in and decided I need to call it. Fascinating core idea of a story but I found the pacing odd and felt a lot of disconnect from characters. Hard to really sink into
benjobuks's review against another edition
4.0
This book was disconcerting at the start, but became something I couldn't turn away from once I became accustomed to the narrative voices and Hairston's writing style. It immediately drew me in with the poetic voice Hairston employs to bring us into complex experiences of other-than-human sensory worlds, interweaving past, present and futures and other non-linear modes of thinking/being. It was also powerful to read a story so solidly in a different worlding than traditional European/American science fiction (i.e. Tolkien, Asimov, Jordan, etc...) or even those which describe alternatives that are nonetheless still built directly as critiques of those worldings (i.e. LeGuin and some Butler.)
Transitions between spaces and moments in time were sudden, often requiring backtracking to figure out what was happening, but I got used to needing to pay more attention between paragraphs and chapters. I didn't love it in the beginning, but came to deeply admire the world of multispecies kinship, non-linear time and deep queerness Hairston created in an epic story of how we can address socio-environmental crisis. Much love for this world and this author.
Transitions between spaces and moments in time were sudden, often requiring backtracking to figure out what was happening, but I got used to needing to pay more attention between paragraphs and chapters. I didn't love it in the beginning, but came to deeply admire the world of multispecies kinship, non-linear time and deep queerness Hairston created in an epic story of how we can address socio-environmental crisis. Much love for this world and this author.
brittanyboston18's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0