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A review by sleeping_while_awake
The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar
4.0
The Winged Histories is loosely connected to A Stranger in Olondria, and can be read as a standalone.
This is a frustrating book to rate. There were times it was as 2 star book, struggling to capture my attention, and other times it was a 5 star book, full of rich poetic language and characters. I am kind of throwing my hands up and giving it 4 stars for the technical writing skills alone.
The Winged Histories takes place in the Empire of Olondria around the same time as its predecessor. It's divided into four parts: The History of - the Sword, the Stone, Music, and, Flight. Each section is a different female narrator. Tav, a noblewoman who leads a rebellion; Tialon, the daughter of the Priest of the Stone (she has a brief appearance in Stranger); Seren, lover of Tav and part of a nomadic people; and Siski, sister to Tav, who is a pawn in a political game for her aunt.
Tav, Seren, and Siski's plots intertwine well to form a narrative of a grand political scheme and how the lives of women are affected by war and the rise and fall of different peoples.
On the other hand, Tialon's section really stands alone, and seemed like it was out of place. I definitely enjoyed it, but maybe it was better suited for a novella. It gives a bit of information regarding Prince Dasya. However, this character is barely in the plot.
I'll be honest. For much of Tav's section, the first part of the book, I was trying to grab onto some strings of the plot. Like with Stranger, the world-building is so dense and heavy.
I can't underscore how dense the book can read at times. It's like my eyes were stuck in some sticky, I don't know how to properly explain this.
I couldn't keep track of all the characters in Tav's section.
When I got to Tialon's part it was a welcome relief, as she lived in a little self-contained world. Her life as the daughter of priest was rather fascinating.
Seren's section was amazing. The structure is looser, more poetic, focusing on feelings.
Then when I got to Siski's section all the pieces started to click as to what the heck was happening in Tav's part. It was kind of too late, but I'm glad it did come together at the end.
The style of the book is to explain very little and to hit you over the head with in depth world-building. But the writing is wonderful and the characters are fascinating.
Yet, this isn't a book that has a lot of dialogue. It summarizes a lot of what happens, so it's even more condensed. Most fantasy authors could take what is in this book and make it into 3 books easily.
I'm encouraged by Samatar's work so far, but it's so dang hard to read. Almost like reading a classic.
This is a frustrating book to rate. There were times it was as 2 star book, struggling to capture my attention, and other times it was a 5 star book, full of rich poetic language and characters. I am kind of throwing my hands up and giving it 4 stars for the technical writing skills alone.
The Winged Histories takes place in the Empire of Olondria around the same time as its predecessor. It's divided into four parts: The History of - the Sword, the Stone, Music, and, Flight. Each section is a different female narrator. Tav, a noblewoman who leads a rebellion; Tialon, the daughter of the Priest of the Stone (she has a brief appearance in Stranger); Seren, lover of Tav and part of a nomadic people; and Siski, sister to Tav, who is a pawn in a political game for her aunt.
Tav, Seren, and Siski's plots intertwine well to form a narrative of a grand political scheme and how the lives of women are affected by war and the rise and fall of different peoples.
On the other hand, Tialon's section really stands alone, and seemed like it was out of place. I definitely enjoyed it, but maybe it was better suited for a novella. It gives a bit of information regarding Prince Dasya. However, this character is barely in the plot.
I'll be honest. For much of Tav's section, the first part of the book, I was trying to grab onto some strings of the plot. Like with Stranger, the world-building is so dense and heavy.
I can't underscore how dense the book can read at times. It's like my eyes were stuck in some sticky, I don't know how to properly explain this.
I couldn't keep track of all the characters in Tav's section.
When I got to Tialon's part it was a welcome relief, as she lived in a little self-contained world. Her life as the daughter of priest was rather fascinating.
Seren's section was amazing. The structure is looser, more poetic, focusing on feelings.
Then when I got to Siski's section all the pieces started to click as to what the heck was happening in Tav's part. It was kind of too late, but I'm glad it did come together at the end.
The style of the book is to explain very little and to hit you over the head with in depth world-building. But the writing is wonderful and the characters are fascinating.
Yet, this isn't a book that has a lot of dialogue. It summarizes a lot of what happens, so it's even more condensed. Most fantasy authors could take what is in this book and make it into 3 books easily.
I'm encouraged by Samatar's work so far, but it's so dang hard to read. Almost like reading a classic.