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A review by fairymodmother
The Way of Thorn and Thunder by Daniel Heath Justice
3.0
I think this book is important, and, if things were a bit different, it would be a fantasy classic like LOTR and Malazan (namely, racism and that this was published through a university press that makes it hard to come by). It's hugely epic, weaving in so much mythology from the Cherokee people as well as the uncountable loss they experienced during the Trail of Tears. Before I get into my reactions, I'd like to mention that there were also a few factors that got in the way of my ability to fall into the story that are in no way the book's fault, so let's start there.
1. I read this as an American at the end of 2020, when the pandemic and politics were at a level that made following any other story difficult.
2. This is an omnibus of what I believe is actually 2 or 3 books. I don't tend to read series straight through--absence, fondness, etc.
3. I had to take an unceremonious break to read a library book with a due date at an unfortunate stopping point.
4. I finished under a lot of time pressure as I'm about 4 books behind what I promised to have read by now.
So...yeah, if things had been different, likely some of my feelings would be, too. But I still found a lot of greatness in this book.
CONTENT WARNING:
Important and great things:
-The mythology. This is a whole world. So often we get bits and pieces--one feature creature or one mythic hero. What makes this truly epic is that it's not, it's a whole pantheon. I was impressed with how the author went and made this accessible to others, too. He deftly makes it clear that elves and fairies and all the rest aren't just European creations, but then introduces people unlike any I've ever encountered before that were truly magical to spend time with. I think, though of course I can't know, that he also hints at a lot of "in group" tales, too--stuff that's big and meaningful to other Cherokee or indigenous Americans, that aren't For Us White People, and I loved being surrounded in a story that grand.
-The scope. Again so often we get one rising action, one true motivation, one quest. This really tackled a lot: coming of age, the rise of religion, found family, political intrigues...and not just from one POV, either! Really what I think is most impressive here is that it sort of effortlessly says that no group is a monolith, there's never one reason something happens, and the story changes on the teller. That's...breathtakingly hard for me to think about doing, and here it was just the assumption behind the story.
-Accepting. I'm on a roll with books that just accept that the world is bigger than the binary, in any sense. It was just so...refreshing and lovely to spend time with people who are comfortable being their authentic selves, and have everyone around them also accept them. The full gamut here--two-spirit folks, old, young, people with disabilities, people with different religions, poly families, found families, adoption, mixed races...all of them find a place among our protagonists. More of this, please!
-Poignant moments. There were several searing lines, and two really powerful scenes for me. I never actually tear up at books, and the scene where Tobhi realizes he has work to do made me actually shed tears. Some exceptional writing and emotional depth to this book/series.
Things that detracted for me:
-Overly wordy. I got hung up several times because whole paragraphs weren't helpful for me. Word choices got a bit florid, several darlings that should have been culled for the whole remain. I think this was probably a cycle too many.
-Continuity errors. Really I think some of this just needed more editing, like above. But there were several things in later cycles where I had to stop and let things go, because they were canonically not true.
-Dialogue. A lot of the dialogue was used to infodump in unnatural ways. Several times I thought to myself, "they'd never say that" because the portrait painted of their true hearts was more extensive and expressive than what they said, which might be true to life, but made for ragged reading.
-The last third. I had a bunch of problems with structure here. 1. We change structures from more or less linear to having flashbacks, but the flashbacks serve to me more as deus ex machinas rather than filling in knowledge we're dying to know. 2. Way too many characters introduced and explained too late in the game. 3. Summary ending. This is an 800 page epic, not Animal House.
So, a really uneven read for me with soaring heights, really important themes and messages, and a lot of clunkiness. In terms of merit and importance, this is not something to rate with stars--I think this story is CRUCIAL. In terms of me reading a fantasy novel, it was okay. Likely if I'd had a different situation for my reading, I'd have been able to look past more, but as it is, all I can say in terms of stars is that I liked it.
1. I read this as an American at the end of 2020, when the pandemic and politics were at a level that made following any other story difficult.
2. This is an omnibus of what I believe is actually 2 or 3 books. I don't tend to read series straight through--absence, fondness, etc.
3. I had to take an unceremonious break to read a library book with a due date at an unfortunate stopping point.
4. I finished under a lot of time pressure as I'm about 4 books behind what I promised to have read by now.
So...yeah, if things had been different, likely some of my feelings would be, too. But I still found a lot of greatness in this book.
CONTENT WARNING:
Spoiler
genocide, loss of loved ones, forced bareness, rape, torture, body horror (including eyes), harm to infantsImportant and great things:
-The mythology. This is a whole world. So often we get bits and pieces--one feature creature or one mythic hero. What makes this truly epic is that it's not, it's a whole pantheon. I was impressed with how the author went and made this accessible to others, too. He deftly makes it clear that elves and fairies and all the rest aren't just European creations, but then introduces people unlike any I've ever encountered before that were truly magical to spend time with. I think, though of course I can't know, that he also hints at a lot of "in group" tales, too--stuff that's big and meaningful to other Cherokee or indigenous Americans, that aren't For Us White People, and I loved being surrounded in a story that grand.
-The scope. Again so often we get one rising action, one true motivation, one quest. This really tackled a lot: coming of age, the rise of religion, found family, political intrigues...and not just from one POV, either! Really what I think is most impressive here is that it sort of effortlessly says that no group is a monolith, there's never one reason something happens, and the story changes on the teller. That's...breathtakingly hard for me to think about doing, and here it was just the assumption behind the story.
-Accepting. I'm on a roll with books that just accept that the world is bigger than the binary, in any sense. It was just so...refreshing and lovely to spend time with people who are comfortable being their authentic selves, and have everyone around them also accept them. The full gamut here--two-spirit folks, old, young, people with disabilities, people with different religions, poly families, found families, adoption, mixed races...all of them find a place among our protagonists. More of this, please!
-Poignant moments. There were several searing lines, and two really powerful scenes for me. I never actually tear up at books, and the scene where Tobhi realizes he has work to do made me actually shed tears. Some exceptional writing and emotional depth to this book/series.
Things that detracted for me:
-Overly wordy. I got hung up several times because whole paragraphs weren't helpful for me. Word choices got a bit florid, several darlings that should have been culled for the whole remain. I think this was probably a cycle too many.
-Continuity errors. Really I think some of this just needed more editing, like above. But there were several things in later cycles where I had to stop and let things go, because they were canonically not true.
-Dialogue. A lot of the dialogue was used to infodump in unnatural ways. Several times I thought to myself, "they'd never say that" because the portrait painted of their true hearts was more extensive and expressive than what they said, which might be true to life, but made for ragged reading.
-The last third. I had a bunch of problems with structure here. 1. We change structures from more or less linear to having flashbacks, but the flashbacks serve to me more as deus ex machinas rather than filling in knowledge we're dying to know. 2. Way too many characters introduced and explained too late in the game. 3. Summary ending. This is an 800 page epic, not Animal House.
So, a really uneven read for me with soaring heights, really important themes and messages, and a lot of clunkiness. In terms of merit and importance, this is not something to rate with stars--I think this story is CRUCIAL. In terms of me reading a fantasy novel, it was okay. Likely if I'd had a different situation for my reading, I'd have been able to look past more, but as it is, all I can say in terms of stars is that I liked it.