A review by callmeren
Shadow and Betrayal by Daniel Abraham

2.0

Found this seried via rec thread on reddit. Urgh. 1. Too heavy 2. Too fond of cheating. Not actually magical enough to warrant the fantasy in epic fantasy (by that I mean we see the andat use their powers exactly five times in the whole volume), though the idea/scope of the thing IS epic. The whole series encompasses a single person's lifetime, after all. But it's not THAT awe-inspiring. Also, the amount of cheating in this book is repetitive and cringe-worthy. I didn't really get the point of cheating in the first book, except to drive a wedge between the two male characters. Which would have made more sense if the girl didn't initiate it. It was kinda sad how Liat was just tossed around and used by ALL the males around her, while she just drifted along as a plot instrument. At least the second book's main female character was interesting, though I'm uncomfortable with how her efforts to become an independent woman slowly devolve into making her a helpless woman. Eek. I'm dreading the next volume, if only because I'm waiting for cheating to show up. Again.

Honestly, I was more curious about the andat than any of the other characters. Hershai and Seedless were fascinating characters. I also wished Stone-Made-Soft got more characterization. Otherwise, there's a lot of men doing what men in epic fantasy are usually concerned about, while the women drift along without any agency whatsoever. Ick.