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A review by mmetacarpals
The Last of the Renshai by Mickey Zucker Reichert
3.75
I was gifted this book by my sister who saw the cover and the word "wizards" and thought it would be something I would enjoy, and I did! it was very much a 90's fantasy--- which isn't a mark against at all--- it just has that specific vibe that 90's epic fantasy has. I liked the Norse mythology influences, though I feel like they were a bit underplayed. Even though Valhalla played a major role in the religion and day to day life of one of our main characters, I still felt as though Reichert could have been doing more with the Norse influences. The gods were mentioned as being actual deities (as evidenced by the wizards) but they didn't seem to have any actual power or influence over the world.
I thought that characters were interesting and lovable. I especially liked Mitrian. She's a badass woman with a big, demonically possessed sword, and I love that for her. (The mental image of a heavily pregnant teenage girl with a huge broadsword is particularly fun.) Rache's character arc is something I haven't seen much in fantasy from this time period, as he grapples with an overcomes the disadvantages of his disability. The horse-as-a-mobility-aid worked really well for me, and I thought it was a unique approach to that kind of character and arc. Arduwyn was another guy who I just really enjoyed reading about. He's a hunter, he's in love with his best friend's wife, he is a borderline conman, he's a coward--- he has a lot going on. Unfortunately, other characters kind of melt into the background. Colbey in particular seemed dreadfully under-utilized. I imagine he'll take center stage in future books, but in this one, he was barely a player, which is strange because supposedly he has a whole prophecy about him. Speaking of...
The Great War. The first page of the book lays out a prophecy about this "great war" that could destroy the whole world. This war happens within the last fifth of the book. The majority of the book is about Rache and Garn and Mitrian all figuring out their complicated feelings towards each other, home, and the idea of family with some fluffy scenes and sword fights thrown in. The war subplot occasionally shows up in a few sporadic chapters about a bard singing peaceful songs to the warlike Easterners, but, other than that, it doesn't play a role until randomly everyone is told that the war has begun and they need to go fight in it.
And the Easterners... Reichert posits the Easterners as an inherently evil race made for the purpose of war. The have to fight, they hate the peaceful songs, and they will go to war. And yet, this idea is completely incongruent with how she positions the Renshai. The Renshai have killed whole clans of people, but when Arduwyn confronts Colbey and says that he believes that the Renshai are killers, Colbey tells him that is just his backwards racist thinking (pg. 323). Colbey tells him to have some grace for the Renshai because they aren't as bad as the racist Northmen make them out to be, but this grace is not extended to the Easterners or the Leukenyans, who are vicious cultists who call anyone who does not follow their god "infidels." So that's not coding for anything... Reichert just seems to misunderstand the points she makes in her own book and paints a very hypocritical view of her own world, which is really quite sad because I enjoy the story other than that. I suppose it's a good thing that the Easterners don't really seem to play that big a role in the book, just like the Great War.
So, overall 3.75 stars. I rate for enjoyment, craft, and real life implications. The story was good--- I really like a character focused story, even if the plot meanders--- but the politics were very much of their time. I think I'll give book 2 a shot, but we'll see how that goes.
I thought that characters were interesting and lovable. I especially liked Mitrian. She's a badass woman with a big, demonically possessed sword, and I love that for her. (The mental image of a heavily pregnant teenage girl with a huge broadsword is particularly fun.) Rache's character arc is something I haven't seen much in fantasy from this time period, as he grapples with an overcomes the disadvantages of his disability. The horse-as-a-mobility-aid worked really well for me, and I thought it was a unique approach to that kind of character and arc. Arduwyn was another guy who I just really enjoyed reading about. He's a hunter, he's in love with his best friend's wife, he is a borderline conman, he's a coward--- he has a lot going on. Unfortunately, other characters kind of melt into the background. Colbey in particular seemed dreadfully under-utilized. I imagine he'll take center stage in future books, but in this one, he was barely a player, which is strange because supposedly he has a whole prophecy about him. Speaking of...
The Great War. The first page of the book lays out a prophecy about this "great war" that could destroy the whole world. This war happens within the last fifth of the book. The majority of the book is about Rache and Garn and Mitrian all figuring out their complicated feelings towards each other, home, and the idea of family with some fluffy scenes and sword fights thrown in. The war subplot occasionally shows up in a few sporadic chapters about a bard singing peaceful songs to the warlike Easterners, but, other than that, it doesn't play a role until randomly everyone is told that the war has begun and they need to go fight in it.
And the Easterners... Reichert posits the Easterners as an inherently evil race made for the purpose of war. The have to fight, they hate the peaceful songs, and they will go to war. And yet, this idea is completely incongruent with how she positions the Renshai. The Renshai have killed whole clans of people, but when Arduwyn confronts Colbey and says that he believes that the Renshai are killers, Colbey tells him that is just his backwards racist thinking (pg. 323). Colbey tells him to have some grace for the Renshai because they aren't as bad as the racist Northmen make them out to be, but this grace is not extended to the Easterners or the Leukenyans, who are vicious cultists who call anyone who does not follow their god "infidels." So that's not coding for anything... Reichert just seems to misunderstand the points she makes in her own book and paints a very hypocritical view of her own world, which is really quite sad because I enjoy the story other than that. I suppose it's a good thing that the Easterners don't really seem to play that big a role in the book, just like the Great War.
So, overall 3.75 stars. I rate for enjoyment, craft, and real life implications. The story was good--- I really like a character focused story, even if the plot meanders--- but the politics were very much of their time. I think I'll give book 2 a shot, but we'll see how that goes.