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A review by queer_bookwyrm
Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: violence, death, animal death, blood, racism, racial slurs
Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland is a historical fantasy based on the Great Depression/Dust Bowl era. Just like her Dread Nation duology, Ireland has killed it (pun intended)! I'm loving the historical revisionism with a fantasy/horror element. Like her previous duology, this book tackles institutional racism, but also confronts the very real fact that some black folks also help to uphold these structures.
We follow Laura, a lesbian mage who just wants her mage license so she can become a great baker, raveling wonderful and tasty treats for important people. In order to do this she has to apprentice under a licensed mage, and joins the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps, Black Auxiliary. This government group of mages are treated like an expendable clean up crew, since black folks practicing the mystic arts are considered to be less important than Mechomancy, the type of magic white people wield to power mechanical constructs.
Joining the Auxiliary turns out to be more than Laura bargained for when she and a group of mages are sent to Ohio to fix the Ohio Deep Blight, an area the Great Rust has made difficult to live in and difficult to ravel in. What they find is that Ohio is no ordinary Blight, and that something they thought had disappeared in history is back and killing black mages for power.
I loved Laura's character. She's snarky and smart, and hopelessly attracted to pretty ladies. She turns out to be way more powerful than she knew she could be. The magic system is very cool. It's based on African root working, and has different disciplines for working the Dynamism: Cerebromancy, Faunomancy, Floramancy, Illusion, Pavomancy, Petramancy, Sanamancy, Figuramancy, Necromancy, and Wytchcraft (the use of all the disciplines together). In this story, the Klan used Necromancy to control, kill, and exploit enslaved Africans.
I love having more historical fiction following Black people that isn't about slavery. We also get a couple of gay male side characters, but romance is not really part of the plot. I kind of wish we had a second book to follow up with Laura after everything happened. I don't want to spoil things, so just go read this book!
Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland is a historical fantasy based on the Great Depression/Dust Bowl era. Just like her Dread Nation duology, Ireland has killed it (pun intended)! I'm loving the historical revisionism with a fantasy/horror element. Like her previous duology, this book tackles institutional racism, but also confronts the very real fact that some black folks also help to uphold these structures.
We follow Laura, a lesbian mage who just wants her mage license so she can become a great baker, raveling wonderful and tasty treats for important people. In order to do this she has to apprentice under a licensed mage, and joins the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps, Black Auxiliary. This government group of mages are treated like an expendable clean up crew, since black folks practicing the mystic arts are considered to be less important than Mechomancy, the type of magic white people wield to power mechanical constructs.
Joining the Auxiliary turns out to be more than Laura bargained for when she and a group of mages are sent to Ohio to fix the Ohio Deep Blight, an area the Great Rust has made difficult to live in and difficult to ravel in. What they find is that Ohio is no ordinary Blight, and that something they thought had disappeared in history is back and killing black mages for power.
I loved Laura's character. She's snarky and smart, and hopelessly attracted to pretty ladies. She turns out to be way more powerful than she knew she could be. The magic system is very cool. It's based on African root working, and has different disciplines for working the Dynamism: Cerebromancy, Faunomancy, Floramancy, Illusion, Pavomancy, Petramancy, Sanamancy, Figuramancy, Necromancy, and Wytchcraft (the use of all the disciplines together). In this story, the Klan used Necromancy to control, kill, and exploit enslaved Africans.
I love having more historical fiction following Black people that isn't about slavery. We also get a couple of gay male side characters, but romance is not really part of the plot. I kind of wish we had a second book to follow up with Laura after everything happened. I don't want to spoil things, so just go read this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Blood
Moderate: Violence