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A review by the_broken_cog
Winter's King by Bryce O'Connor
2.0
I liked most of this book; it constantly keeps you on your toes and invested and caring about the characters involved.
However, I do have a bit of a sticking point. There are clear ways of marking a person or faction as good or evil, and Bryce O'Connor usually does a pretty good job of approaching this with nuance. His use of rape in this book, however, is about as blunt as it gets. The one nearly-explicit description we get with is sickening as it should be. I felt physically ill, and the couple of other times that it was abbreviated certainly didn't help.
It is also, however, a lazy way of showing how evil a group is. All of the subtle shades of grey that O'Connor approaches with the Laori philosophy in such a dark setting is noticably absent here. Reducing something like rape to a plot point does not sit well with me. I am continuing with the series, but if the ham-handed handling of the topic continues I will certainly be mentioning it here.
However, I do have a bit of a sticking point. There are clear ways of marking a person or faction as good or evil, and Bryce O'Connor usually does a pretty good job of approaching this with nuance. His use of rape in this book, however, is about as blunt as it gets. The one nearly-explicit description we get with
Spoiler
Syrah in the general's tent - which was blessedly cut off before it actually went all the way -It is also, however, a lazy way of showing how evil a group is. All of the subtle shades of grey that O'Connor approaches with the Laori philosophy in such a dark setting is noticably absent here. Reducing something like rape to a plot point does not sit well with me. I am continuing with the series, but if the ham-handed handling of the topic continues I will certainly be mentioning it here.