A review by dr_dr_olshakes
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Lush, verdant, earnest, fantastical, yet amazingly grounded in the realities of violence, poverty, and the cruelty of power. Power and love, and the love of power and the power of love, are the core of this novel. It's such an incredible journey and has an ending that is both somber and revelatory.

I'm not a fantasy reader but by God this is how you do fantasy. 

I keep thinking about the cruelty of the moon empress and how by all rights, she should have been the foil to the emperor's terrorizing. But she's not, she's the parallel. Her cruelty and callousness, and the death she brought, are a demonstration of the wide reach of tyranny- she's not the savior, she's not even the alternative. She's part of the cause. 

Also of note, is the tenderness of the love story. 

Also also of note, is the way that the tortoises each sought the river in pursuit of that one perfect memory. 

Just...what a joy to read.

OH!! And a special shout out to the narrator who fucking KILLED this performance holy shit

AND!!!! We have some SPECTACULAR cannibalism.