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liviajelliot 's review for:
Renia
by Karl Forshaw
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is by far the most original and unapologetic book I've read this year so far. Completely unexpected, beautifully written, full of thought, full of themes, always on the move, and incredibly well crafted.
Let me do a bit more of an explanation and proper review.
Renia (the book) is named after the main protagonist, Renia, who is a scholar. Nevertheless, the book often jumps between points-of-view; PoVs are not labelled (i.e., the chapter is not called as a character), and multiple times every chapter has multiple PoVs. The perspectives are diverse, and not every PoV is a main character; sometimes the book jumps towards a secondary character, telling part of their story or how they're experiencing the moment and coming back.
This structure keeps the story going, and helps the reader see how the threads of the plotline are weaved in together. Renia is not your traditional story, and trying to summarise it with tropes would be a disservice. It's different, innovative, and it'll grasp you and swirl you around as the plot unfolds and folds again.
Something to note is that the narrative is somehow non-conventional. Most of the story is written in third person past tense, but there are some segments of delusions/nightmares that are in third-person present tense. It worked well for me, because it gave the fragment an ethereal feel that conveyed the nightmare; it was very minimal in proportion to the book. A second character (with very few pages) also narrates in third person present tense, there are some flashbacks (all in italics so very easy to spot), and one or two letters, also very clearly presented.
The narrative was tight, but the prose flowed (I don't know how the author, Karl, does it). It sweeps you in from beat to beat in a seamless and engaging way. The world here is not your classical medieval fantasy, but more of what booktube is calling gaslamp—so, they have some tech, without being steampunk.
Something to note is that, and this is completely subjective, the descriptions of the characters and the environment are somewhat limited. Again, utterly subjective, but I would have loved more descriptions of the characters and the environment simply because I'm a sucker for those. That said, it was quite easy to imagine everything and follow the characters.
Another thing to credit the author with, is the world building. The setting is the country (state? region?) of Luna Ruinam. It is quite secretive, structured, with a god-like someone for ruler, and a very strange hierarchy. Things have happened in the past, and thus, as you read the book and the characters find themselves embroiled in the plot events, they begin to unravel those past events, and we see how things that happened so many years ago are also affecting the plot at "present" time.
The magic system (and how it intertwines with the political system) was very interesting albeit more on the soft side... but neither extremely soft, just loosely explained because most characters know little about it. Meaning, that it hinted at being a very complex system, but was not info-dumped—a very good presentation indeed.
The cast of characters is diverse, you get characters from all ages and backgrounds, a very nice share of female characters, with older (unbelievable to current books) women of 50-60+ in a variety of positions, from Hall Master to scholars, and even warriors. There are also some odd characters that are completely unexpected but wholesome and deep.
Ultimately, this is a book about consequences and fall outs, and the author handled that superbly. It's never preachy, never in-your-face. It is subtle, gentle, showing and never telling. Chef's kiss, really.
Now, you're probably wondering—why if I'm praising it, I'm giving it four stars. Basically for one particular event, and I'm going to keep this in spoilers. It does touch on some content warnings in the book, but I'll not be descriptive.
So, the first reason for this is that early in the book, when Renia is going through a difficult moment for a number of other plot-wise reasons, she finds out that she's pregnant. Renia is, early on, presented as Renia the Relentless, this intelligent woman who is also a very deft scribe, polished and neat in everything she does. It is also stated that she has a lover. Now, the fact that an intelligent woman can't suddenly realise that unprotected sex would leady to pregnancy, and that two months in (!!) she didn't realise her period wasn't coming nor her bodily changes? Overall, it was not very well presented, giving the feeling that it was there to hit Renia with everything bad.
Further into the plot, she uses magic for a good reason, the magic consumes lifeforce and she loses the pregnancy. It's completely unwilling, and Renia does have thoughts on it (she isn't unscathed)... but again, it felt as if meant to make it grimmer. Renia's guilt (due to other stuff) was, in my subjective opinion, enough to justify part of her desire to help this person.
Later on, the former lover (by now revealed to be quite violent and verbally abusive) tries to sexually assault Renia. It is handled discreetly, in terms of he slams her to a wall, attempts to lift her skirts, and Renia kicks him off with magic. Albeit it was handled as best as possible, I'd rather it would have been just a violent fight and nothing else.
As a woman, I'm morally exhausted from reading about these topics, so take this with a grain of salt. It is, perhaps, the most subjective part of this review.
Let me do a bit more of an explanation and proper review.
Renia (the book) is named after the main protagonist, Renia, who is a scholar. Nevertheless, the book often jumps between points-of-view; PoVs are not labelled (i.e., the chapter is not called as a character), and multiple times every chapter has multiple PoVs. The perspectives are diverse, and not every PoV is a main character; sometimes the book jumps towards a secondary character, telling part of their story or how they're experiencing the moment and coming back.
This structure keeps the story going, and helps the reader see how the threads of the plotline are weaved in together. Renia is not your traditional story, and trying to summarise it with tropes would be a disservice. It's different, innovative, and it'll grasp you and swirl you around as the plot unfolds and folds again.
Something to note is that the narrative is somehow non-conventional. Most of the story is written in third person past tense, but there are some segments of delusions/nightmares that are in third-person present tense. It worked well for me, because it gave the fragment an ethereal feel that conveyed the nightmare; it was very minimal in proportion to the book. A second character (with very few pages) also narrates in third person present tense, there are some flashbacks (all in italics so very easy to spot), and one or two letters, also very clearly presented.
The narrative was tight, but the prose flowed (I don't know how the author, Karl, does it). It sweeps you in from beat to beat in a seamless and engaging way. The world here is not your classical medieval fantasy, but more of what booktube is calling gaslamp—so, they have some tech, without being steampunk.
Something to note is that, and this is completely subjective, the descriptions of the characters and the environment are somewhat limited. Again, utterly subjective, but I would have loved more descriptions of the characters and the environment simply because I'm a sucker for those. That said, it was quite easy to imagine everything and follow the characters.
Another thing to credit the author with, is the world building. The setting is the country (state? region?) of Luna Ruinam. It is quite secretive, structured, with a god-like someone for ruler, and a very strange hierarchy. Things have happened in the past, and thus, as you read the book and the characters find themselves embroiled in the plot events, they begin to unravel those past events, and we see how things that happened so many years ago are also affecting the plot at "present" time.
The magic system (and how it intertwines with the political system) was very interesting albeit more on the soft side... but neither extremely soft, just loosely explained because most characters know little about it. Meaning, that it hinted at being a very complex system, but was not info-dumped—a very good presentation indeed.
The cast of characters is diverse, you get characters from all ages and backgrounds, a very nice share of female characters, with older (unbelievable to current books) women of 50-60+ in a variety of positions, from Hall Master to scholars, and even warriors. There are also some odd characters that are completely unexpected but wholesome and deep.
Ultimately, this is a book about consequences and fall outs, and the author handled that superbly. It's never preachy, never in-your-face. It is subtle, gentle, showing and never telling. Chef's kiss, really.
Now, you're probably wondering—why if I'm praising it, I'm giving it four stars. Basically for one particular event, and I'm going to keep this in spoilers. It does touch on some content warnings in the book, but I'll not be descriptive.
Further into the plot, she uses magic for a good reason, the magic consumes lifeforce and she loses the pregnancy. It's completely unwilling, and Renia does have thoughts on it (she isn't unscathed)... but again, it felt as if meant to make it grimmer. Renia's guilt (due to other stuff) was, in my subjective opinion, enough to justify part of her desire to help this person.
Later on, the former lover (by now revealed to be quite violent and verbally abusive) tries to sexually assault Renia. It is handled discreetly, in terms of he slams her to a wall, attempts to lift her skirts, and Renia kicks him off with magic. Albeit it was handled as best as possible, I'd rather it would have been just a violent fight and nothing else.
As a woman, I'm morally exhausted from reading about these topics, so take this with a grain of salt. It is, perhaps, the most subjective part of this review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Rape