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A review by ann_aguirre
The Eye of Night by Pauline J. Alama
5.0
This is the most underrated / unknown fantasy novel of the decade. It is, quite simply, astonishingly beautiful. When was the last time I read an epic fantasy that felt truly epic? When was the last time a book like that reached into my chest, grabbed hold of my heart, and squeezed until I laughed, smiled, wept, and utterly forgot the world? I cannot recall, to be honest.
Rarely, after I read something, I’m left just aching. This is one of those books. I have to write about it; I have to try to articulate what it was that has left me feeling shaken and wholly inadequate. This book is… miraculous. It’s perfect. At one point, I was sobbing so hard, I had to stop and blow my nose, and yet I had a fine, bright kernel of hope in me that the author wouldn’t let it end like that. I believed in her — and oh, she did not let me down. Like the rest of the book, it was flawless, wrung to the last note of pathos and precision and heartbreaking rightness.
The writing is… beyond lovely. And the romance? You will never, ever read anything that touches you more. I am struggling for words that will not give away too much of the beauty because I want all you to experience it, just as I did: hopeful that you will like it, but not expecting the breadth or scope or depth of its wonder. You simply cannot imagine its beauty until you experience it for yourself.
So if you like romantic fantasy of epic scope, with heartbreak and sacrifice and true love, layered with rich mythos, complex world-building, and tender symbolism, then this is the book for you.
Rarely, after I read something, I’m left just aching. This is one of those books. I have to write about it; I have to try to articulate what it was that has left me feeling shaken and wholly inadequate. This book is… miraculous. It’s perfect. At one point, I was sobbing so hard, I had to stop and blow my nose, and yet I had a fine, bright kernel of hope in me that the author wouldn’t let it end like that. I believed in her — and oh, she did not let me down. Like the rest of the book, it was flawless, wrung to the last note of pathos and precision and heartbreaking rightness.
The writing is… beyond lovely. And the romance? You will never, ever read anything that touches you more. I am struggling for words that will not give away too much of the beauty because I want all you to experience it, just as I did: hopeful that you will like it, but not expecting the breadth or scope or depth of its wonder. You simply cannot imagine its beauty until you experience it for yourself.
So if you like romantic fantasy of epic scope, with heartbreak and sacrifice and true love, layered with rich mythos, complex world-building, and tender symbolism, then this is the book for you.