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A review by wardenred
The High King's Golden Tongue by Megan Derr
adventurous
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
All feathers and pretty song, little prince. Is there anything of substance to you?
I'm pretty sure I've read this book before, but it was about a decade ago and I was in the hospital at a time. So I didn't retain much apart from the vague sense of liking it a lot. Upon this re-read, I still found it more enjoyable than not, but there were also a number of things that frustrated me to no end, most of them related to Sarrica. Don't get me wrong, initial clashing is half the fun of arrange marriage romances, so I don't blame him for his initial reactions to Allen, but the reasoning behind them made me grind my teeth. This guy is supposed to be a ruler! Moreover, he's supposed to be an *excellent* ruler, as we're told a few times by a few different people. So how the hell does he not understand what politics are and why they're important? I can only conclude that his right hand man Lesto actually does even more than is shown in the book, and that's the only reason the empire isn't falling apart. Because. Seriously. "Oh, I'm a soldier, I don't understand these weird songbird ways" — dude. You're also a king. You don't have to be great at it, by all means, feel free to delegate, but completely devaluing diplomacy as a concept? How are you still on the throne, I can't even.
Then after a few days of being nagged at by his closest friends and observing Allen, he decides to conclude that maybe, just maybe what Allen's proficient at is useful, but then he decides Allen is probably a bad unsafe guy who's going to manipulate him with his diplomatic skills. Which I could actually dig very much if we were talking about a younger character less experienced in rulership and not quite able to trust his inner circle, but this is a man so far in his thirties he's closer to forty and he's got an exceptionally good support system.
Then he finally looks past the biased first impression and sees Allen... after Allen has been imprisoned and tortured, and after revelations about the darker parts of Allen's past come to light as well. It's like Allen had to suffer to deserve a chance from Sarrica, and don't get me wrong, hurt/comfort is my favorite guilty pleasure and I'm all about characters really earning their happy endings. But something about how this was handled just doesn't sit well with me.
But wait, I'm not done!There's also the subject of Sarrica's kids. He barely interacts with them at all. He notes at one point that he needs to have a serious conversation about them with Allen because he wouldn't marry someone who dislikes children / would be bad for his kids. They barely touch upon this subject. He hastens the marriage and leaves. Allen does bond with the kids, but it happens off-page and Sarrica isn't a part of it at all. I would treat it as a plot hole, but you know what, it's consistent with this guy's character.
Finally—and that's more a narrative thing than a character thing, admittedly—I disliked how the subject of Sarrica's widowhood was handled. I would have much preferred it if he'd had a genuinely good relationship with his first husband and genuinely grieved a real good thing he'd had, then genuinely let go step by step. It would create perhaps a more complicated situation, but a more interesting one, reminiscent of the one in The Wolf & the Sparrow by Isabelle Adler, an arranged marriage with a widowed MC that I genuinely loved. Instead, we've got the first husband's brothers stepping up to state that the relationship was actually falling apart and they would've separated anyway, and that Sarrica was just ignoring it. Perhaps it's just me, but it made Sarrica even less sympathetic, because it reestablished him as someone clinging to whatever notions he'd once got in his head and not seeing things for what they are—for years. If it was grief that got him that way—clinging to what was left of the familiar, then shaking himself out of it when he saw how his behavior led to someone he's beginning to care about getting seriously hurt—I would be inclined to be more forgiving. And I think that's perhaps the picture the author was trying to paint, but those details about the first marriage really ruined it. Also, I felt like they were included to "justify" Sarrica and Allen's relationship, like there's anything wrong with eventually letting go and continuing to live after a devastating loss. Or like you're only allowed one real love per lifetime and anything else doesn't count.
But, hey! All this venting aside, I was really intrigued by the non-romance part of the plot with all those multiple moving parts clearly paving the way to more exciting adventures later in the series. I loved the setting: how big and sprawling it is, the queernormness of it, the approach to languages. So often in fantasy everyone just speaks some form of Common Tongue, but here, the languages really matter and the polyglot interpreters are highly valued. It's an aspect I found incredibly interesting and absolutely ate up. I also loved the cast of supporting characters in its entirety, especially Lesto, Rene, Tara, and Jac. I got unreasonably invested in the secondary romance subplot. Allen was a sweetheart and so interesting to follow. So I'll definitely continue with the series, I'll just resolve to keep grinding my teeth whenever Sarrica appears on the page. :D
I'm pretty sure I've read this book before, but it was about a decade ago and I was in the hospital at a time. So I didn't retain much apart from the vague sense of liking it a lot. Upon this re-read, I still found it more enjoyable than not, but there were also a number of things that frustrated me to no end, most of them related to Sarrica. Don't get me wrong, initial clashing is half the fun of arrange marriage romances, so I don't blame him for his initial reactions to Allen, but the reasoning behind them made me grind my teeth. This guy is supposed to be a ruler! Moreover, he's supposed to be an *excellent* ruler, as we're told a few times by a few different people. So how the hell does he not understand what politics are and why they're important? I can only conclude that his right hand man Lesto actually does even more than is shown in the book, and that's the only reason the empire isn't falling apart. Because. Seriously. "Oh, I'm a soldier, I don't understand these weird songbird ways" — dude. You're also a king. You don't have to be great at it, by all means, feel free to delegate, but completely devaluing diplomacy as a concept? How are you still on the throne, I can't even.
Then after a few days of being nagged at by his closest friends and observing Allen, he decides to conclude that maybe, just maybe what Allen's proficient at is useful, but then he decides Allen is probably a bad unsafe guy who's going to manipulate him with his diplomatic skills. Which I could actually dig very much if we were talking about a younger character less experienced in rulership and not quite able to trust his inner circle, but this is a man so far in his thirties he's closer to forty and he's got an exceptionally good support system.
Then he finally looks past the biased first impression and sees Allen... after Allen has been imprisoned and tortured, and after revelations about the darker parts of Allen's past come to light as well. It's like Allen had to suffer to deserve a chance from Sarrica, and don't get me wrong, hurt/comfort is my favorite guilty pleasure and I'm all about characters really earning their happy endings. But something about how this was handled just doesn't sit well with me.
But wait, I'm not done!
Finally—and that's more a narrative thing than a character thing, admittedly—I disliked how the subject of Sarrica's widowhood was handled. I would have much preferred it if he'd had a genuinely good relationship with his first husband and genuinely grieved a real good thing he'd had, then genuinely let go step by step. It would create perhaps a more complicated situation, but a more interesting one, reminiscent of the one in The Wolf & the Sparrow by Isabelle Adler, an arranged marriage with a widowed MC that I genuinely loved. Instead, we've got the first husband's brothers stepping up to state that the relationship was actually falling apart and they would've separated anyway, and that Sarrica was just ignoring it. Perhaps it's just me, but it made Sarrica even less sympathetic, because it reestablished him as someone clinging to whatever notions he'd once got in his head and not seeing things for what they are—for years. If it was grief that got him that way—clinging to what was left of the familiar, then shaking himself out of it when he saw how his behavior led to someone he's beginning to care about getting seriously hurt—I would be inclined to be more forgiving. And I think that's perhaps the picture the author was trying to paint, but those details about the first marriage really ruined it. Also, I felt like they were included to "justify" Sarrica and Allen's relationship, like there's anything wrong with eventually letting go and continuing to live after a devastating loss. Or like you're only allowed one real love per lifetime and anything else doesn't count.
But, hey! All this venting aside, I was really intrigued by the non-romance part of the plot with all those multiple moving parts clearly paving the way to more exciting adventures later in the series. I loved the setting: how big and sprawling it is, the queernormness of it, the approach to languages. So often in fantasy everyone just speaks some form of Common Tongue, but here, the languages really matter and the polyglot interpreters are highly valued. It's an aspect I found incredibly interesting and absolutely ate up. I also loved the cast of supporting characters in its entirety, especially Lesto, Rene, Tara, and Jac. I got unreasonably invested in the secondary romance subplot. Allen was a sweetheart and so interesting to follow. So I'll definitely continue with the series, I'll just resolve to keep grinding my teeth whenever Sarrica appears on the page. :D
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol