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A review by angrywombat
Sunset Mantle by Alter S. Reiss
4.0
I was REALLY impressed by this little story. It packs more into these few hundred pages than most fantasy tomes manage in a whole trilogy of bricks.
Cete is our PoV - a disgraced, over the hill soldier looking for work - and just when he was about to leave a city on the brink of trouble he meets a blind weaver and her beautiful handiwork... and decides to stay. Then he gets drawn into political machinations which are threatening his new-found home.
I loved this story as it was all personal - everything was about the stakes as they effected Cete or the people he cared about, even though there is a whole world of politics, treason, strange lore and other things going on just beyond sight :) The way it was written made me feel it was something almost "old testament": the religion and its obsession with laws and contracts. Also the setup with walled cities and the fields of barley and olives... I was picturing something almost babylonian! The relationship between Cete and Marelle (the blind weaver) was beautiful and free of drama - trust and mutual empathy is the basis of this relationship, and it shows.
I heartily recommend this - even if you dont like it so much it will be over and done with in a couple of days :) But I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :)
I gotta give this a 4/5. I would actually have been happier if this were a "full sized epic", as it did feel very rushed at times - there is a LOT packed into this tiny book.
Cete is our PoV - a disgraced, over the hill soldier looking for work - and just when he was about to leave a city on the brink of trouble he meets a blind weaver and her beautiful handiwork... and decides to stay. Then he gets drawn into political machinations which are threatening his new-found home.
I loved this story as it was all personal - everything was about the stakes as they effected Cete or the people he cared about, even though there is a whole world of politics, treason, strange lore and other things going on just beyond sight :) The way it was written made me feel it was something almost "old testament": the religion and its obsession with laws and contracts. Also the setup with walled cities and the fields of barley and olives... I was picturing something almost babylonian! The relationship between Cete and Marelle (the blind weaver) was beautiful and free of drama - trust and mutual empathy is the basis of this relationship, and it shows.
I heartily recommend this - even if you dont like it so much it will be over and done with in a couple of days :) But I think you'll be pleasantly surprised :)
I gotta give this a 4/5. I would actually have been happier if this were a "full sized epic", as it did feel very rushed at times - there is a LOT packed into this tiny book.