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A review by e_flah
Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Silk Fire had me hooked and excited for the first 35-40% of the story but started to lose me with lack of substantive world-building and rushed pace.
To start with what I enjoyed about Silk Fire, Koré’s growth over the course of the story was well done. His choices could be frustrating at times but they all seemed grounded by his past experiences, which made them believable. He makes strides forward then reacts to situations in ways informed by his past traumas. I was really rooting for Koré to learn to trust others and open himself up to loving, healthy relationships. I wish a little more of this growth had been seen on-page, rather than sort of implied, but still enjoyed seeing Koré grow over the course of Silk Fire.
There are lots of neat, creative details about life in Jadzia that make it seem like the story is set in a well-developed world but didn’t really hold up to close scrutiny. I don’t mind SFF that throws readers in the deep end and leaves them to figure out how things work but there needs to be some pay-off for that. I finished Silk Fire still puzzling over the basic geography of the setting – is the street/ground level accessible to ordinary people? How does travel between these giant buildings work? How many districts are there in total? The details were really great and helped catch my interest in the beginning but more explanation about how things worked would’ve gone a long way to give the plot more meaning to the reader. One example is that a key plot arc is Koré’s quest to get Akizeké elected as the next Judge of War District. However, it’s unclear what the Judge of War’s duties are and why the position is considered the most powerful in the district. The Judge controls a big store of Essence, which makes people stronger and more beautiful, but we don’t learn what they do with all of this magical power.
There is no time to breathe in this story. There are so many elements competing for the reader’s attention in Silk Fire that it’s hard to really take in them all. Koré is basically pulled from one crisis to another, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to see his relationships with other characters develop. While I love a fast-paced story, I wish Silk Fire had slowed down a little bit to make room for additional world-building and character development of important side characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
To start with what I enjoyed about Silk Fire, Koré’s growth over the course of the story was well done. His choices could be frustrating at times but they all seemed grounded by his past experiences, which made them believable. He makes strides forward then reacts to situations in ways informed by his past traumas. I was really rooting for Koré to learn to trust others and open himself up to loving, healthy relationships. I wish a little more of this growth had been seen on-page, rather than sort of implied, but still enjoyed seeing Koré grow over the course of Silk Fire.
There are lots of neat, creative details about life in Jadzia that make it seem like the story is set in a well-developed world but didn’t really hold up to close scrutiny. I don’t mind SFF that throws readers in the deep end and leaves them to figure out how things work but there needs to be some pay-off for that. I finished Silk Fire still puzzling over the basic geography of the setting – is the street/ground level accessible to ordinary people? How does travel between these giant buildings work? How many districts are there in total? The details were really great and helped catch my interest in the beginning but more explanation about how things worked would’ve gone a long way to give the plot more meaning to the reader. One example is that a key plot arc is Koré’s quest to get Akizeké elected as the next Judge of War District. However, it’s unclear what the Judge of War’s duties are and why the position is considered the most powerful in the district. The Judge controls a big store of Essence, which makes people stronger and more beautiful, but we don’t learn what they do with all of this magical power.
There is no time to breathe in this story. There are so many elements competing for the reader’s attention in Silk Fire that it’s hard to really take in them all. Koré is basically pulled from one crisis to another, which doesn’t leave a lot of time to see his relationships with other characters develop. While I love a fast-paced story, I wish Silk Fire had slowed down a little bit to make room for additional world-building and character development of important side characters.
Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Sexism