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wilderminds 's review for:
The Faithless
by C.L. Clark
I loved The Unbroken so much that I was frightened to read this book. How could it compare? I read The Unbroken more than a year ago, and still it seems that not a day goes by that I don’t think about Touraine, or Luca, or Pruett, or Jaghotai, or - you get the picture. I was afraid that The Faithless would fall prey to that dreaded second book syndrome.
But it didn’t, not even a little bit. The Faithless blows the world of The Unbroken wide open: where The Unbroken was narrow in scope, focusing only on the desert colony of Qazāl as Luca comes with the Sands, her colonial brigade, to survey, The Faithless shows us a wide world all tied through trade, blood, or war to the imperial seat of Balladaire. We meet Taargen princes and priests, travel across the wide Shālan desert to the colony of Masridān, wander through the slums of La Chaise, and walk the golden fields of Champs d’Or.
I was so excited to finally see Balladaire, and meet characters mentioned in The Unbroken like the duke and Sabine! I loved Sabine in particular - she’s irreverent, full of herself, and bold, a glimpse at who Touraine might have been if she was raised by Jaghotai and not the harsh Balladarian empire and General Cantic. In hindsight, it’s hilarious that Luca spends much of book 1 wondering what Sabine would do if she was there, and then as soon as we meet the marquise, it’s apparent that the answer is “cause problems on purpose”. I think she also takes the prize for most sexual innuendo involving a sword of any character ever written, and she completely unironically describes herself as “charming and handsome”. And yet she’s a fully realized character and a self-proclaimed coward with an inner struggle that dances masterfully around the edge of the page. Her complicated history and relationship with Luca added so much to the book. There was one Sabine moment that made me scream out loud - you will know exactly which one when you read it, I promise.
The book’s central question comes as a gut-punch, spoken by the young Qazāli servant Ghadin to Touraine - “Why did you let him do that to you?” She’s asking why Touraine let the duke regent humiliate her, but Touraine’s response - “Sometimes you just have to” - calls back to the first book, when Touraine was caught between Rogan, Cantic, and Luca herself. Why did Touraine aid in the brutal subjugation of her own people, the execution of her uncle, the deaths of Sands soldiers under her command? Why was she so eager to please Cantic even if it meant betraying her own? And why has she come back to Balladaire?
This question resonates throughout the entire book. It’s a question of agency, one that every character has to answer for themselves, certainly not just Touraine. Luca also has to confront this question within herself - is she as innocent as she thinks in the subjugation of Qazāl and all of the Balladairan colonies? Are her small kindnesses to the Qazālis in Balladaire enough to make up for being the heir to a brutal colonial empire? The emptiness of Luca’s well-intentioned gestures is laid bare throughout the book - why does she let her uncle do the things that he does? And how far is she willing to go in order to stop him? The princess spends much of this book moving from impossible decision to impossible decision, somehow managing to let people down no matter which way she turns. Her point of view is beautifully claustrophobic - as the world widens for the reader, Luca’s own world is narrowing. There are only so many options available to her, and it seems as though her allies are dropping like flies….
CL Clark is an absolute master of characterization and point of view. Each character’s chapters are filled with their own unique markers, from the haziness and poetry of Pruett’s mind to Fili’s youthful ideals to Touraine’s constant feeling that she is out of place. The romance was messy, stressful, and dramatic - the will-they-won’t-theys of it all had me on the edge of my seat as much as any of the other conflicts. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I liked this book even more than The Unbroken. It’s definitely cemented Clark as one of my favorite authors, and I can’t wait to see where book 3 takes the story!
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the eARC!
But it didn’t, not even a little bit. The Faithless blows the world of The Unbroken wide open: where The Unbroken was narrow in scope, focusing only on the desert colony of Qazāl as Luca comes with the Sands, her colonial brigade, to survey, The Faithless shows us a wide world all tied through trade, blood, or war to the imperial seat of Balladaire. We meet Taargen princes and priests, travel across the wide Shālan desert to the colony of Masridān, wander through the slums of La Chaise, and walk the golden fields of Champs d’Or.
I was so excited to finally see Balladaire, and meet characters mentioned in The Unbroken like the duke and Sabine! I loved Sabine in particular - she’s irreverent, full of herself, and bold, a glimpse at who Touraine might have been if she was raised by Jaghotai and not the harsh Balladarian empire and General Cantic. In hindsight, it’s hilarious that Luca spends much of book 1 wondering what Sabine would do if she was there, and then as soon as we meet the marquise, it’s apparent that the answer is “cause problems on purpose”. I think she also takes the prize for most sexual innuendo involving a sword of any character ever written, and she completely unironically describes herself as “charming and handsome”. And yet she’s a fully realized character and a self-proclaimed coward with an inner struggle that dances masterfully around the edge of the page. Her complicated history and relationship with Luca added so much to the book. There was one Sabine moment that made me scream out loud - you will know exactly which one when you read it, I promise.
The book’s central question comes as a gut-punch, spoken by the young Qazāli servant Ghadin to Touraine - “Why did you let him do that to you?” She’s asking why Touraine let the duke regent humiliate her, but Touraine’s response - “Sometimes you just have to” - calls back to the first book, when Touraine was caught between Rogan, Cantic, and Luca herself. Why did Touraine aid in the brutal subjugation of her own people, the execution of her uncle, the deaths of Sands soldiers under her command? Why was she so eager to please Cantic even if it meant betraying her own? And why has she come back to Balladaire?
This question resonates throughout the entire book. It’s a question of agency, one that every character has to answer for themselves, certainly not just Touraine. Luca also has to confront this question within herself - is she as innocent as she thinks in the subjugation of Qazāl and all of the Balladairan colonies? Are her small kindnesses to the Qazālis in Balladaire enough to make up for being the heir to a brutal colonial empire? The emptiness of Luca’s well-intentioned gestures is laid bare throughout the book - why does she let her uncle do the things that he does? And how far is she willing to go in order to stop him? The princess spends much of this book moving from impossible decision to impossible decision, somehow managing to let people down no matter which way she turns. Her point of view is beautifully claustrophobic - as the world widens for the reader, Luca’s own world is narrowing. There are only so many options available to her, and it seems as though her allies are dropping like flies….
CL Clark is an absolute master of characterization and point of view. Each character’s chapters are filled with their own unique markers, from the haziness and poetry of Pruett’s mind to Fili’s youthful ideals to Touraine’s constant feeling that she is out of place. The romance was messy, stressful, and dramatic - the will-they-won’t-theys of it all had me on the edge of my seat as much as any of the other conflicts. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I liked this book even more than The Unbroken. It’s definitely cemented Clark as one of my favorite authors, and I can’t wait to see where book 3 takes the story!
Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for the eARC!