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asparagusfern 's review for:
The Spear Cuts Through Water
by Simon Jimenez
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One of the most interesting, beautiful, and well-written fantasy books of the last decade, The Spear Cuts Through Water proved that mythic fantasy, heroic stories and excellent prose are neither dead nor stale, and that a book can contain all of this without relying on Tolkienesque Eurocentric stereotypes and while containing a heavy dose of postmodern introspection.
The story at the center of this book is fairly simple - two young warriors from different backgrounds go on a journey to make a divine delivery in the middle of a political rebellion. There are lots of twists and turns and odd characters, so I need not give away too many details here.
All that is told through a frame narrative - an inverted dream theater. This is not only a hero story, but a story about storytelling itself, about how stories are passed down and retold, about who gets to frame history and who is silenced, and how tales can shift contextually through different generations and cultural diaspora.
The author is incredibly playful with form, using first, second, and third person in different parts. The bulk of this story is told within a play but it isn’t exactly told like a play, focusing heavily on the private inner thoughts of characters. There are testimonials from side characters, many of them dead. There are dance numbers and at one moment the heroes themselves move through time to appear on the stage.
And then there is also a queer love story, a rivals-to-lovers arc that’s so slow burn I wanted to yell at both characters to just get it over with, but it is very sweet.
If I have any one critique of the book, and it’s a small one, it’s that being such a dreamlike fairy story, nothing quite feels grounded, and the characters, drenched in mythic archetype, were never quite believable to me, although they were endearing.
The story at the center of this book is fairly simple - two young warriors from different backgrounds go on a journey to make a divine delivery in the middle of a political rebellion. There are lots of twists and turns and odd characters, so I need not give away too many details here.
All that is told through a frame narrative - an inverted dream theater. This is not only a hero story, but a story about storytelling itself, about how stories are passed down and retold, about who gets to frame history and who is silenced, and how tales can shift contextually through different generations and cultural diaspora.
The author is incredibly playful with form, using first, second, and third person in different parts. The bulk of this story is told within a play but it isn’t exactly told like a play, focusing heavily on the private inner thoughts of characters. There are testimonials from side characters, many of them dead. There are dance numbers and at one moment the heroes themselves move through time to appear on the stage.
And then there is also a queer love story, a rivals-to-lovers arc that’s so slow burn I wanted to yell at both characters to just get it over with, but it is very sweet.
If I have any one critique of the book, and it’s a small one, it’s that being such a dreamlike fairy story, nothing quite feels grounded, and the characters, drenched in mythic archetype, were never quite believable to me, although they were endearing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Ableism, Sexual content, Cannibalism
Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Suicide, Torture