Scan barcode
A review by emilyrainsford
The Lion of Senet by Jennifer Fallon
adventurous
dark
mysterious
5.0
Now THIS is grown up fantasy!!
This might be a backlist book from 2002 but it was such a dang breath of fresh air to me. I came to this having just finished a "romantasy" arc that read like the fanfic it grew from and followed what seems to be a modern trend of popcorn reads that are far more "roman-" than "-tasy". Imagine my glee upon picking up this book and finding a meaty, elaborate fantasy with solid worldbuilding, political intrigue galore, morally grey characters that are actually interesting and complex, and an epic plotline that DARES you to even GUESS what might come next.
As someone who reads 99.5% female authors, I have found it a little concerning that two of my favourite reads were written by dudes (Empire of the Vampire, and The Book that Wouldn't Burn). Reading this book however, reassured me that the identity of the author had nothing to do with it. What I love is a substantial story with vivid worldbuilding, and characters with realistically human levels of depth and moral complexity.
I have nothing against romantasy as a genre, in fact I enjoy it myself often. But it can tend towards being shallow, and poorly developed beyond all the lusting and smoldering.
This epic 650+ page read was everything I want from a fantasy. There were plenty of feisty and interesting female characters. It had just the right amount of brutality without feeling gratuitous. It had interesting themes of religion and power.
It also made me realise that I had somehow forgotten that fantasy just means it's set in an imaginary world - that fantasy doesn't actually have to involve magic or mythical creatures.
Somehow I was absolutely hooked on this book and my very distractable self was able to read chapter after chapter after chapter without pause. I absolutely cannot wait to read the rest of this series. And I hope that authors and publishers keep putting out this type of fantasy well into the future!
This might be a backlist book from 2002 but it was such a dang breath of fresh air to me. I came to this having just finished a "romantasy" arc that read like the fanfic it grew from and followed what seems to be a modern trend of popcorn reads that are far more "roman-" than "-tasy". Imagine my glee upon picking up this book and finding a meaty, elaborate fantasy with solid worldbuilding, political intrigue galore, morally grey characters that are actually interesting and complex, and an epic plotline that DARES you to even GUESS what might come next.
As someone who reads 99.5% female authors, I have found it a little concerning that two of my favourite reads were written by dudes (Empire of the Vampire, and The Book that Wouldn't Burn). Reading this book however, reassured me that the identity of the author had nothing to do with it. What I love is a substantial story with vivid worldbuilding, and characters with realistically human levels of depth and moral complexity.
I have nothing against romantasy as a genre, in fact I enjoy it myself often. But it can tend towards being shallow, and poorly developed beyond all the lusting and smoldering.
This epic 650+ page read was everything I want from a fantasy. There were plenty of feisty and interesting female characters. It had just the right amount of brutality without feeling gratuitous. It had interesting themes of religion and power.
It also made me realise that I had somehow forgotten that fantasy just means it's set in an imaginary world - that fantasy doesn't actually have to involve magic or mythical creatures.
Somehow I was absolutely hooked on this book and my very distractable self was able to read chapter after chapter after chapter without pause. I absolutely cannot wait to read the rest of this series. And I hope that authors and publishers keep putting out this type of fantasy well into the future!