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A review by johnsnowwasright
The Serpent Called Mercy by Roanne Lau
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and DAW for the e-ARC!
In the slums of the city, best friends Lythet and Desil are barely eking out an existence while trying to pay off a massive debt. They are recruited by a shady game-master to participate as conquessors in the arenas of the underworld and fight fantastical beasts from outside the city. With very few options left, they willing sign up to compete for the chance at winning the prize money in spite of the risk of bodily harm. What starts as a straightforward against beasts in the arena transforms into a complex war against the politics and corruption of the city and Lythet finds herself needing to choose which side she will be on.
This book had a fantastic concept but was trying to do entirely too much with one book. Instead of a one-shot, Lau should have expanded this to a duology if not trilogy. Not only is there an exploration of the world of the conquessors but we also tack on: a magic system based upon prayer, a crime lord and his various schemes, a building developer abusing his workers and the minority party in Setgad seeking to oust the majority party in order to reform the city. That is A LOT to cram into one book and as a result, nothing was satisfactorily developed. I found myself comparing this book to the Hunger Games Trilogy as it tried to tackle many of the same themes but without the level of nuance or skill that Suzanne Collins did. Lythet is the only character who feels fully realized which is a shame because there was so much potential. (I adored the Poet and the Ruffian. They had such good Rosencrantz and Guildenstern energy!) I also found it weird that Lythet barely interacted with any female characters. She had no female friends or role models throughout the book which was odd as Setgad society didn't seem overtly misogynistic. I'm also confused about why magic was even introduced into the book. The events of the story could have proceeded without any magic with just rewriting a couple of the arena fight scenes. The overall story wouldn't have been affected much, and more page time could have spent developing other things.
The prose and dialogue also needed to be heavily edited prior to publication. Characters go on extended diatribes about certain themes or subjects that I can only describe as monologuing. These walls of text were clunky and repetitive. You don't need a giant paragraph to get across what a character is thinking or feeling. This can be inferred from brief conversations and a character's body language if the prose is written well. Additionally, it seems that Lau didn't trust her readers to pick up a character's motivations or thought processes. It would be explicitly spelled out either in dialogue or scene descriptions that were again: walls of text. This book was the author's debut novel, and I hate to say it, it really does show.
That being said, the world itself was really interesting, and Lau threw in enough details that it almost felt fully realized. I appreciate the inclusion of various aspects of culture, particularly books, as that is a part of world building that some authors may ignore. The religion was also well constructed and unique.
I hate to give this book such a low rating but unfortunately, I feel that not enough time was spent refining or editing this story.
In the slums of the city, best friends Lythet and Desil are barely eking out an existence while trying to pay off a massive debt. They are recruited by a shady game-master to participate as conquessors in the arenas of the underworld and fight fantastical beasts from outside the city. With very few options left, they willing sign up to compete for the chance at winning the prize money in spite of the risk of bodily harm. What starts as a straightforward against beasts in the arena transforms into a complex war against the politics and corruption of the city and Lythet finds herself needing to choose which side she will be on.
This book had a fantastic concept but was trying to do entirely too much with one book. Instead of a one-shot, Lau should have expanded this to a duology if not trilogy. Not only is there an exploration of the world of the conquessors but we also tack on: a magic system based upon prayer, a crime lord and his various schemes, a building developer abusing his workers and the minority party in Setgad seeking to oust the majority party in order to reform the city. That is A LOT to cram into one book and as a result, nothing was satisfactorily developed. I found myself comparing this book to the Hunger Games Trilogy as it tried to tackle many of the same themes but without the level of nuance or skill that Suzanne Collins did. Lythet is the only character who feels fully realized which is a shame because there was so much potential. (I adored the Poet and the Ruffian. They had such good Rosencrantz and Guildenstern energy!) I also found it weird that Lythet barely interacted with any female characters. She had no female friends or role models throughout the book which was odd as Setgad society didn't seem overtly misogynistic. I'm also confused about why magic was even introduced into the book. The events of the story could have proceeded without any magic with just rewriting a couple of the arena fight scenes. The overall story wouldn't have been affected much, and more page time could have spent developing other things.
The prose and dialogue also needed to be heavily edited prior to publication. Characters go on extended diatribes about certain themes or subjects that I can only describe as monologuing. These walls of text were clunky and repetitive. You don't need a giant paragraph to get across what a character is thinking or feeling. This can be inferred from brief conversations and a character's body language if the prose is written well. Additionally, it seems that Lau didn't trust her readers to pick up a character's motivations or thought processes. It would be explicitly spelled out either in dialogue or scene descriptions that were again: walls of text. This book was the author's debut novel, and I hate to say it, it really does show.
That being said, the world itself was really interesting, and Lau threw in enough details that it almost felt fully realized. I appreciate the inclusion of various aspects of culture, particularly books, as that is a part of world building that some authors may ignore. The religion was also well constructed and unique.
I hate to give this book such a low rating but unfortunately, I feel that not enough time was spent refining or editing this story.