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A review by moonlitreading_
The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams
adventurous
funny
hopeful
relaxing
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“There is, it seems to me, a certain type of man who is terrified of the idea of a woman wielding power, of any sort; the type of man who is willing to dress up his terror in any sort of trappings to legitimise it.”
The Ninth Rain is told in multiple POVs, both of main and minor characters. It mainly follows Tor, an Eboran who left his kingdom because he can’t bear to see his kinsmen die one by one because of the death of their tree-god. He is then employed by Lady Vincenza “Vintage” de Grazon, a forty-something scholar who is obsessed with researching the Jure’lia. The Jure’lia are these beings that attack the world and Eborans like Tor are the only ones who could fight them off. Tor and Vintage bump into Noon, a fell-witch who escaped the Winnowry. Together, the three of them discover things that could probably save the world or doom it.
The Ninth Rain was so good!!! Williams took her time with world-building so it was kind of slow but I enjoyed every bit of it. I’m almost always confused when starting a new fantasy book/series but that wasn’t the case here. The multiple POVs really helped with understanding how their world worked. One of the things I liked about this was that the Jure’lia were basically aliens and it’s very interesting that there were aliens in a fantasy book. There was a little romance in this book and I loved that it didn’t take the focus away from the story.
I really really recommend this book and I hope it one day gets the hype it deserves.
The Ninth Rain is told in multiple POVs, both of main and minor characters. It mainly follows Tor, an Eboran who left his kingdom because he can’t bear to see his kinsmen die one by one because of the death of their tree-god. He is then employed by Lady Vincenza “Vintage” de Grazon, a forty-something scholar who is obsessed with researching the Jure’lia. The Jure’lia are these beings that attack the world and Eborans like Tor are the only ones who could fight them off. Tor and Vintage bump into Noon, a fell-witch who escaped the Winnowry. Together, the three of them discover things that could probably save the world or doom it.
The Ninth Rain was so good!!! Williams took her time with world-building so it was kind of slow but I enjoyed every bit of it. I’m almost always confused when starting a new fantasy book/series but that wasn’t the case here. The multiple POVs really helped with understanding how their world worked. One of the things I liked about this was that the Jure’lia were basically aliens and it’s very interesting that there were aliens in a fantasy book. There was a little romance in this book and I loved that it didn’t take the focus away from the story.
I really really recommend this book and I hope it one day gets the hype it deserves.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail