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A review by archergal
A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham
4.0
This novel continues the story started in A Shadow in Summer, albeit maybe 12 - 13 years later. It has a number of the same characters as the first book - Otah, failed poet and son of the Khai Machi; Maati, another failed poet. The location is in another kingdom, the kingdom of Machi in the far north of the world.
There's a lot of palace intrigue going on here. The normal route of succession for the Khaiate is for the sons of the family to kill each other off until there's only one left. (Exceptions are made for younger sons who are poets, or branded, or otherwise out of the picture.) But nobody - and I mean, NOBODY, suspects that a daughter might have a desire for the throne. In this world, women don't do that. But Idaan, daughter of the Khai, is ambitious. She thinks she might have a way to be at least part-ruler in this kingdom. But ultimately, is the price more than she can pay?
It's a good sequel. We meet another andat (Stone-made-soft) and its poet-controller Cehmai. There's not quite as much conflict between poet and andat in this book, but the tension is always there. Powers like the andat don't like being slaves.
Good writing. My personal taste doesn't run to palace intrigue/assassination/politics, but Abraham makes it pretty tolerable.
There's a lot of palace intrigue going on here. The normal route of succession for the Khaiate is for the sons of the family to kill each other off until there's only one left. (Exceptions are made for younger sons who are poets, or branded, or otherwise out of the picture.) But nobody - and I mean, NOBODY, suspects that a daughter might have a desire for the throne. In this world, women don't do that. But Idaan, daughter of the Khai, is ambitious. She thinks she might have a way to be at least part-ruler in this kingdom. But ultimately, is the price more than she can pay?
It's a good sequel. We meet another andat (Stone-made-soft) and its poet-controller Cehmai. There's not quite as much conflict between poet and andat in this book, but the tension is always there. Powers like the andat don't like being slaves.
Good writing. My personal taste doesn't run to palace intrigue/assassination/politics, but Abraham makes it pretty tolerable.