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A review by songwind
Markswoman by Rati Mehrotra
4.0
Took a little while to decide how to review this without a generic "this was good." That's implied by the 4 stars.
The Good
The worldbuilding in Asiana is really captivating. As a westerner growing up on variations of the old European setting, seeing something influenced by Asian cultures was great. The temporal setting, coming after both the visits of a benevolent alien race and an apocalyptic war, was also nicely done.
I liked all the POV characters. They were well fleshed out, with multiple motivations. The two main characters, Kyra and Rustan, were both flawed but likable.
The prose was solid, without being poetic.
The Bad
The only real complaint I had was that the villains were pretty flat. Tamsyn and her novice/apprentice cronies sometimes feel like mustache twirling evil. But since a lot of the story is actually about Kyra and Rustan vs. their respective cultures and environment, it's not as bad as it could have been.
The Good
The worldbuilding in Asiana is really captivating. As a westerner growing up on variations of the old European setting, seeing something influenced by Asian cultures was great. The temporal setting, coming after both the visits of a benevolent alien race and an apocalyptic war, was also nicely done.
I liked all the POV characters. They were well fleshed out, with multiple motivations. The two main characters, Kyra and Rustan, were both flawed but likable.
The prose was solid, without being poetic.
The Bad
The only real complaint I had was that the villains were pretty flat. Tamsyn and her novice/apprentice cronies sometimes feel like mustache twirling evil. But since a lot of the story is actually about Kyra and Rustan vs. their respective cultures and environment, it's not as bad as it could have been.