A review by fairybookmother
The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear

4.0

Elizabeth Bear's The Stone in the Skull is the start to a lush fantasy trilogy that felt a lot at times to be the fantasy counterpart to Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness as it explores gender and identity against the backdrop of political intrigue and upheaval. I hadn't realized it is the start to a sequel trilogy of a previous series of Bear's. While I think that I probably could have benefited from being a little more familiar with the world before diving into this one, I don't feel like I was alienated in any way from the enjoyment of The Stone and the Skull's story because this story is set several decades after the first trilogy. My only issue with the book was that it took too long for the heart of the story to really reveal itself. I was more than halfway through the book before I felt as if I could connect with almost any of the characters. My favorite characters, however, are the Gage and the Dead Man, so I'm looking forward to seeing how their story progresses in the rest of the trilogy!

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for the review copy!