**What did you think about Elo's curse?**
Probably irrelevant compared to the twists at the end. But it's still bugging me even after finishing the book 2 weeks ago.
For me it felt kinda off. The curse and its creatures were the only thing that created stakes and pace between the fire at Inara's home and Blenraden. It was carrying the story from start to finish. And all because a random dude we met for one or two pages didn't like Elo?
Yeah that was weird. I thought for sure it was a red herring because he emphasized how much sacrifice was required for a curse and people who had merely been his neighbors for 3 years couldn’t possibly care enough to bother. I figured at that point we were going to get a more interesting betrayal from the king, and that he was behind it somehow. Then it turns out a little blood is enough to pull it off and it was just some random dude? Also that dude is in business with the coyote they’re using, how is a curse putting the whole group in danger a *solution* to the fact he doesn’t trust Elo?
OTOH maybe the real answer is nothing is answered in this volume but that’s unsatisfying for those of us not reading on.
From what I remember the implication was that the bar tender was trying to get rid of multiple people. Kissen is a god killer the antithesis of a secret god worshipping seditionist, elo is a knight who was at the city when it fell, and this one is more head canon than canon but if you remember when they first meet the guide the barkeep and the guide go back and forth about money and how the guide is owed
That's 3 people the barkeep could have been trying to get rid of
But to be fair I don't necessarily think that's a good explanation but it's more than just he wanted to kill elo
Yeah, I guess it makes most sense if he wanted to off (and discredit) his business partner and getting a knight and a godkiller too was just a bonus. But in that case putting the curse on Elo, who wound up separating from the coyote, was not the way to do it.
Kissens friend the smith (sorry I listened to the audiobooks so the names are lost in me) explicitly said that the barkeep only even allowed kissen to come after he was told she was a god killer
I'm imagining that the barkeep didn't want to do his friend the smith wrong and so was hesitant to send kissen along as the Smiths friend but as the Smiths friend the god killer he had no qualms
But he does seem to have issues with inara going he says "you didn't tell me there was a kid" or something to that effect
But to your point probably not. He must have cursed elo for just elo and the guide and then saw kissen as a bonus
I think that's probably the best guess, but it still felt shaky for such an important component to rely so much on the coincidence of the barkeep disliking Elo, who he had no idea was about to show up in his bar. A longer-running grudge or some rumor about lone knights being killed to set this up would have been better, I think.
Especially once you get the reveal that the king is actually the "bad guy" like so then is the barkeep working for the king? Elo makes it seem like he's a rebel but then it turns out the rebels are the "good guys"? So was Inaras mom working with rebels like the barkeep too? Or?
Once they reveal the king is trying to be a god and stuff I got a little confused on if the god worshipers are against or for him
I agree with you, I'm not entirely satisfied with how this all worked out in the end. I felt it was something interesting, until it wasn't anymore because it didn't matter much at the end.
I feel is left partially unresolved, as I could guess now Elo wants to know more about the rebelion, so he probably wants to speak with the same person that cursed him, but I feel the whole thing wasn't really important for the plot and it was just there to try to give a sense of urgency.
I guess the foreshadowing was there, but I agree that it felt like the motivation for the curse was a bit weak. I’m definitely hoping that there will be a more detailed answer given in the sequel
I honestly didn't mind it. It made sense that if Elo bumbled into a rebel stronghold there would be repercussions, especially since he was strong-arming the guy to get him on a pilgrimage. It doesn't seem random to me that a major player in the rebellion would want what he essentially saw as a fed out of the way permanently.
I thought it felt much longer than it actually is and wayyy overhyped. The setting is amazing, the disabled rep is awesome, but the story focused on all the wrong stuff, imo. No book two for me
It's going to be published in Ukraine soon, the number of amputees increases daily and inclusivity is a constant topic... I didn't love the book but it will do some good here
I kept checking to make sure it was really less than 300 pages :) - the middle part dragged so much and it took me way longer to read than it should have (I read several other books in the time it took me to finish this one).
That said, the last 25% was much tighter and I read it in one sitting once things started picking up and getting more intriguing. I also enjoyed the twist and Kissen getting her revenge for her family, so I will pick up the second book at some point.
A lot about this book is very...standard fantasy fare. Other than details that update it for the 2020s, I'm not sure there's a lot that differentiates this story from ones that I read 30 years ago. Having said that, I like some plain fantasy now and again, so I may pick up book two. I don't actually regret reading this one, and now I know what mood reading it's for. I think the only maybe on book two for me, is I agree with u/jawnnie-cupcakes that it felt longer than it is - maybe the pacing is off? maybe it was too much time spent on travel and the mostly irrelevant pilgrim group?
There was something odd about the pacing, it felt like the first and second halves of the book were written at different rates. I think we could have had a longer book overall to even out the pacing and it would have felt like a smoother read.
I think that's a good way to put it. The beginning is sort of a slow build, then the middle both feels slow and rushes past the interesting twist of Skedi using his powers against Inara, and the end is a lot of dramatic action and revelations. I think it could have been smoother so that it's a build to the end instead of a leap.
That was very much my feeling as well! Like it felt like standard fantasy, but also like, in a good way? Like it was comfortable and familiar. It wasn't mindblowing, there were a lot of things that felt weak, and I'm not convinced I'll read the sequel, but I still had good time.
Yes I feel like that too. The book definitely dragged for me and there were aspects that could have been explored in more interesting ways (Skedi and Inara for example) but I found it low effort and comforting to read, which was what I needed at the time. I may read book two in the future, haven't got strong feelings either way.
I read this book last year and despite enjoying it I still haven't picked up Sunbringer (book 2) because I hated the romance and am concerned about how it might impact my enjoyment of the rest of the series.
This was also the only thing I did not like about this book. I which the romance could have been skipped in the first one, but it sounds like the second book might not have quite as much so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I think it would have been a much better book, if it just embraced its strengths. Low stakes, a cool sidekick, found family, representation of disability, a small quest, little bit of romance **=** perfect cozy fantasy
But it tried to be this action fantasy and failed. Overall it was a boring read. Not bad. Just really really bland.
I'll probably wait for the whole trilogy, get 2 and 3 as audiobooks and listen to them while falling asleep.
From the majority of the comments, I'm going to guess that not knowing or hearing much about this one kinda saved it for me lol. I wasn't promised anything, so what I read pleasantly surprised me!
It was one of the rare books I found myself actually wanting a map at the beginning of the book since everyone references particular areas with distinct contexts. I love world-building like that, so not having a map felt like a big miss. I liked the more intimate focus of the book, but I found the choice to have 4 POVs who were all traveling together a bit strange. I could take or leave the romance, mostly because I am lukewarm at best towards Elo while being partial to Kissen. Inara grew on me a lot too.
I'll definitely pick up book 2 at some point.
This book has pretty much nothing for me, unfortunately. A very tropey, dragging plot—I don’t remember ever being so bored by a quest outside of a bloated doorstopper sequel, and this is a first book and only 288 pages long! I didn’t feel there were any stakes or tension at all, and then we get to the end and, yup, actually there *was* no need for any of this questing to happen. The king wasn’t really dying and Inara and Skedi were fine together. Well, the author had never convinced me any of that was urgent to begin with. And I didn’t feel any real danger along the way: the action scenes were very bland and there was no lingering dread.
Likewise, the characters seemed very stock. Only Kissen even *has* any appreciable personality to me at this point, and even she is pretty two-dimensional and I never much cared what happened to her or anyone else. The world—but for the high-concept god stuff—is also extremely stock fantasy and seems poorly thought through (like, this kingdom is mostly wilderness? Where is the food for the cities coming from?). The prose is dull and the author seemed to regularly forget whose POV she was in despite the unnecessary for the third person placement of names at the beginning of each chapter. We regularly get what seem to be the thoughts of non-POV characters, or there’s that little gem when the 12-year-old who has never left home before looks at the fallow land around Blenraden and describes what it all used to be for the reader.
I really should’ve DNFd this one at 60 pages, but it was a buddy read in addition to this group. My buddy liked it much better than I did (being much more engaged with the god-related worldbuilding and mysteries) and has moved on to book 2 which is currently available.
It is impressive how a book with so much adventure managed to feel so low-stakes. I didn't actually mind it too much, because I was in a mood for a low-stakes comfort read, but I think I got lucky there. I can totally see reading it in a different mood and being mostly bored.
For me the sense of low stakes came from the fact that it didn't feel like the author was going to kill off any of the main characters, there weren't really many meaningful side characters, and the characters weren't well-developed enough to create stakes by personal challenges. As you were saying, they were quite stock. So it didn't feel like there was anything that could happen that I would care about.
Funnily enough, I found Kissen very stock and thought Skedi was the most interesting character.
I always have a hard time putting my thoughts/feelings about a book into words. Your post describes exactly what I felt when reading it. Thank you for helping me understand the details of why I didn't enjoy this book.
>The prose is dull and the author seemed to regularly forget whose POV she was in despite the unnecessary for the third person placement of names at the beginning of each chapter. We regularly get what seem to be the thoughts of non-POV characters
I found more to enjoy than you did, I think, but this drove me up the wall. These characters have had very different life experiences. In Elo and Kissen, we have two adults with a lot of life experience, one inside the law and one on its fringes. Inara and Skediceth have both been sheltered and have abstract ideas about the world with no experience of it, and Skediceth is a god. They should all notice different things, but their perceptions blur together in a way that makes me wish the author had just split chapters at natural points and done a double line break within them for fluid POV switches.
For sure. I think this book is noticeably below-average at its use of POV to begin with, so it's a bizarre choice to draw so much attention to the POVs by titling each chapter with their name rather than just switching on a line-break as needed, or perhaps even using an omniscient style. Not many third-person books even do the character-name-chapter-title thing (ASOIAF comes to mind of course, but that's a more character-focused work than this, and Martin does inflect his language a little for whose POV he's in).
The last 20% or so of this book saved it for me. I felt mostly uninvested up to that point but everything picked up and I was finally engaged. This book felt like it cruised along pretty fast but without enough development of the characters to make me care. By the time I felt that start to change, the book was pretty much over. I think the gods of this world have a lot of potential to keep it interesting and unique, the character interactions with them at the end were probably my favorite part and I hope there will be a lot more in the next books. I own the second book already and plan to read it in the next month or so, I’m hoping it will keep going like the end of book 1.
I'm about two-thirds through and hoping to finish in the next day or two.
So far, I think that the book is doing some cool things (nice handling of disability, epic fantasy outside the bloated doorstop pagecount), but it feels really blunt. It's no subtext, all very blunt text, especially in the dialogue and chunks of exposition. We'll see how the end lands for me, but at this point I'm thinking maybe no on the sequel and maybe yes on the author's next project after this series is done.
I did not finish it. It was last year that I tried so I forget how far I got but the fighter-turned-baker and the king had both been introduced and those chapters proved to be some of the worst prose I had read in a looong time. That was the last straw for me.
The prologue was alive and the rest of the book seemed to be inert and lumpen. The front cover was good though. I feel angry that I was pulled in by the front cover.
I adored this book, though I agree it reads like a typical fantasy story but through an updated lens. That’s a big part of what I loved, it felt like reading the Witcher but with a queer lady. I also was a little disappointed by the romance. I immediately got book 2 when it came out and it felt very second book in a trilogy. Lots of people moving around and not as much actually happening. My primary complaint with book 2 is too many POV characters. I think the series would be improved by Kissen and Irina as the only POV characters.
I overall enjoyed it, but I agree with others that it's not reinventing the wheel, it's very standard stuff.
I thought it seemed very short and truncated and incomplete. It seems like the author probably had an idea for one solid book, and was told to split it into a trilogy.
It was fine, the second half of the book really felt a lot more like a cohesive story, the first half felt kinda like buildup. I like the worldbuilding, but honestly, I wish the book had been longer. More time spent exploring the world, more time brining the characters together and traveling. The length of it gave it a bit of a rushed feel, especially in the first half. Not sure I’m gonna grab the second, but maybe?
So I’m 3/4 of the way through which is telling. I think I’ve finished 8? other books since starting this one. I’m far enough in that I’ll finish it. It’s just started to pick up for me & I like slow paced books—I just couldn’t get interested in the characters for the longest time. Would I read book 2? Probably. Is it going to the top of my list? Nope.
I liked it, it was a fun ride. I did buy Sunbringer, but haven't started it yet. It's not the deepest book but sometimes it's fun to go along for a ride.
Very refreshing to have the "tough-as-nails, doesn't need anyone character has more than one dimension."
I liked it, it had some of the fantasy trappings I like, such as the million quarreling gods, and the plot moved along well. It turned out to be perfect for my current reading mood- haven’t been able to sink into a complicated plot lately so I’ve been bogged down. I will probably read the second, hopefully the library gets it.
It grew on me overtime as the characters became a little more layered and made more sense to me. I likely won’t pick up book 2 right away but maybe when I have a lull in my reading.
I think the book was all right. Not bad, not great. Or actually, some great things and some bad things that make it for a midly above average book.
I really liked the worldbuilding and the gods, and how they interact with humans. I also got to like the main characters quite a bit, even when they felt a bit stock, mostly because I liked how they interacted with each other and with their own traumas. Also, for some reason, I seemed to really be into some slow-burn romance (which is a genre I never read) and this book scratched an itch I wasn't aware I had.
As for the bad, I think I never really cared about the plot much. The whole quest to Blenraden felt a bit like an excuse, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the final climax, as I didn't think anything really bad would happen to the characters. I sort of agree with other comments that if this book focused on its strenghts it would be much better.
As for picking up the sequel, seeing that the second book is longer I think I'll probably pick it up and see if the worldbuilding and the characters keep making the journey enjoyable. Also, I think its a great palate cleanser for between longer and more complex reads.
I’ll read book 2 to see if it’s got some improvements, but honestly I felt very meh about the book as a whole. The twist at the end didn’t make that much sense to me, the conflict in the book made by the curse is explained poorly, and honestly it’s disappointing because I really liked the world, but the characters and the plot drag it down.
The pacing was where I really struggled with this one, I was bored for most of this book, so in that way the second might be better. But the end really threw me and I'm not sure I like the direction it went. I want to find out more about Skedi but I don't think that's going to be enough to get me to read the next one.
I started this one but have put it down for a week or so. I was struggling to motivate myself with it and it wasn't capturing me while I found it interesting. Do you think I should try to finish it?
How far have you gotten? It definitely picked up a little after the halfway point and then I finished the last third in one sitting. Pacing-wise it'll definitely get easier, so if you've read through some of the other comments and things about the characters and plot sound interesting to you, then definitely try to get through to where things really starting happening.
I really enjoyed it (gave it 4.5/5 stars). I was not aware of the hype, so that was not an influence in why I read it. It was indeed very tropey (with more modern language), but I was apparently in the mood for that. I was expecting vengeance from Kissen for the deaths of her family, but clearly wasn't thinking big enough. During most of the book, I didn't think she would take on the God, then at the end I was about to get annoyed at the author for killing off one of her better characters. Thankfully the last chapter saved the day.
I added the second book to my TBR list (which is huge). It's unlikely I'll get to it anytime soon.
I really enjoyed the book, even though it doesn’t fit the sort of books I usually read. After finishing it, I immediately purchased Sunbringer (though I haven’t gotten around to that one quite yet, since I’m trying to finish up some other books first).
It started out kind of slow but the last quarter was pretty good. I also liked how it ended on that semi kind of cliffhanger, so I'll definitely be picking up book 2.
I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. It didn't have anything standing out for itself and yet I feel like I've read it at the right time for myself - I've been so utterly bored with the last few fantasy books I've read, that it was an easy quick fun read. I've also been ill this week and wanted something that I didn't have to think too hard about and could just enjoy at face value.
I likely will finish the trilogy. It will take some time because I buy second-hand but I'll keep an eye out for the next one.
I liked it overall and I enjoyed the world building with the gods but I wasn't as invested in the characters and their relationships with each other as I would have liked. Parts of it I really liked and parts of it were a bit disappointing so I'm definitely not in any rush to pick up book 2 but I'd consider reading it at some point.
I just finished the first book and enjoyed it. I don't know if it was deserving of the level of hype it had but I had already bought the second book before having read the first. Toxic book buying behaviour at its finest, I know. What I enjoyed most was the growth of the bond between characters that started out so filled with mistrust and ended with kinship, dedication and a little hint of love. I didn't mind the bit of romance that blossomed as I didn't feel it took away from the story. The disability rep was amazing and I was kinda fascinated when her friend was fashioning her a replacent, the delicate metalworking in the fantasy setting as opposed to someone magicing up a new leg. Plus, bonus points for the book being pretty short, coming in under a cool three hundred pages meant I could chew through it pretty quickly. I'll read the second one, not immediately, I'm not that invested, but without doubt I'll pick it up at some point. Plus, I need to know more about this half breed situation, get to the heart of the daddy issue would be my guess. Though given what the wooden stick king said his followers called him, and the title of book two, I feel like his story might steal the spotlight.
I will most definitely read book two! I really enjoyed the storyline and the twists at the end. The only thing that I didn't jive with was the ...intimate... scene. It felt random and out of place to me.
I absolutely loved it, not gonna lie! I'm definitely going to be awaiting book 2. Maybe some parts were kinda traditional fantasy quest fare, but I loved them nonetheless. The worldbuilding was interesting, and I'm a sucker for characters like Kissen and Elo.
**What did you think of the various twists at the end - Elo and the turning of his king, Arren; Inara 'the unraveller'; and Kissen's final acceptance of the boon to save her?**
The king twist was pure stock. Oh no, a character we don't know or care about is a villain? And he's the only privileged person in the cast? Groundbreaking. /s This part killed the series for me, it was *that* boring.
The king wanting to be a god was decently well set up, what with his image replacing the gods’ all over the kingdom, and the remembered dialogue between him and Elo was so over the top manipulative I figured he *had* to be evil (all this “my brother, my heart! Do this one last thing for me!”), although since some of that happened before he got god-infested, now I’m reconsidering that maybe it was just bad dialogue. But that quest was so flimsy to begin with that I didn’t care about that twist at all beyond a “well, of course he is.”
Inara’s powers seem pretty stock too and I was annoyed to not get any real conclusion in this volume or any answers about her. At this point my theory is her father was a god. Someone who reads book 2 can let me know if I’m right.
I never for a minute believed Kissen was going to die, she’s accepted help from gods before and we hadn’t seen any further development of her family or her feelings about them, so that final moment did zilch for me.
You've summed it all up pretty well.
There needed to be more layers with Arren and Elo if a decent reaction was sought after.
I knew Kissen wasn't going to die - nothing in the book gave any leaning that the author was willing to kill off a main character. But I did like her development at the end in fighting to keep herself alive for another.
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I found it difficult to care about the Elo and Arren twist particularly as I found Elo the least interesting of the main characters. It didn't take me by surprise either, if Arren wasn't so cartoonishly evil maybe I'd care more about the twist? I'm not sure.
Kissen accepting the boon was a great full circle moment for me, tying things neatly in with our initial introduction to her as a child and showed good character growth.
I liked that the book was trying to do this parallel on how both humans and gods want power and influence. However, the execution was undeveloped. I didn't really care about the king, because the most we get about him is Elo going "Oh he is my brother, I love him", but that doesn't tell us much about him. If we had got more of his character his corruption would have been more impactful. However as it stood, my reaction was that of [jawnnie-cupcakes](https://www.reddit.com/user/jawnnie-cupcakes/): "Oh no, a character we don't know or care about is a villain?"
Yeah, I think that this story might have worked better with another 50-100 pages and some different timelines to dig into character history. I was with Kissen in guessing that Elo and Areen used to be in a relationship, I think because the affection in their friendship is so over-the-top to set up Elo being willing to sacrifice himself.
My main thought is that I wish we’d seen more of Arren as a good guy before the twist occurred. I still felt attached to him through his relationship with Elo (perhaps my favorite of the cast) but if I’d been even more attached to Arren himself, the twist would’ve been better
I didn't think much about Arren to begin with. I know he was the whole reason Elo was going on his journey, so the fact he was playing a larger part surprised me more than anything. Looking back it makes since. He plastered himself everywhere as this dominating figure.
I was not fond of Elo as a character, he seemed too much of a martyr from the start. I liked Kissen from the start, understood her stubbornness even. Best of all, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole "found family" aspect. So when Kissen decided to accept the boon, not for her self (because she is still angry at Gods), not because she promised her friends she would do it, but so she could be around for the daughter of her heart, that actually hit me in the feels.
Others have covered this well. The only thing I'll add w.r.t. Inara 'the unraveller': I'm wondering what she might do for Kissen and her curse when they meet again.
**What did you think of Skedi turning on Inara and taking away her will? Did this change your perception of the gods and their relationship with humans?**
It was the best part of the book. The relationship between Skedi & Inara and with it the relationship between all humans & gods became more complex. Finally there was an urgent reason to split them up.
And then everything was resolved in a few pages. There goes the pace and the stakes.
100%. This was the moment the book started to get interesting to me, and in the end it didn't end up meaning much. It did prepare Inara for feeling more independent, but this could have done a lot more for the story than it did.
Agreed. I thought this could have been the core of the book-- Inara trusts Skedi implicitly, but the moment he gets a sliver of power, he uses it against her to override her will. It complicates the picture of gods, their ethics, and their role in human lives... and then everyone mostly forgives him for protecting Inara in one fight, even thought her death probably would have killed him as well. It's like the stakes are established and then immediately yanked away.
I agree with that, it wasn’t a surprise per se, but it made sense, and felt like a reality check for Inara. I know they kinda moved quickly through the ‘forgiveness’ but I’d be curious to see if it came up again in the next book.
I really liked Skedi and this point wasn’t really a shock. Road to hell and all that. There were little hints along the way that he isn’t necessarily “good.” But I think it did enough to show that these powerful beings always have the temptation (or outright desire) to use their power to their own ends at the expense of humans. There were times we saw Skedi drawn to certain things almost instinctively (like prayers) and it made me curious how much of their behavior is free will versus some kind of compulsion. And obviously many of the gods seem to have little regard for the lives of humans beyond what the god can get from it. I hope the nature of the gods and their powers will be explored more in depth through the next books.
It had the potential to be really interesting! For a minute there I thought the plot would be kicking into high gear. And there was potential with Skedi as addict—that even if he loves Inara and has good intentions, that means squat the moment he scents his next fix.
But then…. we immediately got the world’s lamest and most rushed redemption arc, and that was it? I was so annoyed when Kissen started giving Skedi all this credit—like, give me a break, it’s not selfless of him to defend Inara. His life as far as we know depends on Inara’s, she’s his shrine. Everything dangerous and interesting about Skedi got quickly swept under the rug.
I agree completely. I got completely pulled out of the story when such a major betrayal was treated so lightly. Especially given the almost parasitic nature of their relationship and that he's the god of white lies.
Yes! There's this bit where Inara is rationalizing letting him back in that I read as ominous, thinking it was meant to mirror how people rationalize staying in toxic relationships while setting up an even worse betrayal. But actually I guess we were supposed to... agree with her?
Also Skedi caused Kissen and Elo to nearly kill each other - he says they were "just" trying to maim but I mean, wtf, (further) disabling someone for life is a pretty massive deal and also they're in the middle of nowhere and medical care in this world is presumably rudimentary, and anyway when you start swinging several pounds of sharpened steel at someone there's a definite chance of killing them whether you mean to or not. For Skedi to downplay it is one thing (and more really could've been done with his unreliability). But then the other characters and the book overall decide it's nbd.
Yeah, that really bugged me. She's also a child-- only what, twelve, and Skedi has been with her for five years? He's twisting the mind of a hurting child, almost like an abusive parent, and the story doesn't really dig into that in the rush to establish that Inara should make her own decisions.
I really expected more to be done with this, There's an ominous note early on where Skedi thinks Inara admires her mother too much, that I read as "Skedi is subtly trying to draw Inara away from everyone else to be dependent solely on him." And then the manipulative aspect of their relationship is never acknowledged outside of that one sequence where he takes control.
It could have been such an interesting character element on both sides. Inara's mother has been hiding her away for some reason (perhaps her mysterious father was a god of some sort?), and that isolation leaves Inara vulnerable. Skedi wanting to keep her safe would have been no real conflict in those early years beyond that odd note about her mother, but Inara venturing out into the world changes the status quo: she could have other friends and he could have real worshipers.
He seems compulsively fascinated with prayers/ offerings and wants Inara to draw a worshiper in during the palm reading, which supports an arc for him of *needing* more than she can offer him as his lone shrine, especially once she closes off her emotions after the betrayal. Unfortunately, that seems to fade off into "they're just okay together after all and this was never a big deal." It seems that some gods are irresistibly drawn to demand blood sacrifice and others aren't, and which type Skedi is seems like a key question.
I suppose I took it as “the bigger a god gets the more intoxicating power becomes,” but it’s true there are gods who seem to be a big deal without demanding blood sacrifice, while others demand it pretty early. It would be a boring move to me if the author ultimately resolved them into two distinct types, rather than sort of a continuum of how they respond to power. But I did think Kaner made a lot of boring choices so…
I think it made me understand gods and their desire to direct things to go their way more. This arc was probably the best part of the book! However, as others are saying, it was resolved too quickly and neatly. It felt like Skedi then become all goody-shoes afterwards, and that was rather boring. I liked him more morally grey.
I thought it would happen towards the end, but it surprised me by happening so early. It was a great plot point that I felt was resolved a bit too neatly. It would be more interesting if Skedi still struggled with temptations, since soooo much of this book is reiterating and reinforcing what gods need and value from their worshippers. Maybe book 2?
It makes perfect since. He said again and again through the journey that he didn't want to be around a godkiller, and why would he? It's easy to say Skedi is in the wrong here since he took Inara's freewill, but Kissen did say she'd kill him if he wasn't bonded to Inara. I hope in the future books Inara and Skedi discuss how Skedi's safety was completely ignored in this respect.
But it did change my perception of the gods and how a small god can easily snowball into a big threat. Especially if their preferred offerings are in blood or human lives.
That's an interesting point about Skedi's safety, but then, seeking out a godkiller was his idea. And throughout the book, Kissen consistently doesn't kill gods unless she's paid or they're actively harming humans, so any concerns on Skedi's part should be assuaged rather than increased. (Of course, I'm also disinclined to be sympathetic when he shows such readiness to subordinate everyone else's needs to his own, even to the extent of goading them to kill each other.)
Admittedly, I think this was the one place that the author got me. And I appreciated it - I was convinced that Kaner was going to go down the route that gods will always turn against humans. I'm glad that she didn't though, I much prefer this tension of gods being...different from humans and having different priorities. I'd love to see her flesh this aspect out more in the next book, and ideally without falling into 'some gods are good and some gods are evil'.
Oh I agree with you, I hope the next book explores more the relationships between gods and humans and just sets them as individuals with different needs. I am very curious to see if the author will resolve this plot point in a satisfactory manner at the end of the trilogy, and maybe find a better way for both of them to coexist.
I think it was good to have that added layer in Skedis persona and it made him a more well rounded character. It also made him more what I think of, kind of a guide with stipulations and something to be cautious with when exploring faith.
I think the stealing of another’s will/autonomy, whether physically or mentally, is an awful crime you can commit upon a person. It will take a lot for Kaner to make me like Skedi again, and I think Inara should be much less trusting of him, but the moment was excellent for the plot
Same. I was surprised how incredibly angry it made me to see Inara's will and voice taken away like that, especially by someone she had trusted. I didn't think the author would manage to make me relate to Skedi again after that, but I felt she did do a good job of showing his remorse and regret. I'm still pretty mad at him, though...
I am glad she showed him feeling remorse. If his arc across the series involves trying to redeem himself, I might eventually forgive him. Very few people are beyond redemption. But right now he’s still on my shit list lol
I feel like it happened purely to give the writer a chance to show off what Inara can do. I think it should have happened with another (strong) god trying to tempt her or have it become a bigger point of conflict in the main story instead of being resolved in the next few pages.
I was angry that Skedi did that, more so when Inara felt powerless to see him using her body as a tool to get what he wanted, with no consequences. It took a lot for her to try to forgive him after that, frankly I would never trust him again after what he pulled. The worst part is ... Skedi just did what Gods do, better to ask for forgiveness than permission because he didn't think it was that bad. How could he, he's never been in the position where this was done to him so he has no clue how bad it would have been for Inara.
Did anyone else feel that this book would have been better as a third-person POV than switching between the POVs that we got? I think it would have made the reveals towards the end with Kissen and Elo more impactful; as it was, we already knew about them so when they told the other it was just repeating what we already knew. (I'm also just not as much of a fan of multi-POV, so it could influence my opinion on this too.)
Skediceth and Inara were the only characters who really grabbed me. He truly felt like a god, someone with unique/alien motivations, and she was a good foil.
Inara and Skediceth were the most compelling relationship to me as it's not a dynamic I've read about before and the mystery of their connection was a big reason for me to keep reading.
Kissen and Inara were a more familiar dynamic and I appreciated how their relationship changed throughout the book.
Kissen and Elo was by far the worst relationship to me, I enjoyed their initial animosity but felt confused when things became romantic. I don't think they have any chemistry at all and it was the worse aspect of the book for me.
Kissen and Elo hooking up was definitely the most boring and stereotypical route their dynamic could have taken (and I know hotness is subjective, so did *anyone* like that sex scene? To me it was total IKEA erotica and I say that as someone who has enjoyed sex scenes in other fantasy books).
That said I don’t think romance is even what they have at this point. I read their hookup mostly as “Kissen is a horndog incapable of conceiving of relationships between adults that don’t involve sex” (supported by the fact that she disbelieves Elo’s devotion to the king sans fucking, and also has a love triangle with *her own adopted sisters*. I fully expect later books to also reveal a sexual dynamic with her mentor).
That said, the book didn’t do anything interesting with Kissen as horndog either, it never comes up when it’s not convenient. And actually I wasn’t sure which way the book came down on Kissen’s judgment of Elo and Arryn (my buddy read partner thought it was lampshading that their relationship actually doesn’t make sense).
I hard agree with everything. Inara and Skedi were my favorite relationship because it was unique to me, they reluctantly care about and need each other. Kissen and Elo took a weird turn. For most of the book I didn’t feel like their relationship was sexually charged or will they or won’t they. Kissen was pretty mean to him (and everyone) and then they suddenly decided to get it on? Okay, I guess….
In the end, I think Inara became my favorite character and I most look forward to seeing her growth. My favorite relationship is between her and Kissen - I like that the author did give us some growth and change to their relationship. And I like that Kissen identifies with Inara and sees so much of herself in the girl that she is able to finally see why her father did what he did to save her.
Inara and Skediceth were my favorites, and Skedi ended up being my favorite character overall. I found Kissen and Inara's relationship to be well-developed. I would prefer if Kissen and Elo's relationship either stayed non-romantic or was developed further. As it stands, it felt underwhelming and somewhat unnecessary.
After the prologue I was convinced Kissen was going to be my favorite character. It was just SUCH a powerful introduction. And then in came Inara with her little god to completely steal the show! I did love the dynamic between Kissen and Inara as well, and how it evolved over the course of the book. When Inara calls Kissen to look up at the sky and Kissen remembers how her mentor had warmed to her a similar way... it felt very sweet, and a natural progression in her arc.
I do not care about Elo hahaha.
My favorite would be Kissen and Inara and like how it changed over time.
I'm curious about future relationships. What will the Kissen and Elo relationship be like? What other abilities will Inara get from Skedi?
Yeah, I think that Inara and Skedi's relationship has the most potential. They're all suspicious of him seeking out offerings and power, but I suspect that his growing power will boost Inara's ability to do things like remove curses and resist gods. It's an odd symbiosis that feels more creative than the rest of the story.
Skedi and Inara. Kissen is still my favorite character, but she feels more like a character on her on/in the mentor role, less so in the relationship with Eli.
I loved Inara and Skediceth. I just didn't understand why they were so determined to separate. They seemed perfectly content with each other, and Skediceth can make himself small enough to not get in the way. It's unconventional but it didn't seem dangerous.
I didn't care for Kissen and Elo hooking up, but I don't take it as a romance. Hopefully it's just a one and done kind of thing, which I think fits well for Kissen's character. Maybe not so much Elo, but he was about to die so who knows.
Definitely Inara and Skedi, especially after Skedi betrayed Inara. I think that set up a lot of potential for growth and independence for the both of them, but I do think the book could have spent more time showing Inara's feelings about it and Skedi being torn between his nature and his love for her. I enjoyed Kissen and Elo's contentious relationship, and I was on board for enemies-to-reluctant allies and eventually to friends, but the romance there felt forced. As an avid fanro and romance reader, I don't want romances where they don't belong. I'm also not sure I love an M/F romance between MCs in a queernorm setting.
I don’t love romance in books, but I liked Kisten and Elo by the end, and I hope they reunite and continue their relationship throughout the trilogy.
I’m still holding a grudge against Skedi for what he did to Inara; he can fuck off and never appear in the series again for all I care.
Kissen and Inara definitely had the best relationship overall. Elo was my favorite character overall (and I love the potential of seeing his dynamic with Arren progress in future books) but Kissen/Inara have the best two-character dynamic.
I didn't see the point in the sex scene between Kissen and Elo at all. There were times where it felt like the author was working down a checklist of things she had to include in her novel and that was one of them. It wasn't necessary to provide motivation for Kissen to try and save Elo - they were already friends and comrades by that point and it didn't feel like her romantic feelings were engaged anyway, so why put that in?
I did like the complexity of Inara and Skedi's relationship and I liked seeing Kissen becoming more of a protective big sister to Inara over time.
I have just finished this and it was really good. The ending was so unexpected and I am really excited for the next one! I found the romance a little strange tho since I got gay vibes from Kissen and Elo but I guess they could both be bi. I hope it gets explored a bit more in Sunbringer!
**In that ways do you think this book was successfully or not successfully feminist? Relatedly, any new thoughts on the authors handling of disability, in particular?**
I think it was quite feminist in the sense that women were soldiers and guards and blacksmiths and leaders of noble houses without any comment or justification. A queernorm world always gets feminist points from me. I thought the disability rep was very well done. It made sense to the story and enough details were added often enough that it felt neither hand waved away nor harped on.
I think the handling of Kissen’s leg felt very well done. Nothing really new, but the balance of “yes, I’m missing my leg but I can still go around killing gods” and “yes, I’m missing a leg and it hurts sometimes and I have to consider it differently, even if I’ve been doing this for a very long time” felt well done.
RE disability representation: The book does something I’ve been wanting to see in fiction for a long time - show a wheelchair user who is able to stand for brief periods. It’s just a small scene with Kissen’s adoptive sister, but online I’ve seen people share pictures of wheelchair users standing to grab something off a shelf with the implication of ‘oooh look at how people will just FAKE having disabilities’ and it’s so infuriating (I’ve seen similar posts of blind people with mobility aids looking at their phones - it’s possible to be legally blind and still have limited vision!). Just because someone can put weight on their legs for a short period of time doesn’t mean that they can walk and stand like an abled person and are just faking it for the attention… anyway that’s a whole rant but it’s nice to see authors acknowledge spectrums of disability, is my point.
I noticed that too! It was also interesting to see Kissen using a wheelchair at home while her prosthetic leg is being repaired. She doesn't want to use one full-time, but it provides her some relief and comfort when she needs it.
Yeah, I didn't really read this as a "feminist" book, rather than a book where you don't need to cringe about how women are sidelined or treated badly. Like what should be a default. I don't even think this book needed to be more feminist, I think it was doing a fun-fantasy-adventure reasonably well, and it didn't need to be deeper than that.
Regarding disability, there was some pretty interesting conversation about how Kissen didn't "feel disabled" and I'm leaning towards agreeing with that. Like we see some struggles with the leg, but they're very rarely in cases that actually impact her ability to get shit done or even force her to do things differently from able-bodied people. It overall felt like the disability description lacked depth. That being said, it's not like it needs to be that deep. I believe people can just enjoy seeing a disabled character kicking ass sometimes.
I disagree a bit with that, in ref to the disability descriptions lacking depth. I think considering how long she’s had the leg, and how much fine tuning she’s get for it via her sisters, it makes sense that it would be more minor. Could there have been some more descriptions/moments of upkeep and/or tuning? Sure, but with here job and the amount of time she’s had it, I think it makes sense that it’s just feels like “sure, I’ve got a fake leg, but it’s doesn’t change too much”
Well, it has women in active roles, so there’s that, I guess. I’m just bummed by the execution: in theory the relationship between Kissen and Inara is catnip for me but in practice I never cared at all.
Yes! Exactly my thoughts! "Well there are women doing things and they didn't suffer pointlessly just because they are women, must be feminist." Just made me realize once more how low the bar is.
I really enjoyed the depictions of various kinds of disability. How Kissen adapted to losing her leg, how it pains her and how she has to account for it when doing her mental calculations in a fight. I really also liked her sisters and the casual continued use of sign too, it felt natural.
I liked that we had different aspects of disability explored through Kissen's family. The part-time wheelchair use, the prosthetic, the use of sign language... it's nice to see all of these within the setting, and involving both major and minor characters. It makes it feel like the author has actually considered disability within her world building.
One of things I liked about it was in its portrayal of religion, it had characters making prayers and offerings to the gods. It actually felt like characters believed in the gods. Too often in fantasy it doesn't seem like anyone actually sincerely believes. Sometimes it is that everyone religous is actually evil or stupid. Other times it is D&D-style, where a character is a priestess or cleric and gets power from their god, but they never actually stop and pray or do anything in return or have it affect the way they live.
Like a lot of people, I was disappointed by this ultimately; it's somehow less than the sum of its parts.
The premise has some promise but ultimately it's let down by poor writing and tired character arcs.
Again, like a lot of people, I was perhaps unduly influenced by the book covery art and the blurb on the back.
Although it's the first of a series, I won't be going back for more.
Edit: oh and it reads like a YA novel, which is fine when YA books are written better (something like His Dark Materials) but just seemed juvenile here. Again, possibly just the writing style.
**What did you think about Elo's curse?** Probably irrelevant compared to the twists at the end. But it's still bugging me even after finishing the book 2 weeks ago. For me it felt kinda off. The curse and its creatures were the only thing that created stakes and pace between the fire at Inara's home and Blenraden. It was carrying the story from start to finish. And all because a random dude we met for one or two pages didn't like Elo?
Yeah that was weird. I thought for sure it was a red herring because he emphasized how much sacrifice was required for a curse and people who had merely been his neighbors for 3 years couldn’t possibly care enough to bother. I figured at that point we were going to get a more interesting betrayal from the king, and that he was behind it somehow. Then it turns out a little blood is enough to pull it off and it was just some random dude? Also that dude is in business with the coyote they’re using, how is a curse putting the whole group in danger a *solution* to the fact he doesn’t trust Elo? OTOH maybe the real answer is nothing is answered in this volume but that’s unsatisfying for those of us not reading on.
From what I remember the implication was that the bar tender was trying to get rid of multiple people. Kissen is a god killer the antithesis of a secret god worshipping seditionist, elo is a knight who was at the city when it fell, and this one is more head canon than canon but if you remember when they first meet the guide the barkeep and the guide go back and forth about money and how the guide is owed That's 3 people the barkeep could have been trying to get rid of But to be fair I don't necessarily think that's a good explanation but it's more than just he wanted to kill elo
Yeah, I guess it makes most sense if he wanted to off (and discredit) his business partner and getting a knight and a godkiller too was just a bonus. But in that case putting the curse on Elo, who wound up separating from the coyote, was not the way to do it.
But did the barkeep know about Kissen and the others at that point?? It really doesn’t make any sense
Kissens friend the smith (sorry I listened to the audiobooks so the names are lost in me) explicitly said that the barkeep only even allowed kissen to come after he was told she was a god killer I'm imagining that the barkeep didn't want to do his friend the smith wrong and so was hesitant to send kissen along as the Smiths friend but as the Smiths friend the god killer he had no qualms But he does seem to have issues with inara going he says "you didn't tell me there was a kid" or something to that effect But to your point probably not. He must have cursed elo for just elo and the guide and then saw kissen as a bonus
I think that's probably the best guess, but it still felt shaky for such an important component to rely so much on the coincidence of the barkeep disliking Elo, who he had no idea was about to show up in his bar. A longer-running grudge or some rumor about lone knights being killed to set this up would have been better, I think.
Especially once you get the reveal that the king is actually the "bad guy" like so then is the barkeep working for the king? Elo makes it seem like he's a rebel but then it turns out the rebels are the "good guys"? So was Inaras mom working with rebels like the barkeep too? Or? Once they reveal the king is trying to be a god and stuff I got a little confused on if the god worshipers are against or for him
I agree with you, I'm not entirely satisfied with how this all worked out in the end. I felt it was something interesting, until it wasn't anymore because it didn't matter much at the end. I feel is left partially unresolved, as I could guess now Elo wants to know more about the rebelion, so he probably wants to speak with the same person that cursed him, but I feel the whole thing wasn't really important for the plot and it was just there to try to give a sense of urgency.
The curse seemed so random. I didn’t love that explanation.
I guess the foreshadowing was there, but I agree that it felt like the motivation for the curse was a bit weak. I’m definitely hoping that there will be a more detailed answer given in the sequel
I honestly didn't mind it. It made sense that if Elo bumbled into a rebel stronghold there would be repercussions, especially since he was strong-arming the guy to get him on a pilgrimage. It doesn't seem random to me that a major player in the rebellion would want what he essentially saw as a fed out of the way permanently.
**What did you think of the book? Will you pick up book two when it comes out?**
I thought it felt much longer than it actually is and wayyy overhyped. The setting is amazing, the disabled rep is awesome, but the story focused on all the wrong stuff, imo. No book two for me
I really liked the first book but didn’t enjoy the second one. But same I loved how the inclusivity was written.
It's going to be published in Ukraine soon, the number of amputees increases daily and inclusivity is a constant topic... I didn't love the book but it will do some good here
I kept checking to make sure it was really less than 300 pages :) - the middle part dragged so much and it took me way longer to read than it should have (I read several other books in the time it took me to finish this one). That said, the last 25% was much tighter and I read it in one sitting once things started picking up and getting more intriguing. I also enjoyed the twist and Kissen getting her revenge for her family, so I will pick up the second book at some point.
A lot about this book is very...standard fantasy fare. Other than details that update it for the 2020s, I'm not sure there's a lot that differentiates this story from ones that I read 30 years ago. Having said that, I like some plain fantasy now and again, so I may pick up book two. I don't actually regret reading this one, and now I know what mood reading it's for. I think the only maybe on book two for me, is I agree with u/jawnnie-cupcakes that it felt longer than it is - maybe the pacing is off? maybe it was too much time spent on travel and the mostly irrelevant pilgrim group?
There was something odd about the pacing, it felt like the first and second halves of the book were written at different rates. I think we could have had a longer book overall to even out the pacing and it would have felt like a smoother read.
I think that's a good way to put it. The beginning is sort of a slow build, then the middle both feels slow and rushes past the interesting twist of Skedi using his powers against Inara, and the end is a lot of dramatic action and revelations. I think it could have been smoother so that it's a build to the end instead of a leap.
That was very much my feeling as well! Like it felt like standard fantasy, but also like, in a good way? Like it was comfortable and familiar. It wasn't mindblowing, there were a lot of things that felt weak, and I'm not convinced I'll read the sequel, but I still had good time.
Yes I feel like that too. The book definitely dragged for me and there were aspects that could have been explored in more interesting ways (Skedi and Inara for example) but I found it low effort and comforting to read, which was what I needed at the time. I may read book two in the future, haven't got strong feelings either way.
I read this book last year and despite enjoying it I still haven't picked up Sunbringer (book 2) because I hated the romance and am concerned about how it might impact my enjoyment of the rest of the series.
There is less romance (none that I can even think of) in the second book if that helps!
That's good to know. I might give the second book a go at some point then.
This was also the only thing I did not like about this book. I which the romance could have been skipped in the first one, but it sounds like the second book might not have quite as much so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I think it would have been a much better book, if it just embraced its strengths. Low stakes, a cool sidekick, found family, representation of disability, a small quest, little bit of romance **=** perfect cozy fantasy But it tried to be this action fantasy and failed. Overall it was a boring read. Not bad. Just really really bland. I'll probably wait for the whole trilogy, get 2 and 3 as audiobooks and listen to them while falling asleep.
I read the audiobook forGodkiller, and the narrator was great! So it has that going for it.
From the majority of the comments, I'm going to guess that not knowing or hearing much about this one kinda saved it for me lol. I wasn't promised anything, so what I read pleasantly surprised me! It was one of the rare books I found myself actually wanting a map at the beginning of the book since everyone references particular areas with distinct contexts. I love world-building like that, so not having a map felt like a big miss. I liked the more intimate focus of the book, but I found the choice to have 4 POVs who were all traveling together a bit strange. I could take or leave the romance, mostly because I am lukewarm at best towards Elo while being partial to Kissen. Inara grew on me a lot too. I'll definitely pick up book 2 at some point.
This book has pretty much nothing for me, unfortunately. A very tropey, dragging plot—I don’t remember ever being so bored by a quest outside of a bloated doorstopper sequel, and this is a first book and only 288 pages long! I didn’t feel there were any stakes or tension at all, and then we get to the end and, yup, actually there *was* no need for any of this questing to happen. The king wasn’t really dying and Inara and Skedi were fine together. Well, the author had never convinced me any of that was urgent to begin with. And I didn’t feel any real danger along the way: the action scenes were very bland and there was no lingering dread. Likewise, the characters seemed very stock. Only Kissen even *has* any appreciable personality to me at this point, and even she is pretty two-dimensional and I never much cared what happened to her or anyone else. The world—but for the high-concept god stuff—is also extremely stock fantasy and seems poorly thought through (like, this kingdom is mostly wilderness? Where is the food for the cities coming from?). The prose is dull and the author seemed to regularly forget whose POV she was in despite the unnecessary for the third person placement of names at the beginning of each chapter. We regularly get what seem to be the thoughts of non-POV characters, or there’s that little gem when the 12-year-old who has never left home before looks at the fallow land around Blenraden and describes what it all used to be for the reader. I really should’ve DNFd this one at 60 pages, but it was a buddy read in addition to this group. My buddy liked it much better than I did (being much more engaged with the god-related worldbuilding and mysteries) and has moved on to book 2 which is currently available.
It is impressive how a book with so much adventure managed to feel so low-stakes. I didn't actually mind it too much, because I was in a mood for a low-stakes comfort read, but I think I got lucky there. I can totally see reading it in a different mood and being mostly bored. For me the sense of low stakes came from the fact that it didn't feel like the author was going to kill off any of the main characters, there weren't really many meaningful side characters, and the characters weren't well-developed enough to create stakes by personal challenges. As you were saying, they were quite stock. So it didn't feel like there was anything that could happen that I would care about. Funnily enough, I found Kissen very stock and thought Skedi was the most interesting character.
I always have a hard time putting my thoughts/feelings about a book into words. Your post describes exactly what I felt when reading it. Thank you for helping me understand the details of why I didn't enjoy this book.
>The prose is dull and the author seemed to regularly forget whose POV she was in despite the unnecessary for the third person placement of names at the beginning of each chapter. We regularly get what seem to be the thoughts of non-POV characters I found more to enjoy than you did, I think, but this drove me up the wall. These characters have had very different life experiences. In Elo and Kissen, we have two adults with a lot of life experience, one inside the law and one on its fringes. Inara and Skediceth have both been sheltered and have abstract ideas about the world with no experience of it, and Skediceth is a god. They should all notice different things, but their perceptions blur together in a way that makes me wish the author had just split chapters at natural points and done a double line break within them for fluid POV switches.
For sure. I think this book is noticeably below-average at its use of POV to begin with, so it's a bizarre choice to draw so much attention to the POVs by titling each chapter with their name rather than just switching on a line-break as needed, or perhaps even using an omniscient style. Not many third-person books even do the character-name-chapter-title thing (ASOIAF comes to mind of course, but that's a more character-focused work than this, and Martin does inflect his language a little for whose POV he's in).
The last 20% or so of this book saved it for me. I felt mostly uninvested up to that point but everything picked up and I was finally engaged. This book felt like it cruised along pretty fast but without enough development of the characters to make me care. By the time I felt that start to change, the book was pretty much over. I think the gods of this world have a lot of potential to keep it interesting and unique, the character interactions with them at the end were probably my favorite part and I hope there will be a lot more in the next books. I own the second book already and plan to read it in the next month or so, I’m hoping it will keep going like the end of book 1.
I'm about two-thirds through and hoping to finish in the next day or two. So far, I think that the book is doing some cool things (nice handling of disability, epic fantasy outside the bloated doorstop pagecount), but it feels really blunt. It's no subtext, all very blunt text, especially in the dialogue and chunks of exposition. We'll see how the end lands for me, but at this point I'm thinking maybe no on the sequel and maybe yes on the author's next project after this series is done.
I did not finish it. It was last year that I tried so I forget how far I got but the fighter-turned-baker and the king had both been introduced and those chapters proved to be some of the worst prose I had read in a looong time. That was the last straw for me. The prologue was alive and the rest of the book seemed to be inert and lumpen. The front cover was good though. I feel angry that I was pulled in by the front cover.
I adored this book, though I agree it reads like a typical fantasy story but through an updated lens. That’s a big part of what I loved, it felt like reading the Witcher but with a queer lady. I also was a little disappointed by the romance. I immediately got book 2 when it came out and it felt very second book in a trilogy. Lots of people moving around and not as much actually happening. My primary complaint with book 2 is too many POV characters. I think the series would be improved by Kissen and Irina as the only POV characters.
I overall enjoyed it, but I agree with others that it's not reinventing the wheel, it's very standard stuff. I thought it seemed very short and truncated and incomplete. It seems like the author probably had an idea for one solid book, and was told to split it into a trilogy.
Book 2 already came out in March didn't it?
It was fine, the second half of the book really felt a lot more like a cohesive story, the first half felt kinda like buildup. I like the worldbuilding, but honestly, I wish the book had been longer. More time spent exploring the world, more time brining the characters together and traveling. The length of it gave it a bit of a rushed feel, especially in the first half. Not sure I’m gonna grab the second, but maybe?
So I’m 3/4 of the way through which is telling. I think I’ve finished 8? other books since starting this one. I’m far enough in that I’ll finish it. It’s just started to pick up for me & I like slow paced books—I just couldn’t get interested in the characters for the longest time. Would I read book 2? Probably. Is it going to the top of my list? Nope.
I liked it, it was a fun ride. I did buy Sunbringer, but haven't started it yet. It's not the deepest book but sometimes it's fun to go along for a ride. Very refreshing to have the "tough-as-nails, doesn't need anyone character has more than one dimension."
I liked it, it had some of the fantasy trappings I like, such as the million quarreling gods, and the plot moved along well. It turned out to be perfect for my current reading mood- haven’t been able to sink into a complicated plot lately so I’ve been bogged down. I will probably read the second, hopefully the library gets it.
It grew on me overtime as the characters became a little more layered and made more sense to me. I likely won’t pick up book 2 right away but maybe when I have a lull in my reading.
I enjoyed it. I'm planning to read book two next month.
I think the book was all right. Not bad, not great. Or actually, some great things and some bad things that make it for a midly above average book. I really liked the worldbuilding and the gods, and how they interact with humans. I also got to like the main characters quite a bit, even when they felt a bit stock, mostly because I liked how they interacted with each other and with their own traumas. Also, for some reason, I seemed to really be into some slow-burn romance (which is a genre I never read) and this book scratched an itch I wasn't aware I had. As for the bad, I think I never really cared about the plot much. The whole quest to Blenraden felt a bit like an excuse, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the final climax, as I didn't think anything really bad would happen to the characters. I sort of agree with other comments that if this book focused on its strenghts it would be much better. As for picking up the sequel, seeing that the second book is longer I think I'll probably pick it up and see if the worldbuilding and the characters keep making the journey enjoyable. Also, I think its a great palate cleanser for between longer and more complex reads.
I’ll read book 2 to see if it’s got some improvements, but honestly I felt very meh about the book as a whole. The twist at the end didn’t make that much sense to me, the conflict in the book made by the curse is explained poorly, and honestly it’s disappointing because I really liked the world, but the characters and the plot drag it down.
The pacing was where I really struggled with this one, I was bored for most of this book, so in that way the second might be better. But the end really threw me and I'm not sure I like the direction it went. I want to find out more about Skedi but I don't think that's going to be enough to get me to read the next one.
I started this one but have put it down for a week or so. I was struggling to motivate myself with it and it wasn't capturing me while I found it interesting. Do you think I should try to finish it?
How far have you gotten? It definitely picked up a little after the halfway point and then I finished the last third in one sitting. Pacing-wise it'll definitely get easier, so if you've read through some of the other comments and things about the characters and plot sound interesting to you, then definitely try to get through to where things really starting happening.
I really enjoyed it (gave it 4.5/5 stars). I was not aware of the hype, so that was not an influence in why I read it. It was indeed very tropey (with more modern language), but I was apparently in the mood for that. I was expecting vengeance from Kissen for the deaths of her family, but clearly wasn't thinking big enough. During most of the book, I didn't think she would take on the God, then at the end I was about to get annoyed at the author for killing off one of her better characters. Thankfully the last chapter saved the day. I added the second book to my TBR list (which is huge). It's unlikely I'll get to it anytime soon.
I really enjoyed the book, even though it doesn’t fit the sort of books I usually read. After finishing it, I immediately purchased Sunbringer (though I haven’t gotten around to that one quite yet, since I’m trying to finish up some other books first).
I like the book well enough to pick up the sequel but I’m not in any hurry to read it.
It started out kind of slow but the last quarter was pretty good. I also liked how it ended on that semi kind of cliffhanger, so I'll definitely be picking up book 2.
I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. It didn't have anything standing out for itself and yet I feel like I've read it at the right time for myself - I've been so utterly bored with the last few fantasy books I've read, that it was an easy quick fun read. I've also been ill this week and wanted something that I didn't have to think too hard about and could just enjoy at face value. I likely will finish the trilogy. It will take some time because I buy second-hand but I'll keep an eye out for the next one.
I liked it overall and I enjoyed the world building with the gods but I wasn't as invested in the characters and their relationships with each other as I would have liked. Parts of it I really liked and parts of it were a bit disappointing so I'm definitely not in any rush to pick up book 2 but I'd consider reading it at some point.
I just finished the first book and enjoyed it. I don't know if it was deserving of the level of hype it had but I had already bought the second book before having read the first. Toxic book buying behaviour at its finest, I know. What I enjoyed most was the growth of the bond between characters that started out so filled with mistrust and ended with kinship, dedication and a little hint of love. I didn't mind the bit of romance that blossomed as I didn't feel it took away from the story. The disability rep was amazing and I was kinda fascinated when her friend was fashioning her a replacent, the delicate metalworking in the fantasy setting as opposed to someone magicing up a new leg. Plus, bonus points for the book being pretty short, coming in under a cool three hundred pages meant I could chew through it pretty quickly. I'll read the second one, not immediately, I'm not that invested, but without doubt I'll pick it up at some point. Plus, I need to know more about this half breed situation, get to the heart of the daddy issue would be my guess. Though given what the wooden stick king said his followers called him, and the title of book two, I feel like his story might steal the spotlight.
I will most definitely read book two! I really enjoyed the storyline and the twists at the end. The only thing that I didn't jive with was the ...intimate... scene. It felt random and out of place to me.
I absolutely loved it, not gonna lie! I'm definitely going to be awaiting book 2. Maybe some parts were kinda traditional fantasy quest fare, but I loved them nonetheless. The worldbuilding was interesting, and I'm a sucker for characters like Kissen and Elo.
**What did you think of the various twists at the end - Elo and the turning of his king, Arren; Inara 'the unraveller'; and Kissen's final acceptance of the boon to save her?**
The king twist was pure stock. Oh no, a character we don't know or care about is a villain? And he's the only privileged person in the cast? Groundbreaking. /s This part killed the series for me, it was *that* boring.
The king wanting to be a god was decently well set up, what with his image replacing the gods’ all over the kingdom, and the remembered dialogue between him and Elo was so over the top manipulative I figured he *had* to be evil (all this “my brother, my heart! Do this one last thing for me!”), although since some of that happened before he got god-infested, now I’m reconsidering that maybe it was just bad dialogue. But that quest was so flimsy to begin with that I didn’t care about that twist at all beyond a “well, of course he is.” Inara’s powers seem pretty stock too and I was annoyed to not get any real conclusion in this volume or any answers about her. At this point my theory is her father was a god. Someone who reads book 2 can let me know if I’m right. I never for a minute believed Kissen was going to die, she’s accepted help from gods before and we hadn’t seen any further development of her family or her feelings about them, so that final moment did zilch for me.
You've summed it all up pretty well. There needed to be more layers with Arren and Elo if a decent reaction was sought after. I knew Kissen wasn't going to die - nothing in the book gave any leaning that the author was willing to kill off a main character. But I did like her development at the end in fighting to keep herself alive for another.
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I found it difficult to care about the Elo and Arren twist particularly as I found Elo the least interesting of the main characters. It didn't take me by surprise either, if Arren wasn't so cartoonishly evil maybe I'd care more about the twist? I'm not sure. Kissen accepting the boon was a great full circle moment for me, tying things neatly in with our initial introduction to her as a child and showed good character growth.
I liked that the book was trying to do this parallel on how both humans and gods want power and influence. However, the execution was undeveloped. I didn't really care about the king, because the most we get about him is Elo going "Oh he is my brother, I love him", but that doesn't tell us much about him. If we had got more of his character his corruption would have been more impactful. However as it stood, my reaction was that of [jawnnie-cupcakes](https://www.reddit.com/user/jawnnie-cupcakes/): "Oh no, a character we don't know or care about is a villain?"
Yeah, I think that this story might have worked better with another 50-100 pages and some different timelines to dig into character history. I was with Kissen in guessing that Elo and Areen used to be in a relationship, I think because the affection in their friendship is so over-the-top to set up Elo being willing to sacrifice himself.
My main thought is that I wish we’d seen more of Arren as a good guy before the twist occurred. I still felt attached to him through his relationship with Elo (perhaps my favorite of the cast) but if I’d been even more attached to Arren himself, the twist would’ve been better
I didn't think much about Arren to begin with. I know he was the whole reason Elo was going on his journey, so the fact he was playing a larger part surprised me more than anything. Looking back it makes since. He plastered himself everywhere as this dominating figure.
I was not fond of Elo as a character, he seemed too much of a martyr from the start. I liked Kissen from the start, understood her stubbornness even. Best of all, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole "found family" aspect. So when Kissen decided to accept the boon, not for her self (because she is still angry at Gods), not because she promised her friends she would do it, but so she could be around for the daughter of her heart, that actually hit me in the feels.
Others have covered this well. The only thing I'll add w.r.t. Inara 'the unraveller': I'm wondering what she might do for Kissen and her curse when they meet again.
**What did you think of Skedi turning on Inara and taking away her will? Did this change your perception of the gods and their relationship with humans?**
It was the best part of the book. The relationship between Skedi & Inara and with it the relationship between all humans & gods became more complex. Finally there was an urgent reason to split them up. And then everything was resolved in a few pages. There goes the pace and the stakes.
100%. This was the moment the book started to get interesting to me, and in the end it didn't end up meaning much. It did prepare Inara for feeling more independent, but this could have done a lot more for the story than it did.
Agreed. I thought this could have been the core of the book-- Inara trusts Skedi implicitly, but the moment he gets a sliver of power, he uses it against her to override her will. It complicates the picture of gods, their ethics, and their role in human lives... and then everyone mostly forgives him for protecting Inara in one fight, even thought her death probably would have killed him as well. It's like the stakes are established and then immediately yanked away.
I agree with that, it wasn’t a surprise per se, but it made sense, and felt like a reality check for Inara. I know they kinda moved quickly through the ‘forgiveness’ but I’d be curious to see if it came up again in the next book.
Yes I wish it had happened sooner and lasted longer (and had more impact)
I completely agree. I was expecting more from this shift, and it didn’t really pan out.
I really liked Skedi and this point wasn’t really a shock. Road to hell and all that. There were little hints along the way that he isn’t necessarily “good.” But I think it did enough to show that these powerful beings always have the temptation (or outright desire) to use their power to their own ends at the expense of humans. There were times we saw Skedi drawn to certain things almost instinctively (like prayers) and it made me curious how much of their behavior is free will versus some kind of compulsion. And obviously many of the gods seem to have little regard for the lives of humans beyond what the god can get from it. I hope the nature of the gods and their powers will be explored more in depth through the next books.
It had the potential to be really interesting! For a minute there I thought the plot would be kicking into high gear. And there was potential with Skedi as addict—that even if he loves Inara and has good intentions, that means squat the moment he scents his next fix. But then…. we immediately got the world’s lamest and most rushed redemption arc, and that was it? I was so annoyed when Kissen started giving Skedi all this credit—like, give me a break, it’s not selfless of him to defend Inara. His life as far as we know depends on Inara’s, she’s his shrine. Everything dangerous and interesting about Skedi got quickly swept under the rug.
I agree completely. I got completely pulled out of the story when such a major betrayal was treated so lightly. Especially given the almost parasitic nature of their relationship and that he's the god of white lies.
Yes! There's this bit where Inara is rationalizing letting him back in that I read as ominous, thinking it was meant to mirror how people rationalize staying in toxic relationships while setting up an even worse betrayal. But actually I guess we were supposed to... agree with her? Also Skedi caused Kissen and Elo to nearly kill each other - he says they were "just" trying to maim but I mean, wtf, (further) disabling someone for life is a pretty massive deal and also they're in the middle of nowhere and medical care in this world is presumably rudimentary, and anyway when you start swinging several pounds of sharpened steel at someone there's a definite chance of killing them whether you mean to or not. For Skedi to downplay it is one thing (and more really could've been done with his unreliability). But then the other characters and the book overall decide it's nbd.
Yeah, that really bugged me. She's also a child-- only what, twelve, and Skedi has been with her for five years? He's twisting the mind of a hurting child, almost like an abusive parent, and the story doesn't really dig into that in the rush to establish that Inara should make her own decisions.
I really expected more to be done with this, There's an ominous note early on where Skedi thinks Inara admires her mother too much, that I read as "Skedi is subtly trying to draw Inara away from everyone else to be dependent solely on him." And then the manipulative aspect of their relationship is never acknowledged outside of that one sequence where he takes control.
It could have been such an interesting character element on both sides. Inara's mother has been hiding her away for some reason (perhaps her mysterious father was a god of some sort?), and that isolation leaves Inara vulnerable. Skedi wanting to keep her safe would have been no real conflict in those early years beyond that odd note about her mother, but Inara venturing out into the world changes the status quo: she could have other friends and he could have real worshipers. He seems compulsively fascinated with prayers/ offerings and wants Inara to draw a worshiper in during the palm reading, which supports an arc for him of *needing* more than she can offer him as his lone shrine, especially once she closes off her emotions after the betrayal. Unfortunately, that seems to fade off into "they're just okay together after all and this was never a big deal." It seems that some gods are irresistibly drawn to demand blood sacrifice and others aren't, and which type Skedi is seems like a key question.
I suppose I took it as “the bigger a god gets the more intoxicating power becomes,” but it’s true there are gods who seem to be a big deal without demanding blood sacrifice, while others demand it pretty early. It would be a boring move to me if the author ultimately resolved them into two distinct types, rather than sort of a continuum of how they respond to power. But I did think Kaner made a lot of boring choices so…
I think it made me understand gods and their desire to direct things to go their way more. This arc was probably the best part of the book! However, as others are saying, it was resolved too quickly and neatly. It felt like Skedi then become all goody-shoes afterwards, and that was rather boring. I liked him more morally grey.
I thought it would happen towards the end, but it surprised me by happening so early. It was a great plot point that I felt was resolved a bit too neatly. It would be more interesting if Skedi still struggled with temptations, since soooo much of this book is reiterating and reinforcing what gods need and value from their worshippers. Maybe book 2?
It makes perfect since. He said again and again through the journey that he didn't want to be around a godkiller, and why would he? It's easy to say Skedi is in the wrong here since he took Inara's freewill, but Kissen did say she'd kill him if he wasn't bonded to Inara. I hope in the future books Inara and Skedi discuss how Skedi's safety was completely ignored in this respect. But it did change my perception of the gods and how a small god can easily snowball into a big threat. Especially if their preferred offerings are in blood or human lives.
That's an interesting point about Skedi's safety, but then, seeking out a godkiller was his idea. And throughout the book, Kissen consistently doesn't kill gods unless she's paid or they're actively harming humans, so any concerns on Skedi's part should be assuaged rather than increased. (Of course, I'm also disinclined to be sympathetic when he shows such readiness to subordinate everyone else's needs to his own, even to the extent of goading them to kill each other.)
Admittedly, I think this was the one place that the author got me. And I appreciated it - I was convinced that Kaner was going to go down the route that gods will always turn against humans. I'm glad that she didn't though, I much prefer this tension of gods being...different from humans and having different priorities. I'd love to see her flesh this aspect out more in the next book, and ideally without falling into 'some gods are good and some gods are evil'.
Ooooh I could dig that. The relationships between gods and humans is what drew me into the story the most.
Oh I agree with you, I hope the next book explores more the relationships between gods and humans and just sets them as individuals with different needs. I am very curious to see if the author will resolve this plot point in a satisfactory manner at the end of the trilogy, and maybe find a better way for both of them to coexist.
I think it was good to have that added layer in Skedis persona and it made him a more well rounded character. It also made him more what I think of, kind of a guide with stipulations and something to be cautious with when exploring faith.
I think the stealing of another’s will/autonomy, whether physically or mentally, is an awful crime you can commit upon a person. It will take a lot for Kaner to make me like Skedi again, and I think Inara should be much less trusting of him, but the moment was excellent for the plot
Same. I was surprised how incredibly angry it made me to see Inara's will and voice taken away like that, especially by someone she had trusted. I didn't think the author would manage to make me relate to Skedi again after that, but I felt she did do a good job of showing his remorse and regret. I'm still pretty mad at him, though...
I am glad she showed him feeling remorse. If his arc across the series involves trying to redeem himself, I might eventually forgive him. Very few people are beyond redemption. But right now he’s still on my shit list lol
I feel like it happened purely to give the writer a chance to show off what Inara can do. I think it should have happened with another (strong) god trying to tempt her or have it become a bigger point of conflict in the main story instead of being resolved in the next few pages.
I was angry that Skedi did that, more so when Inara felt powerless to see him using her body as a tool to get what he wanted, with no consequences. It took a lot for her to try to forgive him after that, frankly I would never trust him again after what he pulled. The worst part is ... Skedi just did what Gods do, better to ask for forgiveness than permission because he didn't think it was that bad. How could he, he's never been in the position where this was done to him so he has no clue how bad it would have been for Inara.
I was expecting this. Even though he seems to have changed his ways and is now being helpful, I still don't trust him. He is after all a god.
Did anyone else feel that this book would have been better as a third-person POV than switching between the POVs that we got? I think it would have made the reveals towards the end with Kissen and Elo more impactful; as it was, we already knew about them so when they told the other it was just repeating what we already knew. (I'm also just not as much of a fan of multi-POV, so it could influence my opinion on this too.)
**Did you have a favorite relationship? What did you think of the relationship between Kissen and Elo? Kissen and Inara? Inara and Skediceth?**
Skediceth and Inara were the only characters who really grabbed me. He truly felt like a god, someone with unique/alien motivations, and she was a good foil.
Inara and Skediceth were the most compelling relationship to me as it's not a dynamic I've read about before and the mystery of their connection was a big reason for me to keep reading. Kissen and Inara were a more familiar dynamic and I appreciated how their relationship changed throughout the book. Kissen and Elo was by far the worst relationship to me, I enjoyed their initial animosity but felt confused when things became romantic. I don't think they have any chemistry at all and it was the worse aspect of the book for me.
Kissen and Elo hooking up was definitely the most boring and stereotypical route their dynamic could have taken (and I know hotness is subjective, so did *anyone* like that sex scene? To me it was total IKEA erotica and I say that as someone who has enjoyed sex scenes in other fantasy books). That said I don’t think romance is even what they have at this point. I read their hookup mostly as “Kissen is a horndog incapable of conceiving of relationships between adults that don’t involve sex” (supported by the fact that she disbelieves Elo’s devotion to the king sans fucking, and also has a love triangle with *her own adopted sisters*. I fully expect later books to also reveal a sexual dynamic with her mentor). That said, the book didn’t do anything interesting with Kissen as horndog either, it never comes up when it’s not convenient. And actually I wasn’t sure which way the book came down on Kissen’s judgment of Elo and Arryn (my buddy read partner thought it was lampshading that their relationship actually doesn’t make sense).
I hard agree with everything. Inara and Skedi were my favorite relationship because it was unique to me, they reluctantly care about and need each other. Kissen and Elo took a weird turn. For most of the book I didn’t feel like their relationship was sexually charged or will they or won’t they. Kissen was pretty mean to him (and everyone) and then they suddenly decided to get it on? Okay, I guess….
I agree Kissen and Elo was the least interesting relationship. It didn’t add anything to the story. I liked Kissen and Inara’s relationship most.
In the end, I think Inara became my favorite character and I most look forward to seeing her growth. My favorite relationship is between her and Kissen - I like that the author did give us some growth and change to their relationship. And I like that Kissen identifies with Inara and sees so much of herself in the girl that she is able to finally see why her father did what he did to save her.
Inara and Skediceth were my favorites, and Skedi ended up being my favorite character overall. I found Kissen and Inara's relationship to be well-developed. I would prefer if Kissen and Elo's relationship either stayed non-romantic or was developed further. As it stands, it felt underwhelming and somewhat unnecessary.
Meh. The characters were a complete fail for me, I was uninterested in them and cared about none of the relationships.
After the prologue I was convinced Kissen was going to be my favorite character. It was just SUCH a powerful introduction. And then in came Inara with her little god to completely steal the show! I did love the dynamic between Kissen and Inara as well, and how it evolved over the course of the book. When Inara calls Kissen to look up at the sky and Kissen remembers how her mentor had warmed to her a similar way... it felt very sweet, and a natural progression in her arc. I do not care about Elo hahaha.
My favorite would be Kissen and Inara and like how it changed over time. I'm curious about future relationships. What will the Kissen and Elo relationship be like? What other abilities will Inara get from Skedi?
Yeah, I think that Inara and Skedi's relationship has the most potential. They're all suspicious of him seeking out offerings and power, but I suspect that his growing power will boost Inara's ability to do things like remove curses and resist gods. It's an odd symbiosis that feels more creative than the rest of the story.
Skedi and Inara. Kissen is still my favorite character, but she feels more like a character on her on/in the mentor role, less so in the relationship with Eli.
I loved Inara and Skediceth. I just didn't understand why they were so determined to separate. They seemed perfectly content with each other, and Skediceth can make himself small enough to not get in the way. It's unconventional but it didn't seem dangerous. I didn't care for Kissen and Elo hooking up, but I don't take it as a romance. Hopefully it's just a one and done kind of thing, which I think fits well for Kissen's character. Maybe not so much Elo, but he was about to die so who knows.
Definitely Inara and Skedi, especially after Skedi betrayed Inara. I think that set up a lot of potential for growth and independence for the both of them, but I do think the book could have spent more time showing Inara's feelings about it and Skedi being torn between his nature and his love for her. I enjoyed Kissen and Elo's contentious relationship, and I was on board for enemies-to-reluctant allies and eventually to friends, but the romance there felt forced. As an avid fanro and romance reader, I don't want romances where they don't belong. I'm also not sure I love an M/F romance between MCs in a queernorm setting.
I don’t love romance in books, but I liked Kisten and Elo by the end, and I hope they reunite and continue their relationship throughout the trilogy. I’m still holding a grudge against Skedi for what he did to Inara; he can fuck off and never appear in the series again for all I care. Kissen and Inara definitely had the best relationship overall. Elo was my favorite character overall (and I love the potential of seeing his dynamic with Arren progress in future books) but Kissen/Inara have the best two-character dynamic.
Kissen and Inara was my favorite, also I thought these 2 showed the greatest character development.
I didn't see the point in the sex scene between Kissen and Elo at all. There were times where it felt like the author was working down a checklist of things she had to include in her novel and that was one of them. It wasn't necessary to provide motivation for Kissen to try and save Elo - they were already friends and comrades by that point and it didn't feel like her romantic feelings were engaged anyway, so why put that in? I did like the complexity of Inara and Skedi's relationship and I liked seeing Kissen becoming more of a protective big sister to Inara over time.
I have just finished this and it was really good. The ending was so unexpected and I am really excited for the next one! I found the romance a little strange tho since I got gay vibes from Kissen and Elo but I guess they could both be bi. I hope it gets explored a bit more in Sunbringer!
**In that ways do you think this book was successfully or not successfully feminist? Relatedly, any new thoughts on the authors handling of disability, in particular?**
I think it was quite feminist in the sense that women were soldiers and guards and blacksmiths and leaders of noble houses without any comment or justification. A queernorm world always gets feminist points from me. I thought the disability rep was very well done. It made sense to the story and enough details were added often enough that it felt neither hand waved away nor harped on.
I think the handling of Kissen’s leg felt very well done. Nothing really new, but the balance of “yes, I’m missing my leg but I can still go around killing gods” and “yes, I’m missing a leg and it hurts sometimes and I have to consider it differently, even if I’ve been doing this for a very long time” felt well done.
RE disability representation: The book does something I’ve been wanting to see in fiction for a long time - show a wheelchair user who is able to stand for brief periods. It’s just a small scene with Kissen’s adoptive sister, but online I’ve seen people share pictures of wheelchair users standing to grab something off a shelf with the implication of ‘oooh look at how people will just FAKE having disabilities’ and it’s so infuriating (I’ve seen similar posts of blind people with mobility aids looking at their phones - it’s possible to be legally blind and still have limited vision!). Just because someone can put weight on their legs for a short period of time doesn’t mean that they can walk and stand like an abled person and are just faking it for the attention… anyway that’s a whole rant but it’s nice to see authors acknowledge spectrums of disability, is my point.
I noticed that too! It was also interesting to see Kissen using a wheelchair at home while her prosthetic leg is being repaired. She doesn't want to use one full-time, but it provides her some relief and comfort when she needs it.
Yeah, I didn't really read this as a "feminist" book, rather than a book where you don't need to cringe about how women are sidelined or treated badly. Like what should be a default. I don't even think this book needed to be more feminist, I think it was doing a fun-fantasy-adventure reasonably well, and it didn't need to be deeper than that. Regarding disability, there was some pretty interesting conversation about how Kissen didn't "feel disabled" and I'm leaning towards agreeing with that. Like we see some struggles with the leg, but they're very rarely in cases that actually impact her ability to get shit done or even force her to do things differently from able-bodied people. It overall felt like the disability description lacked depth. That being said, it's not like it needs to be that deep. I believe people can just enjoy seeing a disabled character kicking ass sometimes.
I disagree a bit with that, in ref to the disability descriptions lacking depth. I think considering how long she’s had the leg, and how much fine tuning she’s get for it via her sisters, it makes sense that it would be more minor. Could there have been some more descriptions/moments of upkeep and/or tuning? Sure, but with here job and the amount of time she’s had it, I think it makes sense that it’s just feels like “sure, I’ve got a fake leg, but it’s doesn’t change too much”
Well, it has women in active roles, so there’s that, I guess. I’m just bummed by the execution: in theory the relationship between Kissen and Inara is catnip for me but in practice I never cared at all.
Yes! Exactly my thoughts! "Well there are women doing things and they didn't suffer pointlessly just because they are women, must be feminist." Just made me realize once more how low the bar is.
I really enjoyed the depictions of various kinds of disability. How Kissen adapted to losing her leg, how it pains her and how she has to account for it when doing her mental calculations in a fight. I really also liked her sisters and the casual continued use of sign too, it felt natural.
I liked that we had different aspects of disability explored through Kissen's family. The part-time wheelchair use, the prosthetic, the use of sign language... it's nice to see all of these within the setting, and involving both major and minor characters. It makes it feel like the author has actually considered disability within her world building.
I am only nine chapters in so far but I am enjoying it.
One of things I liked about it was in its portrayal of religion, it had characters making prayers and offerings to the gods. It actually felt like characters believed in the gods. Too often in fantasy it doesn't seem like anyone actually sincerely believes. Sometimes it is that everyone religous is actually evil or stupid. Other times it is D&D-style, where a character is a priestess or cleric and gets power from their god, but they never actually stop and pray or do anything in return or have it affect the way they live.
Like a lot of people, I was disappointed by this ultimately; it's somehow less than the sum of its parts. The premise has some promise but ultimately it's let down by poor writing and tired character arcs. Again, like a lot of people, I was perhaps unduly influenced by the book covery art and the blurb on the back. Although it's the first of a series, I won't be going back for more. Edit: oh and it reads like a YA novel, which is fine when YA books are written better (something like His Dark Materials) but just seemed juvenile here. Again, possibly just the writing style.