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TBR Pile Review: The Last Blade Priest, by W.P Wiles

Format: 508 pages, Paperback
Published: July 12, 2022 by Angry Robot
ISBN: 9780857669827

Inar is Master Builder for the Kingdom of Mishig-Tenh. Life is hard after the Kingdom lost the war against the League of Free Cities. Doubly so since his father betrayed the King and paid the ultimate price. And now the King’s terrifying chancellor and torturer in chief has arrived and instructed Inar to go and work for the League. And to spy for him. And any builder knows you don’t put yourself between a rock and a hard place.

Far away Anton, Blade Priest for Craithe, the God Mountain, is about to be caught up in a vicious internal war that will tear his religion apart. Chosen from infancy to conduct human sacrifice, he is secretly relieved that the practice has been abruptly stopped. But an ancient enemy has returned, an occult conspiracy is unfolding, and he will struggle to keep his hands clean in a world engulfed by bloodshed.

In a series of constantly surprising twists and turns that take the reader through a vividly imagined and original world full of familiar tensions and surprising perspectives on old tropes, Inar and Anton find that others in their story may have more influence on their lives, on the future of the League and on their whole world than they, or the reader imagined.

My Review

I picked up this book at FantasyCon last year, although more precisely the author gave me a copy after the final panel about the essentials an adventurer needs and I asked why no one ever took a map and compass? I think it’s being raised by a former Scout, and being a Guide myself from a young age, I just naturally just consider maps, compasses and spare change for a phone, as essentials for adventuring off the beaten track. These days of course, finding a pay phone is hard, so you should take your phone charger and a spare battery pack in your bag. If you can get a signal, you can get help!

Okay, so back to the book.

Our first main character is Inar, a master builder from the recently conquered kingdom of Mishig-Tenh. The League want him to help them find a way into the Hidden Kingdom. And they won’t take no for an answer. Since his father and brother were executed as traitors, and Inar will go the same way if he doesn’t spy for the remaining leaders of the kingdom, he agrees. He has to lead a team of explorers through the mountains to meet representatives from the Mountain God. Things go very wrong, and secrets are revealed that probably should have been kept hidden, including a girl, called Duna, who can bring down mountains.

Our second main character is Anton, one of the last Blade Priests, vertzan of the God Mountain, Craithe. At nineteen, Anton has only one friend in the monastery-fortress, his sister-priestess, Elecy. They have been trained from a young age to perform the human sacrifices required by the demi-gods on the Mountain, until the demi-gods (giant vultures, called Guardians) decided that they don’t want human sacrifice anymore. This has caused a rift in the faith, between the traditionalists and the progressives. Anton is chosen to be the successor to the altzan-al (high priest/pope?) until he’s set up for the murder of the altzan-al. Rescued by Elecy and a young scout, he sets out to find allies in the outside world, while Elecy stays behind to keep an eye on the new regime.

There’s a war and invasions, gods die. Things explode. Duna gets high and goes a little bit battle-mad. At the end, the world has changed for everyone involved, while Duna and Elecy meet up and head out into the world, probably causing mayhem in the future. I can’t wait to read the second book, which isn’t out for another year.

Mad elves, high on mushrooms, kidnap the main characters and their parties. It’s a unique idea – elves are humans who take a mushroom that makes them feel immortal, and not feel pain as their ears and face are cut. I

One of the people in the League party is a surveyor, and Inar is amazed by the idea of accurate surveys. I love the idea of introducing new ideas into a world and seeing how they play out with the different cultures. Inar doesn’t understand why they were traveling so slowly, although a reader would when the mentions of notes and poles, sighting on mountains, that sort of thing.

The League is obviously an empire in waiting, despite the rhetoric of freedom, logic and science. Some of the characters from the League have good intentions, but some are very obviously looking to build a legacy. The church of the God Mountain have, or had, an empire and are shrinking, while some factions are looking to accept the change of status, others want to rebuild it. They are mirrors of each other.

I enjoyed the twist at the end, as Anton realises the Guardian’s prophecy is not about him. He’s a bit slow on the uptake; an attentive reader would have picked that up fairly quickly.

The book is chunky at 508 pages, but the story flies along; the world is complex, the characters are fascinating, and the plot kept me engaged.

TBR Pile Review: Spec Fic for Newbies Vol. 2, by Tiffani Angus and Val Nolan

Beam aboard your own Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror classroom with the next volume of the BSFA-shortlisted writing-guide series!

Join Tiffani Angus (Ph.D.) and Val Nolan (Ph.D.) for a whirlwind introduction to the storytelling basics of 30 more subgenres and major tropes from across the limitless realms of Speculative Fiction.

Learn about Space Opera, Folk Horror, Climate Fiction, Werewolves, Astronauts, Mythic Fantasy, Goblin Markets, Dragons, and many more with deep dives into each subgenre’s history and development, spotter’s guides to typical examples, pitfalls to watch out for in your own writing, and activities to help you get started! All derived from a combined two decades of university-level practices and experience!

Spec Fic for Newbies breaks genres into bite-sized pieces for students or for any budding writer. It offers a welcoming introduction to how writers, filmmakers, and other creatives can begin to explore the infinite potential of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror to create new stories beyond the boundaries of the ordinary.

This is not another dusty rulebook. This is a portal to endless other worlds!

TBL Review: Days of Shattered Faith, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Tyrant Philosophers, Book 3
Narrated by David Thorpe
Release date: 05-12-24
Language: English
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 21 hrs and 39 mins

Bloomsbury presents Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky, read by David Thorpe.

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow’s frontline in the Palleseen’s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world.

Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time.

As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she’s here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight.

Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with?

As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger.

Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…

My Review

I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but I think this third book is my favourite. We encounter re-occurring characters, like Jack, the former priest, and some of the crew from the hospital, who have settled in Alkhaland, and set up a new hospital in the poor district of the city. Jack has made a new friend who runs the local prison and has an un/comfortable relationship with his demon bride. This comes in very handy later in the story.

Into a complicated city comes Loret, a young, scared woman from Pallisand, sent to be aide to Gil, the Resident. Except Loret is a very bad aide, other than rescuing Gil a couple of times. Loret knows what has been happening in the isles and it scares her. She is too scared to tell Gil, and we learn what happened after the characters from book two return to the Palleseen Sway – the ‘infection’ of belief in Jack’s former god, a healer, and the Fisher King, who is very much not a healer, spreads in the army and then in the general population.

I loved this development in the background story, which travels through all three books. It’s the landscape that the stories take place in, with each book being a focused pinpoint in the wider picture. Nothing in the story-world is static, although the Palles want the world to be static and perfect and are constantly fighting against difference and variation.

Alkhaland has an elderly, grief-stricken ruler, who has three sons and a daughter. Tradition says that only a whole man can rule. The eldest is in exile, the second son, Cam, is his father’s right hand and designated heir, the third son is a child obsessed with death. His daughter is a pawn in the game of alliances.

The worldbuilding and descriptions of Alkhaland’s culture and society are vivid and lively. The characters are individual and have their own complex motivations. Gil is truly distressed by the difficult choices she has to make and her complex relationship with Cam.

When the ruler dies, the sons go to war. Except the youngest who goes to meet death. The daughter joins the demon at the hospital. Cam wins with the help of his friend Gil and her Palleseen troops, who promtly move in and make themselves at home.

The people of Alkhaland do not want to be part of the sway, and after some difficulties they free themselves, with the help of a motley crew of aliens, disaffected Palls, demons, and pirates. The final battle is climactic and exciting to read. The advances and reversals, the personal decisions that could make or break the battle, are brilliantly written.

It’s a complex story, exploring how imperialism sneaks into free places around the world, and the small things and well-meaning people that help it along. The Palleseen Sway reminds me of the British Empire, especially the way we took control of India. Trusted representatives of different European states rolled up in the Indian kingdoms and started cultivating influence, until the kings supported one or the other, and then European states sent armies to ‘help’ the Indian kings, until they control the states themselves.

Adrian Tchaikovsky leaves an author’s note that the places in the book aren’t based on real places but he was influenced by the podcast Revolutions. I don’t think I’ve listened to that podcast but I’ve had a quick scan of the episode titles, it seems to cover the revolutionary period from the reign of Charles II onwards. I shall have to have a listen. I also recommend Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff if you’re interested in revolutionaries.

I highly recommend this book and the series in general. I need more stories set in this world, but I think this trilogy is complete as it is, charting the beginning of the end of empire. I hear there’s a short story hiding in an anthology somewhere, so I need to get hold of that anthology.

The narration was excellent and fully embodied the different characters.

ARC TBR Pile Review: The House of Frost and Feathers, by Lauren Wiesebron

Format: 432 pages, Hardcover
Published: January 16, 2025 by Hodderscape
ISBN: 9781399723176 (ISBN10: 1399723170)
Language: English

Description

Marisha’s life is not going as she expected. With the sleeping plague only a few months away, she’s as desperate for money as she is to escape her aunt’s torturous marriage prospects. Leaving all that she’s known behind, Marisha accepts a job working with the notorious koldunya, Baba Zima in her house that glides on chicken feet through the snow.

But Baba Zima is renowned for being both clever and cruel. And most difficult of all is her current apprentice, Olena, who wants nothing to do with Marisha. Despite her fears and Olena’s cold demeanour, Marisha finds herself drawn into the magical world of koldunry and delves further into Olena’s research – a cure for the sleeping plague.

Accompanying Olena on an increasingly dangerous, seemingly impossible search for a cure, she finds hidden connections between the sleeping plague, her own family’s history, and her bizarre, recurring dreams: dreams of a masked ball where the deep sleepers are trapped endlessly dancing – and a monstrous beaked man haunts her every step . . .

My Review

I found an ARC of this book at FantasyCon, one of the Hodderscape team must have left it lying around after a book launch event. It has a matching bookmark. Essentially I have paperback version of the hardback now available. The book was published 16th of this month. The paperback from HarperVoyager will be published in June. It has a different cover, so I might get it. This book is the February BFS Book Club book, and since I had it and felt like reading something different yesterday evening, I started reading it.

When I went to bed I was over 220 pages in and only stopped reading because my eyes were stinging with tiredness. I planned to go swimming this afternoon, but decided to stay home and finish the story instead. I’m going swimming tomorrow instead.

Marisha is cursed. Her mother, then her father, succumb to the sleeping plague, ten years apart. Her brother loses their fortune and she is, after finishing school, thrown on the mercies of her wealthy maternal aunts. Who pity and hate her, fearing she’ll bring the curse to them next time the sleeping plague strikes. Determined to get away from her aunts and the prospect of marriage to a man twice her age with evil eyes, she applies to be a koldunya’s assistant.

She’s too old.

She doesn’t believe in magic or curses.

She doesn’t have koldunya quality.

Her parents are victims of the sleeping plague and her brother has disappeared.

She is stubborn, logical, and hardworking. She knows how to scrub pans, read Old Slavonic, and the house didn’t squash her immediately.

Baba Zima takes her on for a year.

But she’s assistant to Olena, Baba Zima’s apprentice, who is stubborn, spiky, doesn’t let people in, and really doesn’t want an assistant.

The household is completed by two other young assistance, Dunya and Anka-ny, and they are later joined by Baba Zima’s son Valdim

For three months the household travels across the land, dispensing advice, cures, and spirit work to supplicants. Marisha develops a complicated relationship with Olena, especially after they kidnap a victim of the sleeping plague from a sanitorium and Marisha starts having terrifying dreams of a masked ball in the other world. When not hiding their kidnappee in a linen closet, Marisha helps Olena by reading a mountain of books and finding hints about the plague, while picking up the skills of a koldunya, although she doesn’t want to be one.

Olena has complicated feelings about Valdim, Marisha, and Baba Zima, while she struggles with finding a cure for the plague. Her plans seem to work then go awry, Baba Zima tests her loyalty frequently, and abuses her trust as often.

Baba Zima is suspicious; an old rival, Anatoli, is rumoured to have found a way to cure the plague, and has been making overtures to Olena. She doesn’t trust Olena not to betray her, so she distracts her by asking for help with the demonstration they will perform for other koldunya.

As winter comes to an end, the house on chicken legs takes the household to a clearing in the forest, to a gathering of koldunya, the krug. Here, events become tangled further, as Olena is tempted by her mentor’s rival, and Marisha is ‘helped’ by a kolduni who seems familiar, Pan Volya.

The actions of Marisha’s parents, Baba Zima, Anatoli, and their presumed dead matron, Baba Fima, and Pan Volya, before Marisha was born, bears fruit in the present, as Marisha, Dima (her brother), Olena, and Voldam, face the consequences and fight to save the entire world from the sleeping plague.

An imaginative fantasy of redemption, drawing heavily from Slavic mythology and folklore. Witches and wizards (to use English equivalents) flying around in giant mortars, or living in houses that walk about of chicken legs; the waters of life and death, that can heal the body and the spirit if applied appropriately, but which are hidden; deep dark forests, and poor villages, where disabled children are considered cursed, a punishment for the sins of their parents.

The name of the country, Chernozemlya, seems to be a reference to black earth. The black soil of Slavic regions of Europe are incredibly fertile and produce vast amounts of grains. It’s one of the reasons the Russian Empire, then the USSR, and the current Russian Republic, fought, killed, murdered, starved and displaced so many people. Can’t claim the soil if your own people aren’t living there. No really, it partially explains the current Russian war in Ukraine. Apart from control of the Black Sea, and Putin’s delusions of Tzarship.

The story turns on the relationships of the main characters, as they learn to work together and develop friendships or at least respect for each other. I didn’t like Baba Zima very much, she’s intentionally cruel, but as I read the last chapters, which showed her relationship with her own matron, Baba Fima, it’s clear she’s acting from fear, guilt, and a bad example of how a matron koldunya should treat her apprentices and assistants.

Olena’s history of being abused by her family and then manipulated by Zima make her reluctant to trust anyone, even the boy she grew up with, Valdim, and certainly not her assistant Marisha. She finds Marisha useful when she can be bothered to ask for her assistance, and Valdim confusing. Zima plays the three off against each other, so that until the Baba leaves unexpectedly, that make little progress. Every two steps forward in relationship building is met with a little trick by Zima, that forces them each back one step. Her removal gives them space to realise what’s been happening, and they still decide to rescue her. I found her stubbornness frustrating but understandable. She’s visibly disabled in a world that hates disability, she’s been badly treated by the people who are supposed to love her, and she feels guilt at accidentally hurting her brother. Her defence mechanism to hide from the pain is to view everything through a lens of attack, to build a wall around herself and drive people away.

Marisha seems a bit of a dolt at times; she’s blinded by her prejudices against the ‘irrational’, afraid that she’ll be the next victim of the sleeping plague, and she won’t ask for help when nightmares stop her sleeping! It’s obvious that she’s dream walking, at least it is to the reader, once we discover who is helping her. Between Marisha and Olena they have all the clues to the cure that they need, but they don’t talk to each other! I wanted to bash their heads together.

It felt like a realistic depiction of two very different and traumatised people trying to work through their differences and find new perspectives on events. Some real people never get to a point where their trauma is manageable and doesn’t colour everything in negativity, so it’s almost refreshing when fictional people do.

I enjoyed the depiction of Valdim’s sensory sensitivities and synaesthesia, and the way Olena’s foreshortened arm was still a functioning arm. Valdim’s ‘invisible’ disability makes him an over sensitive weirdo, who might see people’s souls, while Olena’s highly visible arm and birthmark are a punishment for her mother’s transgressions and a sign she is cursed. It suggests the author is aware of and sensitive to different forms of disability and the way disabled people and their families/friends make adjustments, even in cultures and societies that don’t recognise some disabilities or that treat disabled people badly.

Yay for sensitive disability representation!

I enjoyed the use of Slavic mythology and folklore in the story, it gave it a richness and depth that was immersive. There’s a rich and deep vein of story to draw on, that few English-language fantasy writers have tapped, and there are probably a lot of good fantasy novels not yet published in English that we’re missing out on.

This book left me feeling melancholy but satisfied. There’s a sense that everything has changed, and the characters are still catching up with themselves and their hopes for the future.

I do want to know what happens next for the trio. Do Olena and Valdim make a go of things? Does Kiril finally remember who Marisha is? What happened when Marisha visits her parents and brother? Do Dunya and Anka-by return to the house of chicken’s legs and continue with their training? Will Baba Zima catch up with Baba Fima? What will Anatoli and Pan Volya do next? Has the bird-faced man been defeated? How does Chernozemlya react to the sudden awakening of all the Sleeping Plague victims?

So many questions! I a bit invested in this world, aren’t I? I wonder if there will be a sequel?

I hope so, because Wiesebron’s writing is evocative, her characters grab attention, and the story was engrossing.

TBR Pile Review: The Trials of Empire, by Richard Swan

Published: Aug 08 2024
Paperback
ISBN: 9780356516509
£10.99

Description

The Trials of Empire is the epic conclusion to the bestselling Empire of the Wolf series, where Sir Konrad Vonvalt – the most powerful and feared of the Emperor’s Justices – must finally face the dark powers that seek to detroy the Empire.

THE TIME OF JUDGEMENT IS AT HAND

The Empire of the Wolf is on its knees, but there’s life in the great beast yet.

To save it, Sir Konrad Vonvalt and Helena must look beyond its borders for allies – to the wolfmen of the southern plains, and the pagan clans in the north. But old grievances run deep, and both factions would benefit from the fall of Sova.

Even these allies might not be enough. Their enemy, the zealot Bartholomew Claver, wields infernal powers bestowed on him by a mysterious demonic patron. If Vonvalt and Helena are to stand against him, they will need friends on both sides of the mortal plane – but such allegiances carry a heavy price.

As the battlelines are drawn in both Sova and the afterlife, the final reckoning draws close. Here, at the beating heart of the Empire, the two-headed wolf will be reborn in a blaze of justice . . . or crushed beneath the shadow of tyranny.

TBR Pile: The Outcast Mage, by Annabel Campbell

Coming From Orbit (UK & US) January 2025

In the city of Amoria, where magic rules all, Naila is the ultimate conundrum. A student under the watchful eye of Amoria’s sprawling Academy, Naila is undeniably gifted, yet she has never been able to harness her abilities. And time is running out. If she fails, she’ll be forced into exile, or worse – consumed by her own magic.

For decades mages and the magicless Hollows have lived side-by-side peacefully. But now that peace is threatened as old resentments bubble over. A powerful anti-Hollow faction led by Amoria’s most influential mages is determined to cast the Hollows out. With her Hollow background, Nalia is in danger of being exiled from everything she knows and everyone she loves if she cannot unlock her power.

When a tragic incident threatens her place at the Academy, Naila is saved by Haelius Akana, the most powerful living mage. A scholar and fellow outcast, Haelius is fascinated by Naila’s inability to use magic. Eager to help someone in whom he sees so much of himself, he stakes his position at the Academy on teaching her. Trapped in the deadly schemes of Amoria’s elite, Naila must dig deep to discover the truth of her powers – or watch the city she loves descend into civil war.

The Outcast Mage

About the author

Annabel writes fantasy with fierce female characters and disaster wizards, and believes everything is improved by dragons.

She lives in a tiny village in Scotland, where most of her neighbours are sheep. She has a PhD in cardiovascular science, and when not making things up for a living, she works as a Medical Writer.

Her other joys are red wine, playing games, or showing you too many pictures of her dog.

My favourite Sci Fi and Fantasy 2024

Midwinter greetings.

The year isn’t over yet, so more might be added before 31st December.

TBR/L Pile books

Blog Tour Books

Tomorrow’s Children, by Daniel Polansky
When The Night Falls, by Glenn Rolfe
The Garden of Delights, by Amal Singh
Jubilee, by Stephen K Stanford
The Hunter’s Gambit, by Ciel Pierlot
Key Lime Sky, By Al Hess
Ludluda, By Jeff Noon & Steve Beard
Symbiote, by Michael Nayak – not yet published – blog tour in January/February 2025

Non-fiction TBR/L

TBL Review: Voyage of the Damned, by Francis White

Audible Audio
First published January 18, 2024

Book description

For a thousand years, Concordia has maintained peace between its provinces. To mark this incredible feat, the emperor’s ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage to the sacred Goddess’s Mountain.

Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique and secret magical ability known as a Blessing.

Except one: Ganymedes Piscero – class clown, slacker, and all-round disappointment.

When a beloved heir is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Stuck at sea and surrounded by powerful people without a Blessing to protect him, odds of survival are slim.

But as the bodies pile higher, Ganymedes must become the hero he was not born to be. Can he unmask the killer and their blessing before this bloody crusade reaches the shores of Concordia?

Or will the empire as he knows it fall?

Review: Ludluda, by Jeff Noon & Steve Beard

Release Date: 2024-12-03
EBook ISBN: 9781915998323 | epub & mobi | £5.99/$9.99/$11.99
Paperback ISBN: 9781915998316 | Paperback | £9.99 / $17.99 / $23.99

Ludluda, the sequel to Gogmagog, takes us on a haunting and delightfully witty adventure in a fantasy world which defies genre.

Luluda tells the story of a journey through a strange modern city whose power is sourced from the ghost of a dragon. Ludwich may no longer be at war with its great political rival overseas, but veteran sailor Cady Meade, survivor of many battles, suspects that the hard-won peace is about to break. She promises to deliver a preternatural ten-year old girl to a coming-of-age festival in the heart of Ludwich. But she has been warned by the prophets that dangers lie ahead.

Cady suspects that the young girl’s fate is entwined with that of the city. When the girl disappears, the old sailor must hunt her down, accompanied by a know-it-all mechanical man whose circuits are slowly grinding to dust. But Cady’s mission has always been to guard Ludwich from enemies both known and occult, and she will never give up.

Following the course of the River Nysis through the city, and beyond, Cady must uncover the final mysteries of the great dragon Haakenur’s life and death and afterlife. Her greatest battle is about to begin.

TBL Pile Review: House of Open Wounds, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. As their legions scour the world of superstition with the bright flame of reason, so they deliver a mountain of ragged, holed and scorched flesh to the field hospital tents just behind the frontline.

Which is where Yasnic, one-time priest, healer and rebel, finds himself. Reprieved from the gallows and sent to war clutching a box of orphan Gods, he has been sequestered to a particularity unorthodox medical unit.

Led by ‘the Butcher’, an ogre of a man who’s a dab hand with a bone-saw and an alchemical tincture, the unit’s motley crew of conscripts, healers and orderlies are no strangers to the horrors of war. Their’s is an unspeakable trade: elbow-deep in gore they have a first-hand view of the suffering caused by flesh-rending monsters, arcane magical weaponry and embittered enemy soldiers.

Entrusted – for now – with saving lives deemed otherwise un-saveable, the field hospital’s crew face a precarious existence. Their work with unapproved magic, necromancy, demonology and Yansic’s thoroughly illicit Gods could lead to the unit being disbanded, arrested or worse.

Beset by enemies within and without, the last thing anyone needs is a miracle.

My Review

I immediately started listening to House of Open Wounds after finishing City of Last Chances, and am now impatiently awaiting the release of Days of Shattered Faith. Where book one does and industrial fantasy take on the revolts and rebellions of the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment, book two takes us to the battlefield hospital, a la M.A.S.H., with outlaw priests and tortured souls performing miracles to save the lives of their conquerors.

We follow Yasnic who has become a smuggler of gods and his punishment for rebellion against perfection is to work in a field hospital, patching up Pall soldiers along with a crew of outcasts, led by a poisoner and a necromancer. It’s a bit bewildering for the priest, who is and isn’t a priest. He’s in an on and off relationship with his god. He falls in love with a daemon and discovers one of his colleagues is a king. It’s quite harrowing, especially when his god starts healing soldiers.

Who can no longer fight. This sedition spreads through the army as people discover that actually they quite like not dying horribly in battle. It causes a bit of a stir.

Other stuff happens, but you’ll have to read the book for yourself.

I enjoyed the development of Yasnic’s character and his relationship with his god. It’s complicated and he goes through a lot of emotions as he trues to break away. Like anyone, or any society, moving away from religious belief, he realises he depended on his god for companionship and that the relationship is abusive and co-dependant, and finally breaks free, although longing for the simplicity of his previous life. It’s subtly done and though provoking.

The language is evocative and highly descriptive. I love the change of perspective between characters, seeing events from different sides, although we mainly follow Yasnic. We get a glimpse of the complex histories and societies of the world, and the inherent hypocrisy of ‘perfection’ and imperialism is cleverly explored. The lies of imperialism are skewered nicely.

The magico-scientific basis of religion and technology is consistent, although different cultures and traditions manipulate the same forces in their own ways, and have their own explanations. I quite enjoyed the way Tchaikovsky uses the use and abuse of Divinati magic to point out the complications of trying to force one system into working within another, and the loss of context and safe guards that go with it. It is particularly resonant as I was also listening to a book about indigeneity in North America and the cultural of indigenous practices and their co-option by non-indigenous Americans. If you take the practices of of their context, then the power of the practice is removed or even corrupted (think wellness wankers using sweat lodges and killing people).

Tchaikovsky always has a point to his work, or at least I can always glean a theme and lessons in reading his books. That may just be a me thing, but even so, I end up thinking.

This book is the second in the series and I think it could happily stand alone, as you get enough background for the characters and the world in reading it, but reading in order helps to put some events in context and in the wider world.

Excellent narration. Love the accents.

Another fantastic book from Adrian, highly recommended.