Kameron Hurley: Mirror Empire (2014, Watkins Media Limited)
416 pages
English language
Published Feb. 26, 2014 by Watkins Media Limited.
The payoff is there, but it’s a hell of a challenging takeoff, and takes half of its length before things start to work.
This is an incredible, unique book. I could babble for days about how good the worldbuilding is, and how much I love the fact that includes the societies the main characters live in. Hey, look, a country peopled with 5-gendered, polyamorous families that are vegetarian, pacifist, but who eat their beloved dead. Oh, and the entire society is based around consensus and consent (eg. characters ask if they can touch each other, even to help an injured person stand). Most of the societies are matriarchal, and there's some incredibly uncomfortable (especially for white cis men like myself) scenes that are genderflipped versions of "hero goes home to doting, slightly stepfordized spouse, after long months at war". One of the main characters has a crippled foot, and it's shown both as severely limiting, as well as something she's learned to work around. Did I mention the satellite-powered magic system? The living, …
This is an incredible, unique book. I could babble for days about how good the worldbuilding is, and how much I love the fact that includes the societies the main characters live in. Hey, look, a country peopled with 5-gendered, polyamorous families that are vegetarian, pacifist, but who eat their beloved dead. Oh, and the entire society is based around consensus and consent (eg. characters ask if they can touch each other, even to help an injured person stand). Most of the societies are matriarchal, and there's some incredibly uncomfortable (especially for white cis men like myself) scenes that are genderflipped versions of "hero goes home to doting, slightly stepfordized spouse, after long months at war". One of the main characters has a crippled foot, and it's shown both as severely limiting, as well as something she's learned to work around. Did I mention the satellite-powered magic system? The living, deadly, plant life? Or the multiple worlds?
On top of all the "not your average arthur knockoff" greatness, it also happens to be a really compelling story, and I'm dying to read the next two.
Good gender-bending epic fantasy that moves in unexpected ways.
A fresh take on epic fantasy, including some interesting gender role reversals.
It's very dense and does get a bit confusing sometimes, but ends up very rewarding. Can't wait for the next installment in the series.
