The Tiger and the Wolf

I have a soft spot for stories about disparaged youths of mixed heritage finding a new place in the world, and this book really delivers on that front. Protagonist Maniye is the child of a detestably callous and cruel Wolf chief and the Tiger Queen he had murdered just after Maniye was born. It's a recipe for a miserable life that only gets worse when Maniye's father reveals his plans for her, and so she makes a gambit and begins a long, panicked, eventful flight across her continent's north.

A lot of this book is a series of flights from one place to another, with Maniye needing to outwit or outlast enemies and make it to the leg barely-planned leg of her journey with the help of strange or unexpected allies. There's an interesting mix of characters with a variety of relationships and backgrounds, all of whom, in some way or another, end up impacting Maniye's journey as she struggles to reconcile the Tiger and Wolf spirits that both inhabit her. It's a compelling and exciting read, and the constant motion makes the book feel a lot shorter than it is.

I quite enjoyed the world, too, which is something Tchaikovsky has always been good at in my eye. Everyone in the world has an animal totem they can transform into, and the different groups interact meaningfully - Wolves prey cruelly on Boar and Deer, the bonds of Horse and Coyote trade secure peace throughout the north, Dragon and Crocodile people from the south travel the lands seeking mercenaries, and Serpents traverse the lands seeking wisdom. There's a fair amount of brutality - not just murder but ritual sacrifice, a few different kinds of cannibalism, and obliquely-referenced sexual violence as well. It's a cruel world, and seeing Maniye contend with some of its worst elements is both nerve-wracking and, where she succeeds, deeply satisfying.

There are gods and magic to be found here, too, and done in a really interesting and internal way. For a lot of the book I wasn't even sure if these gods were real in any way, or for that matter if magic was a thing - characters feel a great deal of spiritual influence, but that influence has precious little obvious impact on the material world. The story slowly peels back the spiritual layers of the world, though, until finally it all comes together and starts to make sense.

My only complaint is that the sequel hasn't yet been published in a paperback format that matches the dimensions of my copy of this book. I'd like them to look neat on my shelves! But that's all I have to say on the negative front - I really enjoyed reading about Maniye's journey and the world she lives in, and am avidly anticipating the sequel.