452 pages
English language
Published April 13, 2014
The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy. Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem--and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over.
What I liked about this book that even though it's a fiction, you still feel it's basically talking about reality. It almost seems like it fits, but it doesn't. This kept me thinking throughout reading. Like others mentioned, it reminds of Pratchett in serious settings.
This is a theological fiction; like Terry Pratchett's 'Small Gods', it points to a polytheistic world in which the gods have a strongly symbiotic relationship with their believers. But while Pratchett's Discworld is comic, the world we have here is epic, veering towards tragedy. The gods had enslaved all but their true believers, and had had to be eliminated. The story hangs upon whether that elimination had been final or whether, in some form or other, the gods had survived.
Disregard the dour, gloomy book cover. I discovered this series because it was on the ballot for the Hugo Award. I cannot fathom why I hadn't heard about it earlier. It has a amazingly realized, immersive world. Wonderful characters. Sneaky spy action with a mystery novel quality. And it's INCREDIBLY funny.
Remember the fantasy books you read in the eighties and nineties? Raymond E Feist, David Drake, maybe even David Eddings? That Baen Books fantasy feeling, basically.
Anyway, I feel like Bennet loved those growing up, but was like, "Man, those were kinda weird about women. And weirdly essentializing about race. I bet I could do better."
And he does! I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's definitely better.
I am getting around to writing this a month after reading it and returning it to the library, and I've already forgotten the names of the cities and civilizations, so skip if that's annoying to you.
The setup is, the nation of ... EasternEuropea used to dominate the globe, because the gods were literally on their side. Their gods lead them into war and granted them miraculous relics which bent reality. EasternEuropa colonized FakeIndiaStan and ruled its people with fear and …
Remember the fantasy books you read in the eighties and nineties? Raymond E Feist, David Drake, maybe even David Eddings? That Baen Books fantasy feeling, basically.
Anyway, I feel like Bennet loved those growing up, but was like, "Man, those were kinda weird about women. And weirdly essentializing about race. I bet I could do better."
And he does! I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's definitely better.
I am getting around to writing this a month after reading it and returning it to the library, and I've already forgotten the names of the cities and civilizations, so skip if that's annoying to you.
The setup is, the nation of ... EasternEuropea used to dominate the globe, because the gods were literally on their side. Their gods lead them into war and granted them miraculous relics which bent reality. EasternEuropa colonized FakeIndiaStan and ruled its people with fear and violence. Then, about a hundred years ago, a leader rose in FakeIndiaStan, and developed a god-killing weapon. As the gods were killed, one by one, their relics and miracles lost their power, and the gods' followers were left stranded in a civilization that rested on a power that no longer worked. FakeIndiaStan turned around and colonized EasternEuropa, because at that this point, why not?
(Now, this is actually one of my major peeves with the book. I think this omits the real structural and generational trauma done by colonialism and subjugation. I don't think colonialism is really a force where you can just reverse polarity and keep going. But okay.)
So, this book starts when Shara, an official of FakeIndiaStan, is sent to Bulikov to figure out why the now godless city has murdered a quiet scholar sent to study the expired religion of the once ascendant continent. Shara is a pretty compelling character, and she comes with her own Viking murder-butler. The mystery is dumb because rugs don't work that way, but the parts of the world Bennet wants to explore are interesting, and the compelling part of the mystery, what happened to the gods? who were they, and why did they have an exclusive relationship with the people of EastEuropa? are explored, but not answered.
If you have fond memories of the authors mentioned at the beginning, give it a whirl. If you don't... i mean, no loss.
Well constructed intrigue and action in a nicely intertwined set of character and world backstories. Couldn't quite keep it together all the way for my taste.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. Combination spy thriller and world-saving fantasy adventure with almost all compelling female leads. The fantasy is intriguing, and cleverly revealed to the reader gradually as the characters themselves learn more about what is happening. My only complaint is with the denouement; the reveals that worked well throughout the book feel a little deus ex machina when applied to the largest problems the heroes face.
Nonetheless it was a great read and I'm excited for the 2nd.
Nominally a murder mystery with complicated politics as the back story, this book has wonderful, intricate, sophisticated world-building, and richly drawn characters, mostly women. The pacing starts a little slow but picks up quickly and then gallops fast all the way through to the end. Looking forward to reading #2.
This was on my to-read list for a while and I got it as part of package of used books. I enjoyed the book a lot. The world felt fresh and plausible, the characters are not too young, they feel fleshed out and the story was also entertaining. The story is capable people saving the day, which I feel is half-way to the "Chosen One" trope. I do enjoy this, but if you don't, be aware. I think I'll continue the series at some point. The other books are not mainly from Shara's POV, which is what I liked in this book. But I enjoyed the world so much I probably have to return.
Nice twists, nice medley of genres. Some twists I guessed, some I didn't. I think I'll look forward to Book 2. :)
4.5 stars.
I quite enjoyed reading this book. The protagonist Shara and her companion Sigrud are mysterious and interesting. I especially liked the world building with the island nation of Saypur and the Continent (does it only remind me of Japan and China?). Saypur is apparently a high-tech nation with electricity and gunpowder while the Continent was formerly rich in magic but is not anymore and is therefore crumbling. The book starts out with a murder mystery, turns into a spy-thriller and finally it becomes a somewhat epic fantasy. The pacing is good, although sometimes I felt like the plot is doing too much and towards the end, it feels like the author just wanted to get the story finished.
There are several information dumps or long conversations simply explaining what is/was going on.
The book is written in present tense which felt a bit weird in the beginning.
But besides the …
I quite enjoyed reading this book. The protagonist Shara and her companion Sigrud are mysterious and interesting. I especially liked the world building with the island nation of Saypur and the Continent (does it only remind me of Japan and China?). Saypur is apparently a high-tech nation with electricity and gunpowder while the Continent was formerly rich in magic but is not anymore and is therefore crumbling. The book starts out with a murder mystery, turns into a spy-thriller and finally it becomes a somewhat epic fantasy. The pacing is good, although sometimes I felt like the plot is doing too much and towards the end, it feels like the author just wanted to get the story finished.
There are several information dumps or long conversations simply explaining what is/was going on.
The book is written in present tense which felt a bit weird in the beginning.
But besides the somewhat clumsy info dumps there is only one thing I'd like to critique and that is how the story jumps from we're fighting against some human conspirators to the the appearance and killing of gods. Also Olvos came out of the blue - it was hinted at that she was still alive, but suddenly she's Shara's great grandma ... So -1 star for that.
This is sure to appear on numerous best of lists at the end of the year. It's a stunning audacious fantasy novel. More thoughts here fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2014/09/death-is-for-weak.html
