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Book View Cafe
Description
A young woman with an unreliable prophetic gift. A street musician searching for the magic she lost. A king whose voice is too dangerous for ordinary people to hear. This collection of short stories explores the Nine Lands, a realm created by award-winning author Marie Brennan. From the spirit-haunted jungle of the Nahele Peninsula to the cold archipelago of Kagesedo, from the occupied lands of Sahasrara to the decadent courts of Quilíbria, the Nine Lands offer you visions of fantasy, peril, and wonder.TABLE OF CONTENTS* "Calling Into Silence"* "Kingspeaker"* "Sing for Me"* "Execution Morning"* "The Legend of Anahata"* "Lost Soul"* "White Shadow"
User reviews
LibraryThing member carod
The Nine Lands is an anthology by well-known fantasy author Marie Brennan (The Lady Trent Memoirs). The seven stories in this collection all take place in a world the author started creating when she was still a teen. The Nine Lands are each have unique cultures and religions. You can tell Brennan
The stories all had strong female characters, which I always appreciate. My two favourite stories involved young women and their coming-of-age quests. In Calling Into Silence, a young woman from a nation with a shamanistic tradition struggles to accept her people’s spirits into her soul. In White Shadow, a shapeshifter searches for her animal spirit. Lost Souls takes place in a more familiar town market with a travelling people similar to the Roma and a bard trying to find her music.
I would recommend these seven stories for readers who enjoy fantasy world building.
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took her inspirations from cultures she had studied, but added her own, magical, touches. What I liked most about this collection was the world building. I got the sense that I was just getting glimpses into a much deeper and larger narrative. I could tell the author had spent much time and care into creating these cultures. The stories all had strong female characters, which I always appreciate. My two favourite stories involved young women and their coming-of-age quests. In Calling Into Silence, a young woman from a nation with a shamanistic tradition struggles to accept her people’s spirits into her soul. In White Shadow, a shapeshifter searches for her animal spirit. Lost Souls takes place in a more familiar town market with a travelling people similar to the Roma and a bard trying to find her music.
I would recommend these seven stories for readers who enjoy fantasy world building.
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LibraryThing member Landwaster
This small collection contains seven short fantasy stories, all set in the same secondary world (the Nine Lands). They're all early works by a now well-established and respected author.
None of the stories are masterpieces, but they're all quite good. Eminently readable, they're all full of story,
I particularly enjoyed the author's notes on the stories. Also, it's worth noting the high standard of quality Book View Cafe maintains in its e-book editing. Particularly gratifying in this case is the way story notes are included: hyper links let you read them all at once, before or after each story, or not at all.
None of the stories are masterpieces, but they're all quite good. Eminently readable, they're all full of story,
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imagination, and heart. They're all well-written, well-paced, enjoyable, and all end right when they should. Quite well done, and definitely worth my time.I particularly enjoyed the author's notes on the stories. Also, it's worth noting the high standard of quality Book View Cafe maintains in its e-book editing. Particularly gratifying in this case is the way story notes are included: hyper links let you read them all at once, before or after each story, or not at all.
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LibraryThing member craso
This is an anthology of seven fantasy short stories set in the Nine Lands, a world created by the author while she was in high school and college. These stories are among the first written by Marie Brennan to see print. Even though they were written at the beginning of her career, they do not read
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as if written by a novice. The tales are interesting and enjoyable reads. The author’s interest in anthropology shows in the fully formed world with its societal structure, traditions, and rituals. Any of the tales could be used to introduce a new series of novels set in the Nine Lands. Unfortunately, the author has moved away from that world, though she mentions she may visit it again in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cfraser
I have previously read some other short stories by Marie Brennan which I enjoyed in general - these were of a similar quality. I appreciated that the stories were all from the same world - although the connections were not obvious always (a good thing). It is interesting to see how a writer has
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progressed throughout their career and these were from early in it. I would like to read a longer story set in this world but unfortunately it doesn't appear that is possible. Show Less
LibraryThing member jain
Before talking about the content of this book, I'd like to praise the ebook formatting. This is a collection of short stories, and Brennan has written story notes to accompany each of them. If you prefer to read author's commentaries before beginning the collection, you can jump to the Afterword
But if you, like me, prefer to read a story and its commentary, followed by the next story and its commentary, then this ebook does something special. At the end of each story is a link to its story notes. Follow the link and read the notes, and at the end are two further links: one to the beginning of the story you just read, and one to the beginning of the next story in the collection. It's quite neatly done, and made for a very smooth and pleasant reading experience.
The actual stories I found enjoyable overall but not hugely impressive. Brennan applies her background in anthropology and folklore to good effect, and the worldbuilding is by far the best part of the book. However, few of the characters felt fully realized to me--they exist primarily to move the plot forward--and the plots themselves are often predictable. Though (speaking as someone who very much enjoyed Brennan's Memoirs of Lady Trent), if Brennan ever writes a novel set in the world of the Nine Lands, I'll be there with bells on.
"Calling Into Silence" (**) A coming of age ritual goes awry. There's a mystery at the heart of this story with a good premise but a sloppy execution, and the characters are thinly drawn.
"Kingspeaker" (***) Politics and war; the power of speech; a young king and the servant who acts as his voice. Predictable yet satisfying.
"Sing for Me" (**) The dangers of prophecy. I found this story frustrating in a way that was likely intended: namely, I wanted it to have a different protagonist. Though admittedly the protagonist it does have is one of the better drawn characters in the book. I admire the skill that went into creating him and am annoyed by his central role at the same time.
"Execution Morning" (****) Xenophobia and fear of magic (in the form of shapechangers); a career soldier faces a dangerous and unpleasant duty. The plotline doesn't offer many surprises, but in this story that actually feels like a strength, as though every scene follows seamlessly and inevitably from the previous one.
"The Legend of Anahata" (****) A king in exile seeks to regain his kingdom. Nicely nuanced, with some striking imagery.
"Lost Soul" (**) A skilled young musician is looking for something she can't name. Unsubtle. The descriptions of music are quite well done, though.
"White Shadow" (***) Another coming of age ritual. This one has a more interesting protagonist than "Calling into Silence," and after reading about the shapechanging Kagi from the POV of their enemies in "Execution Morning," it was good to get a Kagi POV story.
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and/or Story Notes sections from the Table of Contents. If you prefer to read them after you've read all the stories (or to skip them entirely), you can progress through the book in the usual fashion and encounter them all at the end. So far, so normal.But if you, like me, prefer to read a story and its commentary, followed by the next story and its commentary, then this ebook does something special. At the end of each story is a link to its story notes. Follow the link and read the notes, and at the end are two further links: one to the beginning of the story you just read, and one to the beginning of the next story in the collection. It's quite neatly done, and made for a very smooth and pleasant reading experience.
The actual stories I found enjoyable overall but not hugely impressive. Brennan applies her background in anthropology and folklore to good effect, and the worldbuilding is by far the best part of the book. However, few of the characters felt fully realized to me--they exist primarily to move the plot forward--and the plots themselves are often predictable. Though (speaking as someone who very much enjoyed Brennan's Memoirs of Lady Trent), if Brennan ever writes a novel set in the world of the Nine Lands, I'll be there with bells on.
"Calling Into Silence" (**) A coming of age ritual goes awry. There's a mystery at the heart of this story with a good premise but a sloppy execution, and the characters are thinly drawn.
"Kingspeaker" (***) Politics and war; the power of speech; a young king and the servant who acts as his voice. Predictable yet satisfying.
"Sing for Me" (**) The dangers of prophecy. I found this story frustrating in a way that was likely intended: namely, I wanted it to have a different protagonist. Though admittedly the protagonist it does have is one of the better drawn characters in the book. I admire the skill that went into creating him and am annoyed by his central role at the same time.
"Execution Morning" (****) Xenophobia and fear of magic (in the form of shapechangers); a career soldier faces a dangerous and unpleasant duty. The plotline doesn't offer many surprises, but in this story that actually feels like a strength, as though every scene follows seamlessly and inevitably from the previous one.
"The Legend of Anahata" (****) A king in exile seeks to regain his kingdom. Nicely nuanced, with some striking imagery.
"Lost Soul" (**) A skilled young musician is looking for something she can't name. Unsubtle. The descriptions of music are quite well done, though.
"White Shadow" (***) Another coming of age ritual. This one has a more interesting protagonist than "Calling into Silence," and after reading about the shapechanging Kagi from the POV of their enemies in "Execution Morning," it was good to get a Kagi POV story.
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LibraryThing member TylerRoseReads
I really enjoyed this e-book. I appreciated the flexibility in format that the e-book allowed. I’m the type of reader who likes to read the story and then immediately read the authors note on that story before continuing and the e-book suited this reading style perfectly.
Overall, I really
Here are my thoughts and ratings for each individual story, as is natural with anthologies or collections there are some real stand outs and then some that didn’t speak to me.
“Calling into Silence” (4 star) a coming of age ritual fails but why? I was hooked into this story from the begging. I really wanted to know what was going to happen. Spirit possession and spiritual rituals I find very interesting. Then ending was a twist I did not see coming.
“Kingspeaker” (2 star) When you speak for another how to handle the responsibility of power. So, this story was hard for me to rate. I enjoyed it, but I feel like I’m left with a lot of questions. This was the only story where I felt like I didn’t really get a lot about the culture. I also felt like our main character didn’t really deliberate, or her internal struggle seemed to be over pretty quick and we didn’t get to witness her thought process too much.
“Sing for Me” (2 star) A prophetic gift that comes with a price I enjoyed the strong female character the prophet becomes, but I felt like her transition and how she got there wasn’t really explored. The time jumps felt too large and like we were missing too much, I felt like I needed more information to connect with this story.
“Execution Morning” (4 star) Treason and fear lead to death, but where is the moral line? I felt like the time jumps were handled much better in this story. The moral quandary felt real and the characters exploration of their feelings felt honest and explained. I wanted to learn more about the Kagi.
“The Legend of Anahata” (2 star) Not all victorious rebellions look the same. This was a cool premise, I like the ending message, but I did not really care about the main character. I was not invested in him at all. I found myself more draw to the gods and goddesses and really want to know more about how the religious system is structured and what they represent.
“Lost Soul” (5 star) A Musician struggling to connect. My favorite of the entire collection. I love the characters, I felt so connected to them, I loved the premise the exploration of soul and meaning and magic in art, I really loved this story. It was magical and there were so many pull quotes I kept highlighting. This felt like the strongest piece to me and I would honestly say maybe buy this collection for this story and then just enjoy reading the rest. I almost wish there was a bit of romance that happened but honestly the story is just super satisfying as it is that I wasn’t disappointed that there weren’t romantic sparks.
“White Shadow” (3 star) A Coming of age ritual gone right, if not quite what we expected. The beginning of this dragged a bit. The character was noticing everything which just slowed the story down, maybe she could have noticed just things that were relevant to the story, but part of it is that it’s all relevant soo…. But once I adjusted to the different style of this piece I appreciated all the test and the ending. I really liked this concept of the Kagi naming/choosing right. I want to know more about their culture and the Other.
Overall, I really
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enjoyed the world of Nine Lands and this collection just really made me hungry to learn more. I want to know more about the different histories and the religious systems within each culture. You can really tell that Brennan is a natural historian and anthropologist, you could feel the love and care that went into to all these stories. And we just scratched the surface of them, I’m really looking forward to digging deeper and honestly, I hope that Brennan puts out more works from this realm. I would literally love to read like a history textbook from the Nine Lands that goes into culture, history, and the religious systems. Here are my thoughts and ratings for each individual story, as is natural with anthologies or collections there are some real stand outs and then some that didn’t speak to me.
“Calling into Silence” (4 star) a coming of age ritual fails but why? I was hooked into this story from the begging. I really wanted to know what was going to happen. Spirit possession and spiritual rituals I find very interesting. Then ending was a twist I did not see coming.
“Kingspeaker” (2 star) When you speak for another how to handle the responsibility of power. So, this story was hard for me to rate. I enjoyed it, but I feel like I’m left with a lot of questions. This was the only story where I felt like I didn’t really get a lot about the culture. I also felt like our main character didn’t really deliberate, or her internal struggle seemed to be over pretty quick and we didn’t get to witness her thought process too much.
“Sing for Me” (2 star) A prophetic gift that comes with a price I enjoyed the strong female character the prophet becomes, but I felt like her transition and how she got there wasn’t really explored. The time jumps felt too large and like we were missing too much, I felt like I needed more information to connect with this story.
“Execution Morning” (4 star) Treason and fear lead to death, but where is the moral line? I felt like the time jumps were handled much better in this story. The moral quandary felt real and the characters exploration of their feelings felt honest and explained. I wanted to learn more about the Kagi.
“The Legend of Anahata” (2 star) Not all victorious rebellions look the same. This was a cool premise, I like the ending message, but I did not really care about the main character. I was not invested in him at all. I found myself more draw to the gods and goddesses and really want to know more about how the religious system is structured and what they represent.
“Lost Soul” (5 star) A Musician struggling to connect. My favorite of the entire collection. I love the characters, I felt so connected to them, I loved the premise the exploration of soul and meaning and magic in art, I really loved this story. It was magical and there were so many pull quotes I kept highlighting. This felt like the strongest piece to me and I would honestly say maybe buy this collection for this story and then just enjoy reading the rest. I almost wish there was a bit of romance that happened but honestly the story is just super satisfying as it is that I wasn’t disappointed that there weren’t romantic sparks.
“White Shadow” (3 star) A Coming of age ritual gone right, if not quite what we expected. The beginning of this dragged a bit. The character was noticing everything which just slowed the story down, maybe she could have noticed just things that were relevant to the story, but part of it is that it’s all relevant soo…. But once I adjusted to the different style of this piece I appreciated all the test and the ending. I really liked this concept of the Kagi naming/choosing right. I want to know more about their culture and the Other.
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LibraryThing member amaranthe
The Nine Lands: a rich, expansive fantasy world glimpsed through the eyes of seven (or so) of its diverse inhabitants, people who live and die according to their circumstances—soldier, traveler, king, shaman, and more. For all of the magic, music, manners, and warfare, these are really stories
I received the ebook version of The Nine Lands through the Early Reviewers program. The ebook is conveniently laid out for purpose of reading the stories in order; links within the book are arranged so that it is easy to read the author’s story notes either after each story or at the end (or beginning) of the book.
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about people and their choices. Because the characters are relatable, none of the stories feel inaccessible despite taking place in an unfamiliar fantasy setting of which the reader has no background knowledge. The stories do not absolutely wallow in gore, although there is some gruesome violence in several of the tales. Brennan has, per the author’s notes in this book, done a considerable amount of world-building for the Nine Lands setting—enough to support an epic fantasy—but resists any temptation to digress from the point of each story in order to show off the world. There are clear connections between some of the stories (relationships between certain ethnic groups in particular), but it is not clear whether the stories are presented in setting-specific chronological order. They are certainly not all simultaneous; “Kingspeaker” and “The Legend of Anahata” take place on opposite sides of an imperial conquest, which gives a proper sense of history to the reader’s overall impression of the Nine Lands. All of these stories seem to have been written early in Brennan’s career. I have not yet read any of the author’s other work, but I am favorably impressed by this anthology and so I will definitely move A Natural History of Dragons up my TBR list. I received the ebook version of The Nine Lands through the Early Reviewers program. The ebook is conveniently laid out for purpose of reading the stories in order; links within the book are arranged so that it is easy to read the author’s story notes either after each story or at the end (or beginning) of the book.
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LibraryThing member Ignolopi
This was a fun collection of short stories. Very short collection in all. Some minor connection between the stories as they take place in the same world. It would be fun to see this turn into something bigger.
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