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Available
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Publication
Orbit (2019), 432 pages
Description
For centuries, the kingdom of Iraden has been protected by the god known as the Raven. But the power of the Raven is weakening. It is into this unrest that the warrior Eolo arrives, seeking to reclaim his city. He discovers that the Raven's Tower holds a secret. Its foundations conceal a dark history that has been waiting to reveal itself and set in motion a chain of events that could destroy Iraden forever.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Herenya
This didn’t really sound like something that would appeal to me, but I loved Leckie’s Ancillary trilogy, so I decided to avoid reading anything more about the book and just see what it was like.
I liked it! It’s engaging, intriguing and doing some surprisingly-similar things to Ancillary
I was so busy noting how this is a case of themes and variations on Ancillary Justice, I completely missed that this is ALSO themes and variations on Hamlet. That might explain why I found the ending incredibly satisfying for the first-person narrator but I was expecting something more from -- for? -- Eolo which didn’t eventuate.
It’ll be interesting to reread this and see if I feel differently about the ending now that I know what to expect.
I liked it! It’s engaging, intriguing and doing some surprisingly-similar things to Ancillary
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Justice, including but not limited to: a first-person narrator who neither human nor omnipotent but has greater awareness and abilities, and comes to care about some of the humans it watches; an interesting use of pronouns -- the story is addressed to Eolo and so Eolo’s actions are described in the second-person; and the story about the past eventually collides with the story about the present;I was so busy noting how this is a case of themes and variations on Ancillary Justice, I completely missed that this is ALSO themes and variations on Hamlet. That might explain why I found the ending incredibly satisfying for the first-person narrator but I was expecting something more from -- for? -- Eolo which didn’t eventuate.
It’ll be interesting to reread this and see if I feel differently about the ending now that I know what to expect.
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LibraryThing member infjsarah
Interesting but I didn't love it. I found this quite hard to get into at first - what was going on, the "you" style. As with the ancillary books there's a point at which your brain catches up and it starts to not be such hard work. But it's quite distancing - I never really felt much for any of the
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characters nor did I foresee the ultimate outcome. So OK but I preferred the ancillary books. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
Wow. This is as different or more from most fantasy as Leckie's SF is different than other space opera. Absorbing, fast moving, twisty, and intriguing, she gives a stone more character than most protagonists.
LibraryThing member rivkat
Leckie just keeps doing interesting things. Here it’s a fantasy about a god telling a story, or a series of stories, in a world in which a god’s statements become true (or the god dies in trying to make them true). The other main protagonist (addressed as “you” by the god) is a canny young
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trans man, who is himself the confidant of the heir to the Raven’s Lease—the human ruler of a small but crucial geographic bottleneck. This is all quite engaging, but I also really like what Leckie does with the performance of emotion and its cultural supports. The heir, like his father, is prone to truly ridiculous sulks lasting days, which everyone just tolerates, even though he’s also capable of overcoming them when he has reasons—specifically, when he’s on the border fighting skirmishes. But although people back at the Raven’s Tower bemoan his behavior and ask his confidant to try to rein him in, they also basically accept it—it’s not great for a ruler, but it seems culturally intelligible, as do other extravagant performances of emotion that are simultaneously both heartfelt and engaged in for purposes of manipulation. Anyway, there are also god politics, with serious twists and turns; most of the characters turn out to be implicated in some dodgy business, or at the least beneficiaries of past crimes, and not always in the way I would have expected. Leckie is also doing something interesting with the human relationship to truth and power: Eolo is a man even if powerful people refuse to recognize him as such. Others can definitely hurt him by failing to recognize who he is, but that is different. Power makes human reality, but not all reality, contrary to the rules for gods; e pur se muove. Show Less
LibraryThing member allison_s
Oh how I love fantasy novels about GODS and the nature of DIVINITY and oh HOW THIS BOOK DELIVERED.
LibraryThing member dbsovereign
While admiring the unique narrator, one is left wondering exactly who the narrator actually is at times. I wish I'd known about the list of characters at the back of the book before I finished the book - couldn't it have been placed at the beginning? I had difficulty differentiating between the
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characters at times and certainly found many of them lacking in distinguishing characteristics. Overall just okay - upon completion, I had a hard time getting any closer to agreeing with the accolades that get heaped on Leckie. Show Less
LibraryThing member Narilka
The city of Vastai in the country of Iraden is watched over by the Raven, god of Vastai. Governed by the Raven's Lease, who must eventually sacrifice himself for the god in exchange for his power, and the Mother of the Silent, the representative for the god of the Forest, the city and region has
The Raven Tower is a stand alone fantasy novel by Ann Leckie. This is my first time reading anything by the author and I'm highly impressed. Written in an epic fantasy style, this is a story less about moving armies on the battle field and more about the political maneuvering of court intrigue between men and gods. Yes, the gods in this world definitely involve themselves in the lives of their people. There is also one huge mystery to solve. I enjoyed it all immensely.
The story is told alternating between second and firsts person points of view from our narrator. I honestly can't say the last time I've read a story from the second person pov. I can see readers either loving or hating this choice in narrative style. For me, Leckie makes it work. I had no problem connecting with the main character and found the whole story engrossing.
The world building here is quite nice. Leckie gives a different twist on gods and how their power works. I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers other than I liked the simplicity and ingenuity of it. It makes the deliberate and careful phrasing used throughout the story all the more poignant once you realize the reason behind it.
Fair warning, this book is a slow burn. Trust in the author. It all builds and layers together beautifully. I didn't fully grasp the scope of the story until right at the very end. It was brilliant.
I listened to the audio book narrated by Adjoa Andoh. She does a fantastic job, using a full array of accents and voices for each character and a great delivery of the text in general.
This book is going on my favorites shelf. I hope the author decides to revisit this world again some day. I'm going to have to give Leckie's Ancilliary series a try in the future.
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known relative peace, protected from disease and incursions from neighboring countries. Suddenly summoned home, Mawat, heir of the Lease, finds the city in turmoil. The current Raven has been killed, his father is missing, his uncle has assumed the bench and foreign dignitaries are demanding to be allowed to cross the merchant waterways controlled by the Vastai. Something is very wrong.The Raven Tower is a stand alone fantasy novel by Ann Leckie. This is my first time reading anything by the author and I'm highly impressed. Written in an epic fantasy style, this is a story less about moving armies on the battle field and more about the political maneuvering of court intrigue between men and gods. Yes, the gods in this world definitely involve themselves in the lives of their people. There is also one huge mystery to solve. I enjoyed it all immensely.
The story is told alternating between second and firsts person points of view from our narrator. I honestly can't say the last time I've read a story from the second person pov. I can see readers either loving or hating this choice in narrative style. For me, Leckie makes it work. I had no problem connecting with the main character and found the whole story engrossing.
The world building here is quite nice. Leckie gives a different twist on gods and how their power works. I don't want to say too much for fear of spoilers other than I liked the simplicity and ingenuity of it. It makes the deliberate and careful phrasing used throughout the story all the more poignant once you realize the reason behind it.
Fair warning, this book is a slow burn. Trust in the author. It all builds and layers together beautifully. I didn't fully grasp the scope of the story until right at the very end. It was brilliant.
I listened to the audio book narrated by Adjoa Andoh. She does a fantastic job, using a full array of accents and voices for each character and a great delivery of the text in general.
This book is going on my favorites shelf. I hope the author decides to revisit this world again some day. I'm going to have to give Leckie's Ancilliary series a try in the future.
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LibraryThing member xiaomarlo
I love that while this is a fantasy novel, it is full of the spirit of scientific inquiry and problem-solving. When everything a god says must be true, the book explores all of the implications of what that means and how it would play out. And at heart of the story is an intricate mystery that
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unfolds masterfully. I also love the character of the narrator, and that it's a continuation of Leckie's exploration of perspective and the nature of the self. The narrator often reminded me of Breq. And of course, Eolo is also wonderful. Show Less
LibraryThing member tottman
Ann Leckie turns her eye from science fiction to fantasy with The Raven Tower and proves that her considerable talent is not confined to any one genre.
The Kingdom of Iraden has been protected for centuries by a god known as The Raven, bound to a human ruler known as The Lease. The periodic death
The story, with a slight debt to Hamlet, alternates between Eolo’s perspective in the Iraden seat of power, Vastai, and the perspective of an ancient god, known as The Strength and Patience of the Hill. The alternating perspectives investigate the present mystery, while also conveying the long history of the world that led to the current turning point. A long history filled with gods large and small as well as warring groups of humans.
Leckie’s earlier works play with the use of gendered pronouns. In The Raven Tower, one of the devices she employs is extensive use of second-person point of view. In each case, the device serves to shift your perspective slightly and let you view things in a light you may not have otherwise done. The extraordinary skill she displays is just on the edge of your consciousness without overpowering the story.
The story explores in a way that few fantasies do the way in which a world filled with gods achieve and exercise their power through their interactions with humans. It illustrates the complicated relationships this entails and the conflicts between both gods and humans that result. Leckie spirals the story in from large concepts in ever tighter circles that sweep you along and bring you to the very center where seemingly disparate stories converge in a climax that seems inevitable only after the fact.
Like everything Leckie has done, this is an impressive feat. Compelling characters, fascinating worldbuilding, interesting plot and exceptional writing. Leckie books are thoughtful and not quite like anything else being written. The Raven Tower is sure to please her many fans, win her new ones, and lead to more awards. Highly recommended.
I was fortunate to receive a copy of this book from the publisher.
The Kingdom of Iraden has been protected for centuries by a god known as The Raven, bound to a human ruler known as The Lease. The periodic death
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of The Lease as a sacrifice to the Raven fuels the Raven’s power which helps the god fulfill its duty to Iraden. Mawat, the Lease-heir is called home in anticipation of a transition. He and his servant, Eolo, arrive to find his uncle on the throne, or Bench, his father missing, and the sacrifice of the Lease unmet. Eolo discovers a mystery and dark secrets that could unravel a country.The story, with a slight debt to Hamlet, alternates between Eolo’s perspective in the Iraden seat of power, Vastai, and the perspective of an ancient god, known as The Strength and Patience of the Hill. The alternating perspectives investigate the present mystery, while also conveying the long history of the world that led to the current turning point. A long history filled with gods large and small as well as warring groups of humans.
Leckie’s earlier works play with the use of gendered pronouns. In The Raven Tower, one of the devices she employs is extensive use of second-person point of view. In each case, the device serves to shift your perspective slightly and let you view things in a light you may not have otherwise done. The extraordinary skill she displays is just on the edge of your consciousness without overpowering the story.
The story explores in a way that few fantasies do the way in which a world filled with gods achieve and exercise their power through their interactions with humans. It illustrates the complicated relationships this entails and the conflicts between both gods and humans that result. Leckie spirals the story in from large concepts in ever tighter circles that sweep you along and bring you to the very center where seemingly disparate stories converge in a climax that seems inevitable only after the fact.
Like everything Leckie has done, this is an impressive feat. Compelling characters, fascinating worldbuilding, interesting plot and exceptional writing. Leckie books are thoughtful and not quite like anything else being written. The Raven Tower is sure to please her many fans, win her new ones, and lead to more awards. Highly recommended.
I was fortunate to receive a copy of this book from the publisher.
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LibraryThing member g33kgrrl
This book was so good I can't even describe it. First of all, there's an impressive use of second-person narration. Second of all, the tight plotting. Third of all, excellent characters. Fourth, everything else. Read this book.
LibraryThing member cindywho
A small god follows the companion to the heir of the Raven's lease - a long story of gods underlays the power plays of humans. It reminded me of the Stone Sky a bit but was its own amazingly structured self.
LibraryThing member ireneattolia
anyway i'm going to go lay down in a meadow for 10,000 years while i absorb this
LibraryThing member zeborah
Not only did I enjoy this a lot, but the more I think about it the more I enjoy it. At the time: the sheer scope of the god's point of view, unfolding history as the human's... slice of the timeline(1) unfolds the mystery informed by that - it's simultaneously awing and gripping. It's crafted so
Later: I have a thing for unreliable narrators. And the narrator here explicitly has to always be really careful about not saying things that aren't true. And so I really should have realised that this doesn't mean it's a reliable narrator, only that it's a careful narrator, but part of why I have a thing for unreliable narrators is that I'm so slow to recognise them (and so delighted when I finally do).
And: I wonder if it's just me whose subconscious reads Strength and Patience of the Hill as female (similarly to Myriad). I see some discussions using "he", some using "it", and one reviewer categorically saying that SaPotH's preferred pronoun is "they", though scanning through the book again I not only don't find this, but don't even find anywhere with opportunity for SaPotH to even express a preference; it just doesn't come up. Subconcious gender assignation is fascinating.
I'm definitely going to be re-reading this one.
(1) Because it's not really ever Eolo's point of view, it's always Strength and Patience of the Hill talking to him. I've read a lot of second person present tense (hated it the first time, as a teenager -- I'd swear the book was called something like Jellybean, but none of the titles I find now ring a bell -- but it's grown on me through fanfic and can be very effective in its way) but I'm not sure I've ever read second person past tense, certainly not at this length. It took a page or two to get into it, and there was one moment near the end where I briefly confused "I" and "you" as a result of my brain expecting my sympathies to align more with "I" and my sympathies becoming... ambivalent - but (or perhaps precisely this illustrates how) it was again very effective for what it was doing.
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precisely, like an old stone wall pre-mortar. And it's recognisably Hamlet but without the annoying bits! and with plenty of room for "what happens next?" even along the inevitable trajectory.Later: I have a thing for unreliable narrators. And the narrator here explicitly has to always be really careful about not saying things that aren't true. And so I really should have realised that this doesn't mean it's a reliable narrator, only that it's a careful narrator, but part of why I have a thing for unreliable narrators is that I'm so slow to recognise them (and so delighted when I finally do).
And: I wonder if it's just me whose subconscious reads Strength and Patience of the Hill as female (similarly to Myriad). I see some discussions using "he", some using "it", and one reviewer categorically saying that SaPotH's preferred pronoun is "they", though scanning through the book again I not only don't find this, but don't even find anywhere with opportunity for SaPotH to even express a preference; it just doesn't come up. Subconcious gender assignation is fascinating.
I'm definitely going to be re-reading this one.
(1) Because it's not really ever Eolo's point of view, it's always Strength and Patience of the Hill talking to him. I've read a lot of second person present tense (hated it the first time, as a teenager -- I'd swear the book was called something like Jellybean, but none of the titles I find now ring a bell -- but it's grown on me through fanfic and can be very effective in its way) but I'm not sure I've ever read second person past tense, certainly not at this length. It took a page or two to get into it, and there was one moment near the end where I briefly confused "I" and "you" as a result of my brain expecting my sympathies to align more with "I" and my sympathies becoming... ambivalent - but (or perhaps precisely this illustrates how) it was again very effective for what it was doing.
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LibraryThing member questbird
A fantasy mystery, told from the point of view of an ageless god fixed in a stone. Explores the nature of gods and their words. The protagonist is a quiet soldier named Eolo (confusingly addressed in the 2nd person throughout the book) whose lord has returned to his ancestral castle to find his
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uncle on his father's throne -- which should be impossible according to the Raven, the local god. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lucky-Loki
A very engrossing read. Partially written in the first person, partially written in the second (!) -- which I got used to surprisingly fast -- and jumping back and forth between a very short time span "present" narrative and a very long time span backstory narrative, this fantasy novel is likely
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not quite what anyone would expect it to be. But I'll try to set yours: It's part political intrigue, part high concept world building, and part murder(?) mystery. The finale (I suppose I should warn now of slight, general terms spoilers ahead) reminded me of little so much as a Poirot style gathering of all the potential players and culprits in a single room to hash things out -- though I stress, while the mystery is a huge part of this novel, describing it as a detective novel would be as misleading as anything else. If you enjoy world building, magic systems and/or palace intrigue lntrigue less than I do, I suppose the book might at times seem slow or uneventful, but I found the pages flying by. In short, while part of the book's charm is that the plot is at once sprawling and very, very focused, I would very much like to revisit this world and these characters again. Thanks to Obdormio for the recommendation earlier this year, and my two youngerst siblings and their partners for consistently getting me something from my wishlist for my birthday. This was refreshingly different while also checking a lot of my tried-and-true boxes, which is a wonderful combination to manage. Show Less
LibraryThing member TegarSault
Original narration by a god and I really liked the more abstract ideas that come up from the chapters that focus its history, but the ending doesn't really justify the time spent on all that delving. I still really liked it but the ending made me wonder if maybe I just wanted a short story with
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half the narrative gone. Show Less
LibraryThing member Shrike58
My overwhelming response to this novel is that it's interesting, and I'm not saying that because I'm being ironic, or I'm struggling for something positive to say. However, this is something of a deconstruction of certain fantasy tropes from the perspective of the gods, rendering the human
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characters somewhat stylized and distancing the emotional response of the reader; as these characters struggle to deal with forces that have their own agendas, and that they really don't comprehend. You probably have to be in the right mood to really get into this story but I'd say that it's worth giving it a shot. Show Less
LibraryThing member Glennis.LeBlanc
I admit the first chapter didn’t suck me in, what did get my attention was someone else mentioned that this was a retelling of Hamlet but not from the usual viewpoints. Once I heard that I was very intrigued and dove right back in. The people of the area have a relationship with their god that in
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
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exchange for protection the leader will die when the god mortal body passes and its spirit moves to a new bird host. The god is found dead and the leader is missing and not able to sacrifice himself and the tower is in chaos. Mawat is called home and his aid Eolo will help him solve the mystery of what happened to the raven god and his father. It isn’t a perfect retelling of Hamlet, but knowledge of the play isn’t necessary to appreciate this novel. Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
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LibraryThing member jsburbidge
This is an engaging read with interesting characters, a well-thought out world, and an unusual narrative voice. Minor spoilers follow.
I see this frequently referred to as a Hamlet retelling, but it isn't, quite, and it is carefully structured to support other older stories.
Generalized to a level
Hamlet is not original in its bare bones. The basic story of Hamlet is essentially the story of Orestes; it is what Shakespeare makes of the details which differentiates it. (And the Hamlet story's claim to originality before Shakespeare, in Saxo Grammaticus and Kyd, seems to be the subplot of feigned madness.)
Joyce perceived an isomorphism between Hamlet and the Telemachiad as well, and built it into Ulysses. So that's two classical ancestors of Hamlet.
Variants continue to be popular. Cabell had a version hearking back to the older version of the story (not that Cabell was precisely popular in that retelling). Lewis makes a form of the situation the springboard of a very different plot. Stoppard gives us a cross between Shakespeare and Beckett. Disney makes it a beast fable and gives it a happy ending.
Leckie's story is about as close to the Choephoroi as it is to Hamlet. No remarrying of his mother; the parallels to Horatio, Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius, and Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern all can be generally spotted but have different characterizations and narrative functions. The prince is more impulsive and less philosophical. Events unfold accordingly. It's still an effective story, but it is not the poised and melancholy story of Hamlet.
On the other hand: once there was another story about a man who was betrayed and had his freedom taken from him. Eventually he escapes and brings vengeance on those who were his enemies...
This has no major classical antecedent, but the idea is very old. Odysseus' homecoming, killing the suitors who gave been wasting his property and threatening his family, has elements of it. The Joseph story is an averted form of it, with reconciliation replacing revenge. Perhaps its greatest form in English is Samson Agonistes.
The archetypal version of it is quite late: The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas takes full advantage of the possibilities of the device using a long and tortuous plot to build up to a climactic recognition scene. From there, the device passed into melodrama.
Leckie's novel follows this pattern as well, but with a couple of small twists, coordinated so that the climax of the Hamlet/Orestes plot meshes with that of the Monte Cristo plot, and the book ends with an echo if Samson.
The structural echoes do not end there, however there is yet another story that shapes the book, more a fairy-story than a myth: that of the person or, sometimes, family or tribe, who manage to take captive a supernatural being, and derive benefit from it, for a while. (This is a special case of the general warning: do not call up what you cannot dismiss, the sorcerer:s apprentice moral.) This never ends happily, either because the benefits they receive are themselves two-edged or because eventually their source of magical support gets free, with predictable consequences.
It's not until late in the book that this plot comes to the fore, and its actual climax is a little beyond the end if the story, though perhaps mor effective for being anticipated rather than seen.
I see this frequently referred to as a Hamlet retelling, but it isn't, quite, and it is carefully structured to support other older stories.
Generalized to a level
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which matches the novel, the Hamlet story tells of a young man who came home to find that his father was missing or dead - presumed dead, at least - and that his father's killer, a close relative, had now taken over his father's position. He takes his revenge, but the consequences are not good...Hamlet is not original in its bare bones. The basic story of Hamlet is essentially the story of Orestes; it is what Shakespeare makes of the details which differentiates it. (And the Hamlet story's claim to originality before Shakespeare, in Saxo Grammaticus and Kyd, seems to be the subplot of feigned madness.)
Joyce perceived an isomorphism between Hamlet and the Telemachiad as well, and built it into Ulysses. So that's two classical ancestors of Hamlet.
Variants continue to be popular. Cabell had a version hearking back to the older version of the story (not that Cabell was precisely popular in that retelling). Lewis makes a form of the situation the springboard of a very different plot. Stoppard gives us a cross between Shakespeare and Beckett. Disney makes it a beast fable and gives it a happy ending.
Leckie's story is about as close to the Choephoroi as it is to Hamlet. No remarrying of his mother; the parallels to Horatio, Gertrude, Ophelia, Polonius, and Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern all can be generally spotted but have different characterizations and narrative functions. The prince is more impulsive and less philosophical. Events unfold accordingly. It's still an effective story, but it is not the poised and melancholy story of Hamlet.
On the other hand: once there was another story about a man who was betrayed and had his freedom taken from him. Eventually he escapes and brings vengeance on those who were his enemies...
This has no major classical antecedent, but the idea is very old. Odysseus' homecoming, killing the suitors who gave been wasting his property and threatening his family, has elements of it. The Joseph story is an averted form of it, with reconciliation replacing revenge. Perhaps its greatest form in English is Samson Agonistes.
The archetypal version of it is quite late: The Count of Monte Cristo. Dumas takes full advantage of the possibilities of the device using a long and tortuous plot to build up to a climactic recognition scene. From there, the device passed into melodrama.
Leckie's novel follows this pattern as well, but with a couple of small twists, coordinated so that the climax of the Hamlet/Orestes plot meshes with that of the Monte Cristo plot, and the book ends with an echo if Samson.
The structural echoes do not end there, however there is yet another story that shapes the book, more a fairy-story than a myth: that of the person or, sometimes, family or tribe, who manage to take captive a supernatural being, and derive benefit from it, for a while. (This is a special case of the general warning: do not call up what you cannot dismiss, the sorcerer:s apprentice moral.) This never ends happily, either because the benefits they receive are themselves two-edged or because eventually their source of magical support gets free, with predictable consequences.
It's not until late in the book that this plot comes to the fore, and its actual climax is a little beyond the end if the story, though perhaps mor effective for being anticipated rather than seen.
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LibraryThing member fred_mouse
This is spectacular. Much of it in second person, which works oh, so, well, I just adored the whole thing. Amazing world building, complex characters and character arcs, and the most amazing subtleties of plot. Just looking back at the first few pages to work out what is and isn't a spoiler, I
The summary makes it sound like just one of those fantasy political shenanigans with a war on story. It is so much more than that.
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realise how many details are many layered, and even those I spotted have more when the whole story has been read. The summary makes it sound like just one of those fantasy political shenanigans with a war on story. It is so much more than that.
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LibraryThing member mhartford
This was a surprising and refreshing take on gods and their people; the relationships between gods, humans, and reality are explored in both cosmic and practical terms, and the conclusion the book reaches was a shock. Considering how the Ancillary books shake up science fiction tropes, I'm not
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surprised that "The Raven Tower" makes short work of standard fantasy chestnuts as well. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kardaen
I enjoyed Ann's previous trilogy and even though I don't read a lot of fantasy I gave this a shot and I'm glad I did.
She has a propensity for doing something quirky with her books and for this one she added a 2nd person reference. I won't call it a POV, because it's not one. It's like the story is
I found the entire thing enthralling, even though there is not a great of deal of action. It is chock full of intrigue. Enough that it kept drawing me forward. Lecke is a good story teller, and this one is well structured and has a compelling voice.
I listened to the audiobook version and the reader, Adjoah Andoh, has a rich and powerful voice and does well embodying the god and adding emphasis where needed. I enjoyed her reading.
I recommend this book. It is not standard fair and doesn't follow normal fantasy tropes, which actually made this stand out. The "you" character is a transgender person, who lives in the spirit of a man. It is not in your face, but if this sort of things bothers you, you have been warned. I won't be surprised if this book gets some award mention.
She has a propensity for doing something quirky with her books and for this one she added a 2nd person reference. I won't call it a POV, because it's not one. It's like the story is
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being told to you by the narrator, and you are a main character in the book, who is also a little different. The story is actually told from the point of view of an old god on a world different from our own, filled with lots of gods of all shapes, sizes and powers. It is not a classical tale of sword and sorcery, but a very different take on a land where magic can happen, but it all happens through the power of gods. It tells the story of a very specific set of events that involves the heir to power, the narrator, and you, a talented warrior who is thoughtful and well thought of by everyone he encounters. There are flash backs told by the god of things that happened in the ancient past up through events that have the pivotal impact on the story city. These vary in length and impact, but add a lot to the story I think.I found the entire thing enthralling, even though there is not a great of deal of action. It is chock full of intrigue. Enough that it kept drawing me forward. Lecke is a good story teller, and this one is well structured and has a compelling voice.
I listened to the audiobook version and the reader, Adjoah Andoh, has a rich and powerful voice and does well embodying the god and adding emphasis where needed. I enjoyed her reading.
I recommend this book. It is not standard fair and doesn't follow normal fantasy tropes, which actually made this stand out. The "you" character is a transgender person, who lives in the spirit of a man. It is not in your face, but if this sort of things bothers you, you have been warned. I won't be surprised if this book gets some award mention.
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LibraryThing member dreamweaversunited
A beautiful complex puzzle box of a book that ticks to a magnificent conclusion, tying together all the questions and loose ends. Very intellectually satisfying to read, though less emotionally engaging than Leckie's other books.
LibraryThing member reading_fox
Another completely unexpected and very different book, fantasy this time, from Leckie. Very enjoyable, very unusual. It's also slow to get going, but worth persevering with.
The story is told over two timescales from the same narrator, one focusing on their own history and the other a current view
One of the slight oddities is that SPH is usually more or less oblivious to the passing of humans around itself, and it's never clear why Eulo becomes so important to it. Leckie is usually a bit more considerate of such complexities. Having active gods as characters nearly always leads to ridiculous power level problems, but Leckie has a deft hand keeping both the opponents and actions within believable bounds. It's probably best read in substantial chunks keeping the slowly developing tension across the intertwined plot lives to a maximum.
It doesn't read as if it's part of a series, but equally I could believe there will be more stories set in this world.
The story is told over two timescales from the same narrator, one focusing on their own history and the other a current view
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featuring a young squire called Eulo of indeterminate, probably trans, gender, which other than a few remarks regarding suitable partners is never seen as an issue, and possibly could have been disregarded altogether. The narrator is a minor god, fallen to earth as an asteroid eons ago, before there was even a concept of eons. Strong and Patience of the Hill is not alone in it's godhood, and the closest local personality is a similarly powered shattered rock called Myriad who usually posses a swarm of mosquitoes. Over a fairly short timescale ( a few human generations) SPH is moved to a local town on the riverback where Eulo is first encountered returning with the Heir to the fortress. The Heir's father is in thrall to another local god, and it's time for the transition to be made when the father goes missing. Eulo does what is possible to keep the Heir safe and investigate the oddities of the father's disappearance. SPH relates the tale, and attempts to contact Eulo who's unaware of SPH's presence. One of the slight oddities is that SPH is usually more or less oblivious to the passing of humans around itself, and it's never clear why Eulo becomes so important to it. Leckie is usually a bit more considerate of such complexities. Having active gods as characters nearly always leads to ridiculous power level problems, but Leckie has a deft hand keeping both the opponents and actions within believable bounds. It's probably best read in substantial chunks keeping the slowly developing tension across the intertwined plot lives to a maximum.
It doesn't read as if it's part of a series, but equally I could believe there will be more stories set in this world.
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LibraryThing member lavaturtle
This is kind of a strange story, told partially out of order and taking a while to get going. But it comes together beautifully right at the end. I love the unusual narrator, and the important worldbuilding about how gods work.
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Fantasy Novel — 2020)
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novel — 2020)
Dragon Award (Finalist — Fantasy Novel — 2019)
NPR: Books We Love (2019)
Language
Original publication date
2019-02-26
ISBN
9780316388719
Local notes
Gods meddle in the fates of men, men play with the fates of gods, and a pretender must be cast down from the throne