Robertson once again proves their strength for character writing. Keifon and Agna feel like real people, as do the friends and acquaintances they meet along the way. I know Keifon, at every stage of his life from a kid in a rough spot, to alcoholic on the streets, to recovering apprentice doctor, older than his compatriots but far wiser. And I've *been* Agna - the girl so weighed down by the expectations imposed by their family and the expectations imposed by what sounds like fairly awful bullying, that she is terrified to even consider the thought that someone might hold genuine affection towards her. Like, there have been points in Agna's storyline where I've just had to put the book down because it's been too much. These people are so real it hurts, and watching them move closer and closer towards healing is all the more moving because of it.
One thing I think I underestimated in the last book was Robertson's knack for worldbuilding. This isn't the grand, sweeping worldbuilding that many fantasy fans tend to expect. Rather, we see a slower, more community driven approach. Robertson is less concerned with the intricacies of their magic system than they are about the small scale communities - the woman who cares for the homeless, the ex-pat doctor who is the beating heart of a small but isolated community of Yanwein immigrants, the homeless woman scraping by from one construction gig to another. We don't learn about the lives of these people through long winded speeches about history and mythology, we learn about them by seeing the way they live their lives and the subtle but powerful influence of culture upon their character.
There was a lot more going on in terms of plot in this book, which is both good and bad I think. Good because it makes it easier to get through than the first book. There is a lot more forward momentum. Bad, because I think it takes away a good deal of what made the first book so special. I was so immersed in the lives of these two characters in book one that I hardly even realised the book was at the end by the time I'd finished - it was moreish in a way that few fantasy books are these days. The second book has much more of a focus on the grand scale of politics. There is significant political unrest in the latter half of the book, and our protagonists play a greater role in it than I would've expected. I appreciated the small, intimate feeling of book one's tiny, unimportant plot of two people learning to just be. Agna and Keifon in book 1 felt like they could be NPCs in your DnD game that you never hear from again, and it's great, because it reminds you of how complex and troubled and interesting even the most average person can be. Book 2 is like when you revisit that NPC and the DM is suddenly like 'YEAH THEY'RE COOLER THAN YOU GUYS NOW, THAT'LL TEACH YOU FOR BEING MURDER HOBOS!' which is fine, it's just more commonplace, and I think it makes book 2 just that little bit less special. You'll still probably enjoy it if you liked book 1, but things just feel a little bigger in this one.
My Rating: 4/5 stars Representation: Mental health issues, Bisexual POV character, immigrant charactersContent Warnings: past unhealthy relationship, mental health issues, heavy religious themes
|
Comments
Post a Comment