Reviews

This was just a very amazing, well-written first-of-a-saga book, that I am just very happy to be reading it finally. Kate Elliott is clearly an extremely competent writer, and going back to her early days of published works is just as wonderful as reading her more recently published books.

So, we start off in medieval Fantasy Europe (really; places just have different names and for some reason the map is turned on its side? Other map is not so weird), in which fiefdoms are common, religion is steeped into every echelon of society, and your birth means more than your capabilities. For all the various medieval Fantasy Europe stories I've read over the years, this is the one that hits the nail on the head the best for accuracy: it is accurate almost to a fault (at one point the King needs to raise an army to put down a rebellion, and the only people he can amass in time amount to around 800 fighters).

On top of that, there is a ripped-off version of Catholicism in which the head is not God, but rather a Lord and a Lady. I do like the changes, but as I am not very familiar with the Catholic faith most of the religious piety goes over my head. An interesting aspect is how having two gendered deities allows for women to have more say in society, and also to hold titles, deeds, lands, and generally be seen as more equal (though not as 100% equal as we'll see now). Another aspect of their religion is how important and sacrosanct the ability of creating progeny is. An Heir is chosen based on their ability to get pregnant / get a woman pregnant while going on Progress: don't get pregnant? You're clearly not fit to rule. This underlies the main issue of the book: The King's sister (older than him, should have been heir but did not get pregnant on her Progress) is inciting a rebel army to overthrow him and take back the reigns of power. I can't say I have much sympathy for her, though, as she clearly does not care about the people following her, is willing to sacrifice anyone for that power, and swore an oath she would not incite rebellion again (this is the second time) which she went back on.

The other big conflict of the story is the invasion / continuous harrying of Eika on the shores of our heroic kingdoms Wender and Varre. They manage to lay siege to a northern city, which will contain one of our protagonists (Liath). They are a weird dragonborn, strange looking two-legged creatures, that can smell better than humans, fight better, and seem to have no honor or morals. I am really curious what is driving them to invade the human lands.

The third, more hidden players of the world are the Old Ones, the Elves, supposedly fallen angels who interbred with humans. They can come visit our kingdom through ancient ruins (teleportation?), and the Prince is one of their offspring. I have a feeling they'll be more important in the future, but so far we've only seen glimpses.

In this world magic is strictly controlled by the church. And then only specific types of magic are allowed. Liath was taught some magic by her father, and tries to hide it. However after he dies, she is sold as a slave to cover her debts to a local religious Frater Hugh, who proceeds to physically, emotionally, sexually and verbally abuse her for months until she is a former shell of herself. Yes, this book got a *lot* darker than I ever imagined. It was incredibly difficult to read those parts. I basically just glanced at the pages to see when it would be over. I have a feeling Hugh will become a big player in future books, but I really hope he would just up and die. What a despicable man. As I mentioned in a discussion, he has literally all the privilege:
Male? check
White (or at least dominant race)? check
Comes from money? check
Comes from high class? check
Is in a position of power over everyone around? check
Has the religious moral authority backing him? check
Has a beautiful face / body? check
Very charismatic and charming and able to manipulate people? check

Alain is our other main protagonist. For the most part the story just takes him along with it. He is not given as much agency as Liath. And the one main point when he does (freeing the Eika prince) it is never mentioned again, never spoken of, never referenced. He is not punished or rewarded. It makes him less interesting to read about, although his perspective is important as it gives us an insight into the king's sisters rebellion.

I love the friendship between Liath and Hanna the most. They are wonderful friends. I really hope they stay together for a long long time.

There are so many great women in this book. It is so common for a more grim-dark series to have women only exist for men to rape, defile, abuse or otherwise take advantage of, and I'm just very happy to say that Elliott does not fall into that trope (if she had I would be very disappointed). Liath, Hanna, Rosvita, Birta, Withi, Aunt Bel, Sabella, Antonia, Tallia, Theophanu, Sapientia, etc. They are all sorts of people as well: good, bad, young, old (a lot of old women! It's so good!), duplicitous and wearing their hearts on their sleeve. It's just wonderful to have a better reflection of women characters in general.

What we don't see are any genderqueer, trans, or otherwise queer people. They may come up in the future, but since this series starting being published in 1998 I'm not holding my breath. Also, on the topic of trans people and women, one thing that is bothersome is how much fertility is tied to being a women. There is no space in this society for women who do not wish to have children or who are unable to have children (either due to being trans, having a congenital abnormality, having some other disease or wound). I have a strong suspicion that people who do not wish to have children are forced into serving in the church. We do see a Frater Agies (the first son of one of the Dukes who should have been forced into a marriage) escape into church life rather than be married and rule the Dukedom.

All in all, I must say this is an auspicious start to the series. There's definitely moments when you can tell there is set up for future books, but there are also conclusions, and smaller arcs played out on screen to be satisfying and not just a set-up book. I already love a lot of the characters, and this world while far from our own modern existence, does give a greater insight into what medieval life would have been like in our Europe (only with magic and dragon-born and elves I guess). I can't wait to start Prince of Dogs.

P.S. there are a lot more interesting comments in our discussion thread.

storytimed's review against another edition

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3.0

I devoured this entire series in one lengthy fever dream where all I read in the span of two weeks was these books (not even fanfic! well, maybe a little fanfic) so it'll be a little hard to differentiate them in my mind, but. I'll try. This was such a good series: didn't forget that ordinary people existed, excellent at having a wide variety of female characters and a society with women in power, and racial diversity, too!

This first book is a slow starter, and I gotta tell you the series does not really get very much faster, though I really appreciate Elliott Doing the Research and then committing to letting us know all about it, I guess? Liath spends most of her time in the Misery Hellhole with Hugh, which is very upsetting and distressing to read. Alain spends the time like... messing around and getting crushes on people. A little less plot-relevant, but I do appreciate that we get the life of a minor servant instead of the Grand Nobles that populate most fantasy.

Other things in this book: the Eagles, a highly respected order of King's messengers. Basically like the Pony Corps but royal and cooler. I love them, actually, that mix of loyalty to the land + diversity of class + clearly delineated professional role is like catnip to me. Hanna, my favorite, getting to step out and explore stuff for the first time. The first appearance in Sanglant: perhaps the only time insta-love didn't immediately repel me? I think it's because Elliott writes in so many reasons for Sanglant and Liath to be drawn to each other (their appearances, their regal outsider-ness) but doesn't immediately push the love thing. They're kind of into each other, but it's only immediately apparently as a lustful Bad Idea, and when the lust crystallizes into something deeper, you can tell that it's partly because of the circumstances they're in, and partly because they recognize in each other a common alienation from the rest of the world.

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