Reviews

A Fire Born of Exile: A Xuya Universe Novel by Aliette de Bodard

themoonkestrel's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

4.5

mcgildey's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.5

zober's review

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I went in to this knowing nothing about this book other than that it was billed as a sapphic Count of Monte Cristo. I read the “The Mausoleum’s Children” by Aliette de Bodard earlier this summer and liked it enough to try the author's longer form writing, and I enjoyed this! I read The Count of Monte Cristo more than a decade ago, and remembered nothing about it. I looked up the plot earlier and think that layer adds to this book, but Fire Born of Exile thankfully also stands on its own. And I do love a queer sci fi retelling of a classic.

I love a good morally gray character. And I like that the plot here was very political. The political plotting honestly felt a bit straightforward though; I expected more layers to the machinations. There were a lot of plot-relevant characters, and most were interesting and unique. I like the world here - the concept of mindships (and how the culture includes them) is very cool. I will happily read more in this universe. 

As a side note, while I thought this was a good and interesting book, the writing got a bit repetitive. The number of times "ceruse," "vermilion," and "brocade" were mentioned was honestly astounding. And this is also billed as a romance, which I guess fits, but the romantic plotline was by far the least interesting part of the book for me. 

ralchemist's review

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

grommet's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

3.0

macthekat's review against another edition

4.5

i love this universe and I love how muddy everyone's morals are because in the real world everything is compromise and so is this. So actually morally grey... without being an assasin. The romance is so bitter sweet. I adore the idea of the mindships and how this whole world works in littereal layers. 

emilyredwood's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I'm not sure why this was such a struggle for me to get through because normally I love sci fi like this and revenge plots a la Count Of Monte Christo, but I just felt so distant from the whole thing. I had no attachment to any characters and the world building was hard to grasp. Perhaps if I'd read others in the series first that would have been better? It's also super slow to start and I didn't feel any urgency until about two thirds through at which point I kind of struggled to finish. The writing was otherwise fine and I liked the ideas but the execution really fell flat. Bit of a shame as I was really looking forward to this but it just didn't click with me. 

claire_michelle18's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

eli_jw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

midah_gw's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5