Scan barcode
A review by oddroad
A Star-Reckoner's Lot by Darrell Drake
4.0
I have found this book through the TBRindR-service over on reddit which means I got it for free which means fucking nothing because if a book is free and bad it's wasted time and if it's good hey free book awesome!=D On a more serious note no it does not mean I'm pressured or obligated to say I like the book and I wouldn’t if you believe that is up to you but I stand by my word if I don’t like it you will find out (and the other way around too of course)
First of all I have to tell it is based on Persian-Mythology which I know next to nothing about so some of my complaints down the line might not be that hard for someone with an more intimate knowledge of the culture this book is based on. While conceived as a stand-alone novel it has spun out in a series with the second book already published
That said here we go.
World
As said in the opening paragraph the book takes place in a world inspired by ancient Persia, to be more precise in a fictionalised version of Iran. What I love about the world and the way it’s built on one hand it feels totally real and alive but on the other remains that mysteriousness I would expect of a fantasy novel based on a completely different culture than the one I live in. It does this in the way certain characters interact with each other or in little gestures or figures of speech and it never is presented through the eyes of an outsider which works in favour of keeping the world foreign to a reader like me.
Which sadly is one critique I have because sometimes when the characters work on a case or meet a div it sometimes feels like I’m missing out a detail or foreshadowing because I don’t really know what it was based on or what that div (think demon) means in the context of the story or to what it alludes (or should). That is where I think an outsider character from a country inspired by mediaeval Europe would have helped get more into the story or at least soften the blow of some of the later chapters which delve further into the Mythologie and don’t get me wrong it’s not that nothing is explained just that the explanation is kept to a minimum (makes sense in the story because all of the characters already know the world they inhabit) but the many different divs and deity that (sometimes) play a large role in the story could help with a little more introduction (or a lexicon the version I read didn’t have one) and yes I could google most of the stuff I don’t think that should be necessary for a book I read as a distraction.
The magic system is in its conception interesting but not really explained throughout the story (limitations, strain on the user) and it’s effects really differ every time someone uses it which gives a feeling of a Deus Ex Machina, but still the idea is cool and the magic is not the main focus of the story of even the encounters, they rely on the wit of the characters.
Characters
There will be spoilers in here so beware dear review-reader😉
The characters we follow throughout the story are easily the highlight of the book all three of the main cast are well written nuanced characters which actively drive the plot and their personal plot forward as the subject matter sometimes gets dark there is no real happy ending but each of the characters have a full character arc that concludes in a believable way, only real minus here that I’m surely write the names wrong so sorry for that.
Ashtadukht play the role of reluctant heroine/villain, she is on a quest for vengeance on the div responsible for the death of her husband. She is portrayed as a strong woman who knows what she is capable of but is also painfully aware of the world around her and the limitations of the society and her own body. Which makes her the first fantasy hero I read that has a disability which is not overcome or healed or something but plays a mayor role throughout the story and limits her ability to use star-reckoning. Ashta has to endure much throughout the course of the story but always seems to come out, maybe a little worse for wear but alive
Tirdad cousin and caretaker for our heroine. At start he is the sword at her side and plays the role of the strong male protector, he never loses that but it somehow softens as it’s shown he really cares for Ashtadukht and later for Waray. He is also a somewhat reluctant hero who only gets into situations because he cares for his cousin and knows he cant argue with her.
Waray is a half-div, devourer of all eggs and a prankster. She follows Ashta and Waray after she saves them from an ambush. Waray mostly takes the role of comic relieve with a tragic back story revealed later in the book. She begins as more of a lone wolf and only occasionally travels with the other characters but always seems to be there when something happens, throughout the books she grows and in the end regards Ashta as her friend.
All other characters are only really there to support the main cast and there is not really a single one that stands out much from the crowd and only a few crop up more than once or twice in the story, the main focus really is the group around Ashta and what happens to them.
There is also a Texan spoon in there and no I mean that seriously and I love that little wooden thing
I don’t feel like there is any bigger meaning behind the story other than to entertain (or I haven’t found it which is a real possibility) apart from the fantasy usual stuff (vengeance and how far it can lead you, found family and the implications, your place in the world) and I honestly don’t care there is a place for books who only want to entertain and here we have one not only to entertain but who presents characters to you that feel alive and real while you never have the feeling you need to “get it”
One last minor/somewhat major complaint before I bow out. The way the book is structured feels sometimes weird and awkward because for me at least it felt like a TV-series in the style of the X-Files with a case/div a week and in between season finales(there are several parts which could work that way) and a somewhat strange passage of time in between the chapters it doesn’t feel like one journey. That made it hard to really dive into the world for me because every time I got drawn in the chapter ended and I often had to adjust to a completely different set of events for the next one, only the last few chapters feel somewhat more cohesive manly because they all follow one event, one journey and end it in a fitting way.
TLDR: Persion-Mythology with a great cast that feels alive, a world that feels foreign with all good and bad things that means and a weird pacing, sorry for my english
First of all I have to tell it is based on Persian-Mythology which I know next to nothing about so some of my complaints down the line might not be that hard for someone with an more intimate knowledge of the culture this book is based on. While conceived as a stand-alone novel it has spun out in a series with the second book already published
That said here we go.
World
As said in the opening paragraph the book takes place in a world inspired by ancient Persia, to be more precise in a fictionalised version of Iran. What I love about the world and the way it’s built on one hand it feels totally real and alive but on the other remains that mysteriousness I would expect of a fantasy novel based on a completely different culture than the one I live in. It does this in the way certain characters interact with each other or in little gestures or figures of speech and it never is presented through the eyes of an outsider which works in favour of keeping the world foreign to a reader like me.
Which sadly is one critique I have because sometimes when the characters work on a case or meet a div it sometimes feels like I’m missing out a detail or foreshadowing because I don’t really know what it was based on or what that div (think demon) means in the context of the story or to what it alludes (or should). That is where I think an outsider character from a country inspired by mediaeval Europe would have helped get more into the story or at least soften the blow of some of the later chapters which delve further into the Mythologie and don’t get me wrong it’s not that nothing is explained just that the explanation is kept to a minimum (makes sense in the story because all of the characters already know the world they inhabit) but the many different divs and deity that (sometimes) play a large role in the story could help with a little more introduction (or a lexicon the version I read didn’t have one) and yes I could google most of the stuff I don’t think that should be necessary for a book I read as a distraction.
The magic system is in its conception interesting but not really explained throughout the story (limitations, strain on the user) and it’s effects really differ every time someone uses it which gives a feeling of a Deus Ex Machina, but still the idea is cool and the magic is not the main focus of the story of even the encounters, they rely on the wit of the characters.
Characters
There will be spoilers in here so beware dear review-reader😉
The characters we follow throughout the story are easily the highlight of the book all three of the main cast are well written nuanced characters which actively drive the plot and their personal plot forward as the subject matter sometimes gets dark there is no real happy ending but each of the characters have a full character arc that concludes in a believable way, only real minus here that I’m surely write the names wrong so sorry for that.
Ashtadukht play the role of reluctant heroine/villain, she is on a quest for vengeance on the div responsible for the death of her husband. She is portrayed as a strong woman who knows what she is capable of but is also painfully aware of the world around her and the limitations of the society and her own body. Which makes her the first fantasy hero I read that has a disability which is not overcome or healed or something but plays a mayor role throughout the story and limits her ability to use star-reckoning. Ashta has to endure much throughout the course of the story but always seems to come out, maybe a little worse for wear but alive
Tirdad cousin and caretaker for our heroine. At start he is the sword at her side and plays the role of the strong male protector, he never loses that but it somehow softens as it’s shown he really cares for Ashtadukht and later for Waray. He is also a somewhat reluctant hero who only gets into situations because he cares for his cousin and knows he cant argue with her.
Waray is a half-div, devourer of all eggs and a prankster. She follows Ashta and Waray after she saves them from an ambush. Waray mostly takes the role of comic relieve with a tragic back story revealed later in the book. She begins as more of a lone wolf and only occasionally travels with the other characters but always seems to be there when something happens, throughout the books she grows and in the end regards Ashta as her friend.
All other characters are only really there to support the main cast and there is not really a single one that stands out much from the crowd and only a few crop up more than once or twice in the story, the main focus really is the group around Ashta and what happens to them.
There is also a Texan spoon in there and no I mean that seriously and I love that little wooden thing
I don’t feel like there is any bigger meaning behind the story other than to entertain (or I haven’t found it which is a real possibility) apart from the fantasy usual stuff (vengeance and how far it can lead you, found family and the implications, your place in the world) and I honestly don’t care there is a place for books who only want to entertain and here we have one not only to entertain but who presents characters to you that feel alive and real while you never have the feeling you need to “get it”
One last minor/somewhat major complaint before I bow out. The way the book is structured feels sometimes weird and awkward because for me at least it felt like a TV-series in the style of the X-Files with a case/div a week and in between season finales(there are several parts which could work that way) and a somewhat strange passage of time in between the chapters it doesn’t feel like one journey. That made it hard to really dive into the world for me because every time I got drawn in the chapter ended and I often had to adjust to a completely different set of events for the next one, only the last few chapters feel somewhat more cohesive manly because they all follow one event, one journey and end it in a fitting way.
TLDR: Persion-Mythology with a great cast that feels alive, a world that feels foreign with all good and bad things that means and a weird pacing, sorry for my english