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A review by zgonzale
The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons
5.0
Reread April 2023: Still a fucking banger.
I wanted to read this book slowly and relish it, but then I gulped it down over a long flight. I kept meaning to take a break, but I just couldn’t stop!
Much like its predecessor, The Name of All Things has a unique narrative: the story is told to the protagonist of the previous book & annotated by an established villain, which is a brilliant flip of perspective that adds dramatic irony & introduces doubt to the hero-villain dichotomy. Once more, Lyons builds a fantastic (& incredibly queer) cast including the sly trans lesbian Dorna & the powerful, fearsome, bisexual, & genderqueer protagonist Janel. The world continues to expand in a fascinating fashion into the kingdoms of Jorat & Yor. Many questions from the previous novel are addressed (though of course many questions are raised). The story is epic, funny, jaw-dropping, & tense at turns, leading to an unstoppable & incredible climax. I could even track the characters much better in this book, likely due to the handy appendix I knew was in the back. On top of that, themes of sexism, imperialism, gender, & sexuality are explored deeply throughout the book to profound effect. Once again, I have small critiques of the book, though it would feel wrong to give this novel any less than 5 stars. Firstly, while I loved Janel’s story & wouldn’t want any less of it, the telling in past tense made me more than a bit impatient for action in the current time (Chekhov’s dragon, anyone?). Second, after just reading a novel all about Kihrin, I was really hoping to see more progress made in his story and with the characters surrounding him; I must admit I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get more progress in his story & the consequences of the major fallout from the end of The Ruin of Kings. That being said, I’m super excited for the next book, which comes out soon after my birthday! The Chorus of Dragons saga is proving to be the modern fantasy saga I’ve been waiting for!
I wanted to read this book slowly and relish it, but then I gulped it down over a long flight. I kept meaning to take a break, but I just couldn’t stop!
Much like its predecessor, The Name of All Things has a unique narrative: the story is told to the protagonist of the previous book & annotated by an established villain, which is a brilliant flip of perspective that adds dramatic irony & introduces doubt to the hero-villain dichotomy. Once more, Lyons builds a fantastic (& incredibly queer) cast including the sly trans lesbian Dorna & the powerful, fearsome, bisexual, & genderqueer protagonist Janel. The world continues to expand in a fascinating fashion into the kingdoms of Jorat & Yor. Many questions from the previous novel are addressed (though of course many questions are raised). The story is epic, funny, jaw-dropping, & tense at turns, leading to an unstoppable & incredible climax. I could even track the characters much better in this book, likely due to the handy appendix I knew was in the back. On top of that, themes of sexism, imperialism, gender, & sexuality are explored deeply throughout the book to profound effect. Once again, I have small critiques of the book, though it would feel wrong to give this novel any less than 5 stars. Firstly, while I loved Janel’s story & wouldn’t want any less of it, the telling in past tense made me more than a bit impatient for action in the current time (Chekhov’s dragon, anyone?). Second, after just reading a novel all about Kihrin, I was really hoping to see more progress made in his story and with the characters surrounding him; I must admit I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get more progress in his story & the consequences of the major fallout from the end of The Ruin of Kings. That being said, I’m super excited for the next book, which comes out soon after my birthday! The Chorus of Dragons saga is proving to be the modern fantasy saga I’ve been waiting for!