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A review by softcartilage
The High King's Golden Tongue by Megan Derr
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
I'm ended up much more fond of this book than I expected, considering I'm pretty sure I've been putting off reading it for a few years for no real reason. As nice as it would have been to read it sooner, I feel like now was as fantastic a time to do so as any.
I know that I've seen people both wish more time was spent on the worldbuilding of the novel and the romance. The worldbuilding I do agree with, though not that some people felt the queernorm aspects lacked description. If anything, that's very often the appeal of queernorm and very casual mentions of aspec and trans characters (as well as polyamorous characters, gods bless, I was ridiculously excited about that) and the ways in which the world is shaped to fit the needs of them is absolutely amazing.
It's not that I wouldn't like knowing more but that the way in which I'd like to know more is more I'd also love to read an in-universe history book going over sexuality and gender, not the book itself to address it. I think the saying is "everyone knows what a horse is", if the way that queerness was such a normal and accepted part of the world required detailed explanation, it wouldn't be treating it as normal.
The romance I agree with more but I was very happy with how the romance played out. Other than I have very little patience of extended miscommunication and wallowing, though this did not try my patience anywhere near as much as most books where miscommunication plays a key part.
I feel like the focus given to other characters and making them solid and detailed, as well as the focus on the main couple as individuals, was a good trade-off to having more romance. Plenty of romances don't do that and suffer for it. I was a little sad that it ended when it did, though I do know it's a good place to end things.
As for the characters, I deeply adore almost all of them we spend much time with and am a little sad we don't spend more time on Sarrica's children. It makes sense given the plot but still.
Rene and Tara are my favorite in the novel by far because I am legally obligated to like a side character the most and both of them are precious beyond words.
Honestly, if anything, I'm most sad we didn't get more detail on linguistic and cultural differences considering how important they are to the story. Compared to other novel I love where translation plays a vital role, this felt relatively light on that somehow.
Overall, I enjoyed this enough to read the entire thing instead of sleeping and gave myself a horrible migraine partway through that I had to push through to get to the end.I see you, Sarrica. Chronic headache gang.
I very much recommend checking it out if it at all interests you.
I know that I've seen people both wish more time was spent on the worldbuilding of the novel and the romance. The worldbuilding I do agree with, though not that some people felt the queernorm aspects lacked description. If anything, that's very often the appeal of queernorm and very casual mentions of aspec and trans characters (as well as polyamorous characters, gods bless, I was ridiculously excited about that) and the ways in which the world is shaped to fit the needs of them is absolutely amazing.
It's not that I wouldn't like knowing more but that the way in which I'd like to know more is more I'd also love to read an in-universe history book going over sexuality and gender, not the book itself to address it. I think the saying is "everyone knows what a horse is", if the way that queerness was such a normal and accepted part of the world required detailed explanation, it wouldn't be treating it as normal.
The romance I agree with more but I was very happy with how the romance played out. Other than I have very little patience of extended miscommunication and wallowing, though this did not try my patience anywhere near as much as most books where miscommunication plays a key part.
I feel like the focus given to other characters and making them solid and detailed, as well as the focus on the main couple as individuals, was a good trade-off to having more romance. Plenty of romances don't do that and suffer for it. I was a little sad that it ended when it did, though I do know it's a good place to end things.
As for the characters, I deeply adore almost all of them we spend much time with and am a little sad we don't spend more time on Sarrica's children. It makes sense given the plot but still.
Rene and Tara are my favorite in the novel by far because I am legally obligated to like a side character the most and both of them are precious beyond words.
Honestly, if anything, I'm most sad we didn't get more detail on linguistic and cultural differences considering how important they are to the story. Compared to other novel I love where translation plays a vital role, this felt relatively light on that somehow.
Overall, I enjoyed this enough to read the entire thing instead of sleeping and gave myself a horrible migraine partway through that I had to push through to get to the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and War
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Physical abuse and Alcohol