| $@%&! level: Low (if any) “Bedroom” level: Low (They talking about it, and it happens, but you don't see any of it.) Violence level: Medium-High Back Cover: “T'Telir, capital of Hallandren, is a colorful city by the sea where gaily dressed crowds bustle through sunny streets and worship heroes who have been reborn as gods. Ruled by the silent, mysterious God King, the pantheon is nourished by offerings of Breath, the life force that keeps them alive and youthful. Exiled in Idris, the former royal family reluctantly betrothed a princess to the God King. Arriving in T'Telir, she finds both the city and the marriage are not at all what she expected. Her only ally is Lightsong, a god who is skeptical of his own divinity, who fears that war with Idris is inevitable. Meanwhile, another new arrival in T'Telir, one who bears the sentient sword Nightblood, makes cunning plans based on the unique magic of Hallandren, which uses color to focus the power of Breath—plans that could change the world.” |
The most striking impression I took away from reading this book is that literally no one is what they seem to be. Even the main characters, the ones who get the close third-person so you actually get to see the world from their eyes turn out to be not quite what they first appear to be. As an accomplished story reader and connoisseur of narrative, I can normally see at least a little way ahead and predict some of the things that are going to happen. It didn't work this time, though. In fact, it caught me off guard several times throughout the story (although I pride myself that I did figure out where the hidden army was before it showed up, so there is that.) So, if you're the kind of person who likes a clearly distinguished bad guy for the good guy to defeat, this probably isn't going to be one of your favorites.
If, on the other hand, you enjoy mystery, political intrigue, and hairbreadth escapes, all culminating in running action with even more hairbreadth escapes, you should probably give it a try. It's also a much more realistic account of human life than you normally find in fantasy novels, mostly because of that uncertainty about who is telling the truth and who is lying, or what you're supposed to do about it once you figure it out. Some of the most friendly characters turn out to be untrustworthy, while some of the most unpleasant people are actually good and just don't know how to interact with others. It's a very realistic portrayal of character, and the changes each character has to make as the story progesses are equally reasonable, and lead to an unexpected happy ending. (That is, it's unexpected that they end up being happy in the situations they end up in, given what they'd previously thought.)
I will say though, that the Hallandren religious system has got some major flaws. I mean, you come back to life in order to do or prevent something, but in the natural course of things you have only a week to do it, and you can't remember what it is?!