Book 86: Bound by Blood and Sand by Becky Allen

Note: I know the author of this book socially.

I have been looking forward to reading this book for years, and oh man, it did not disappoint.

The setting of this story is a magical desert world in which the wells are running dry. Our heroine is Jae, a member of the Closest caste, people who were cursed and enslaved by the Avowed in the aftermath of a long ago war. She discovers that she has the magic needed to restore the power to the Well and therefore save the world, but she must figure out how to do so while also freeing herself and her people from slavery.

One of the things that I love about this book is that while it deals with massive, overarching themes and stakes (oppressive power systems and how to overthrow them without destroying your own humanity!), it does so by focusing on the lives and experiences of individual characters and pulls you through the narrative that way. Jae is such a recognizable and yet specifically drawn character; she is the heart at the center of this story, but she can't do it alone, and she makes choices that result in consequences she couldn't have predicted, and those consequences matter in real and irreversible ways. She goes from having no control at all as a slave, to having a power so strong she must to struggle to learn how to control it.

Part of what's so satisfying about her journey is that it's a classic hero arc, both in the superhero "with great power comes great responsibility" mold and also within high fantasy world building and storytelling. Each step of her story feels inevitable and right at the moment it happens but not a second before, because the story builds both on each of the choices made within the narrative and on the greater fantasy traditions of how magic and power work. I couldn't have told you how this book would end at the halfway point or even with two or three chapters left, but once we arrived there it all slotted together like a puzzle. It's a magical system that makes sense intuitively as each piece of it is revealed and discovered, and the specific terms within the world (the Closest, the Avowed) become natural and anchor the reader to the larger history of the universe.

BBB&S is the first in a two book series, and the end of it does feel like the reader has just enough time to catch their breath. The hard work has only just begun for Jae, but I have no doubt at all that she's up for the challenge ahead.

Grade: A

Book 85: My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

This book is the first in a four book series exploring a lifelong friendship between two women living in post-war Napoli. Elena, the narrator, is constantly in the shadow of Lila, her closest friend who at times depends on Elena more than anyone else in her life and at other times deliberately and sometimes cruelly pushes her aside. But they never seem to stop circling around each other.

The book's framing is that of an older Elena looking back on their relationship through the years after Lila has deliberately made herself disappear. It focus on their childhood and teenage years, on their experiences in school together and romances and adventures. By the end of the book it feels startlingly clear that they are each other's great loves, and whether that would express itself in a sexual and romantic relationship in another place or time seems like an open (and obvious) question. It is the sort of close friendship between women that instinctively leads to the "do I want to be her or be with her" question, and I'm curious to see how that question will evolve (or not) in future books.

The writing is exceptional in its simplicity; the translation from the Italian feels so natural and easy, and reading it takes no effort at all, except for when it digs into feelings that are so sharp they almost hurt. It's very much an experiential novel, where what happens is less important at times then how it's told.

One other fundamental aspect about this book is what it is to be a girl and then a woman in this world, and the implied reflection on those realities from a distance. Part of this is surely down to the political environment of being a woman living through the 2016 U.S. Presidential race, but I found myself getting so angry on behalf of these girls so frequently, simply because their experiences feel so truthful to me. Sometimes I feel like the real struggle of this year is watching all of the euphemisms we've relied on to soften reality get torn away, and while I think it's important for reality and pain to be exposed and dealt with honestly, at times it's hard to see that through the rage I feel.

Grade: A   

Book 84: Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

This book was sold to me as being similar to Game of Thrones, only the main contenders are teenaged girls who happen to be sisters. And this book (the first in a two book series) isn't not that, but it's both better and more frustrating than that summary, for me.

Each queen of the realm gives birth to three daughters, who all usually have one unique power. They are separated from each other when young and raised within the city that celebrates that power. The poisoners have been in power for many generations now and are determined to keep it, but Katharine, the poisoner heir, has never shown any aptitude for her power. Neither has Arsinoe, a naturalist who should have an animal familiar and a gift for the hunt. Only Mirabella, the elemental heir, has demonstrated her power of controlling the four elements. But of the three, she's the least enthusiastic about what is demanded of her: to kill her two sisters, or to be killed, for much like Highlander, there can be only one.

I liked a lot of stuff about this book - the different kinds of magic were really interesting, and the three heirs pulled me along in their story and made me root for each of them. But that was also part of what's odd about the universe for me: even beyond the three heirs, the society is nominally matriarchal, with goddesses and priestesses and men who are seeking to be the eventual queen's consort with no expectations for any power of his own. And yet the three heirs are controlled and ruled by everyone and all of the constructs of the universe, even while having vast overwhelming powers. I get that part of the point of the story is to examine the paradox of the most powerful people having the least power, but it just made me mad. And there are a couple of plotlines involving romantic partners that also frustrated me, for similar reasons.

Still, it was a compelling and engaging read, and I'm curious enough about how the author will (presumably) upend the universe in the sequel that I'll definitely buy it, but mostly it's a book that I enjoyed but always wished was just a little different.

Grade: B