Genre: Historical Fantasy
Page Count: 545
Rating: 5/5
Desperate to escape a harsh southern life and arranged marriage, Fang Runin takes the Keju, the notoriously difficult exam for the empires academies and shocks everyone by testing into the top war academy at Sinegard.
When she arrives she dismayed to find the South has followed as she faces daily stigma for being the academy’s sole rough speaking, dark skinned peasant. Whilst fighting to retain her place, Rin discovers an affinity for the long lost art of Shamanism. Channeling her god might be the difference between life and death as the nation stands on the precipice of war.
I have so much to say about this book that this review is my very very watered down version so buckle in!
An intensely gripping and blood soaked historical fantasy that is loosely based on Chinese history and is at its heart a story about both racism and classism. Rin is a peasant from the south of Nikara and every action she takes in this book is an attempt to help her distance herself from that heritage and yet she still can’t escape who she is.
I LOVED the military college aspect. The details that were poured into the lessons, especially around war tactics and combat was fascinating and really helped to flesh out the characters as we learned more about them through their (often harsh in Rin’s case) solutions to some of the warfare scenarios. We also see factions establishing between the students as the harsh curriculum pits them against each other creating loyal friendships and bitter enemies.
We also need to mention the shamanism and the drug use. Opium and other poppy derived drugs play a huge part in the story which is drawn directly from china’s fraught history with the substances. I thought it was very cleverly included within the magic system whilst also being addressed as the life destroying epidemic that it was. The magic itself was so intriguing with each Shaman channeling a different god and thus a different power; it made what was already an intense war story that much better.
Speaking of war, this book is graphic and it has the most shocking depiction of war atrocities that I have ever read. THAT chapter .. yes THAT chapter was so shocking that it made me cry and I’m the kind of person who freaking loves a war flick so be warned. At first glance I thought this was almost glorifying violence but it’s not about that. It IS graphic and brutal and makes you shrink back from the pages in sheer terror at the human capacity for violence but it is necessary to understand Rin’s later motivations. Kuang gets across the horror so well that you know exactly why Rin makes the later decisions that she does. You may not agree with them, but you’ve got that traumatic emotional foundation which sits at the root cause of the rest of the series. It is a defining moment for our characters and though bloody it is pivotal.
I do have to say that I was completely engrossed in Rin’s character development as we experience a series of events that she absorbs and carries with her through the rest of her life. She is entirely flawed and so contradictory with her ability to make cold, calculated calls in her battle tactics and yet be so deeply affected by the death and destruction around her that she lashes out unthinkingly. I would go as far as to say that she is one of the most intricate characters I have read in a while.
What was also interesting to me was the way Kuang mirrored these different aspects of Rin’s character in the people around her. The Cike, her shaman army devision, understood the brutal, pragmatic decisions she made due to their foundation of shared experience and yet she had Kitay who was so naive in comparison and was the advocate for mercy and humanity that Rin needed to give her pause on more than one occasion.
I am also suuuuper interested in Nehza, the evolution of his relationship with Rin in this story was very intriguing and I can’t wait to find out where it goes. I don’t think we’ve seen the full extent of this character yet and while I have my suspicions on where it’s going I wouldn’t place any money on it given Kuang’s fondness for throwing a previously invisible spanner in the works.
My only very minor issue with this book was the pacing feeling a little jarring at times. We linger over certain time periods and then fly rapidly through a series of events with barely a paragraph devoted to each one. I did find myself wanting a bit more detail over certain things but given the breadth of time and events covered I don’t think it could have been done any other way without adding a few hundred pages. It didn’t affect my reading experience too much and is understandable for the sake of moving the story along.
Overall I absolutely loved it despite some of the relentless horror. I am continuing straight on through this series until the bitter bloody end, wish me luck.
Have you read this or is it on your TBR?
See you in the next one friends,
Jen x
Book/Brew/Blanket 