Published: August 2015
Pages: 468
Summary
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.
Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She’ll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.
My thoughts
This trilogy is a fantastic piece of fantasy, offering a captivating blend of world-building, character development, and politics. This was a difficult book for me to read at times. The world is crumbling and we see humanity at its most desperate, filled with despair. The themes through this book are challenging. One of our character that we follow is Essun whose just discovered her son has murdered by her husband. She begins a quest of revenge and when I say we feel her pain, I absolutely felt it. I had to put this book down at parts it was so raw and surreal. I’m much more of an empathiser so when I put myself in her shoes I felt it in my heart.
The look on her face is one of horror, or perhaps sorrow so great that it might as well be horror. Past a certain point, it’s all the same thing.
The characters in this story are so compelling and they’re all grappling with their own loss, grief, trauma, within a world that is falling apart. There is so much going on, and although many characters are desperate, they’re watching family members go hungry, their losing people to illness, but there is also so much strength. As humans we are so complex, we have emotions, and morals, ambition, values but we also have survival instincts, and this book explores the complexities of humanity. The relationships and alliances that are formed, the decisions that are made. It’s challenging and we see our characters face these difficult moments.
This was a new take (for me) on a world and magic system. I don’t want to share potential spoilers so I’ll leave it at that but I thoroughly enjoyed reading a different take on magic. A different perspective of our planet.
Across the apocalyptic world this trilogy tackles oppression, prejudice, environmental destruction, and the cyclical nature of history. This definitely had me thinking of the world around me. It’s easy to read something in a book and write it off as fiction, but there is so much that we can reflect on and relate to. This book highlights different sides and explores these issues with raw emotion.
Tell them they can be great someday, like us. Tell them they belong among us, no matter how we treat them. Tell them they must earn the respect which everyone else receives by default. Tell them there is a standard for acceptance; that standard is simply perfection. Kill those who scoff at those contradictions, and tell the rest that the dead deserved annihilation for their weakness and doubt. Then they’ll break themselves trying for what they’ll never achieve.
What I enjoyed very much was the non-linear story telling. There are multiple perspectives and timelines, and a huge sense of mystery and suspense. The ending of book one had me gasping, it was masterfully done. I was engaged and fully invested as the story unravelled.
This trilogy can feel slow-paced at times but readers must recognise that (especially in book one) there is a lot of setting up. Describing the world, understanding the politics at play, the societal issues, our main characters and their experiences which are driving them. There’s lots to unpack but it is woven across the plot and although on the slower side, there’s lots to occupy our thoughts.
Most importantly, we’ve discussed many difficult topics and themes in this book, and it can be very violent. Nothing has been put in that doesn’t need to be there, but for some readers they may find certain scenes graphic and/or disturbing. Little reminder to check content warnings on this one if you’re aware of any triggers you might have.
Would I recommend?
Yes, although this review is for book one, this whole trilogy is a powerful and thought-provoking series. The storytelling is brilliant, combined with an insightful exploration of social and environmental issues. If you love dystopian fiction and fantasy, you need to give this trilogy a shot. If you like your books to be more fast-paced, or light hearted, you might not find this as enjoyable.