#also for reference i tend not to finish books I'm not enjoying so my ratings tend to skew high

[gil-estel]

January 2023 Reads

The River of Silver, S. A. Chakraborty (2022)

Silver in the Wood, Emily Tesh (2019)

Drowned Country, Emily Tesh (2020)

The Spear Cuts Through Water, Simon Jimenez (2022)

Shards of Earth, Adrian Tchaikovsky (2021)

Eyes of the Void, Adrian Tchaikovsky (2022)

Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky (2015)

Children of Ruin, Adrian Tchaikovsky (2019)

River of Silver ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It's been over a year since I finished Empire of Gold, but jumping back in via The River of Silver, it was like I never left Daevabad. Reading these shorts was much the same comfort-food experience of scrolling through AO3 after finishing a series in search of fics tagged "Missing Scene". Some of my favorites were "Duriyah", the alternative epilogue to Empire of Gold, and the last chapter with Nahri & Ali. It's testament to the vividness of Chakraborty's characters that each of these stories felt like visiting an old friend.

Silver in the Wood ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A cozy little book, which manages to be sweet but not saccharine. At times it felt like events could use a little bit more room to breath, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

Drowned Country ⭐⭐⭐½

A bit of a disappointment after Silver in the Wood. Silver is an altogether less sympathetic narrator than Tobias, and the story itself is much more disjointed and the ending a little too neat. I find myself wishing for a book about the adventures of Maud, Mrs Silver, and Tobias (sans Silver himself) all of whom were rather underutilized in this story.

The Spear Cuts Through Water ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

It was initially a little difficult to start this book—the second-person narration and setting seemingly disconnected from the synopsis raising the barrier to entry. But boy was pushing through it worth it! The prose really manages to convey a sense of mythic weight and wonder and the crush of ages. That being said, this book isn't going to be for everyone—it has ritualistic cannibalism, for a start. While some books are perfect on their own, I will admit that I find myself wanting to read more in this universe; it feels like room still remains for a sequel (a thread still unknotted, or just loosely so... easily unraveled).

Shards of Earth ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book scratched the hyperspace-navigation-shenanigans itch that the Rebels sequel probably won't. I fully enjoyed the world-building and the ensemble cast. The romantic tension/chemistry fell a little flat for me, but honestly that's not really the point of the story so it's not a big deal.

Eyes of the Void ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This one was *very* fun and I'm excited to see how the series concludes! My only complaint is that at times the exposition felt repetitive, with the narration rehashing events multiple times as if we might have forgotten over the last 100 pages.

Children of Time ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am obsessed with the world building in this book, and utterly fascinated by the time scales across which the plot occurs. Very unexpected and so interesting.

Children of Ruin

I'm currently at 51% and loving it! Both a direct sequel to Children of Time and an exciting, new narrative.