Posted by Hey guys! I am back with another review for my “slushpile”, and like the last few books, I picked this one by using a D20 die. I did not read the description. I did not read any reviews. I was also unfamiliar with the author. I went into this totally cold.
I really liked it.
The book’s messaging is anything but subtle, and by the final page, the themes are hammered into your skull — but because the themes resonated with me, I enjoyed the visceral nature of the story which explored religious bigotry, misogyny, the folly of war, which was balanced out with a touch of found family that kept the themes from going so dark that I got turned off by it.
Enter our main characters, Morrigan and Beorn. When we meet Morrigan and Beorn, Morrigan is about to be executed for practicing witchcraft — specifically, she was accused of killing “the unborn.” We learn that she and her mistress are healers, and they had given women a tonic to get rid of unwanted pregnancies, and that’s heresy. She’s not really a “witch” in the conventional sense when we’re talking about fantasy stories — she’s not magica, she just knows things that other folks don’t. Beorn has quite the internal conflict going on. The poor lad just wants to be left alone so he can live a quiet life… but he feels drawn to do the right thing, which inevitably makes his life chaotic. He embodies the “unwilling hero” arc and I’m always down for those kinds of characters.
This book tells you in the Goodreads description that it’s not a story about magic, it’s a story about persecution. Magic and typical fantasy elements take a back seat to the world building and character development. The world building is handled masterfully — rather than relying on info-dumps, the author slowly introduces world building elements through the characters and their viewpoints on the world, how they’re treated by others, and their backstories as they slowly get to know one another. This, combined with dialogue that feels effortless and organic, it made for a really smooth reading experience.
I really, really enjoyed Morrigan’s character. I liked Beorn, too, but Morrigan was where it’s at for me. She’s so mature, she’s so no-nonsense, she’s extremely practical. Hmm, why would I be drawn to that sort of character? I don’t need to laugh to have a good time with a book. I like humor, but there was none to be found in the story, but her determination and good nature keep the story from getting too dark. Beorn is also a good person, but she’s the moral backbone of the story. She’s like the angel on the shoulder telling him to listen to his inner conscience. He knows what’s right and what’s wrong, and he tries to convince himself there’s a neutral option to just stay out of things, but she has a way of showing him neutrality is actually evil. To do nothing is to let evil win, especially when you’re of a stature and skill set to defend folks from injustice.
If I have one complaint, it would be the pacing; I found it dragged just a touch around the 50-60% mark because the plot points could feel a little formulaic after a while. The story relies a lot on the traveling structure of the plot, where the two MCs would go from town to town solving the problems of the people, only to pack up and move on and do it over again at the next town. I feel like if we had explored, in depth, a few of these plot points along the way instead of cramming about half a dozen or more into the plot, it would have led to a meatier, more impactful story. I digress, I do think this is worth reading. However, this is a minor complaint because otherwise everything else was stellar — the world building, organic character growth, and the writing style all hit the right notes for me, personally.
Overall, I really enjoyed myself with this one, and I’ll read more by this author in the future!