February 4, 2022
Brian Staveley returns us to his world of gods and violence in this side-bar prequel. As usual, Staveley has an uncanny ability to nail down in words the very nature of faith and humanity, and he does so beautifully. Pyrre Lakatur is an extremely engaging protagonist, deeply competent and yet obviously still so in conflict with herself and the world. While I thoroughly enjoyed this deep-dive into the origins of a wonderful character, I got the distinct feeling that the narrative of this novel was extraordinarily secondary, functioning as a vehicle through which the author could delve further into both this character and the lore of the setting. Large swaths of the plot felt very procedural, drawing focus away from what was happening, and towards the philosophical journeys that the characters were taking. Still, I found myself once again enthralled by this rich and vibrant world, and I cannot wait to visit again.
8/10
Photo by Aaron Schneider
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