Starless

Kind of disappointing, to be honest. I love Carey's Kushiel's Dart series and I was expecting another story with the same sort of epic impact. I think that this story could have been easily stretched out into a trilogy, and I think that's the reason that I found it so difficult to be invested in it. The true action of the story didn't even start until 300-400 pages in. For so much time spent with Khai going through his education and training process, it didn't really seem to have much of an impact on the end of the story. He was a good fighter and he killed a lot :shrug:

This story was missing the same depth that the Kushiel's Dart series has. Everything was too easy. Every step was laid out before the characters and they followed the plan. By the time Khai and Zariya met up with the other defenders, the majority of the prophecy had already been figured out. Nothing went awry. There were no difficult decisions to make or agonize over. Without seeing the characters really overcoming anything, I couldn't find it in myself to care about any of the characters, or the family they built with each other. The characters built bonds with each other, but I didn't feel like a part of that process. Even the villain of the story was kind of lame.

I think the premise of the story was interesting. I would have liked to have seen more of the impact of Miasmus' forces returning. I would have liked to have seen more of the impact of the stars being missing, and then returning. I can't imagine Zariya's family was happy to have lost their long lives so quickly. It was pretty glossed over at the end. I think the story had a lot of potential but in the end I just don't think it was executed well. It's really unfortunate because I consider Carey to be a pretty talented storyteller.

Jacqueline Carey's epic fantasy novel Starless showcases her skill as a worldbuilder and writer, but especially her wonderful gift for storytelling. Although I did find the smaller scale earlier parts of the book a bit more compelling than later parts, I still absolutely loved Starless.

4 1/2 stars

Review on My Website (Plus an Excerpt and Giveaway)

Jacqueline Carey has been a little hit or miss for me lately. I loved Kushiel's Dart, read that years ago. Wasn't fond of the second trilogy in that world. I read Miranda and Caliban a while back, and it was alright. This, though, blew me away. First, the idea that there are no stars in the sky. They have three moons and a sun, but no stars. Their mythology is that the Stars rebelled against their father, the Sun, and he threw them all to Earth, including one who hadn't participated as it had been a babe in the womb during the rebellion! The stars now walk the earth as gods and goddesses, and we meet several in the book. (And hear about a few more.) The one god that hadn't been part of the rebellion, but was punished anyway, has been nursing his hurt and resentment until, prophecy states, he will eventually wake and try to kill everyone. The problem is the prophecy was shattered into as many pieces as there are gods, and spread across the world. There are prophecy seekers that try to collect all the bits, but they're not very successful.

In Khai's country, the sacred twins are their gods. Pahrkun the Scouring Wind and Anamuht the Purging Fire. They can be seen on occasion striding across the desert. It is by Pahrkun's will that Khai is bound to the youngest princess as her soul twin; very rarely the royal family gets one of these, and they are always meant to be bodyguards. So Khai is sent to the temple of Pahrkun's warriors, deep in the desert, and trained in the many ways to kill. The warriors are all men, but Khai turns out to be non-binary, and this is what lets him guard the princess in a culture that includes harems and eunuchs. I love the relationship between Khai and Princess Zariya, and Zariya is no typical princess.

The book follows Khai and Zariya's adventures in court intrigue, marriage proposals, sea battles, and prophecy-chasing. The action is perfect, the world breath-taking, and the people beautifully written. I've always enjoyed the fantasies where the gods show up commonly enough that people know how to identify them and how to treat them. From the Wind and Fire of Zharkoum's arid country to the shape-changing Quellin and the terrifying Shambloth, the people that live near them build governments and societies around their gods, which makes each society stand out in their own way. World-building is definitely something that Carey is an expert at.

Starless is an amazing fantasy with a lovely queer romance at its heart. It's full of varied cultures and enigmatic gods and goddesses and I just LOVE IT. Definitely one of my favorites this year.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.