The Afterward

DNF - PG 163

Why?

If you would describe this book to me, it would sound pretty much perfect. It of that old style of fantasy that I grew up reading - mysterious item, sick king, a quest to save the realm - with a delightfully modern twist - the quester's are mostly comprised of queer women of color.

In theory, I should have loved this book. In reality, I was bored out of my mind.

This book is divided into before (the original quest) and after (something like ten months later) with the chapters rotating. For every two or three ‘after' you get one ‘before.' And none of it is fleshed out. The ‘before' was actually slightly interesting, but the telling is so jerky. It's like...okay, this book is 337 pages. An epic fantasy that is that length, and tries to tell two stories, each from a separate time? It does not work well because no real time was spent on either of them. Or anything else for that matter. The ‘before' parts read like a highlight reel. Yeah, you'll learn what happens, but you won't feel anything.

And therein lies the big problem. I feel nothing.

This book is not written in a way to make me connect with the characters. There's seven of them that went on the original quest. The only ones that are fleshed out at all - and that's solely because they are POV characters - were Kalanthe and Olsa, the rest of them I would often get confused and found myself referring to by the one defining trait they had. (The mage/the only man, the trans one, the one with the head injury/the ace one, the queen and...the other one?) There were actually several times where I would go ‘who is that?' only to finally remember ‘that' is the queen.

There is supposed to be a love story between Kalanthe and Olsa. I say supposed to be because I didn't feel it. They hooked up during the ‘before' because...uh...they were they only ones of a compatible age? I mean, I don't know. They had no chemistry and the ‘before' was so compressed that there was literally no way to build a believable romance in that. In the ‘after' they aren't together because of circumstances (and stubbornness) and the only interaction they have in the ‘after' during the first half of the book, they act like bitter exes.

The only plotline I was at all curious about was Kalanthe's debt repayment. See, Kalanthe is a ‘debt knight' which means that, at age ten, when she signed for knighthood, her family didn't have the money to sponsor her. The crown takes on that cost for debt knights with the obligation that the newly minted knight will start paying the debt back once they turn eighteen. Usually the way these debt knights can afford to do that is through marrying into money. Kalanthe is a few short weeks from her eighteenth birthday and she receives a proposal.

Now, I did skip ahead to read some of her parts, just to see how it was resolved. It was a cop out. Kalanthe is only attracted to women. She has no interest in bedding a man and, for as progressive as the rest of this story is, no indication that same sex couples are anything noteworthy, there is also no indication that same sex marriages are a thing. Possibly explainable if the marriage is only for heirs, but surely Kalanthe isn't the only person so disposed. (She is also one of those ever so common people in F/F or M/M romances that, when one of the major hurdles is marriage, completely ignores the possibility of talking to their intended and quite determined to obey the letter - if not the spirit - of their marriage. Especially egregious here in that there seems to be no repercussions for same sex attraction.) Spoiler for how Kalanthe's money plot is resolved. The man that proposes to her is one of her co-knight's relatives and Kalanthe is assured he is a good man. Though he is about twelve years older than her and a widower with two daughters that might want to become knights when they reach age. Kalanthe goes to talk to him and he is a nice man, responsible and respected and incredibly kind. He's also got a blockage of the brain that is going to kill him sooner or later. Turns out to be sooner rather than later because seven days after they met - on the very morning of the day Kalanthe is supposed to give her answer to his proposal - he's found dead in his bed. He died in his sleep. With the marriage contract already containing his signature. All Kalanthe has to do is sign it and she will effectively become both his wife and his widow. She does and - zap - money problems all solved and now she can be with her true love Olsa. Cop out. We need a reason why Kalanthe and Olsa didn't stay together; here, have some money problems. Oh, but we want a happily ever after, so let's just kill the cash cow. I mean, sheep. He has sheep so it's a cash sheep.

The stylistic choices of the writing was distinctly odd. While in the ‘after' we rotate between Kalanthe and Olsa's narration of third person. During the ‘before' we rotate between Kalanthe and Olsa's narration - only this time it's in first person. I mean, what? That threw me so badly the first time and I was left scrambling to figure out what's going on.

And the world building? Oh, that's laughable. World building. I think you get about five pages worth of info dumping in the whole book and absolutely nothing else about anything else. I mean, I love fantasy and my eyes will start to glaze over when you start taking three pages to describe a tavern, but there was nothing here. You do get some description of what the characters look like, but because I literally could not keep them straight, I had no idea what any of them looked like. (Except for Olsa's hair. That was mentioned enough that I knew what it's like.)

I just... This story could have been awesome and amazing. Instead it was dry and lackluster. Nothing happens and I'm left with no feeling for this book other than minor discontent.

I feel bad rating this so low because I really appreciate some of what the author was trying to do but I just did not enjoy it. 

Neither the original quest (told via flashbacks that are inexplicably in first person) nor the new quest are very interesting. The romance is bland - they have a few fun moments but I have no clue why they loved each other aside from being the only teens on a life or death quest. There is SO MUCH boring exposition and every problem is solved via ridiculously convenient circumstances with basically zero effort so despite the life and death circumstances the stakes feel low. The characters are diverse but very superficially written. I feel like I know more about their hair care routines than their personalities, and some of the “diversity” is extremely clunky (the weird mention of cultural appropriation that makes it unclear whether the character/author actually understands why it is bad, a character struggling to recall the word ‘bisexual' and then immediately explaining its etymology, the non-Muslim Muslim, the way the trans and aroace characters are described). Also this is oddly specific but this is the second fantasy novel I have read where a lesbian character facing an arranged marriage to a man wishes she were bi instead and that is so weirdly insulting?? Like just because she's attracted to men doesn't mean she would be into whichever one she was forced to marry?

TL;dr: I was expecting an epic fantasy and got a mediocre YA romance instead.

Loved how inclusive and diverse this fantasy world was, but everything else was pretty lackluster, including the plot, the characters, the romance, and the world-building.

Pros: great romance, optimistic, inclusive

Cons: tenses changes often bumped me out of the story

A year after successfully using the godsgem to defeat the Old God, the seven questers returned to their lives. Sir Erris Quicksword married the King. Mage Ladros took the gem to the Mage Keep in case it's needed again. Their thief, Olsa Rhetsdaughter paid off her debt but keeps getting picked up by the guards for thievery, which is becoming a problem as the king can no longer intercede on her behalf. Her lover, the apprentice knight Kalanthe Ironheart has also interceded several times, but her own problems - finding a rich husband before she's knighted and her own debts come due - can no longer be ignored.

This is the story of what happens after the quest is over.

The novel alternates between scenes from the quest - which detail the quest itself and the burgeoning romance between Olsa and Kalanthe - and what's happening in the present. Oddly, the present scenes are written in the past tense third person viewpoint whereas the past scenes are told from a first person present tense from either Olsa or Kalanthe's point of view. On the one hand, this makes it very clear what period you're in, on the other hand, it can be jarring going from one tense to the other.

I loved the characters. Seeing five female knights on a quest was great, especially when one was asexual and another was transgender. The romance between Olsa and Kalanthe developed organically in the flashback scenes and you can see them trying to come to terms with their choices - imposed and desired - in the present and how their circumstances and pride cause problems.

It was refreshing to read a quest story that shows how characters move on from the disruption to their lives and one that's so unabashedly positive. There's no shame around sex (or any of the pairings - all of which happen off screen, there's no graphic content here), nor is race an issue (several characters have dark skin, and among them different hair care is required). There is a desert dweller who faces ridicule due to her background by side characters, but the questers accept her without question.

This is a fantastic standalone novel, perfect for the YA crowd and adults looking for more optimistic stories.