The Bloodprint

This was a really mixed bag. It takes the old and familiar - a ragtag band of adventurers questing for a mcguffin - and infuses it with a more modern understanding of how politics and gender relate to war (given Khan's academic background in political science this is quite understandable). For the most part, though, the story dragged slowly and took some time to find its feet. Once it found itself, though, it became a lot more enjoyable, but it was a lot of work to get to that point.

So... I clearly did not love this book. I was really excited about the premise but it fell incredibly flat for me.

Some of the problems:
- Not enough character development. The way the characters are written, it's very hard to connect with them. That's especially problematic since you're supposed to be rooting for the protagonist Arian and her band of cohorts on a perilous quest.
- Too much telling via stilted dialogue.
- Too many new places, things, and philosophies. While being dropped in media res isn't a bad thing, it is if it leads to confusion.

MINOR SPOILERS
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Arian is so beautiful that no man can resist her. Sinnia and Arian are supposed to have this partner-level connection, which I did not glean at all from how Sinnia and Arian's relationship was described. Sinnia also ends up as this secondary POC who Arian frequently either forgets or ignores.
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To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I wanted to love this book but as time went on, I felt more frustrated by what wasn't happening than by what was.

After reading about 100 pages (or about a quarter of the novel) and skimming the next few chapters, I've decided to leave The Bloodprint unfinished. The world seems compelling, there is some lovely writing, and the two heroines seem amazing in theory given their fight for justice, but unfortunately, I did not find it particularly engaging despite having some intriguing aspects. The dialogue is dry and full of exposition/dull discussion, and though Arian and Sinnia are supposed to have a close bond, their interactions don't show this closeness clearly or give either heroine much personality. This definitely has potential for an interesting setting and characters, but the interesting moments are spread out, making it rather tedious to read. There are just too many books waiting to be read to spend more time on this one–I'd be reading it just to finish it.