The Daughters' War

Probably the most terrifying goblins you'll ever read about. I really enjoyed Buehlman's prose for the most part. Something in the pacing or the flow of the book did not fully land for me.

Less carefree than The Blacktongue Thief, but no less gripping. Buehlman is able to depict brutal and tragic circumstances without it ever feeling cheap or maudlin. And even through it all things still feel hopeful and worth fighting for. That balance is no small feat and I can't wait for more from this world.

Probably would have been a good idea to tell readers to read book 1 first… since this prequel is more of a backstory.

When I first read that the next Blacktongue book was a prequel covering The Daughters' War, I knew it was going to be divisive. Following up Kinch is big shoes to fill, and we've already been exposed to Galva's personality which was never going to carry the book for some people. I am not one of these people.

Thanks to the framing and Buehlman's methods of making the world feel bigger than it is, this felt like a historical fantasy and Galva's more dry personality fits for the subject matter of the third in a trio of wars so bad that the majority of the forces are made up of women and old people. There's a nice variety of characters, though we do mainly focus on a small handful, which rotate out throughout the book.

The writing maintains the level of quality I'd expect from Buehlman at this point and shows that he can switch genre/sub-genre masterfully as required by the story being told. Humour being exchanged from Blacktongue Thief for more horror and emotion here, with the war itself and Galva being forced at odds with her brother.

Probably the only disappointment for me is that Galva is tied to an experimental unit of corvid knights where each person leads two giant war-birds specially bred for fighting goblins, yet they feel like a relatively small part of the book for how big a part of Galva's character they make.

Loved it loved it loved it. A beautiful somber telling of a brutal war and also of family and of love. I didn’t know that I wanted to learn this much more about Galva, but I am so glad that I have.

I cannot wait for more from this world, and more from this author in general.

Some notes: I read this without yet reading Blacktongue Thief (or anything else from Buehlman). It takes a lot for me to like books that are this focused on battles and gore. I often get bored by books that are super “I am a self-decided expert on military strategy and I will show it by sheer volume of the descriptions of armor and maneuvers” or the violence just feels gratuitous or so bleak and dark that I just can't take more. 

And this is quite grim and I'd warn animal lovers like myself. But it's a compelling story with a lot of valor in desperate situations, with well-written action. The goblins feel like a palpable threat throughout the whole thing. (So do the giant corvids, which felt really appropriate.) The world-building is detailed enough that it feels very familiar and well-rounded and the threat of losing individual battles and the war overall is obvious. There's many striking descriptions of the important characters - the initial, restrained comments about the eldest brother, for one example. I kept sharing quotes with my partner, who likes this type of book more than I do.

It's not a glorification of war for fun or profit or religion, it's war as a grim necessity for overall survival against a terrible foe. It feels like, for the world it's set in, this was about as devastating for human cultures as WWI, which is fascinating. 

It's a dark coming-of-age memoir, but oh, I like Galva. And I'll read Blacktongue Thief soon.

Overall, I liked this book and it was well written, but I just wanted more from it. There was a lot of talking about things happening and very little of it actually happening. That aside, the plot was interesting and the characters felt fully realized. Worth a read.

I've had the Blacktongue Thief in my TBR list for ages, but just haven't found the reason to jump in (I admit, my mental capacity for non-fluff as of late has been non-existent, unless it's dark Warhammer novels). However, I read the description of The Daughters' War, saw that it was an introduction into the world, and obviously, the girlpower at the helm of the story drew me in immediately. It's been a long time where I've found a story where I had to force myself to put down so I can leave some bits for later- but then here comes the Daughters' War and I'm pulled into a whole new world. This story had me feeling so many different emotions. There was beauty. Darkness. Horror. Light. Beautifully written. A great entry into the series, and I do hope we haven't seen the last of Galva and her Queen.