In the city-state of Gujaareh, priests of the goddess Hananja "gather" the lives of citizens as needed to preserve peace. But when one of these death-In the city-state of Gujaareh, priests of the goddess Hananja "gather" the lives of citizens as needed to preserve peace. But when one of these death-priests is dispatched to gather the life of a visiting diplomat, he realizes that his religious order is being used to orchestrate assassinations and becomes swept up in a political conspiracy that threatens the order of Gujaareh and the entire world beyond their borders.
3.5. The Killing Moon is a very slow, very dense political fantasy in a desert fantasy world influenced by Ancient Egypt but definitely unique to N. K. Jemisin. I struggled more with this book than I did with either the Fifth Season or the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - I think my biggest problem was that I just didn't feel nearly as attached to the characters. This was not Jemisin's first published novel, but I believe I remember reading somewhere that this was actually written before the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which makes sense because I can definitely spot the growth in her craft between the two. However I did still enjoy this - particularly the rich setting and the unique magic system, narcomancy. The politics, religion, and magic system are very thoroughly realized and heavily interlinked.
As different as the settings and trappings of the stories are, I would recommend this book to fans of The Stars Undying by Emery Robin. Both are dense with political machinations and slower paced with a gradual buildup to explosive conflict. Both also hinge on incredibly thorough explorations of fictional cultures through which the author explores themes of religion and power....more
There is not enough Black authored romantasy, and there is not enough Sapphic romantasy. I'm thrilled to see this book going out into the world. And IThere is not enough Black authored romantasy, and there is not enough Sapphic romantasy. I'm thrilled to see this book going out into the world. And I really, really want it to find a place with readers who will love it.
Unfortunately, I wasn't that reader.
I want to be clear that when I break down why this book didn't really work for me, it's only in order to help it find its audience. I have a ton of respect for Saara El-Arifi and I do believe this has the ingredients to be a really successful book - I know a lot of my friends will enjoy it, and I'm looking forward to seeing them read it!
Because I think that a lot of my problems came down to misplaced expectations, let's run through what you can and cannot expect to find in this book.
Do NOT expect: -An action-oriented or military fantasy. The initial chapters really read like the setup to a military fantasy, but it quickly does a 180. This is a very, very slow story; it's not nearly as exciting, intricate, or action-packed as the Ending Fire trilogy. I'd actually say this entire book basically just reads as setup for the sequel. -Court politics. The blurb tells us two elven sisters are "thrust into the seductive world" of the Fae court, and I just really expected a lot of politicking, drama, etc. That is not the vibe. The politics happen almost entirely on the fringes of this book. -Swoony romance with any sort of depth. I don't even remember the last time I cared so little about a love interest. There's very little character work, very few moments of meaningful connection. This is an "everybody's just hot" kind of romance through and through. -Atmospheric scene-setting or pretty prose. The writing is plain and contemporary (also a bit choppy and strangely punctuated, in my opinion.)
DO expect: -Saara El-Arifi's signature style of weaving clever social commentary into every layer of her worldbuilding. -A refreshing queernorm setting featuring multiple queer and trans characters, as well as multiple disabled characters. -A rich, African-inspired fantasy world which incorporates elements of mythology that distinguish it from typical Fae stories. -Secrets and plot twists. -Magical warrior ladies kissing but also trying to kill each other.
Ultimately, I definitely don't think this is a bad book, and I wouldn't say that I disliked it. I just wanted more from basically every element of it. Interesting pieces of worldbuilding are set up but never fully explored; the romance arcs feel like they happen just because they're supposed to, not because the characters have much depth or anything in common with one another; the politics are just a tease here and there and we never get to really sink into them. I also often found myself frustrated when characters didn't ask extremely obvious questions or misinterpreted extremely obvious prophecies. This tendency ran throughout the entire story and made the resulting drama feel contrived/predictable and cheapened the plot twists by making them easily guessable to the point where I couldn't suspend my disbelief that the characters hadn't figured things out.
I enjoyed both Yeeran and Lettle as protagonists, and I liked the multiple magic systems in play, between divination, drumbeat magic, and fae magic. The story also left off in such an interesting place that I might actually read the sequel to find out what happens - I just wish I didn't feel like I just read a 370 page prologue....more
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