The Woven Ring
"The (US) Civil War, but with magic," is the short-form description I read about this book. And while that suffices as a decent description, I might have envisioned something a bit more literal. This doesn't try to take place on Earth at all, though there are some major parallels that can be drawn. There's no human/racial slavery involved, though there are shades of that debate in the magic-connected religious differences that the war is based on.
And while I was just chiding the practice of achronological storytelling in another book recently, this one makes use of it to a generally positive effect. Here, about every other chapter toggles between the present of the scarred and rough spy-turned-war veteran heroine and the past that forged her. The flashback chapters skip along a bit, but general relate in a sense to what's going on in the "present" and explain things more. It serves as a way to flesh out details in a way to provide some suspense regarding "mysteries" of the story. And here it works fairly well.
I suppose it's always true that I want something I'm reading to be good, but it feels particular appropriate here to say I wanted to enjoy this book more. It's not bad, but it lacks a little something to make great. Maybe Marta, while relateable in getting a past that shapes who she is, isn't quite likeable enough. Maybe the companions she picks up along the way feel a little too one-note. Maybe I'm disappointed by the lack of an end (this is clearly part one of a series as the current "job" isn't done by the final page).
Overall, I did enjoy it and probably will pick up the next volume. If I had to rate it, I'd probably give a 3.5/5, though I feel like it could/should have been higher.
And while I was just chiding the practice of achronological storytelling in another book recently, this one makes use of it to a generally positive effect. Here, about every other chapter toggles between the present of the scarred and rough spy-turned-war veteran heroine and the past that forged her. The flashback chapters skip along a bit, but general relate in a sense to what's going on in the "present" and explain things more. It serves as a way to flesh out details in a way to provide some suspense regarding "mysteries" of the story. And here it works fairly well.
I suppose it's always true that I want something I'm reading to be good, but it feels particular appropriate here to say I wanted to enjoy this book more. It's not bad, but it lacks a little something to make great. Maybe Marta, while relateable in getting a past that shapes who she is, isn't quite likeable enough. Maybe the companions she picks up along the way feel a little too one-note. Maybe I'm disappointed by the lack of an end (this is clearly part one of a series as the current "job" isn't done by the final page).
Overall, I did enjoy it and probably will pick up the next volume. If I had to rate it, I'd probably give a 3.5/5, though I feel like it could/should have been higher.
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