Starred review from December 1, 2018
The author of four award-winning and critically acclaimed space operas (Provenance, 2017, etc.) aims her philosophical musings about politics, power, and revenge at a new subgenre: epic fantasy.The land of Iraden is apparently the territory of two gods: the god of the Silent Forest, who protects the country and offers occasional advice to his chief votary, the Mother of the Silent; and the Raven, who speaks through a living bird known as the Instrument. Advised by a council of lords and the Mother of the Silent, the ruler of the land, known as the Raven's Lease, gains power and authority from the Raven through his oath to sacrifice his own life when the Instrument dies. In a plot that borrows from, but does not lean too heavily on, Hamlet, the Lease's Heir, the warrior Mawat, returns from battle with his faithful aide, Eolo, to discover the previous Instrument dead, his father missing, and his uncle Hibal seated on the Lease's bench. The Strength and Patience of the Hill, a third god embodied as a large stone, recounts the treacherous game of politics that plays out while also telling its own millennialong history, which gradually sheds light on the divine motivations that drive the human plots. The story's voice is a curious but compelling mix of first and second person, the god using its relative omniscience to narrate, explain, and direct action toward Eolo, who actually cannot hear the god most of the time. It is a common fantasy trope to suggest gods gain strength through faith and worshipers and that they can employ that strength to bend reality. But few authors have really explored all the implications of what happens when multiple beings with that power come into conflict. There is so much story and careful thought packed into this short volume that it should correct anyone who believes a fully realized fantasy novel requires a minimum of 500 pages.Sharp, many layered, and, as always for Leckie, deeply intelligent.
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Starred review from February 1, 2019
Leckie's (Ancillary Justice, 2013) fantasy debut presents a world in which politics and history are shaped by the actions of extremely powerful yet vulnerable gods. The story alternates between two major threads. The first is told in second person to Eolos, a trans man and aide to Mawat, the heir to the Raven's Lease of Iraden. The Lease, Mawat's father, agrees to be sacrificed when the Raven's Instrument, a mortal bird whose body hosts the Raven god, dies. When Mawat and Eolos arrive after hearing the news, they discover that Mawat's father has disappeared, and his uncle Hibal has taken the Lease for himself. Alternating with Eolos' search to discover the truth behind this strange turn of events is a story narrated by a god older than humanity itself, whose story not only reveals more about the nature of gods but weaves itself into the mysteries of the present. Leckie has created an enthralling and well-realized fantasy world, full of not only magic and gods but also characters representing a broad spectrum of gender and sexuality. Highly recommended for Leckie's existing fans and anyone looking for exciting and boundary-pushing fantasy. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Fans of Leckie's award-winning military sf series will be curious about her genre shift.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)