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batbaby's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This actually took me a while to read, I wish it had more about silence’s nonbinary/gender queerness because really he read as a trans man for the majority of the book. And their gender non comformity/discussion only came about by Merlin going yeah but you’re not a man are you. This isn’t to invalidate silence’s gender experience I just wish they came to the development of their own volition. I wish we explored more romance towards the end like maybe going back to Ame or Alfred. I enjoyed the magical elements of the book especially hearing about the selkie or the nymph I just wish it had more of the fantasy element. I enjoyed this book but it definitely had its faults and the cover “a tale of a non-binary knight” feels misleading for the majority of the book Silence is a trans masculine minstrel but hey-ho
Also the man-in-a dress trope was annoying and harmful at the end and I was just expecting it to be sapphic.
Also the man-in-a dress trope was annoying and harmful at the end and I was just expecting it to be sapphic.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Gore
Moderate: Deadnaming
Minor: Animal cruelty, Dysphoria, and Animal death
attolis's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, and Transphobia
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
noodletheriddle's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny and Animal death
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
dnlrbchd's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Violence, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Classism, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Minor: Pregnancy
ninegladiolus's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“We are not one thing. We are multitudes.”
The Story of Silence by Alex Myers is a standalone historical fantasy novel that re-imagines a 13th century French poem called “Silence”. In both texts, a child named Silence is born as a girl and then raised as a boy in order to inherit their father’s lands. Though this novel’s pacing can be described as slow and quiet, it’s a tale that draws you in as it unfolds and lingers with you after it concludes.
By and large, The Story of Silence reads like a character study/chivalric romance mashup. There’s a great deal of introspection and reflection mixed in with the plot points of the novel. Even though Silence undergoes so many trials and tribulations, they are a character you really want to root for through it all, and what kept me turning the pages was their spirit and heart. While there are sections that flag a bit and drag down the pacing, they are few and far between.
It’s important to note this novel remains faithful in spirit to the work that inspired it in several ways. First, there’s a great deal of misogyny in particular, which checks out for Arthurian myth; it’s challenged in the text to some degree, but not as much as I’d have hoped. Second, for my fellow trans and/or nonbinary readers who may be interested in checking this out, there are a lot of frank discussions of gender dysphoria, particularly in relation to being AFAB; if this isn’t something you’re in the mental space to handle, I’d recommend giving it a pass.
What I love most about this book, in addition to the prose and story itself, is the reminder that gender outside the binary has existed for far longer than most people give it credit for today. The questions of Nature and Nurture, the ideas of gender presentation/expression versus gender identity, and the idea of many folks falling somewhere between/outside the binary—all of this was contained and expanded on from the original poem. Myers depicted Silence’s struggle with their identity with love and care, and I hope trans and cis readers alike take knowledge or resonance away from this novel if they choose to read it.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who would enjoy a low-magic Arthurian retelling and is interested in a main character in that setting who is transgender and falls outside the notion of the gender binary. If you’re an audiobook person, I doubly recommend listening to it if you can—while reading the novel, I couldn’t help but think the prose would shine even more if it were spoken aloud.
Thank you to Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Story of Silence by Alex Myers is a standalone historical fantasy novel that re-imagines a 13th century French poem called “Silence”. In both texts, a child named Silence is born as a girl and then raised as a boy in order to inherit their father’s lands. Though this novel’s pacing can be described as slow and quiet, it’s a tale that draws you in as it unfolds and lingers with you after it concludes.
By and large, The Story of Silence reads like a character study/chivalric romance mashup. There’s a great deal of introspection and reflection mixed in with the plot points of the novel. Even though Silence undergoes so many trials and tribulations, they are a character you really want to root for through it all, and what kept me turning the pages was their spirit and heart. While there are sections that flag a bit and drag down the pacing, they are few and far between.
It’s important to note this novel remains faithful in spirit to the work that inspired it in several ways. First, there’s a great deal of misogyny in particular, which checks out for Arthurian myth; it’s challenged in the text to some degree, but not as much as I’d have hoped. Second, for my fellow trans and/or nonbinary readers who may be interested in checking this out, there are a lot of frank discussions of gender dysphoria, particularly in relation to being AFAB; if this isn’t something you’re in the mental space to handle, I’d recommend giving it a pass.
What I love most about this book, in addition to the prose and story itself, is the reminder that gender outside the binary has existed for far longer than most people give it credit for today. The questions of Nature and Nurture, the ideas of gender presentation/expression versus gender identity, and the idea of many folks falling somewhere between/outside the binary—all of this was contained and expanded on from the original poem. Myers depicted Silence’s struggle with their identity with love and care, and I hope trans and cis readers alike take knowledge or resonance away from this novel if they choose to read it.
I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone who would enjoy a low-magic Arthurian retelling and is interested in a main character in that setting who is transgender and falls outside the notion of the gender binary. If you’re an audiobook person, I doubly recommend listening to it if you can—while reading the novel, I couldn’t help but think the prose would shine even more if it were spoken aloud.
Thank you to Harper Voyager and Edelweiss for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Misogyny, Violence, Death, and Sexism
Moderate: Transphobia and Blood
ceallaighsbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
“‘Will you tell me of your birth?’ They tilted their head and looked at me as a bird might, with one bright eye.
‘Have you the whole night?’
‘I have nothing in the world but this night.’”
TITLE—The Story of Silence
AUTHOR—Alex Myers
PUBLISHED—2020
GENRE—literary/fantasy retelling
SETTING—a mythological, medieval England / Europe
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—gender; trans identity; Nature vs Nurture; animacy of Nature; Arthurian lore; English folk and faery customs and beliefs
WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—The clear reverence shown the natural world and the belief in the personhood and sanctity of the entire natural world (animals, plants, rivers etc.)
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️—“You can speak your mind with courage only if you are an honest man.”
“A woman and a man. A man as much a woman. Proof that we are all a little both, a little neither. Proof that rules hold us less tightly than we imagine! Nature speaks to us all in our own individual riddles. Haw!’”
This was an awesome retelling of a medieval French poem featuring Arthurian tropes and characters. It was a thoughtful and emotional look at not just the trans experience but the exploration of gender and identity in general. By using the dialogue between Nature and Nurture, present in the original poem, but greatly fleshed out in Myers retelling, Myers recreates not only the courtly, “morality” feel of a traditional medieval tale, but a story whose relevance is particularly apt for our current time.
Last thought: ALL I wanted though was for [redacted] to not [redacted] after [redacted]. 😭 I NEVER get what I want. 😭😭😭
“If I tell it right, it will be a story that sings on, speaking to self after self, telling the tale of what it means to be and become.”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.75
TW // bullying, violence, sexism, misogyny, misgendering
Further Reading—
- Silence, trans. by Sarah Roche-Mahdi
- The Last Unicorn, by Peter Beagle
- The Wolf in the Whale, by Jordanna Max Brodsky
- The Last Kingdom, by Bernard Cornwell
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent
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