Reviews

The Origin of Storms by Elizabeth Bear

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oceia's review

adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

This book both tied up a lot of loose ends from the previous book while also adding a surprising amount of new things into the mix (sometimes to it's detriment imo). It was definitely more interesting than red-stained wings. While I thought it was a fine book I feel like I would have adored the series in high school. As I always snatched up books with trans characters I have no idea how I passed by this series with so many trans* characters.
*1-3 characters depending on how you count

siavahda's review

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3.0

HIGHLIGHTS
~blind dragons are still badass
~#transwomenarewomen
~literal bookworms contribute to empire
~goddesses are rarely what you expect
~wearing a crown is almost as complicated as claiming it

*Spoilers for The Bone in the Skull and The Red-Stained Wings!*

To be honest, the ending ruined it for me.

The first two thirds of Origin of Storms cover Mrithuri, Sayeh and the rest working to consolidate Mrithuri’s unexpected empire. It’s definitely slow to get moving, but something about the rhythm and cadence of the prose made it surprisingly readable and oddly soothing. It was easy to drift along with, enjoyably. It involved more military logistics than political manouvering, but there was manouvering, and it was sneaky and clever and well-done.

Even moreso than the rest of the trilogy, Origin of Storms is very much a book about women: royal women, noble women, educated women, loyal women, servant women, holy women. It’s about the restrictions placed on women – especially those who want to hold power that men will respect – and how to move within those restrictions to get what you want (or as close to what you want as can be managed). It’s about the nature of feminine power, which can’t look like power at all if you want to get things done. It’s about being women playing the traditionally-male game of kingdoms and thrones. It’s about how hard that is.

And it is very, very much about women – all kinds of women – working together.

One of the things that made me happiest about Origin is that Sayeh – who is third-sex, and identifies and presents as a woman – is never left out of this. Her place among the rest of the women is never even up for debate, is never questioned. Of course she’s one of them. She’s a vital and valued member of the sisterhood. Which is something that would make me happy no matter when this book was coming out, but it feels particularly important – and powerful – right at this moment, when so much transphobia is running rampant in the USA and UK.

But the last third or quarter of the book ruined the entire trilogy for me.

Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!

talenyn's review

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5.0

All the thin plot-lines spun by the first two books come together powerfully in this final installment. And the brilliant character development continues right until the very end. This book is definitely worth all the build-up! I would highly recommend the series to anyone who wants a more self-reflective, adult view on the traditional hero narrative (although I still think readers familiar with the Eternal Sky world will get the most out of it).

ronpayne's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very solid ending to an epic fantasy series set in a detailed South Asian-inspired world with complex politics, and prominently placed queer and disabled characters. To be honest, I waited too long between reading the previous book and this one so I struggled a bit to remember all the character threads, but I was able to pull them all together in the end. I liked this series enough that I might do a full reread in the future. Anyway, if you like epic fantasy series, this is a good one.