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laurasmash's review against another edition
2.0
I finally finished this book. It took me a month, but I did it. I refused to give up.
I probably should have never picked it up in the first place.
I don't like being mean, or giving low ratings, but this book was rough.
I have a number of gripes:
1.) Jessex is only 14-15 when he's chosen to be Kirith Kirin's lamp-lighter. And yet, Kirith Kirin, who is an immortal of unknown age, falls in love with him??? That's a little gross, maybe if I was still a teenager I might not realize how disturbing that is, but I'm an adult, and Jessex was still considered to be a child. They couldn't even wait for him to turn 16 (which is still too damn young) to get it on. GROSS.
2.) Maybe this is a little petty, but Kirith Kirin. Come on. He's called that throughout the entire book. I understand that he's King and all, but even Jessex continues to call him that despite being the man's lover! Also, we know next to nothing about him. Maybe I slept through the part where they talk about how the system of him and his sister trading places every so often, but I missed it. I felt like Grimsley was more interested in the actual geography of the land rather than it's history. But like I said, I know all about Jessex (except when the book actually takes place, because as I recall, Jessex and Kirith Kirin technically weren't even together at the point of him writing his dissertation), but we know almost nothing about the title character!
3.) The text was unbelievably boring. Like I said, it was like a textbook dissertation on the geography of the land. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like world-building, but this was like, Grimsley was only into world-building and his idea of magic (which I couldn't really understand either. It was singing? But not verbal singing? Maybe it's just me considering I have a hard time with metaphorical and metaphysical stuff. However, the book would only be about a third of it's size if Grimsley was just writing plot.
4.) I don't know if I can explain this properly, and while after thinking about it, it's not necessarily a bad thing, in fact I think it really fits, but it bothered me when reading the book. They way that "Jessex" would introduce new characters or new places, it felt like we were supposed to already know these people and places. I understand that the story is "written by" Jessex, so when he introduces a new character or place, there's an assumption that whoever is reading his story, already has some knowledge of that person/place. So it fits within the story, but it really kinda bothered me while reading because I was constantly left wondering if I missed their previous introduction. I didn't think I zoned out that much while reading.
5.) Like I said, I didn't really understand the magic, but I think I'm really just sick of reading "the one" tropes. Even in 2000, the trope was old. We find this farm boy and after a few months he's already a level 4 wizard and they're going to trust in his ability to beat a level 4 wizard that is literally his great-great grandfather?! I don't think I can roll my eyes hard enough.
In the end, I slogged through this book and was really grateful when it finally ended and I realized that the 37 pages left on my Nook were just appendices.
I probably should have never picked it up in the first place.
I don't like being mean, or giving low ratings, but this book was rough.
I have a number of gripes:
1.) Jessex is only 14-15 when he's chosen to be Kirith Kirin's lamp-lighter. And yet, Kirith Kirin, who is an immortal of unknown age, falls in love with him??? That's a little gross, maybe if I was still a teenager I might not realize how disturbing that is, but I'm an adult, and Jessex was still considered to be a child. They couldn't even wait for him to turn 16 (which is still too damn young) to get it on. GROSS.
2.) Maybe this is a little petty, but Kirith Kirin. Come on. He's called that throughout the entire book. I understand that he's King and all, but even Jessex continues to call him that despite being the man's lover! Also, we know next to nothing about him. Maybe I slept through the part where they talk about how the system of him and his sister trading places every so often, but I missed it. I felt like Grimsley was more interested in the actual geography of the land rather than it's history. But like I said, I know all about Jessex (except when the book actually takes place, because as I recall, Jessex and Kirith Kirin technically weren't even together at the point of him writing his dissertation), but we know almost nothing about the title character!
3.) The text was unbelievably boring. Like I said, it was like a textbook dissertation on the geography of the land. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like world-building, but this was like, Grimsley was only into world-building and his idea of magic (which I couldn't really understand either. It was singing? But not verbal singing? Maybe it's just me considering I have a hard time with metaphorical and metaphysical stuff. However, the book would only be about a third of it's size if Grimsley was just writing plot.
4.) I don't know if I can explain this properly, and while after thinking about it, it's not necessarily a bad thing, in fact I think it really fits, but it bothered me when reading the book. They way that "Jessex" would introduce new characters or new places, it felt like we were supposed to already know these people and places. I understand that the story is "written by" Jessex, so when he introduces a new character or place, there's an assumption that whoever is reading his story, already has some knowledge of that person/place. So it fits within the story, but it really kinda bothered me while reading because I was constantly left wondering if I missed their previous introduction. I didn't think I zoned out that much while reading.
5.) Like I said, I didn't really understand the magic, but I think I'm really just sick of reading "the one" tropes. Even in 2000, the trope was old. We find this farm boy and after a few months he's already a level 4 wizard and they're going to trust in his ability to beat a level 4 wizard that is
In the end, I slogged through this book and was really grateful when it finally ended and I realized that the 37 pages left on my Nook were just appendices.
niidz's review against another edition
4.0
Amazing book, Amazing worldbuilding, Amazing all around, I started this at like 10pm and ended up staying awake until 2am because I didn't want to stop reading. Reading Jessex journey was an absolute delight.
nickduggan's review
5.0
much better than I expected, especially considering how crappy fiction with gay characters usually is. it's such a rich world and an epic story, and nice and long - wasn't over as soon as I started.
formtruthregret's review
4.0
Kirith Kirin is the coming-of-age story of Jessex, a normal shepherd boy who is called by prophecy to serve Kirith Kirin, an immortal king whose rightful throne has been kept from him. He and his followers reside in the mysterious and dangerous forest of Arthen. Jessex's tale follows his growth into a magician of great power, the battles he fights in Kirith Kirin's name, and the development of his relationship with the great king himself. Kirith Kirin is also a memoir: the tale is framed as an older, wiser Jessex recounting the true story of his life and the war he fought, called the Third War. It's also a history of his world, Aeryn: Jessex frequently digresses from his life's story to discuss the history his world, his people, and the war. The appendices frame the text of the novel as a historical document discovered by visitors to the world of Aeryn long after the Third War was concluded.
It's not a secret that I read a lot of fantasy, and Kirith Kirin is a mode of fantasy that I haven't read in a long, long time. Let's call it epic fantasy: a secondary world where magic rules everything and con-lang and Important Capitals abound; where the central conflict is between the elemental forces of Light and Dark. This isn't a good or bad point, just something I wanted to raise because I really enjoyed this book and it was good to be reminded of the breadth within my chosen genre.
One thing I loved about Kirith Kirin is the use of memoir as a framing device. It adds a fresh dimension to the story; it's not about a teenager chosen one bumbling around, it's about the chosen one reflecting on his teenage bumblings. I greatly enjoyed Jessex's musings on how he's been (mis)remembered, on the stories that spread about what happened throughout the war, and his reflections on what was clearly a hugely momentous time in his own life. It was also a deft way for Grimsley to incorporate explanations of the world and its magic into the text. Since Jessex is writing for posterity, it makes sense for him to slip in the cultural context of the Third War as he lived it.
It helps that Jessex is himself a very likable narrator and protagonist, even seen through his own eyes. He's brave and forthright and pragmatic, a person of great faith, intelligence, and backbone. Grimsley's writing is excellent too. It has a certain rhythm and cadence that made it incredibly easy for me to slip into the flow of what was going on, even through I read Kirith Kirin in fits and starts. Magic plays a huge role in the novel and Grimsley's descriptions of magic-working and arcane battles are excellent too. He effortlessly translates the abstractions of magic battling to intense and concrete conflicts. Every magicians' battle is taut with the tension of magicians acting against one another, attack and counter-attack, maneuver and feint.
And now I must address the part of the Kirith Kirin that I really did not like. And that is the development of Jessex and Kirith Kirin's relationship.
Consider this a SPOILER WARNING though in my opinion the relationship is telegraphed pretty early on and throughout the first half of the novel. But I will touch on some specific developments in the following paragraphs. Skip to the last one in the post if you're not interested.
My issue with it is twofold. First, throughout the first half of the novel, I found Kirith Kirin's interest in Jessex to be super duper creepy. Kirith Kirin is an immortal king who has lived thousands of years, taking a romantic interest in Jessex, who, at the start of the novel, is both fourteen and considered by the mores of his society to be a child. As such, Kirith Kirin's interest in Jessex, as all of his immortal peers repeatedly remind him, is deeply inappropriate. And it came across as deeply inappropriate to me as well. Loneliness (Kirith Kirin is repeatedly described as lonely) is not an excuse for such behavior.
Second, there is how Jessex and Kirith Kirin actually get together. Jessex, for his part, seemed to be awed by Kirith Kirin, as one might expect of an ordinary teenage boy meeting a legendary immortal king, and to have perhaps had a slight crush -- but that's it. So, when about mid-book, Jessex and Kirith Kirin apparently go from 0 to soul-married for life, I just did not buy it. I absolutely could not wrap my head around it being a natural development of their previous interactions and I still can't. Jessex's later musings about how the prophecy that summoned him to Arthen had been God calling him to be with Kirith Kirin also rang false to me. That particular digression felt more like Grimsley justifying the relationship than something that had actually been foreshadowed. There was another incident with an even more grossly inappropriate suitor that felt like it existed for much the same reason, as a way to justify the relationship by portraying Kirith Kirin's behavior as not as gross as it could have been. Which is a pretty low fucking bar for one half of the only romantic subplot of the novel to clear.
Post that mid-book soul-marriage, nothing really convinced me that I had been wrong in my first-half impressions. Eventually I told myself that if I was going to finish the book -- and I really wanted to finish the book -- I was going to have to accept that Jessex and Kirith Kirin were a thing. Once I refused to think about how much I didn't buy it, I enjoyed Grimsley's depiction of their relationship, with all the tenderness, loyalty, passion, and tension it entailed. But I never felt like my misgivings had been addressed in any way.
Would I read the sequels? I don't think so, but not because I didn't like this book. The sequels, as Kirith Kirin's cover blurb proclaims, are sci-fi novels. Looking up their cover blurbs, they seem to focus on the clash between a science-using world and the magic-using world of Aeryn, and that is a premise that doesn't particularly interest me. I'd rather enjoy Kirith Kirin as a story unto itself, misgivings and all.
It's not a secret that I read a lot of fantasy, and Kirith Kirin is a mode of fantasy that I haven't read in a long, long time. Let's call it epic fantasy: a secondary world where magic rules everything and con-lang and Important Capitals abound; where the central conflict is between the elemental forces of Light and Dark. This isn't a good or bad point, just something I wanted to raise because I really enjoyed this book and it was good to be reminded of the breadth within my chosen genre.
One thing I loved about Kirith Kirin is the use of memoir as a framing device. It adds a fresh dimension to the story; it's not about a teenager chosen one bumbling around, it's about the chosen one reflecting on his teenage bumblings. I greatly enjoyed Jessex's musings on how he's been (mis)remembered, on the stories that spread about what happened throughout the war, and his reflections on what was clearly a hugely momentous time in his own life. It was also a deft way for Grimsley to incorporate explanations of the world and its magic into the text. Since Jessex is writing for posterity, it makes sense for him to slip in the cultural context of the Third War as he lived it.
It helps that Jessex is himself a very likable narrator and protagonist, even seen through his own eyes. He's brave and forthright and pragmatic, a person of great faith, intelligence, and backbone. Grimsley's writing is excellent too. It has a certain rhythm and cadence that made it incredibly easy for me to slip into the flow of what was going on, even through I read Kirith Kirin in fits and starts. Magic plays a huge role in the novel and Grimsley's descriptions of magic-working and arcane battles are excellent too. He effortlessly translates the abstractions of magic battling to intense and concrete conflicts. Every magicians' battle is taut with the tension of magicians acting against one another, attack and counter-attack, maneuver and feint.
And now I must address the part of the Kirith Kirin that I really did not like. And that is the development of Jessex and Kirith Kirin's relationship.
Consider this a SPOILER WARNING though in my opinion the relationship is telegraphed pretty early on and throughout the first half of the novel. But I will touch on some specific developments in the following paragraphs. Skip to the last one in the post if you're not interested.
My issue with it is twofold. First, throughout the first half of the novel, I found Kirith Kirin's interest in Jessex to be super duper creepy. Kirith Kirin is an immortal king who has lived thousands of years, taking a romantic interest in Jessex, who, at the start of the novel, is both fourteen and considered by the mores of his society to be a child. As such, Kirith Kirin's interest in Jessex, as all of his immortal peers repeatedly remind him, is deeply inappropriate. And it came across as deeply inappropriate to me as well. Loneliness (Kirith Kirin is repeatedly described as lonely) is not an excuse for such behavior.
Second, there is how Jessex and Kirith Kirin actually get together. Jessex, for his part, seemed to be awed by Kirith Kirin, as one might expect of an ordinary teenage boy meeting a legendary immortal king, and to have perhaps had a slight crush -- but that's it. So, when about mid-book, Jessex and Kirith Kirin apparently go from 0 to soul-married for life, I just did not buy it. I absolutely could not wrap my head around it being a natural development of their previous interactions and I still can't. Jessex's later musings about how the prophecy that summoned him to Arthen had been God calling him to be with Kirith Kirin also rang false to me. That particular digression felt more like Grimsley justifying the relationship than something that had actually been foreshadowed. There was another incident with an even more grossly inappropriate suitor that felt like it existed for much the same reason, as a way to justify the relationship by portraying Kirith Kirin's behavior as not as gross as it could have been. Which is a pretty low fucking bar for one half of the only romantic subplot of the novel to clear.
Post that mid-book soul-marriage, nothing really convinced me that I had been wrong in my first-half impressions. Eventually I told myself that if I was going to finish the book -- and I really wanted to finish the book -- I was going to have to accept that Jessex and Kirith Kirin were a thing. Once I refused to think about how much I didn't buy it, I enjoyed Grimsley's depiction of their relationship, with all the tenderness, loyalty, passion, and tension it entailed. But I never felt like my misgivings had been addressed in any way.
Would I read the sequels? I don't think so, but not because I didn't like this book. The sequels, as Kirith Kirin's cover blurb proclaims, are sci-fi novels. Looking up their cover blurbs, they seem to focus on the clash between a science-using world and the magic-using world of Aeryn, and that is a premise that doesn't particularly interest me. I'd rather enjoy Kirith Kirin as a story unto itself, misgivings and all.
ld2's review
4.0
The premise of the novel is pretty standard for fantasy: a naïve and young protagonist has powers beyond his expectations and soon learns he is meant to help save the world. What makes this novel so spectacular is the amount of detail and care Grimsley incorporates into his writing. The story has an ethereal quality to it that is reminiscent of different mythologies.
megandawn's review
4.0
Maybe only three stars? I really don't know. What an interesting and at times frustrating book. There's an amazing story here, but sometimes it can be hard to see under the weight of all the lore the author just keeps piling on. At times I found this book breathtaking, other times I found myself skim reading. I did enjoy the way the author gleefully embraces a lot of classic tropes the genre has moved on from, but I suspect this was less intentional and more a result of the author not realising that the genre has moved on...
rachela1eaf's review
3.0
Hm. This was... a read. I can't say it was necessarily an interesting one, but I can't say it was a boring one either. I really was intrigued by the world and magic system, and those descriptions of the magic battles--those were fantastic on so many levels (pun intended). But it dragged so, so much. It seemed like very little happened in comparison to the length of this book. It also had a very... unconventional story arc, which I don't quite know how to feel about.
Overall, it reminded me of both the reasons I love high fantasy, and the reasons I hate it. Love the worldbuilding, love the deeply detailed magic system... hate the tedium and the disconnect from the characters. I will admit that if it weren't queer, I probably would have stopped reading. And the payoff in the end didn't fully seem worth it. But because I adored the magic system, and because I know high fantasy isn't quite my cup of tea anyway, I'll give it a three.
Overall, it reminded me of both the reasons I love high fantasy, and the reasons I hate it. Love the worldbuilding, love the deeply detailed magic system... hate the tedium and the disconnect from the characters. I will admit that if it weren't queer, I probably would have stopped reading. And the payoff in the end didn't fully seem worth it. But because I adored the magic system, and because I know high fantasy isn't quite my cup of tea anyway, I'll give it a three.
dee2799d's review
4.0
Is this book hard to rate or what. I would probably describe it as 'If Storm Constantine wrote the Kingkiller Chronicles' sort of novel, but that would be over-simplifying things, and wouldn't make much sense anyway. But it's a start. So let's go with 'If Storm Constantine wrote the Kingkiller Chronicles' for now.
- Kirith Kirin is told in the first person POV by Jessex, who starts his life as a farm boy before a true dream brings him to Arthen to light the lamps and sing the morning and evening prayers. (The true dream is something akin to a prophecy, but no one has any idea beforehand why they needed Jessex in Arthen.)
- Arthen is where Kirith Kirin chose to stay when his sister Athryn broke the cycle of monarchic rule and refused to surrender the throne to him. Arthen is also the place that the immortals go to to replenish their strengths and regain their youth. Because they DO die, and they grow old as well. Athryn risked that (by her wizard Drudaen's advise) so she can keep on ruling over Aeryn.
- The story is basically about Kirith Kirin trying to go back to his rightful place on the throneeventually helped by Jessex, who turned out to be the great magician Yron, of the prophecy . It's also Jessex's coming-of-age story.
So far so good. Sounds like a simple enough plot, isn't it?
But the telling of it! Lush prose, some infodump, conlang (possibly based on a Celtic language maybe?), and no one ever explained where the Twelve Who Don't Die came from until I read the appendices, VERY long paragraphs about legends given without context (what does it have to do with the story? how is it important? All of which is revealed later on. I promise). MOST of the information the author gives us is necessary, not only to the world building, but also to the magic system itself.
I read a review that says this book takes itself too seriously, or something like that. Well, it is a serious sort of book, and normally I go for the ones with snappy dialogue and snarky characters, but I don't know. Kirith Kirin still won me over even with the sometimes opaque narration (just get on with it already, Jessex) and words that I dare not read out loud.
Why did I love this book?
- The relationship between Kirith Kirin and Jessex. Ofc, I read this book because it's one of those titles that people mention when 'Gay Fantasy!' But I loved the protectiveness (almost possessiveness) Kirith Kirin has for Jessex. And later onwhen Jessex is finally revealed as Yron we also see how they keep each other human. The gay sex wasn't in there for shits and giggles. It wasn't forced. It was part of the story actually, Kirith Kirin tried to fight his feelings, because everyone knew it was bad news to be a magician's lover and it wouldn't be the same if you took that out.
- THE MAGIC SYSTEM. There are times when I lie down my bed and think, 'Ok, I need to relax. Let's read a couple pages of Kirith Kirin before going to sleep.' And then I'd be twenty pages in and I don't really want to stop. This is a war between Athryn and Kirith Kirin, but mostly because we see it from Jessex's pov, we see the war between Drudaen and Jessex. It should be boring. There is not much by way of physical action. The magic system relies on runes and Words and concentration (very much like the same system in the Kingkiller Chronicles) and there's a lot of flash and bang and hundreds of people die with the singing of one song. So no, it's not boring really. It's amazing.
- The ending.So I guess it's not everyone's cuppa to have the hero of the tale spend a hundred years asleep while the whole of Aeryn fell to ruin. A hundred years of Kirith Kirin not knowing if Jessex was even alive. But Jim Grimsley handled it with such gentleness, like, 'This happened. I felt numb. I don't even feel love for Kirith Kirin, but when I was by his side, I feel less dead.' and that worked for me so much. Drudaen and Athryn themselves were so humanised in the end that you can't really hate them.
So basically this is not my usual cup of tea. I KNOW that I should probably not find this as entertaining as I did, given my usual tastes, but I did find this entertaining. And it was beautiful.
PS if you're the sort of person who memorises the cast of characters before watching a play, have a look at the appendix before reading the whole thing.
- Kirith Kirin is told in the first person POV by Jessex, who starts his life as a farm boy before a true dream brings him to Arthen to light the lamps and sing the morning and evening prayers. (The true dream is something akin to a prophecy, but no one has any idea beforehand why they needed Jessex in Arthen.)
- Arthen is where Kirith Kirin chose to stay when his sister Athryn broke the cycle of monarchic rule and refused to surrender the throne to him. Arthen is also the place that the immortals go to to replenish their strengths and regain their youth. Because they DO die, and they grow old as well. Athryn risked that (by her wizard Drudaen's advise) so she can keep on ruling over Aeryn.
- The story is basically about Kirith Kirin trying to go back to his rightful place on the throne
So far so good. Sounds like a simple enough plot, isn't it?
But the telling of it! Lush prose, some infodump, conlang (possibly based on a Celtic language maybe?), and no one ever explained where the Twelve Who Don't Die came from until I read the appendices, VERY long paragraphs about legends given without context (what does it have to do with the story? how is it important? All of which is revealed later on. I promise). MOST of the information the author gives us is necessary, not only to the world building, but also to the magic system itself.
I read a review that says this book takes itself too seriously, or something like that. Well, it is a serious sort of book, and normally I go for the ones with snappy dialogue and snarky characters, but I don't know. Kirith Kirin still won me over even with the sometimes opaque narration (just get on with it already, Jessex) and words that I dare not read out loud.
Why did I love this book?
- The relationship between Kirith Kirin and Jessex. Ofc, I read this book because it's one of those titles that people mention when 'Gay Fantasy!' But I loved the protectiveness (almost possessiveness) Kirith Kirin has for Jessex. And later on
- THE MAGIC SYSTEM. There are times when I lie down my bed and think, 'Ok, I need to relax. Let's read a couple pages of Kirith Kirin before going to sleep.' And then I'd be twenty pages in and I don't really want to stop. This is a war between Athryn and Kirith Kirin, but mostly because we see it from Jessex's pov, we see the war between Drudaen and Jessex. It should be boring. There is not much by way of physical action. The magic system relies on runes and Words and concentration (very much like the same system in the Kingkiller Chronicles) and there's a lot of flash and bang and hundreds of people die with the singing of one song. So no, it's not boring really. It's amazing.
- The ending.
So basically this is not my usual cup of tea. I KNOW that I should probably not find this as entertaining as I did, given my usual tastes, but I did find this entertaining. And it was beautiful.
PS if you're the sort of person who memorises the cast of characters before watching a play, have a look at the appendix before reading the whole thing.
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