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colossal's review against another edition
4.0
A wonderful little military fantasy story worthy of comparison to Gemmell.
Cete comes to the Reach Antach at a mercenary in perilous times. The Reach is going to be acted against because it's an upstart military power and it has made unwise allies. An early encounter with a blind seamstress sparks unexpected loyalty to the Reach though, and Cete performs a feat of honor that leaves him an outcast. That doesn't stop him fighting though, and with his blind love's support he can do the impossible.
A tale of honor, loyalty and heroism against overwhelming evil forces, this is a terrific story. The world is no-magic but filled with the sort of economics and politics that any student of medieval Europe would feel right at home with. Cete himself is a great character with a noble point of view. Marelle is the craftswoman responsible for the mantle with the sunset embroidery that first catches his eye, and she is equally noble especially considering her vulnerability.
Short and very good.
Cete comes to the Reach Antach at a mercenary in perilous times. The Reach is going to be acted against because it's an upstart military power and it has made unwise allies. An early encounter with a blind seamstress sparks unexpected loyalty to the Reach though, and Cete performs a feat of honor that leaves him an outcast. That doesn't stop him fighting though, and with his blind love's support he can do the impossible.
A tale of honor, loyalty and heroism against overwhelming evil forces, this is a terrific story. The world is no-magic but filled with the sort of economics and politics that any student of medieval Europe would feel right at home with. Cete himself is a great character with a noble point of view. Marelle is the craftswoman responsible for the mantle with the sunset embroidery that first catches his eye, and she is equally noble especially considering her vulnerability.
Short and very good.
soless's review against another edition
3.0
To a political thriller disguised as a sword and sorcery novel.
coolcurrybooks's review against another edition
4.0
Sunset Mantle is a solid work of high fantasy. What’s most fascinating about it is that for all it’s battles and political intrigue, it’s less than 200 pages long. That’s right ya’ll. This is a high fantasy novella.
Cete is a wandering solider for hire. He knows that Reach Antach is about to be on the losing side of a war and that the smart thing to do would be to move on… but somehow, he just can’t bring himself to do so. When he sees a beautifully embroidered mantle made by a blind craftswoman, he becomes inspired to stay and to risk everything for the town of Reach Antach.
The world of Sunset Mantle doesn’t have magic, but it does have a historical feel. I’ve seen other reviewers say it reminded them of the Old Testament, but I was personally thinking of the ancient Greek city states. A small number of cities loan out the supplies and money needed to found new cities, the Reaches, which are then in debt for hundreds of years, due in part to constant warring with local tribes. Reach Antach has found a faster way out of their debt by creating an alliance with the nearest tribe, giving them the peace and prosperity needed to raise the funds to pay off their settling debt. Of course, this threatens a situation that is immensely beneficial to the most powerful cities, hence war is soon arriving.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this story was my type of thing. While it was solidly executed, there’s nothing about it that would ever draw me to reread it or even to remember it. Sunset Mantle is missing that hard to define element that makes you connect to the characters and world and become emotionally invested in the plot. Basically, it ended up feeling paint by numbers. Of course, it could be due to my preferences as a reader. There’s certain things I really love in fantasy books (inventive world building, active female characters, queer characters, heist plots, ect.) and Sunset Mantle didn’t really fall into any of those categories. Maybe fans of military fantasy would enjoy it more.
My favorite thing about Sunset Mantle was Cete’s relationship with the blind weaver, Marelle. They do become romantically involved, but their relationship is based on mutual respect. Even though the world of Sunset Mantle appears to be a patriarchal society, Cete treats Marelle as an equal and listens to her advice on what decisions he should make.
Perhaps readers with different tastes will enjoy Sunset Mantle more, but it’s not a story I will ever return to.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
Cete is a wandering solider for hire. He knows that Reach Antach is about to be on the losing side of a war and that the smart thing to do would be to move on… but somehow, he just can’t bring himself to do so. When he sees a beautifully embroidered mantle made by a blind craftswoman, he becomes inspired to stay and to risk everything for the town of Reach Antach.
The world of Sunset Mantle doesn’t have magic, but it does have a historical feel. I’ve seen other reviewers say it reminded them of the Old Testament, but I was personally thinking of the ancient Greek city states. A small number of cities loan out the supplies and money needed to found new cities, the Reaches, which are then in debt for hundreds of years, due in part to constant warring with local tribes. Reach Antach has found a faster way out of their debt by creating an alliance with the nearest tribe, giving them the peace and prosperity needed to raise the funds to pay off their settling debt. Of course, this threatens a situation that is immensely beneficial to the most powerful cities, hence war is soon arriving.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this story was my type of thing. While it was solidly executed, there’s nothing about it that would ever draw me to reread it or even to remember it. Sunset Mantle is missing that hard to define element that makes you connect to the characters and world and become emotionally invested in the plot. Basically, it ended up feeling paint by numbers. Of course, it could be due to my preferences as a reader. There’s certain things I really love in fantasy books (inventive world building, active female characters, queer characters, heist plots, ect.) and Sunset Mantle didn’t really fall into any of those categories. Maybe fans of military fantasy would enjoy it more.
My favorite thing about Sunset Mantle was Cete’s relationship with the blind weaver, Marelle. They do become romantically involved, but their relationship is based on mutual respect. Even though the world of Sunset Mantle appears to be a patriarchal society, Cete treats Marelle as an equal and listens to her advice on what decisions he should make.
Perhaps readers with different tastes will enjoy Sunset Mantle more, but it’s not a story I will ever return to.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
robynldouglas's review
3.0
Very competently written book, done in a style that reminded me of Gemmell. However, it's just not the sort of book that grips me (too much focus on military manoeuvres) so despite several solid characters and interesting world-building I didn't truly enjoy this one. No fault of the book, there!
czillla's review against another edition
4.25
Having re-read this novella for the 3rd time, I'm going to go ahead and bump it up to a 5-star rating.
Alter S. Reiss writes in a way that somehow just feels 'right'. Reading this makes me feel as if I truly am peering through the window into another living, breathing world, not simply reading a story.
While on one hand I wish the book was longer, or perhaps followed up by a series, on the other this novella is just perfect. It has a simple, focused plot that says everything that needs to be said and does everything that needs to be done; and that is a rare thing in fantasy works nowadays. The talent of this author is evident by creating such a impactful and moving story in so few words and pages.
This is certainly a rare gem in the genre.
Alter S. Reiss writes in a way that somehow just feels 'right'. Reading this makes me feel as if I truly am peering through the window into another living, breathing world, not simply reading a story.
While on one hand I wish the book was longer, or perhaps followed up by a series, on the other this novella is just perfect. It has a simple, focused plot that says everything that needs to be said and does everything that needs to be done; and that is a rare thing in fantasy works nowadays. The talent of this author is evident by creating such a impactful and moving story in so few words and pages.
This is certainly a rare gem in the genre.
etienne02's review
2.0
Nope, that wasn't right for me. Not that it was badly written, but it seem out of context, I think this could have been good as a part or some chapters of a entire novel, but here we just get some action seem, low background characters which I never care about, and all the epicness of it is lost because everything feel rush and the stakes seem, again out of place. Just not the right media for this story. Should have been longer to had some depth to it!
tregina's review
3.0
On a character level, I found this really compelling. Cete and Marelle are, both individually and together, complex characters. Everything and everyone else is secondary to them, and really, the entire thing is ultimately a character piece about Cete. The plot itself, the action and the politics, is bit of a slog, though, and the world itself is a fairly traditional military fantasy environment.
imyril's review
4.0
Cete was general to a powerful clan until he killed a berserk lord, earning acclaim & exile at one stroke. Now he's drawn to a new settlement aspiring to independence, even though he's certain it's doomed to be destroyed by the cities who hold its debts. I still think a good cloak is a terrible reason to volunteer to die, but this is an impressively epic story packed into 200 pages as Cete proves over and again that he is an honourable badass.
Notable for unusual world-building & older protagonists.
Full review
Notable for unusual world-building & older protagonists.
Full review
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