The Glass Sentence by S. E. Grove

Title: The Glass Sentence

Author: S. E. Grove

Pages:

Finished: February 18

First Sentence: It happened long ago, when I was only a child.

Summary: (from Goodreads) Boston, 1891. Sophia Tims comes from a family of explorers and cartologers who, for generations, have been traveling and mapping the New World—a world changed by the Great Disruption of 1799, when all the continents were flung into different time periods.  Eight years ago, her parents left her with her uncle Shadrack, the foremost cartologer in Boston, and went on an urgent mission. They never returned. Life with her brilliant, absent-minded, adored uncle has taught Sophia to take care of herself.

Then Shadrack is kidnapped. And Sophia, who has rarely been outside of Boston, is the only one who can search for him. Together with Theo, a refugee from the West, she travels over rough terrain and uncharted ocean, encounters pirates and traders, and relies on a combination of Shadrack’s maps, common sense, and her own slantwise powers of observation. But even as Sophia and Theo try to save Shadrack’s life, they are in danger of losing their own.

Thoughts: This is a re-read of this novel, and I enjoyed it just as much this time around as I did many years ago when I first read it. 

Characters: All feel in place in a middle-grade fantasy. Flaws are fairly minor or serve to make the character more likeable which could lead readers to feel the characters are too archetypal, but I don't mind it so much in middle grade literature. Sophia has a quiet strength that pulls her out of the Strong Female Character stereotype that sometimes prevails in women-led novels. Theo seems like the standard brash sidekick. Pirates Calixta and Burr are fun. The villain is very villain-worthy. There's enough of a reason that she doesn't seem just evil for evil's sake, but she's very disturbing.

Setting: World-building is pretty good. I would have liked to know even MORE about the ages, but I understand that's not the point of this book. New Occidant has enough familiarities for it to feel familiar even as it's different. The Baldlands are so completely different. 

Writing: The books moves at a decent clip. I continually found myself frustrated when I had to put it down. Point of view is primarily Sophia's in third person though Shadrack has a few POV chapters as well. His chapters are spaced fairly far apart, but they're really nervewracking. 

This is a solid middle grade fantasy similar to Inkheart or the Golden Compass. 

Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston

Title: Master of Poisons

Author: Andrea Hairston

Pages: 507

Finished: February 24, 2021

First Sentence: We are more likely to deny truth than admit grave error and change our minds. 

Summary: Poison desert ravages the land. Djola, Master of Poisons and right-hand mand of the Emporer is banished to live a life among pirates for suggesting people work together and those higher up make sacrifices to solve the problem. Awa, a young smoke-walker travels her own road of danger as she goes against what the Empire believes to be true.  

Thoughts: This is a slow burn book. I started it at the beginning of January and it took close to two months to read. I found this book while looking up fantasy based on African legends. I don't know enough of any African folklore to say whether this one followed any, but I was definitely expecting more along the lines of Redemption in Indigo. 

This is epic fantasy told in a style that I imagine is more similar to oral storytelling. The sentences have a cadence unlike any I've read recently. It took a while to wrap my head around, but once I got there, I was fine with it. Time tends to jump too. The book starts with many chapters that take place in one day, then suddenly jump years. It's jarring at first but you get there in the end. There's also a bit of a learning curve with this world's language. Most fantasy I read is decidedly western in its setting. There's familiarity in the creatures and the names used. It took a bit more time to understand the setting here as well.

Mainly, the book itself was oddly paced. It mostly alternated between Djola's and Awa's points of view. The first few chapters were quick and I was on board with what was happening. But when Djola's point of view chapters were stuck in his eight-year pirate journey where he just felt sorry for himself, I floundered. He wasn't a particularly likeable character, which doesn't kill a book for me, but his self-pity was tough to take at the moment when I was reading it. 

Awa was more likable in that first half, though as her story became what it was and she became angry and disillusioned with the world, I found her fairly tough to deal with as well. The story itself picked up when Djola's and Awa's paths finally converged at which point the final 200 pages were a quick finish. 

The setting was an interesting take on climate change. This was man-made climate change though through environmental means and magic. It mirrored a lot of what we see happening now with those on top not only being unwilling to try anything new but also digging in deeper with harmful practices that artificially keep the poison desert away. Hezram's dream/nightmare gates were especially distressing and poignant. 

I also appreciated that the book didn't end with a complete turnaround. Awa, Djola, and their allies didn't save the world. They just managed to figure out a less-harmful temporary solution so they could breathe and figure out a more permanent solution. 

This book definitely falls on the epic side of the fantasy continuum. I'd recommend it to people who enjoy long sagas such as Lord of the Rings or the Eragon series especially if they're looking for something a little less white male centric. While the empire itself is very patriarchal, there are matricarchial societies within the Empire and there's a subset of people called the Green Elders who live a life as non-binary individuals. Of course, both the matriarchial societies and the Green Elders are persecuted for these things, but, as is usually the case when people want to make changes in the world, they play a large role in the climax of the story and the band-aid solution to get some breathing room.