[  Mood: Fed Up WIth Life ]
[  Currently: Watching Castle ]

Katsa has a talent that makes her very good at one thing, a talent called a Grace. Her two coloured eyes mark her as being gifted to any who meet her. And given that her Grace is fighting, Katsa is even more of an outcast than other gracelings.

Katsa spends her life living in her uncle, the king’s, court, acting as his enforcer. Disgusted with what she has to do for the king, Katsa forms a council, a secret organization bent on doing good. And it is this council that pulls her into a plot involving two kingdoms and an insane man with a grace. Along the way, she meets the mysterious Prince Po, a young man with a grace that is not all it seems to be.

This is a solid first novel from Kristin Cashore full of action that appeals to both the boys and girls that are fantasy fans. Katsa can be a difficult heroine to like, given that she is so good at fighting, it makes her near invincible. Katsa’s popularity is also bizarre, given how crusty she is, but I am willing to allow a little Mary-Sue on the part of Cashore in exchange for the sheer action this novel packs in the latter half. Hopefully her story-telling skills will continue to develop and future outings will offer more of the action and less of the character angst.

Will be in an upcoming What to Read After Harry.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching Human Target ]

This a remarkable bit of world building with a unique magic system. In this world, magic is preformed by poets who try to capture useful ideas and force them into a human form. That idea-in-a-human-form becomes an andat, a being capable of preforming specific magic.

For example, the main andat in this story is called Seedless because he can cause the seeds to fall out of the cotton. This has lead to the city of Saraykeht becoming a centre for the cotton trade. But Seedless is also capable of making a pregnant woman spontaneously abort. And this is where his power is. No one would dare attack the city for fear that Seedless would be used on their women and crops back home.

Into this world is thrust Itani, a labourer who is not all he seems to be, and his lover Liat as they try to navigate through the murky politics of the trading houses and the Khadim. Layered on top of that is the older, wiser and more practicle Amat who must flee for her life when she uncovers a plot to bring down the city-states.

This is a very good first novel, but as I read it, I found that I wanted to spend the most time with the character named Amat. She alone is not a trope that we have visited in fantasy a hundred times. Still, the book moves at a good pace and is an entertaining read.