That ending. Wow. So many questions, like where do we go from there, and why don't I have the next one already!?
So, as with all Mark Lawrence's books, the prose is undeniably beautiful. He writes with an eloquence of voice that is unparalleled in modern fantasy. His characters have a tendency to ruminate in the middle of action scenes, but it seems to take you further into the story, rather than an abrupt exit, as it might be in the hands of a lesser writer.
This is the first volume of a trilogy set in Abeth, a world he introduced in the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. Where that series was set in the green interior belt around the world's equator, this takes place in the North, on a frozen wasteland where tribes discard the weak to prevent them becoming a drain on resources. This discarding takes place in the Pit of the Missing, essentially a giant hole in the ground where children deemed Broken are thrown by a priest. A harsh world, populated by harsh peoples, and it is on the way to the Pit we meet Yaz, our heroine.
Yaz is possibly Lawrence's purest character. None of Jorg's brutality, nor Jalan's arrogance, Yaz has one mission, and strives toward that goal throughout. Her journey takes her to many others, and her mission evolves, but never diminishes. Goodness flows from her, and she always sees the best in people. As she herself says, she is Broken, but over the course of the book she puts herself back together and becomes more than the sum of her parts.
It is in this that Lawrence reveals ourselves too, we spend our lives being broken by tiny degrees and constantly putting those pieces back together. We'll never be exactly the same, but a version of ourselves, changed by circumstance and experience. The very best books do this, and this is one of the very best.
So, as with all Mark Lawrence's books, the prose is undeniably beautiful. He writes with an eloquence of voice that is unparalleled in modern fantasy. His characters have a tendency to ruminate in the middle of action scenes, but it seems to take you further into the story, rather than an abrupt exit, as it might be in the hands of a lesser writer.
This is the first volume of a trilogy set in Abeth, a world he introduced in the Book of the Ancestor trilogy. Where that series was set in the green interior belt around the world's equator, this takes place in the North, on a frozen wasteland where tribes discard the weak to prevent them becoming a drain on resources. This discarding takes place in the Pit of the Missing, essentially a giant hole in the ground where children deemed Broken are thrown by a priest. A harsh world, populated by harsh peoples, and it is on the way to the Pit we meet Yaz, our heroine.
Yaz is possibly Lawrence's purest character. None of Jorg's brutality, nor Jalan's arrogance, Yaz has one mission, and strives toward that goal throughout. Her journey takes her to many others, and her mission evolves, but never diminishes. Goodness flows from her, and she always sees the best in people. As she herself says, she is Broken, but over the course of the book she puts herself back together and becomes more than the sum of her parts.
It is in this that Lawrence reveals ourselves too, we spend our lives being broken by tiny degrees and constantly putting those pieces back together. We'll never be exactly the same, but a version of ourselves, changed by circumstance and experience. The very best books do this, and this is one of the very best.
