Okay I’m going to end the year with a book I mostly purchased because of who narrates the audiobook.
This is some somewhat Machiavellian fantasy. With a scholar in a central role. For anyone who enjoys the politicking in George R R Martin’s books or perhaps The Priory of the Orange Tree, this might be for you.
The Councillor starts off with a death. The Iron Queen Sarelin Brey has been murdered, and the question of her successor has not been left up to the nobles, but to Lysande Prior, an orphan foundling who through her sheer talent and drive, became the Queens confident. As the titular Counsellor, it will be up to Lysande to determine how to administer the kingdom.
This would not be a straightforward task at the best of times, but Queen Sarelin was killed just as the White Queen Mea Tacitus was ready to make her move. The White Queen is a particularly fearsome foe, due to her magical ability to manipulate fire
So everything now falls on the shoulders of a rather bookish scholar, who finds herself surrounded by powerful ‘silverbloods’ who only want more power, even in the face of an invasion. And someone still needs to solve her friend’s murder. While Lysande is looked down on by nobility due to her orphan background, she’s not exactly a gentle person herself. How could she be? She was friends with Sarelin Brey, who would tear the weak to shreds in a heartbeat. Lysande manages to maintain a firm facade, despite carrying a damned library’s worth of insecurities and dealing with being a high-functioning drug addict. It’s also revealed that she has a substantial sexual appetite that is not being satisfied. And some of the nobles around her are very pretty.
The mask she has to wear is impressive.
While this could’ve been a massive sprawling political epic, the story is constrained and maintained in a tight fashion by sticking to just one point of view—Lysande’s. And because Lysande is our main window to the story, I feel that she gets the most character development. It’s only once she starts getting a taste for power that she realises that the way people treat her is undeserved. ‘Everything in its place’? No that will no longer do. And with that power, and her extensive knowledge of history, Lysande starts confronting the kingdom’s prejudice against elementals, which is a difficult task considering the White Queen, who threatens them all, is herself one. Not a move that’s going to win her friends.
And she’s doing all this while contending with the four main city rulers who want the throne! Which in and of itself is pretty ballsy. As her murder investigation continues, she learns more about the secrets the four carry, and it’s here Cassia Ahl-Hafir, Jale Chambois, Dante Dalgerath and Luca Fontaine are fleshed out. I particularly liked Luca—there’s something to be said about a man who brings his pet cobra to the dinner table. There’s also Lysande’s one trusted advisor, Desert, who seems to be one of the very few people who can look past her common background. Even then it’s probably inadvisable for her to get too attached to either of them…
However, this is very much a book with a slow-burn plot. You have to be willing to go along with the ride. While there is some action, we are spending a lot of time with Lysande, speaking with other leaders, or Lysande, sitting in her own head, either going over her histories or reflecting on her past with the queen. I personally enjoyed it and found it rich in detail, with Lysande contending with the nature of Magic, the poor and the wealthy, and the states and their politics, but it may drag on a bit too slowly for others.
Overall though this is a very pleasant surprise, especially considering how I picked the book in the first place! And even better when I learnt that this was E.J. Beaton’s debut!
And with it I’m going to drink a bucket load of energy drinks and go to bed. Otherwise I am down for a crap New Year’s,
But I did it – I achieved a half cannonball. And I apologise if the last few reviews sound a bit janky – I’ve been so tired that I’ve resorted to using voice dictation…