This book confused me, and I might actually consider this a round-up-to-three stars. I’ll try many well-reviewed fantasy series that are standalone (which this…definitely is, given the ending), but in doing so I open myself up to some of the critiques that I had for this book, namely that the ratio of exposition/explaining to action is mildly off given that there isn’t a duology/trilogy/more of books to spread the worldbuilding over. To whit: there are sections of this book wherein entire paragraphs are devoted to our characters talking through how they are casting a spell, one of which starts with a supremely clunky sentence akin to “she started by mapping the 1,500 potential points of reference for her spell web, divided into 300 sections.” I appreciate when a world is well thought out, but it’s because all the references to said world’s magic are consistent..not so that we can get a stream of consciousness primer for how to cast a spell.
For all that the spells are well characterized (a sort of programmatic language basis of spellcasting on old school looking typewriters), once we move past the basics of the magic things start to make less sense. For example: I feel like Wang was taken by the steampunk juxtaposition of computer programming-like spells (e.g., in order to move a book, you have to define the object you’re moving as BOOK in your spell, after which all reference to BOOK implies the coordinates of your object, and you could just as well use LIVRE or BORING TREATISE ON NUMEROLOGY as the name for your defined variable) with old-school clicky clacky typewriters…but then was faced with the impossibility of having an entire world dependent on mages carting around typewriters, so you have very poorly defined wands/staffs/small metal tubes that serve as portable spellcasting devices, seemingly in service of the plot. Or: Siona is assigned a janitor as her assistant so the audience really understands how little the other (male) mages think of her, a woman, but then she’s able to get Thomsil up to speed on spell casting–or at least knowledgeable enough to help her–in a matter of weeks, despite the fact that she herself has been studying magistry for years.
All of this would be fine if the messaging weren’t also, in my opinion, a bit too on the nose. I’m not saying this is the only reading, but for my money this entire world was an extended metaphor for our history of enslavement and civil rights and George Floyd protests and ongoing systemic racism and white tears, but in a way that was like REALLY plodding at times. I get it–even when confronted with the realities of our racist system, the oppressors find that they’d rather turn a blind eye and let the system continue–but if I wanted to read more about that I’d just open up the newspaper. Fantasy, at its best, shines a light on our issues to reveal something about ourselves that we don’t always notice until it’s stated by a half-Elf half-troll warrior princess delivering a speech for the X’ilusha Parliament.