No woman should be made to fear that she was not enough.
This book is described as “Saint George and the Dragon but make it lesbian”; I can somewhat see that. It does have basically the myth of Saint George and the Dragon at the heart of it; the Kingdom of Inys, one of the two main locales for the action, is basically founded on a variation of it, and it does certainly have lesbians in it.
The basic story is that in the Kingdom of Inys, a fictional version of England, the House of Berethnet has ruled for a thousand years, passing the monarchy from mother to daughter. Legend has it that a Berethnet female must be on the throne to keep the kingdom safe from the Nameless One, a dragon that plagued the kingdom before being locked away. The entire kingdom worships the Six Virtues, which are loosely based on a combination of Saints and the Knights of the Round Table. The latest Queen, Sabran the Ninth is still unwed, and in no hurry to change this fact, nor to birth a daughter. Watching over her is Ead Duryan, a foreigner to the kingdom from the South, a place based heavily on West Africa (I had thought more Morocco, but who am I to argue with the author?). Ead comes from a long line of mages, women who are members of the titled Priory of the Orange Tree, the source of their magic. As magic is distrusted in Inys, Ead has hidden her magic and herself in the role of lady-in-waiting as she protects Sabran from assassination. Meanwhile Lord Arteloth Beck and Lord Kitson Glade,
Arteloth, we are courtiers. We have no useful instincts.
friends of the Queen, have been sent on a suicide mission to discover what befell Sabran’s father in Yscalin, a kingdom that worships the Nameless One, which I got the feeling was vastly inspired by Romania mixed with Germany.
Do you not see that this is a divine mission?
No, I do not, you witless cabbage.
While in the East (hello Japan/China!), Miduchi Tane comes ever closer to her dream of becoming a dragonrider, until she makes a decision that may torpedo that chance. The West reviles all dragons, the East worships them; as the chasm between grows daily, the signs that the Nameless One is going to break free from his prison grow daily.
Just because something has always been done does not mean that it ought to be done.
That does not even scratch the surface of the book there is just so much going on. The story alternates between Ead in the West and Tane in the East as the primary man characters. I probably have a slightly softer spot for Ead than Tane, maybe because she is far less of a cipher than Tane is. Sabran was someone who grew on me as the book went along; at first I wanted to slap her, but by the end that thankfully had changed. Beck and his sister Margret, both who are friends of Sabran and become close friends of Ead; Seyton “The Night Hawk” Combe, spymaster to the Queen and a combination of Varys and General Draven; The Golden Empress, who I swear is based on Zheng Yi Sao; there are just too many fascinating and great characters to mention. Appreciated is also the fact that you have a wide range of what in real life would be different ethnicities; Middle Easterners, English, Dutch, Blacks, Japanese, Chinese. As well as a full spectrum of sexual orientations, there are lesbians, ace, bisexuals, demisexuals; hell, there are some heterosexuals in here!
I would live alone for fifty years to have one day with you.
I also found it interesting how different all the dragons are; Nayimathun, Tane’s dragon, and the other dragons of the East all are described like Eastern dragons; the antlers, the long, thin bodies, the whiskers and delicate scales. While the Nameless One and his offspring are all very much Western Dragons; heavier, bulkier bodies, coarser features.
Credit also goes to the fact that both the Priory and the House of Berethnet Inys are strictly matriarchal; men exist for two main reasons: procreation and to be a support network to the women; it’s like Alderaan but with magic.
I read this book for the first time several years ago, and then had to get a new copy because one of my cats chewed half the book off. So I replaced it and promptly re-read it. Then it was given away because “you’ve already read it, why keep it in the house?” (I swear there wouldn’t be a jury in the world that would convict…) So I recently replaced it and had to read it all over again, it’s that good. Total honesty: I’ve read the prequel, A Day of Fallen Night, once and I’ll probably read it again someday. And Shannon’s other big series, The Bone Season? I’ve read the first three twice each; once the original version, once the “Author’s Preferred Text” (because apparently I’m a masochist). I need to read the fourth (both versions, again), but before I do that I need to download the pre-fourth book ebook novella so I can read that, and then I can go onto the fifth book. I finished the third book four months ago, and just can’t be motivated to buy that ebook, because the truth of the matter is that I’ve read this far solely because I own the books, and I’ll continue solely because I’m unfortunately a completionist where books are concerned. Which is a long way of saying that Roots of Chaos duology is so good that I can overlook how truly much I just can’t find any of her books enjoyable, or their characters likable.
Reading,’ Ead said lightly. ‘A dangerous pastime.