Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Malachite
SERIES: Paladin Cycle #1
AUTHOR: Kirby Crow
PUBLISHER: Bonecamp
LENGTH:
BLURB:
Marion Casterline is the highwarden of Malachite, an ancient, beautiful city floating in a shallow sea. In the aftermath of a brutal gang war, there is finally peace in the city, which gains new life every year through the sacred ritual of Aequora. Through Aequora, exiles, outlaws, and orphans can become citizens of Malachite. This ritual is vital to the city’s survival, because Malachite is populated only by males.
Jean Rivard grew up in the Zanzare slums at Marion’s side. As boys, they were branded into the violent Teschio gangs that ruled the criminal underworld of Malachite. Known in the slums as the Prince, Jean became a spy, an assassin, and Marion’s lover. As men, they worked together to destroy the Teschio and crown Kon Sessane as magestros of the city, only to drift apart after the battles were won: Jean to the Black Keep, Marion to the grand halls of the Consolari.
When Marion announces his engagement to Kon’s son, Jean is hurt and resentful. Marion is leaving him and their past behind in every possible way. Marion also believes that he’s starting a new life, but when a charismatic rebel leader kindles a revolt in the slums, he realizes that the only man who can prevent war from devouring the city he loves is his very own prince.
REVIEW:
I knew, just from reading the blurb, this book was going to be a complicated read. I didn’t realize what an understatement that would be. As with any first book in a fantasy series, there are lot of world building descriptors. There are a lot of characters, background characters, inter-related stories and plots jammed into one book.
Part way through the first chapter, I was thinking to myself…”what the heck did I get myself into”. Within a couple more chapters, I was hooked solidly. I really enjoyed the way the author provided us with the history of the characters through flashbacks that moved forward through time as we read further. Starting with thirty years ago, and moving up to only eight years ago, the flashbacks enabled us to know two of the MC’s far better than just a simple info dump would have.
Marion Casterline and Jean Rivard are the products of their pasts having grown up in the worst slum of the island city of Malachite. During their youth, they were taken in by the leader of a gang who then acted almost as a father figure to them…but a father figure with issues and an agenda. Between the two of them they killed many, many boys and men at that leader’s behest. Those years in their past, their actions, and their joint history, have a lot to do with where they are currently.
For most of the book, we’re in the current timeframe of the characters. Now both men are adults, Marion is the highwarden of the city, and Jean is the southwarden of the city. Marion’s duties include the entire city, while Jean’s are focused on the very slum where the two men grew up, became lovers, and then went their separate ways.
This book has a ton of stuff going on within its pages. We have nefarious sea pirates. We have a city named Malachite inhabited only by men and partially ruled by gangs. Malachite’s new citizens arrive as castoffs from other lands, because a land of only men has no way to reproduce. Many of the citizens arrive/arrived as children and have never seen a female. All love and sex is between men only. Females rule everywhere outside the island city and most of the world looks down on Malachite as an island of perversion.
The story intrigued me, and drew me in. I’ll be very interested in finding out where the author is going to take us from here with the story. I liked where the story ended, but there are a bunch of open storylines that carry into the next installment.
If you are into a dark and quite heavy alternate world / speculative fiction type story, this would be a good fit for you. If you’re into the light and fluffy reads…this one isn’t even slightly in your comfort level, so walk away.
I was sitting here typing this review and wondering how I would describe it…and decided on the speculative fiction moniker because while I think it is a dark fantasy…probably, it didn’t really fit into just fantasy. Was it an alternate world? Kind of. Floating/sinking city inhabited only by men. Was it a romance? Not really, although there were some romance aspects. Overall, I would have to say it kept me confused, but in a good way. I’ll be waiting for the next book in the series, and I just might have to go check out some other works by the author in the meantime!
RATING:
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