Furious Heaven, by Kate Elliot

I persevered all the way to the end of this very, very long book. Not just physically long, it felt long. There's a lot of landmarks and players, but the plot in the end is pretty ordinary galactic fantasy. It is modernized with sapphic romance, but we've had that around long enough for it not to be an automatic qualifier. Space in this series is a very pure metaphor for the ocean--the battles give the book a lift but not really enough. Elliot has fallen in love with Sun, I think--the book tends toward hagiography for Sun, especially toward the end. Lots of hyperbolic descriptions of royal responsibility and honor. If you're pushing the boundaries in speculative fiction now, you're pushing back on the very colonial ideas of empire and royalty that Elliot uncritically embraces. Having the conquerors have an Asian, as opposed to European/Celtic origins, does not let this off the hook. The length just isn't justified--it's mostly a chronicle of Sun's conquests, with some clever interludes from her companions. I kept on, looking for a story, and I'm not sure that really ever happened--just a collection of incidents with Sun at the center.

My Goodreads Review

Servant Mage, by Kate Elliot

This is a standalone novella, but in the end it reads more like a first in a series. Not super sure I would return for the second. The basic plot is somewhat familiar--some people are born with magical powers, and the powers that be manage this by heavy handed control.

Fellian (a Lamp mage) becomes more interesting as the book goes on as she is a questioner, pushing back on what she's being told. She does not take it for granted that people who come to rescue her (the Monarchists) are necessarily better than the cruel leadership (the Liberationists) that she has been living under. She says the quiet parts out loud, embarrassing her comrades many times.

Unfortunately I found the book confusing and hard to read. Lots of dangling references and kind of hammy plot points (Fellian ends up involved in a direct confrontation between the leaders of the two groups, which felt a bit contrived). I would say there's potential here (I don't think Unconquerable Sun had these problems) but it wasn't quite ready.

My Goodreads Review

Unconquerable Sun, by Kate Elliot

Well, I liked reading the book, it had some good battle scenes and kept me going. But "gender swapping Alexander the Great" is a little too literal. It reads like it is set on earth, in pretty much every way. We have modern references with Channel Idol (American Idol, get it?), and older references with descriptions of what is sumptuous (sandalwood incense). Instead of kings and sons we have queens and daughters, and broader sexual expression categories. But if those things are not explored (and they're not), the switch is just a bit flip and not signifying. I've read this story many times, in earthly fantasy, make-believe world fantasy, and galactic fantasy. It's not new or fresh and plays directly into the notion of someone having worth, merit and power because of their birth. Can we somehow get away from this?

My Goodreads Review