Synopsis
Warring clans. Burning hearts. Deadly fate.
The clans of the fens enjoy a tenuous peace, and it is all thanks to Agnir, ward and hostage. For as long as she can remember she has lived among the enemy, learning their ways, growing strong alongside their children. When a burgeoning love for the chieftain’s daughter lures them both to a hidden spring, a magic awakens in them that could bind the clans under one banner at last–or destroy any hope of peace. By working their intentions into leather, they can weave misfortune for their enemies… just like the Fate’s Bane that haunts the legends of the clans.
Ambitions grow in their fathers’ hearts, grudges threaten a return to violence, and greedy enemies wait outside the borders, seeking a foothold to claim the fens for themselves. And though their Makings may save their families, the legend that gave them this power always exacts its price.
Review
“They called it trickster, they called it the luck-hound, they called it fates-bane.”
Thank you to Netgalley and @tordotcompub for the eARC.
I loved this book. It’s such a beautiful, beautiful tale. I have to talk about the ending first. I have read some amazing endings before but I was not ready for this one. C. L. Clark makes no consideration for their readers’ poor, poor hearts. It’s an explosive triple threat that leaves the reader going through the whole gamut of human emotion. Truly masterful work. It is perfect, more than satisfying, and absolutely elevates the whole story.
I went in blind and I suggest everyone try that too. It has an awesome cover (take a bow- Mary Metzgr and Christine Foltzer) and is written by C. L. Clark. Those were enough for me. Since I just said it is best to go in blind, I will not talk about the plot. I will simply say that if you liked things in Spear by Nicola Griffith, The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi, This is how you lose the time war by Max Gladstone & Amal El-Mohtar, The river has roots by Amal El-Mohtar – You will certainly like this book too. It stands alone as an extremely unique tale but it shares elements from those other books.
The writing in particular is very similar for me to Moses Ose Utomi’s Forever Desert series. It is a kind of a fairy tale or a fable with themes of mythology, segregation, truth, and culture. The actual prose is gorgeous too and complements the setting so well. Add in the narrative closeness to the fable nature of the story, lush swampland atmosphere and the reader can see how well all of it plays service to transporting the reader out of the room they’re in and into the book itself. This is one of those books where the land itself becomes a character in the story. Agnir is an excellent character to follow and the readers will be invested in her really quickly. The supporting cast also feels very, very authentic and real.
Romance is a very important part of this story and it is executed superbly. Despite being a short novella -I am certain it will satisfy the most ardent fans of yearning. I’m ending the review with a direct quote from C. L. Clark that sums up my review as well – you will certainly not regret adding two sad swamp lesbians to your TBR.
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