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Mar. 10th, 2023 10:55 amHell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
I loved Ninth House but I think the sequel was better. Sharper, with deeper insight into the characters, and even more wonderful takedowns of how terrible Yale is. There was literally a Yale-related revelation at page 405 that I got so excited about I started shouting, alone in my bedroom. There probably isn't a word for the thing Bardugo pulled off there: it's like a Chekhov's Gun but the first act setup is actually zeroth act setup plus careful world-building. Bardugo spends the whole book carefully establishing that nearly all of the artifacts in the book have real life New Haven counterparts, so when at the end she pulls in one of Yale's most famous objects, you realize you didn't need an explicit first act mention.
But the artifact that most haunts me in the book is the Crystal Map, this wondrous artifact that pops up and is extremely plot relevant and useful to our heroes... and which also happens to have been used by powerful Yale alumni to track fugitive slaves in the 1850s. I've read a nice handful of fantasy novels about how magic comes at a cost, and I've read a nice handful of novels about how terrible the rich and powerful can be, but the particular way that Bardugo combines the two is incredibly brilliant.
And I've never seen a character quite like Galaxy Stern. (Still waiting for the Jews dancing in this series). The sort of amoral with a heart of gold, fiercely loyal and fiercely opposed to power... Also the way she ties Jewish texts into her life. I could read a million pages of Alex struggling to cope with her trauma and her talents. Can't wait for book three.
I loved Ninth House but I think the sequel was better. Sharper, with deeper insight into the characters, and even more wonderful takedowns of how terrible Yale is. There was literally a Yale-related revelation at page 405 that I got so excited about I started shouting, alone in my bedroom. There probably isn't a word for the thing Bardugo pulled off there: it's like a Chekhov's Gun but the first act setup is actually zeroth act setup plus careful world-building. Bardugo spends the whole book carefully establishing that nearly all of the artifacts in the book have real life New Haven counterparts, so when at the end she pulls in one of Yale's most famous objects, you realize you didn't need an explicit first act mention.
But the artifact that most haunts me in the book is the Crystal Map, this wondrous artifact that pops up and is extremely plot relevant and useful to our heroes... and which also happens to have been used by powerful Yale alumni to track fugitive slaves in the 1850s. I've read a nice handful of fantasy novels about how magic comes at a cost, and I've read a nice handful of novels about how terrible the rich and powerful can be, but the particular way that Bardugo combines the two is incredibly brilliant.
And I've never seen a character quite like Galaxy Stern. (Still waiting for the Jews dancing in this series). The sort of amoral with a heart of gold, fiercely loyal and fiercely opposed to power... Also the way she ties Jewish texts into her life. I could read a million pages of Alex struggling to cope with her trauma and her talents. Can't wait for book three.