{"id":14988,"date":"2022-02-07T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T19:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=14988"},"modified":"2022-02-06T13:26:22","modified_gmt":"2022-02-06T20:26:22","slug":"saturday-review-two-on-monday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/?p=14988","title":{"rendered":"Saturday Review Two. On Monday…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where to start? This is the second of my reviews for NetGalley<\/a>. Unfortunately it\u2019s book three of a series that is a continuation of another three-book series. Quite the place to start…talk about in media res.<\/em> Still we soldier on, noblesse oblige and all that…or is it just contractual obligation? Whatever…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> The Origin of Storms<\/em><\/h2>\n

Elizabeth Bear<\/strong>
\nBook 3 of The Lotus Kingdoms<\/em><\/p>\n

Elizabeth Bear is probably one of the most versatile authors I know. I first met her way back in 2005 with her Jenny Casey<\/em> books and have been following along ever since. Sometimes she thrills me and sometimes I find her prose\/subject mater just a tad intimidating, but I have never failed to finish a book of hers other than satisfied. Which is quite the accomplishment given the massively disparate subject matter (from Norse mythology to AI-driven space opera and pretty much working away on everything between) she tackles.<\/p>\n

The Origin of Storms<\/em> is book 3 of The Lotus Kingdoms<\/em> series, which itself is the second trilogy that takes place in the worlds of the Eternal Sky<\/em>. As in a lot of the fantasy of this genre, Bear uses the first two books to set up the final conflict between \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cevil\u201d (although it\u2019s, thank goodness, much much more nuanced than that), and starts this third and final volume with the minor villains disposed of, the armies arrayed, heroes\/heroines girded and final conflict looming. And then off the story goes, upsetting the form, exploring motherhood, \u201cstewardship\u201d and the real meanings of power and responsibility. At least that\u2019s what I took from it. The great thing about Bear is when she\u2019s in top form, the story\u2019s pretty darn dense and there\u2019s always lots and lots you can take away. I think The Origin of Storms<\/em> is pretty high up in the Bear canon.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While the first series had an Asian steppes flavour, this one moves the action to a south-Asian milieu with more rajahs and fewer horses. The conflicts are rooted in a fallen empire and the struggles of the multiple heirs to secure their own borders and destinies. As we start The Origin of Storms<\/em> we realize perhaps the conflict is bigger than simple, mortal jealousies and ambitions \u2014 that perhaps these children of empire have inherited something much larger and more dangerous than they expected.<\/p>\n

One think I liked, and this is a tad provocative, is Bear\u2019s handling of oft-touchy issues like race, gender, sexuality and equality, etc. that are slowly (or quickly, depending on your viewpoint) coming to the forefront in SciFi\/Fantasy publishing. To me, Bear delivers a smooth story chock full of diversity without really making a big deal of it\u2014it just is, as it should be. Integral to the story, unremarkable except when it\u2019s not and delivered with a smooth touch that leaves very little for anyone to get their shorts in a knot about.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it\u2019s a great book, a great conclusion to a great series and leaves me both wondering and keen to find out where Bear will take us next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where to start? This is the second of my reviews for NetGalley. Unfortunately it\u2019s book three of a series that is a continuation of another three-book series. Quite the place to start…talk about in media res. Still we soldier on, noblesse oblige and all that…or is it just contractual obligation? Whatever… The Origin of Storms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14988"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14988"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14994,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14988\/revisions\/14994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/macblaze.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}