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Beasts Made of Night

The Beasts Made of Night series, Book 1

Razorbill
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
Themes: Demons, Diversity, Magic Workers, Religious Themes, Urban Tales
***+

Description

In the great walled city of Kos, the people's sins cause sickness and death... unless they can afford a mage to draw it forth, giving it tangible substance, and an aki to kill and swallow the shadowstuff. Though the aki are essential, they are seen as untouchable, unclean, the marks of the sins they've eaten burning into their flesh like tattoos and the guilt of other people's misdeeds eventually driving them mad - all except for Taj. Known as Skyfist or Lightbringer among the other aki, Taj is among the longest-lived of his kind, and his sin marks never fade. He attributes his longevity and continued sanity to not caring about anyone but himself; if he focuses only on keeping himself alive and fed, on sending money home to the family he can never see again, he believes he can avoid the terrible fate of the rest of his kind. But when he is called to eat a sin of Kos's royal family, both Taj and his best friend Bo become part of a greater, deeper conspiracy, one that could see the aki raised from the shadows and brought into the light... or one that could see the whole city burned in the name of purification.

Review

I previously read (and greatly enjoyed) another book by Onyebuchi, his brutal examination of the human cost of war and environmental devastation War Girls. So I looked forward to trying this, which was apparently his debut novel. The concept and setting certainly sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, I found Taj a rather dense main character to follow around. He insists he does not care about anyone, yet almost as soon as we meet him he's taking in an orphan, a new-minted aki, and showing him the ropes of his new life as both the lowest of the low and the city's only defense against the sickness of its sins... and against monsters out of legend, who will tear the city apart to cleanse it should the stain of sin grow too strong. He has flashbacks that show him very specific things, yet takes far too long to recognize said things when he sees them again. He has experiences that should drastically change how he views everything, even how he handles the shadow beasts... then he inexplicably forgets all about them until the very last minute. He also spends far too much time not really doing anything. Yes, he fights sin beasts and deals with the frustrations of his pariah existence, but he doesn't actually do much except react to things done to him. And yet somehow he's potentially the most important aki, possibly the most important person, in the city of Kos, and everyone seems to be fighting to control him and his destiny... especially the women, who too often feel like they exist solely based on their interest and usefulness to Taj. (This was especially disappointing given how much I enjoyed the fiercely independent and rounded women and girls of War Girls, who may have had terrible things done to them but also had some agency and were able to make their own decisions regardless of whether they benefited a man.) Then the story starts devolving into a sort of morality lesson, and ends on a cliffhanger setting up the second installment.
I enjoyed the originality of the setting, and the concept of the sin beasts and the aki. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy Taj or many of the other characters, especially as they seemed to spend more time meandering and dithering through the city than progressing the story. I doubt I'll bother pursuing the next installment, unless there's not much else available on Overdrive when I need a new audiobook.

 

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War Girls

The War Girls series, Book 1

Razorbill
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
Themes: Cyborgs, Diversity, Girl Power, Post-Apocalypse, Soldier Stories, Space Stories
****+

Description

2172 Nigeria lays split by civil war, even as the world suffers the worst effects of disasters natural and human engineered: those nations who haven't the resources to spread to space colonies must contend with rising sea levels and vast swaths of land so irradiated that mere minutes of exposure corrodes machinery and induces cancer. At a hidden camp of girl soldiers deep in the jungle, Onyii does her best to look out for young Ify, shielding her from the worst hardships of their lives and even building an android to keep watch over the girl when she goes out on scavenging raids. Though not of the same blood, they are close as sisters. But when their camp is discovered and attacked, the two girls are torn apart. Ify finds herself "rescued" by Nigerian forces, who insist she's really Nigerian and was abducted by "savage" Ibo rebels. Onyii, left for dead, only barely survives. Convinced that Ify was killed, she uses her rage to become the most feared mech pilot and warrior of the fledgling Ibo nation of Biafra. As the years pass, the war rages on, and atrocities mount, it's only a matter of time before their paths cross again... but will they still be war sisters, or will they be the deadliest of enemies?

Review

Inspired by the 1960's civil war that rocked Nigeria (one the government tends to deny or gloss over, even as the tensions that led to it, with roots in colonial exploitation, still simmer and threaten to explode again), War Girls offers a harsh examination of the physical and psychological costs of war, nationalism, mineral exploitation, and foreign indifference. The future war may be fought with giant mechs and borderline-sapient androids, with people who are partly mechanical as often as not, but the devastation remains the same, lives blown apart and holes carved in hearts for causes that rarely, if ever, honor the sacrifices made, let alone repay those who made them. Onyii was at one time a true believer, who ran away from school to become a soldier for Biafra, but even by the time the story starts she's become scarred and more jaded, driven to defend what innocence she can in young Ify. Battle becomes an addiction, a way to deal with loss and anger, until she finally has to ask herself just what she has become, and if that's all she ever will be. The younger girl is a technological prodigy, the kind of child who could someday change the world... if she didn't live in a war-torn nation, if she'd never lost her family or picked up a gun, if the world ever gave her a chance to be herself and not what others make her into. Separated, they find themselves in vastly different circumstances but with some unnerving similarities, both becoming symbols and tools and both having to come to terms with the fact that the nations they pledge loyalty and love to offer no reciprocation of the deal. The tale is intense and fast-paced, with many battles and betrayals and losses and sacrifice. Toward the end is a somewhat plot convenient encounter, plus there's a loose thread or two I wish had been followed up on (one in particular), but overall I enjoyed it, and will probably be looking for the next installment eventually.

 

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