Echoes of the Fall, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Mar. 17th, 2019 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkI just finished "The Hyena and the Hawk", the third book of the Echoes of the Fall trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky, and I have a lot of thoughts jumbling around in my head. Which is a good sign! But if I wait for them to settle down I'll forget to write about it so here.
Briefly: I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the characters and their relationships, the worldbuilding was cool, and the plot was exciting. There were just a few elements I wasn't sure about, mostly about the colonization narrative.
Maniye and Hesprec, BFFs forever. They were my favorite. Maniye Many Tracks starts out as a fourteen year old child torn between two worlds and ends up the Champion of her people who cuts open the sky (so cool!), and Hesprec Essen Skese the snake priest|ess who finds a way to save the world and changes it forever. They're unlikely friends but they keep rescuing each other and it's great. It's easy to see why Maniye values and likes Hesprec so much, and Hesprec is probably the first who recognizes Maniye's… hmm, I'm not sure what to call it. It's not exactly fighting spirit, though she has that too, it's more a kind of spiritual strength. That she struggles with, and wouldn't know how to utilize without Hesprec, but it gains her many people's loyalty (see e.g. the battle for her soul at the end of "The Tiger at the Wolf", and then her warband later) and that saves her time and again. I was surprised how much I liked Maniye even later on, I thought I'd get tired of her being so important without a clear reason (well, the Champion, but still), but idk, somehow it worked for me. She's, what, sixteen, seventeen in the last book? I was surprised by her very low-key background romance with Alladai, but I liked it and was happy for her.
My second favorite pair were Venat and Asmander/Asman (hm, in the book it's always clear but like this it's confusing; I'll call his father Old Asman.) I already shipped them in the first book, I did not think it'd actually be canon! Well, it's not really a relationship, or a romance, but they love each other and they "spend a night together." Asmander defeating Venat, then Venater basically being his slave, Asmander freeing him, and Venat coming back for him and then staying around is wonderful, and they have a great dynamic in general. They somehow fit together, the pirate who hasn't known anything other than fighting and later doesn't know what else to do, and the cynical young noble (how old is he in the first book? Twenty?) with an abusive father torn between different loyalties and no real goal of his own who loves fighting because it's easy. Asman|der is such a mess, poor guy. He's canonically poly and I think I ship him with everyone, Venat and Tecuman and Tecumet – somehow not with Shyri though, even though she's in love with him and they make a good team, not sure why. (She deserves better anyway.) I also really liked Asmander's relationship with Hesprec.
I was happily surprised that both Asman and Venat survived! I expected Asmander to die in the first book, and then Venat in the third, but no, they both make it. (Tecuman unfortunately doesn't.) Tecumet seemed to say that she granted Asman one night with Venat because she "claims all his tomorrows", implying it was a one-off, but in my mind they come to some kind of arrangement. (The biggest question imo is what Venat does: he doesn't really seem interested in ruling the Salt Islands, but maybe he'll try that for a while (or be the figurehead for that Dragon woman who he convinced to help him), and other times travel around? And visit every once in a while?)
I also really like Loud Thunder, the antisocial unwilling warleader, poor guy. And Broken Axe, former warrior who spent years on his own path trying to do what is right and then dies fighting Akrit Stone River for Maniye. And Shyri, the Laughing Girl unsure of what her god wants from her and what her role is. As characters I found Kalameshli Takes Iron interesting and also Joalpey, and it's understandable how Joalpey wanted to give her daughter a chance but could never forget that she was conceived through rape and raised by her rapists.
Not so much in book 2, but in book 3 I even liked Kailovela the hawk. I was very annoyed about the Eyrie being so needlessly extremely sexist, and "everyone wants her" is a really crap superpower (which poor Kailovela knows), and "I'm unable to feel love" is not a source of angst for women I enjoy, and – okay I more wanted to like Kailovela than I actually did. I did like "the little monster", and Empty Skin, crossing boundaries. And I liked Galethea and the Pale Shadow people.
The worldbuilding in general was cool, all the different shape shifter nations/groups. I liked that it wasn't set in stone and it's possible to change "allegiance," so to speak, so it's not purely genetic (though there is an element of that) but also cultural, and of course spiritual. Religion is different when the gods are so close. Or not that close, that seemed to differ. Anyway the abilities were very cool, and that what they Stepped with changed their forms, and that some had special abilities: the Serpents reincarnate, the Bats spent a long time in stasis, Rat kinda animates corpses… (I don't think we ever see what the Owls can do.) And the Champions, of course, all extinct creatures, like Asman's dinosaur and pterosaur and the Lions' sabretooths etc.
The villains were great, especially in book 3. Akrit Stone River was cruel and obsessed but not, hm, irrational. Old Asman was power-hungry and civil wars suck. The Rat Speakers were creepy in the best way. And the Plague People – I should have known there would be spiders xD And then insect shifters, very nice.
The one major element that I wasn't sure about and kinda made me uncomfortable at times was about how the animal shapeshifter fantasy series, or at least it starts in "The Bear and the Serpent" and it's the main theme of "The Hyena and the Hawk", is about fighting colonizers. Now we did of course learn about colonialism in school, but Austria wasn't a major player so there wasn't a big connection/emphasis on it, and I don't have that much experience with colonialism narratives (except recognizing that many are really fucked up.)
The way this conflict was first presented in the book was that the colonizers, who appear to have better technology, fought what they thought were actual animals (apparently not thinking how weird it was that they found huts and tools and other signs of civilization and human children?? Did they think the adults just turned into dust?) and that something about them, the "hollowness" of their soul, not only spread Terror among the shifters but it turned them into literal mindless beasts. And that just… It's impossible to write fantasy stories without some real world parallels, and this one was very obvious, and the natives as animals is a particularly ugly narrative. Also, while the colonizers had better technology (the metal ships, the "guns" etc), the native inhabitants emphasized spirituality, including rituals reminiscent of depictions of shamanism, also a common contrast; and some of the natives also practice human sacrifice, which is generally considered barbaric and primitive. Yes, it's fantasy, and the natives are the "good guys", but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. And yes, later on it turns out that the Plague People have been misled by a secret priesthood in their midst who deliberately painted the shifters as mindless animals, and Hesprec and Maniye free the Plague People's gods (that could have been foreshadowed a bit better imo) and the Plague People gain souls and become insect shifters, and it looks like there will be cooperation etc., but… still. I wasn't entirely comfortable with it. I'm not sure if I'm over- or underthinking this.
I'm curious what others think about this aspect in particular.
Soo I'm pretty sure I'll think of stuff I forgot later but anyway. I'm planning to request it for Yuletide (but my "nominate for Yuletide" list is already pretty long this year and it's February, so I'll see what happens until September.)
Briefly: I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the characters and their relationships, the worldbuilding was cool, and the plot was exciting. There were just a few elements I wasn't sure about, mostly about the colonization narrative.
Maniye and Hesprec, BFFs forever. They were my favorite. Maniye Many Tracks starts out as a fourteen year old child torn between two worlds and ends up the Champion of her people who cuts open the sky (so cool!), and Hesprec Essen Skese the snake priest|ess who finds a way to save the world and changes it forever. They're unlikely friends but they keep rescuing each other and it's great. It's easy to see why Maniye values and likes Hesprec so much, and Hesprec is probably the first who recognizes Maniye's… hmm, I'm not sure what to call it. It's not exactly fighting spirit, though she has that too, it's more a kind of spiritual strength. That she struggles with, and wouldn't know how to utilize without Hesprec, but it gains her many people's loyalty (see e.g. the battle for her soul at the end of "The Tiger at the Wolf", and then her warband later) and that saves her time and again. I was surprised how much I liked Maniye even later on, I thought I'd get tired of her being so important without a clear reason (well, the Champion, but still), but idk, somehow it worked for me. She's, what, sixteen, seventeen in the last book? I was surprised by her very low-key background romance with Alladai, but I liked it and was happy for her.
My second favorite pair were Venat and Asmander/Asman (hm, in the book it's always clear but like this it's confusing; I'll call his father Old Asman.) I already shipped them in the first book, I did not think it'd actually be canon! Well, it's not really a relationship, or a romance, but they love each other and they "spend a night together." Asmander defeating Venat, then Venater basically being his slave, Asmander freeing him, and Venat coming back for him and then staying around is wonderful, and they have a great dynamic in general. They somehow fit together, the pirate who hasn't known anything other than fighting and later doesn't know what else to do, and the cynical young noble (how old is he in the first book? Twenty?) with an abusive father torn between different loyalties and no real goal of his own who loves fighting because it's easy. Asman|der is such a mess, poor guy. He's canonically poly and I think I ship him with everyone, Venat and Tecuman and Tecumet – somehow not with Shyri though, even though she's in love with him and they make a good team, not sure why. (She deserves better anyway.) I also really liked Asmander's relationship with Hesprec.
I was happily surprised that both Asman and Venat survived! I expected Asmander to die in the first book, and then Venat in the third, but no, they both make it. (Tecuman unfortunately doesn't.) Tecumet seemed to say that she granted Asman one night with Venat because she "claims all his tomorrows", implying it was a one-off, but in my mind they come to some kind of arrangement. (The biggest question imo is what Venat does: he doesn't really seem interested in ruling the Salt Islands, but maybe he'll try that for a while (or be the figurehead for that Dragon woman who he convinced to help him), and other times travel around? And visit every once in a while?)
I also really like Loud Thunder, the antisocial unwilling warleader, poor guy. And Broken Axe, former warrior who spent years on his own path trying to do what is right and then dies fighting Akrit Stone River for Maniye. And Shyri, the Laughing Girl unsure of what her god wants from her and what her role is. As characters I found Kalameshli Takes Iron interesting and also Joalpey, and it's understandable how Joalpey wanted to give her daughter a chance but could never forget that she was conceived through rape and raised by her rapists.
Not so much in book 2, but in book 3 I even liked Kailovela the hawk. I was very annoyed about the Eyrie being so needlessly extremely sexist, and "everyone wants her" is a really crap superpower (which poor Kailovela knows), and "I'm unable to feel love" is not a source of angst for women I enjoy, and – okay I more wanted to like Kailovela than I actually did. I did like "the little monster", and Empty Skin, crossing boundaries. And I liked Galethea and the Pale Shadow people.
The worldbuilding in general was cool, all the different shape shifter nations/groups. I liked that it wasn't set in stone and it's possible to change "allegiance," so to speak, so it's not purely genetic (though there is an element of that) but also cultural, and of course spiritual. Religion is different when the gods are so close. Or not that close, that seemed to differ. Anyway the abilities were very cool, and that what they Stepped with changed their forms, and that some had special abilities: the Serpents reincarnate, the Bats spent a long time in stasis, Rat kinda animates corpses… (I don't think we ever see what the Owls can do.) And the Champions, of course, all extinct creatures, like Asman's dinosaur and pterosaur and the Lions' sabretooths etc.
The villains were great, especially in book 3. Akrit Stone River was cruel and obsessed but not, hm, irrational. Old Asman was power-hungry and civil wars suck. The Rat Speakers were creepy in the best way. And the Plague People – I should have known there would be spiders xD And then insect shifters, very nice.
The one major element that I wasn't sure about and kinda made me uncomfortable at times was about how the animal shapeshifter fantasy series, or at least it starts in "The Bear and the Serpent" and it's the main theme of "The Hyena and the Hawk", is about fighting colonizers. Now we did of course learn about colonialism in school, but Austria wasn't a major player so there wasn't a big connection/emphasis on it, and I don't have that much experience with colonialism narratives (except recognizing that many are really fucked up.)
The way this conflict was first presented in the book was that the colonizers, who appear to have better technology, fought what they thought were actual animals (apparently not thinking how weird it was that they found huts and tools and other signs of civilization and human children?? Did they think the adults just turned into dust?) and that something about them, the "hollowness" of their soul, not only spread Terror among the shifters but it turned them into literal mindless beasts. And that just… It's impossible to write fantasy stories without some real world parallels, and this one was very obvious, and the natives as animals is a particularly ugly narrative. Also, while the colonizers had better technology (the metal ships, the "guns" etc), the native inhabitants emphasized spirituality, including rituals reminiscent of depictions of shamanism, also a common contrast; and some of the natives also practice human sacrifice, which is generally considered barbaric and primitive. Yes, it's fantasy, and the natives are the "good guys", but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. And yes, later on it turns out that the Plague People have been misled by a secret priesthood in their midst who deliberately painted the shifters as mindless animals, and Hesprec and Maniye free the Plague People's gods (that could have been foreshadowed a bit better imo) and the Plague People gain souls and become insect shifters, and it looks like there will be cooperation etc., but… still. I wasn't entirely comfortable with it. I'm not sure if I'm over- or underthinking this.
I'm curious what others think about this aspect in particular.
Soo I'm pretty sure I'll think of stuff I forgot later but anyway. I'm planning to request it for Yuletide (but my "nominate for Yuletide" list is already pretty long this year and it's February, so I'll see what happens until September.)
