This engaging and original story is the first in a new fantasy series by the author of The Founders trilogy.
Buckle in and prepare yourself for some hefty worldbuilding, but part of what was admirable about this book was the fresh and unique setting. The Empire of Khanum is arranged like a succession of spoked wheels, with the the wealthiest citizens living in the center, the farthest from the outer ring’s sea walls. This is because every wet season, leviathans surface from the deep and try to breach the walls, destroying everything in their path. Branches of the military are dedicated to shoring up and defending the wall from the monstrous titans.
Some people who serve the empire are given grafts or suffusions, altering their abilities in specific ways. Our main character, Din, is an engraver; he has been cerebrally altered to have a perfect eidetic memory of everything he sees and hears. He carries little vials of different scents with him to use as cues to associate with particular memories. With this ability, he acts as the eyes and ears of the exceedingly eccentric, and brilliant, Ana, the investigator to whom he is newly apprenticed apprenticed.
“He’s new,” said Ana, “and big, and I think he lost his sense of humor in some tragic accident. But he helped me solve the Blas issue quick enough.” Then, simply, “He is good.”
The bulk of this novel focuses on a murder investigation Ana and Din undertake, one that winds up with far-reaching political implications. But there’s also a lot about the uncertainties of living in a world that is routinely under threat, not only by the titans of the sea, but also contagion, worms, and a host of other worries. It addresses the nature of civilization, and the question of whether people exist to serve their Empire, or vice versa.
One of the highlights of this book is the relationship and banter between Ana and Din (and a few other characters introduced during their investigative proceedings), which are charming and often downright hilarious. Ana is irreverent, Din is sincere.
“Just wish to comment, ma’am,” I said, “that, ah, I’ve no idea at all what’s going on anymore.”
And as if all of that wasn’t enough to secure a place for this book in my esteem, is also included great representation: of disability and neurodiversity, plus the minor romance included was queer.
“…if I hadn’t been the person that I was, then the alterations would not have been a success. It was my choice. I changed and became, I self-assembled. Just as you have done.”
I highly recommend this refreshing and entertaining tale of a murder mystery that unfolds in a new and interesting fantasy world, and I can’t wait to read about what Ana and Din get mixed up in next.
Jessica Crawford 