Book Review: A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham

(part two of the Summer and Betrayal Omnibus)

Pros: complex characters, world-building with depth, intrigue

Cons: some of the antagonist's plots worked out surprisingly well 

The eldest son of the dying Khai Machi is poisoned and all eyes turn to the succession about to take place in Machi.  When Otah Machi, the Khai's sixth son, hiding under the false name Itani Noygu, is told by his courier overseer to gather information there he knows returning to the city of his birth is potentially suicidal.  He expects his low status and new identity will hide him.  

But he is unaware that the Dai-kvo has sent his old friend and student, Maati to the city, to see if it's Otah who has been trying for the position of Khai.

Abraham's forte is in creating characters of true depth.  They're real people, with complex emotions faced with difficult choices.  After the way the first book ended, I was hesitant reading this book.  It starts 14 years after the events of A Shadow in Summer, and there seemed to be too much distance between what just happened and where the characters are at the start of A Betrayal in Winter.  But a few chapters in I was so enthralled with the characters, particularly Otah's sister Idaan, who's quite a feminist for the world in which she lives.  But realistically so.

And then there are the intrigues.  A few times I felt the plots the antagonist implemented to replace the Khai came off a little too easily, if not perfectly.  On the whole, the story is quite complex, and I did like how difficult it was for Maati to discover who was behind the assassination of the eldest son.

The world-building continued to be immersive, with everything feeling real, from the netting around the beds to keep the bugs away, to the night candles and the hand gestures and name suffixes.   

This is a book that epitomises the phrase, be careful what you wish for.  It's also about how the decisions you make change you - for better or worse.

Book Review: A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham

(part one of the Shadow and Betrayal Omnibus)

Pros: lots of intrigue, complex characters, fantastic world building

Cons: characters make disappointing choices

Otah Machi, sixth son of the Khai Machi, gives up his chance to become a poet and leaves the training school he was sent to without a brand, in order to make his own way in life.  Years later, one of Otah's pupils, Maati, comes to Saraykeht to apprentice with its poet.  Poets keep Andat, spirits made flesh who perform particular tasks.  Saraykeht's Andat, Seedless, helps with the cotton trade.  The Andat does not wish to be a slave and has plotted to bring his poet down.

Otah has built a new life for himself in Saraykeht, with a powerful trading house and a woman he loves.  But everything changes when the overseer of the house finds out about Seedless's plot.

This is a very complex book.  There are plots within plots and it's hard to know what will happen next.  I loved all of the characters.  Each one felt like a real person, with problems and strengths.  In fact, when Maati makes a decision that would normally have angered me, in this book, it worked.  I felt sorry for the characters involved and understood their complicated emotions when things went wrong.  

The world also felt real.  Abraham created a complex vocabulary of hand gestures meant to explain one person's rank in relation to another's, to ask questions, to give thanks.  There's a flourishing bath culture for escaping the heat of the day as well as for doing business and learning gossip.  The court ceremony and trade bureaucracy are intricate and time intensive.  Though the greater politics between nations is only touched on in this volume, I expect it to show up more in later books.

Seeing the characters as real people made the ending difficult as I didn't like some of the choices they ultimately made.  The good thing about having a two in one volume is that it's natural to keep reading, where I might otherwise have stopped, having enjoyed the book but not being sure I want to learn what happens next (as I suspect it will be bad).