Here at the fantasy-hive the SPFBO team have been reading through the nine other finalists that have been put forward by the other blogs alongside our own selection of THE HALLOWS and we are now posting our reviews, on an intended fortnightly schedule up to the end of December and the conclusion of SPFBO 11.

We do have to give scores at this stage and we’re also aware that the scores can tend to average out and congregate around the middle so we’ve tried to make a conscious effort to distinguish between each book in the scores we give and the implicit order that we are placing on them – which may mean some scores veer towards the upper and lower ends of the range.

However, we have been impressed by the professionalism and quality of this year’s finalists field and also how so many of them have done something different with their story ideas and maybe trodden into spaces where traditional publishers might fear to go.

Hopefully there will be enough in our reviews to give you a flavour of each book and a sense of whether it would appeal to you or not which – after all – is what reviews should be about. 

So on to our fourth finalist review of To TOUCH A SILENT FURY by R.A. Sandpiper where the judges will comment (as always) under the headings of worldbuilding, Prose, Character and Plot, before giving their pithy one line conclusions and scratching their heads to come up with a numerical score for this fortnight’s finalist.

Worldbuilding

Theo:  It’s fun how Sandpiper has taken the usual admonition to authors of writing prose that engages all five senses and built her entire world around nations divided and defined by their affinity for the senses. There is the central triad of nations dominated by the Sightlanders and their subjected allies of the Scentlanders and the Tastelanders, and then there are still not assimilated Touchlanders and Soundlanders. I like how Sandpiper explores the way heightened senses would affect the way people lived – for example in the way the soundlanders have a kind of hyperacusis such that they live as quietly as they can in their forest realm and use sign language rather than speaking. Interleaved with this Sandpiper gives us the moonborn – rarely born white-eyed white-haired children who have special gifts that may become heightened if they ‘fulfil their assigned fate’. The moonborn are almost exclusively male, so our first protagonist Tani, as a moonborn touchlander is something of an outcast from the off, particularly in the harsh patriarchal confines of the brotherhood where she is educated and prepared to uncover her fate. While I’m OK with Romantasy, I have found dragons – and especially bonded dragons – to be a rather overworked trope in previous SPFBO entries. However, Sandpiper does deliver a nice fresh take on the trope and above all else does so by making dragons rare! There are only five dragons mentioned in the story, one of whom we know only by reputation, and the romantic interest – Prince Lang – has interactions with his dragon that do not detract from the human aspect of the story.  I also liked how Sandpiper’s commitment to the theme of 5 senses follows through into 5 seasons each of 50 days, and 5 kingdoms and even time being measured in spans of years (5 years) rather than decades (10).  Although that did mean the text worked my five times tables pretty hard as characters were described as being between 3 and 15 spans old.  Oh and yeah – I like the cool thing about the bonded rider and dragon swopping eye colour to show their bond – a really cool idea.   

Cat: The idea of ‘sensory’ worldbuilding certainly is original, but I wasn’t sure it was shown off to its full potential as the story goes on. We’re thrown in immediately to a lot of geographical, historical and character names, and I found it very difficult to parse despite these themes, feeling rather wrong-footed from the first. This is definitely a man’s world too, which rubbed me slightly the wrong way; men as rulers, killers, teachers and ultimately determiners of women’s fates, which is an unusual choice for a contemporary fantasy, throwing me back to some of the less savoury Golden Age titles. Also I found the dragons actually a bit superfluous to requirements, surprisingly! The use of ‘Threads’ and psychic connection between dragon and rider reminded me of Anne McCaffrey, but without this being a focal point, it seemed rather a weak subplot conducted mostly off-screen.

Vinay: The book starts with more than a hint of intrigue on the nature of the world around Tani, our lead character and the island where she trains. This then gloriously expands into a world that segments into the 5 senses and the author just makes it work so spectacularly well. If you are a Sightlander, you are likely to be captivated and influenced by beauty and this is used quite liberally and to great effect in the book. Marrying this with warring kingdoms, a tense succession like sibling relationship and, more importantly, dragons makes this an always engrossing read. Added to it the revelations around Tani, her unusual power and her quest to make that power complete ensures that the elements of worldbuilding add substantially to her journey. This book kept me hooked on how it revealed new pieces of information in bits and pieces and it all fit in fantastically well all the way through

Prose

Theo: The prose flows smoothly and keeps the action ticking over nicely, and also has some nice notes of humour. For example when Tani is being accompanied by her seasick mentor on the quest to uncover her fate.

His voice wobbled, his face still white as he gestured to me. For a man who lived on an island, it was poor fortune to have such a seasick stomach.

Or in the inevitable love-hate axis of the central pair

I hated that his smooth deep voice could grip me so. It held the baritone of a priest, but with none of its sanctity.

Or when Tani finds that strange reassurance we can all get from our own tiny-ness against the vast universe.

The weather helped, too. The clattering thunder and sparks of light soothed me, reminding me of how inconsequential I truly was. I would not be cowed by a man when there were waves and mountains and lightning in this world. 

Cat: The writing here is fine and smooth, mostly guiding the reader where they need to go. However, there is a lot of fantasy language to unravel without much explanation – which makes sense, given the characters would already be familiar – but which I found a struggle occasionally. Also the casual sexism/misogyny was often a little difficult:

‘The first Marriage Fate in nearly five spans, given to the first and only girl.’

Vinay: I found this to be an extremely smoothly written book and it just kept you captivated right from the get go. The writing plays such a big part of that. There is a fabulous flow to the book and the thrills are quite well written. The frequent references to being a woman in a man’s world never felt heavy handed and was handled quite well in an almost matter of fact manner. Given the romantasy nature of the book, there were a few pieces that hit quite well from a dialog perspective

“You must not allow me even the smallest hope for you. For like the moon, I will hang in the darkness for all eternity, isolated from any other touch, thinking only of you. Do me this one cruelty now, and I will stop talking of it forever.”

Characters

Theo: Of the central pair of lovers, Tani gets more first person page time and I found her a more engaging character than Lang. Possibly because Lang’s actions, in being bent to fit the plot, at one point turn quite shockingly vicious, or perhaps because – being crown prince and a dragon rider – Lang is the one with all the advantages. Tani is the underdog – the aberration in a patriarchal brotherhood within a paternalistic society. There is something almost Austen-esque in the way her fate and her future are bound up in a marriage to a suitor whose choice she has no control over.

I cared about having choices, having some semblance of agency in a world that already decided to hate me. This marriage I never wanted was my only route to anything resembling a life.

The side characters do well, including a few antagonists whose well deserved comeuppance seems to have been deferred to a subsequent volume. My favourite amongst them was the Soundlander Yvon, whose reproachful sign language and stern advice was a nice insight into a different kind of culture.

Cat: It is interesting to have POVs from two very different sides of the action, even if heroine Tani gets the lion’s share of chapters. We see life from both the lowest and highest classes, which is nice, and this helps to bring the worldbuilding together more effectively than simple exposition would have done. I did find Tani’s ‘token woman’ (and ‘token tanned’) status frustrating, though, as she seems to exist only in relation to the men around her, being passed from man to man like a baggage despite her wish to escape and gain her own agency. I wish she could’ve done more, as she has such huge potential and Lang could’ve easily helped with this rather than objectifying her from the first time they met – when she’s veiled and subservient. Tani’s powers were also interesting in what they could have achieved, and I was rather sad that they never really got to flourish.

Vinay: Tani gets most of the run time in the book and is an interesting character to root for. Thrust as a woman in a man’s world, an almost abomination, she does have a fighter’s and survivor’s instinct and this gets played out in her choices and actions quite organically. Lang as the male counterpoint to this story plays out the simmering silent “not-antagonist” to Tani and brings his complication and history of the story. Tani’s world of men includes a mentor and a silent admirer (her best friend) and those moments really work well in the story. Where it kind of does falter is the choice of the antagonist, they just seem purely evil, conniving and controlling without too much nuance – maybe the rest of the writing lulled me into thinking that this would also be adroitly done instead of just competently done.

Plot

Theo: OK this is a Romantasy, so it is an enemies-to-lovers trope, but to misquote Gandalf “I will not say do not read, for not all tropes are an evil.”  The strangenesses of the world and the intricacies of politics, diplomacy and family relationships give Sandpiper plenty of room to throw in a few handfuls (or should I say spans?!) of obstacles, secrets and confusions in the path of the lovers. I did find the lupine animal companionship a little convenient, but it is one of those essential motifs needed to (literally) fling the two should-be lovers back into each others’ path. 

Cat: I went in mostly blind to this book, not knowing much about it other than it was a fantasy with dragons. It’s so much more than that, but a lot of the romantasy is pretty predictable as the story progresses, making me wish it was a bit more focused on Tani and Lang as individuals with wants, needs and indeed skills. Tani being an empath who could theoretically influence others is a huge deal (shades of ‘Graceling’ here) but it never really had the chance to blossom beyond a bit of a parlour trick. It manages to be a story that’s both convoluted and convenient as challenges are thrown up and overcome.

Vinay: When I first picked this book up, I mentally groaned at the prospect of picking up a Romantasy (not my shot of tequila) but I was charmed by the book – the plotting has a sense of urgency and the story has some serious stakes. Combined with some fantastic worldbuilding, and pretty good twists and unexpected events, I could get beyond the Romantasy bias to enjoy this story on its own merit. There are of course moments that bring this back to its roots but the rest of the plotting and reveals are quite well managed. Honestly, I am happy to have been proven wrong in this even if I felt the ending of the book wasn’t as smooth as what went before it

Conclusion

Theo: The eyes have it in this incendiary Romantasy.

Cat: Great potential if it weren’t for all the men!

Vinay: Engaging the senses, Tani could almost be Captain Planet in this engrossing tale