In the ancient city-state of Gujaareh, peace is the only law. Upon its rooftops and amongst the shadows of its cobbled streets wait the Gatherers - the keepers of this peace. Priests of the dream-goddess, their duty is to harvest the magic of the sleeping mind and use it to heal, soothe . . . and kill those judged corrupt.
But when a conspiracy blooms within Gujaareh's great temple, Ehiru - the most famous of the city's Gatherers - must question everything he knows. Someone, or something, is murdering dreamers in the goddess' name, stalking its prey both in Gujaareh's alleys and the realm of dreams. Ehiru must now protect the woman he was sent to kill - or watch the city be devoured by war and forbidden magic.

The Killing Moon by N.K. Jemisin

Book One of the Dreamblood Duology

Fantasy

4.5 out of 5 stars

The strength of The Killing Moon is its sense of perspective. Every element of this book, from the setting Jemisin has so carefully constructed to the characters populating the story, is offered to the reader through various perspectives. The city of Gujaareh and its culture are not just shown in the light of its inhabitants, but also in the eyes of neighboring cities - both in the present day perspective and how it has been viewed historically. Each character is fleshed out through their interactions with other characters. The development of all of the characters, not just our main characters, has a sense of realism in how they are allowed to be as paradoxical and unpredictable as real people tend to be. 

There is a moral complexity within The Killing Moon that sets it apart from most books I've read. This complexity is all a part of this idea of varied perspectives. Is Ehiru, one of our main characters, a murderer or a merciful priest? There is no clean-cut sense of right or wrong through the eyes of our main characters. Jemisin presents an array of moral choices, all seemingly valid, and leaves it up to the reader to decide where they fall on the spectrum. Even our villain is given a shot at reader sympathy through Jemisin's masterful sense of perspective. 

But this sense of perspective has its downfalls. The beginning is perhaps harder to wade through than some readers may be willing to put up with, though readers of epic fantasy should be accustomed to this sort of thing. As stated before, both the world and the characters of The Killing Moon are fully fleshed out through various perspectives and this takes time. The city of Gujaareh isn't a setting we've seen recycled over and over through the history of the fantasy genre, as many worlds grow from a fascination with medieval Europe. Gujaareh has some Ancient Egyptian inspiration that shines through, but Jemisin pulls inspiration from other historical settings as well. This means the setting may require a little more brainpower to get into. As long as you stick with it, however, this book is incredibly rewarding. Once grounded in this story, it’s hard to put the book down until you've devoured it.

Amidst Jemisin’s gorgeous prose, The Killing Moon perfectly balances the action, political struggles and the religious aspects central throughout. None of these elements overpower the others, if anything they add more depth to one another. Each relates to the main themes stretched throughout - power, corruption, love… all things inextricably tied with the political and religious struggles fueling the plot. The Killing Moon is, in the end, a beautiful yet sad story of humanity. I can definitely see myself picking this up again in the future, as the messages laid throughout are so heartbreakingly true and this is a story that would benefit from more than one reading. If you're looking for a morally complex and diverse fantasy that touches on deep topics we're all familiar with, I'd highly recommend picking up The Killing Moon.

This will be the map of your heart, old woman. In an ancient time, in a faraway land, a young woman named Aoife is allowed a rare apprenticeship to become her kingdom’s mapmaker, tasked with charting the entire domain. Traveling beyond its borders, she finds a secretive people who live in peace, among great wealth. They claim to protect a mythic treasure, one connected to the creation of the world. When Aoife reports their existence to her kingdom, the community is targeted as a threat. Attempting to warn them of imminent danger, Aoife is exiled for treason and finds refuge among the very people who had been declared her enemy. With them, she begins a new life surrounded by kindness, equality, and cooperation. But within herself, Aoife has no peace. She cannot share the grief she feels for the home and children she left behind. She cannot bear the warrior scars of the man she comes to love. And when she gives birth to their gifted daughter, Aoife cannot avoid what the child forces her to confront about her past and its truth. On this most important of journeys, there is no map to guide her. In this tale—her autobiography— Aoife reveals her pain and joy, and ultimately her transformation. 

The Mapmaker's War by Ronlyn Domingue First book in The Keeper of Tales Trilogy Fantasy

 4.5 out of 5 stars
Rounded up to 5 on Goodreads. 

There are books that take risks and pay for it with polarizing reviews. The Mapmaker’s War is one of those books, but luckily, I was one of those who really enjoyed it. Set up as an autobiography as a woman living in an ancient kingdom, we follow the life of an aspiring mapmaker and the war that comes about as a result of her ambitions. This review will mostly be concerned with the elements of this book that I considered risky, so that you can go into this with a better guess of whether or not this book is for you. 

Seeing as this is meant to be a memoir of sorts, The Mapmaker’s War is character-driven rather than plot-driven. The ending it more of a fizzling out than a big bang, since most people’s lives tend to calm down towards the end… especially if they have the time to be settling down and writing a book about their life. The conflict is largely internal, and the ending reveals no big twist or battle scene. Anyone who goes into this thinking they need to trudge through the first half to reach some imagined action-packed second half are making a mistake.

Being written in an unconventional style, namely the fact that it’s written in second person rather than the more commonly used first or third person, this may be hard to get into for some. This writing style made for an intimate reading experience in my case. I know readers used to a more common style will be put off, and if you can’t get used to it by the third chapter, you’ve probably got very little hope of adjusting to the book.

Gender, specifically what it means to be a woman, is a big theme in this book. Domingue seems to manage a feminist flavor in all of her books (There is one I’ve yet to read, but even the synopsis reveals the feminist spin), and The Mapmaker’s War in particular deals with some sensitive topics, i.e. reproductive rights. Those interested in either feminism or gender studies will probably get more out of what this novel has to offer.

The characterization in The Mapmaker’s War reflects the story as a whole. This is a mix of history and mythology, of ‘reality’ and fairytales. This is true of the characters as well, in a way. Our cast of characters contains individuals that are archetypal but real. While they are inspired by archetypes, they don’t come off as cardboard cutouts at any point in the story.

Overall, I loved this book and couldn't put it down. Would recommend to those willing to try something new!