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sophia_sol) wrote2022-12-31 11:49 am
sophia_sol) wrote2022-12-31 11:49 am
Schemes of the Wayfarer, by Drew Sarkis
Note: I was given a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.
Schemes of the Wayfarer is an f/f secondary world fantasy novel featuring the commander of the capital city's guard, and a woman who has spent the last 10 years or so in the Wilds - a place known for its strange creatures and unsettling magic, that changes the people who spend time in it.
I enjoyed the worldbuilding of the novel a lot, the way that various magical things and non-human beings were a normal part of life that people don't spend a lot of time thinking about. And I wanted to know more, tbh! I loved the opening conceit, the major river that the people who live in this country have been unable to travel down for 30 years because the key that allows you to do so safely has been lost. And I super enjoyed a spoilery reveal that happens later in the book!
The novel is competently written and drew me along through it easily and comfortably, but to be honest I spent a lot of time being frustrated by some aspects of characterization.
Keth, the viewpoint character, is the commander of the guard and is supposed to be very good at her job. And part of the job is, by its nature, spending time in political situations. But we spend a lot of time seeing Keth being bewildered by things and making silly blunders (eg drinking too much wine on an empty stomach and blurting out things she doesn't mean to say), even though she's successfully held this job for many years. She comes across as young and insecure and inexperienced. Which then makes the times when she thinks about how OBVIOUSLY she couldn't help picking up something about politics over the years feel like it lands wrong, because that's not the Keth I've seen! It just felt inconsistent to me. (She does, for the record, seem decent at the half of her job that involves actually commanding the guard.)
Theraine, the love interest, I never felt like I really understood entirely or saw who she was as a person. I never got a sense of what her time in the Wilds had actually done to her, for example. But the most frustrating part:
And then there was the relationship between Keth and Theraine. They knew each other in their school days, when Keth apparently beat up Theraine multiple times, and haven't seen each other since school. And they're both just so casually fine about the beating up, and laugh about it, and very quickly act as if they're close and trusting friends, and it just feels off. Later it comes out that they had one positive interaction when Keth was leaving school, but honestly that does not feel like enough. So it's just weird.
There were a few other minor issues that I noticed as I read, but those I would have been fine overlooking if the characters and their relationship worked for me better. Sigh, I wanted to like this book! And there were good things about it. But for me as a reader, I want books where I can really care about the characters, and I couldn't quite get there with these ones.
Schemes of the Wayfarer is an f/f secondary world fantasy novel featuring the commander of the capital city's guard, and a woman who has spent the last 10 years or so in the Wilds - a place known for its strange creatures and unsettling magic, that changes the people who spend time in it.
I enjoyed the worldbuilding of the novel a lot, the way that various magical things and non-human beings were a normal part of life that people don't spend a lot of time thinking about. And I wanted to know more, tbh! I loved the opening conceit, the major river that the people who live in this country have been unable to travel down for 30 years because the key that allows you to do so safely has been lost. And I super enjoyed a spoilery reveal that happens later in the book!
Click here if you want the spoiler!
The treasurer is a dragon!! Loved this, and loved how when you looked back over what you'd heard about him earlier it made total sense.The novel is competently written and drew me along through it easily and comfortably, but to be honest I spent a lot of time being frustrated by some aspects of characterization.
Keth, the viewpoint character, is the commander of the guard and is supposed to be very good at her job. And part of the job is, by its nature, spending time in political situations. But we spend a lot of time seeing Keth being bewildered by things and making silly blunders (eg drinking too much wine on an empty stomach and blurting out things she doesn't mean to say), even though she's successfully held this job for many years. She comes across as young and insecure and inexperienced. Which then makes the times when she thinks about how OBVIOUSLY she couldn't help picking up something about politics over the years feel like it lands wrong, because that's not the Keth I've seen! It just felt inconsistent to me. (She does, for the record, seem decent at the half of her job that involves actually commanding the guard.)
Theraine, the love interest, I never felt like I really understood entirely or saw who she was as a person. I never got a sense of what her time in the Wilds had actually done to her, for example. But the most frustrating part:
I think this is also spoilers, though less spoilery this time
She's supposedly the puppetmaster behind everything that happens in this book, orchestrating it all for a specific purpose. But I never actually got the sense that that was really happening? Idk, it kept on being referenced, and every time I would be like OH RIGHT, I FORGOT, because it just never felt relevant or intrinsic to either the plot or the character. But this is like, even the title of the book! It's supposed to be the point! I guess I just wish this was somehow integrated better.And then there was the relationship between Keth and Theraine. They knew each other in their school days, when Keth apparently beat up Theraine multiple times, and haven't seen each other since school. And they're both just so casually fine about the beating up, and laugh about it, and very quickly act as if they're close and trusting friends, and it just feels off. Later it comes out that they had one positive interaction when Keth was leaving school, but honestly that does not feel like enough. So it's just weird.
There were a few other minor issues that I noticed as I read, but those I would have been fine overlooking if the characters and their relationship worked for me better. Sigh, I wanted to like this book! And there were good things about it. But for me as a reader, I want books where I can really care about the characters, and I couldn't quite get there with these ones.
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This is frustrating because it could be so easily avoided! The writer could have had Keth just recently be transferred from some outpost where she only had to command soldiers and now is overwhelmed by the political aspect of this new job!
Idk, it kept on being referenced, and every time I would be like OH RIGHT, I FORGOT, because it just never felt relevant or intrinsic to either the plot or the character.
That is so interesting!
And they're both just so casually fine about the beating up, and laugh about it, and very quickly act as if they're close and trusting friends, and it just feels off.
Yikes. There are versions of falling-in-love-with-your-childhood-bully I could be into (for some reason I can't stop thinking about Ian/Mickey in Shameless, probably because Mickey becomes so absolutely ride or die for Ian that you cannot deny he's changed) but that does...not sound well done.
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At first I was like, no that wouldn't work because of xyz reasons in the book but then I thought further and was like, actually, nah, LET'S do this. It would indeed work!!
Yikes. There are versions of falling-in-love-with-your-childhood-bully I could be into (for some reason I can't stop thinking about Ian/Mickey in Shameless, probably because Mickey becomes so absolutely ride or die for Ian that you cannot deny he's changed) but that does...not sound well done.
Yeahhhh. I think the dynamics were maybe supposed to be "childhood rivals/antagonists"? With the flavour being "they were young and didn't know how to handle their feelings, and now that they're proper adults they can laugh about it"? But if so that was REALLY not how it came across.