Tuesday, 19 August 2025 02:55 pm
Book Review: The Gilded Ones
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deckardcanineNormally, I'd wait longer to read another fantasy by a Black woman, for what I now realize are rather arbitrary reasons. But this one promised to be a little different, partly by being more genuinely YA (no sex, little swearing). Besides, the beautiful cover illustration drew me in.
The title refers to four powerful ancient female giants who were sealed away for alleged destructiveness. In the empire of Otera, the clearest sign of a girl having descended from one of them is that after puberty, her blood turns golden -- not just in color but in mineral. Between this and their powers (e.g., enhanced strength, slow aging), such girls are widely regarded as demons, and southerners call them alaki, meaning "unwanted." People usually try to execute them, but each alaki has only one way to die and not completely heal within a couple weeks, so it can take a lot of trial and error. When the blood runs blue, they know they guessed right.
First-person, present-tense narrator Deka, age 16, was already an outcast for being of southern (read: darker-skinned) extraction in a northern area that resents the south for its imperialism. She hopes to find general acceptance via the Ritual of Purity, but like Alberich in Exile's Honor, she accidentally awakens a forbidden power to save the day and is met with lethal ingratitude. It's unusual for a protagonist to have the hardest time of her life this early in a story, but indeed, the few townsfolk who liked or loved her cease to do so, and she suffers months of imprisonment with vain attempts to eliminate her -- or just successful attempts to extract riches from her blood.
Fortunately, the emperor has agreed to a plan to recruit alaki into an elite army to take on the deathshrieks, huge bipeds of uncertain intelligence who break eardrums before breaking the rest of one's body. An important figure known as the Lady of the Equus, whom Deka calls "White Hands" for her gloves, personally recruits Deka, warning that it'll be tough, but what choice is there? Deka soon befriends several fellow alaki, especially sweet northerner Britta, and even learns to like her new life. But White Hands isn't immediately forthcoming about everything, and Deka grows all the more curious about her own nature and origin. Why can she do what even other alaki can't?
Another major character is Keita, a boy assigned to protect Deka in particular, tho the cynical Belcalis presumes it's really about watching for signs of disloyalty. Deka thinks little of him at first, but once she gives him a fair chance, they gradually fall in love. Whether they can make it work depends on what she learns about herself, how open-minded he is, and whether they both survive their tribulations. I am relieved at the lack of betrayal on his part.
If you're interested in fictitious creatures, the deathshrieks aren't the only ones. Most prominent is a one-of-a-kind shapeshifter named Ixa, who defaults to a kitten-like form but becomes dragonlike as needed. He and Deka almost instantly care for each other, despite comrades distrusting him.
Like N.E. Davenport, Namina Forna discusses both racism and sexism. Unlike Davenport, she focuses far more on sexism. Otera is the least egalitarian society this side of The Clan of the Cave Bear, arguably worse than the Republic of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale. Yet Deka is so immersed in the culture that she takes a long time to recognize its injustice. Even then, she's rarely angry, nor does she resort to more violence than necessary.
I was hoping for nuance and subtlety beyond the unfolding revelations, but I might as well look for those in a Captain Planet episode. We are to understand that the dominant religion was wrong about everything, devised specifically to keep strong women down, and the opposing side is barely deemed questionable. Oh, and Deka is just short of a Mary Sue, hampered mainly by slow situational awareness.
Taken as a mere YA fantasy adventure, TGO is OK. I prefer a more vincible hero, more credible premises, and less predictable mystery, but it didn't bore me. Taken as a philosophical treatise to apply to reality, it falls flat. The cultures I know to be anywhere near that misogynistic don't have "priests," and at any rate, their setup isn't so basic. Nor are real women goddesses, regardless of what feminists say.
I will not read the sequel, especially given its title, The Merciless Ones. I'd prefer to imagine that it all goes swimmingly from here.
I have now picked up Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next: First Among Sequels. That ought to be funnier.
The title refers to four powerful ancient female giants who were sealed away for alleged destructiveness. In the empire of Otera, the clearest sign of a girl having descended from one of them is that after puberty, her blood turns golden -- not just in color but in mineral. Between this and their powers (e.g., enhanced strength, slow aging), such girls are widely regarded as demons, and southerners call them alaki, meaning "unwanted." People usually try to execute them, but each alaki has only one way to die and not completely heal within a couple weeks, so it can take a lot of trial and error. When the blood runs blue, they know they guessed right.
First-person, present-tense narrator Deka, age 16, was already an outcast for being of southern (read: darker-skinned) extraction in a northern area that resents the south for its imperialism. She hopes to find general acceptance via the Ritual of Purity, but like Alberich in Exile's Honor, she accidentally awakens a forbidden power to save the day and is met with lethal ingratitude. It's unusual for a protagonist to have the hardest time of her life this early in a story, but indeed, the few townsfolk who liked or loved her cease to do so, and she suffers months of imprisonment with vain attempts to eliminate her -- or just successful attempts to extract riches from her blood.
Fortunately, the emperor has agreed to a plan to recruit alaki into an elite army to take on the deathshrieks, huge bipeds of uncertain intelligence who break eardrums before breaking the rest of one's body. An important figure known as the Lady of the Equus, whom Deka calls "White Hands" for her gloves, personally recruits Deka, warning that it'll be tough, but what choice is there? Deka soon befriends several fellow alaki, especially sweet northerner Britta, and even learns to like her new life. But White Hands isn't immediately forthcoming about everything, and Deka grows all the more curious about her own nature and origin. Why can she do what even other alaki can't?
Another major character is Keita, a boy assigned to protect Deka in particular, tho the cynical Belcalis presumes it's really about watching for signs of disloyalty. Deka thinks little of him at first, but once she gives him a fair chance, they gradually fall in love. Whether they can make it work depends on what she learns about herself, how open-minded he is, and whether they both survive their tribulations. I am relieved at the lack of betrayal on his part.
If you're interested in fictitious creatures, the deathshrieks aren't the only ones. Most prominent is a one-of-a-kind shapeshifter named Ixa, who defaults to a kitten-like form but becomes dragonlike as needed. He and Deka almost instantly care for each other, despite comrades distrusting him.
Like N.E. Davenport, Namina Forna discusses both racism and sexism. Unlike Davenport, she focuses far more on sexism. Otera is the least egalitarian society this side of The Clan of the Cave Bear, arguably worse than the Republic of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale. Yet Deka is so immersed in the culture that she takes a long time to recognize its injustice. Even then, she's rarely angry, nor does she resort to more violence than necessary.
I was hoping for nuance and subtlety beyond the unfolding revelations, but I might as well look for those in a Captain Planet episode. We are to understand that the dominant religion was wrong about everything, devised specifically to keep strong women down, and the opposing side is barely deemed questionable. Oh, and Deka is just short of a Mary Sue, hampered mainly by slow situational awareness.
Taken as a mere YA fantasy adventure, TGO is OK. I prefer a more vincible hero, more credible premises, and less predictable mystery, but it didn't bore me. Taken as a philosophical treatise to apply to reality, it falls flat. The cultures I know to be anywhere near that misogynistic don't have "priests," and at any rate, their setup isn't so basic. Nor are real women goddesses, regardless of what feminists say.
I will not read the sequel, especially given its title, The Merciless Ones. I'd prefer to imagine that it all goes swimmingly from here.
I have now picked up Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next: First Among Sequels. That ought to be funnier.