Evocative imagery, inexpert execution.

Any time one talks borderlands, one starts to invoke folk tales and myths, the stories about edges between life and death. I was interested as the stranger Vasethe worked at charming the reclusive and many-lived border-keeper Enis in her small, dusty cottage.

The language is vivid and up to the task of creating otherworldly beauty and eeriness:

"A full moon rose over the pan and ghosts whispered in the bright white wideness. The bundle of dolls' legs clattered against the fence."

Although Enis is willing to take Vasethe beyond the border and into "Mkalis, where gods and demons waged endless war for dominion over nine hundred and ninety-nine realms," understanding why turns out to be the story. Mkalis feels more like dream sequences than story. This style isn't unsurprising in mythic stories, but I kept waiting for it to make a kind of plotting sense, in that odd way that myths have--eventually someone needs to climb a ladder into the next world, trick an alligator, or tame honeybees to feed a village. Still, I'm a sucker for journeys, battles of wits, or dress-up affairs, so it certainly kept my attention.

"Are you mocking me?"
"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, although his voice was smiling. He picked up a chisel. Eris fell silent but did not leave. She rubbed her calf muscle, using her left foot.
"You're dangerous," she said at last.
"Debatable."

Much of the story is like this, laced with implied meaning. Yet after finishing, I realized that very little of what I read seemed to play a role in understanding the plotting and the character motivations. In some situations, the interactions and descriptions were downright pointless. Window-dressing, I suppose, which seems rather inexcusable in such a short book. With more work, they could have been used to create that comprehension bridge, to build out the reader's understanding of the Mkalis and the relationships between the gods and demons.

"Tiba had a strange voice, multiple people speaking in perfect unison. Her feet appeared within Vasethe’s line of vision: four of them, three-toed, taloned, the colour of river mud. She wore anklets of fingerbones. They clinked together when she walked. “After all this time, still pining after your dead god.”

I can cope with languid pacing and vivid imagery (think [b:The Night Circus|34468198|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488731775l/34468198._SY75_.jpg|14245059] and [b:Annihilation|17934530|Annihilation|Jeff VanderMeer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1403941587l/17934530._SX50_.jpg|24946895], both of which I enjoyed), but when I found myself realizing that the writing was used in ways that deliberately obfuscated the plot, I was less inclined to be generous. Plot specifics are kept hazy so that the author may do a surprise reveal at the end. Once I finished, I found that character behaviors that seemed arbitrary made sense in this context, but it felt rather unsatisfying. Capriciousness, of course, is to be expected on the parts of gods and demons, but the format in playing with myths is that the listener/reader needs a human figure to grab onto who acts in an understandable way for understandable reasons. There are hints, but instead of the reader developing comprehension as the book progresses, it's more along the lines of 'surprise! This was hinted at once on page 52 at the beginning of the book!'

My thoughts on this one are difficult to summarize; I am left in a ying-yang state. I strongly like parts and I strongly dislike parts. Re-reading and re-discussing, rather than bringing me more to one position or another, actually intensified both aspects. I came to appreciate the hints that I did find about the end, while becoming more frustrated with the sleight-of-hand. Truly, a read where your mileage will vary.

"THEY ARRIVED LATE. A throng of gods and demons blocked the entrance to the hall, and the air buzzed with anticipation. In their finery, the rulers reminded Vasethe of a shoal of glittering fish."

Three and a half finger-bones, rounding up for discussion and thoughts. Oddly enough, if I bumped it down to three, it would only be as an expression of failed potential. My normal three-stars are often are quickies with low expectations.


Many thanks to Dylan, Stephen and Vivian for their thoughts during our buddy-read!

Ps. If Vivian doesn't put it in her excellent review, once you read the book, check out her little summary:

So V. is a reincarnated Yett?
Yes.

Who was murdered?
By Fanieq

Was there a part where we learned how Yett was murdered?
No details, just by Fanieq and that's why Eris killed or thought she killed Fanieq and destroyed her realm-revenge.

But Yett shared the soul perhaps with Vasethe, who clearly had those memories of the neck wound, the woman Raisha, etc?
My interpretation is that Yett was reincarnated as Vasethe--this why the whole souls traversing thing not being explained drove me nuts. As Vasethe he loves his classmate Raisha who dies/actually murdered by Fanieq and then has the affair with Niall who is secretly a 1/8 division of Fanieq soul and possibly/probably sires the baby dandled on Fanieq's knee which is what sent Vasethe to seek out Eris to find the missing baby.

--Wow this is like all kinds of afternoon soap opera fucked up. ( )

Series Info/Source: This is the first book in The Mkalis Cycle. I got this as an ebook through Kindle First Reads.

Thoughts: Previous to reading this I had read Hall's "Star Eater" which I thought was incredibly unique and interesting, if a bit rough around the edges. I was eager to see where her written style has gone since then. I enjoyed the "Border Keeper" quite a bit. The two characters we are introduced to are mysterious and intriguing and the world that they journey through is bizarre.

Vesethe is seeking the Boarder Keeper's (Enis's) help, he wants her to guide him into Mkalis to find his lost loved one. Vesethe is from the land of Ahri and we learn very little about that land in this book. However, Mkalis is a whole different place altogether, with layers of godly realms and strict rules goverining each realm that is journeyed too.

As with "Star Eater", this book heavily relies on intriguing and complex world-building. The world of Mkalis is vast and at times a bit ambiguous and hard to understand. I loved the imagery used throughout but sometimes the unreality of it all made things a bit hard to follow. Unlike in "Star Eater", I really loved the characters here. Both Vesethe and Enis are incredibly complex and full of mystery. Everyone (even the gods) is afraid of Enis and you never quite find out why, which just makes her all the more intriguing. I loved uber-powerful characters that refuse to use their power and are shrouded in mystery as to what they can actually do.

The plot wanders off track many times but I didn't mind that too much, it allowed me to see more of Mkalis. I did struggle with keeping all the different gods and realms straight but if you just go with the flow, and don't pay too much attention to all the godly background, it wasn't too bad. I am happy that this was a shorter book because it is very dense with description and terminology and I think having it go for a lot longer would have changed it from something unique and interesting to something that was a bit too much.

My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this quite a bit, it a weird but strangely engaging read. I loved the intricate description, unique world-building, and mysterious characters. I loved journeying through the strange godly realms for Mkalis and unraveling the mysteries of Enis and Vesethe. This is a completely unique story written in a different writing style that may be a bit too dense and ambiguous for some. The second book in the series is out (Second Spear) and I plan on picking it up to read after I have had a bit of time for this story to steep in my mind. I would recommend to those who don't mind ambiguous fantasy reads focused on crazy world-building and mysterious protagonists. ( )

"Do people often die near your house?" he asked.
"Depends. Not recently." ( )

Meh. A weird slightly 'horror' by atmosphere rather than gore kind of dark religious fantasy. The old gods have shattered the world and humanity live on one side of the line. The other side is divided into various kingdoms each claimed by a different gods able to impose their own rules, and filled with a few servants. Inbetween lies the Border and the Border Keeper who keeps the peace (and the border). One day her peace is disturbed by a very rare traveller who at least understands common curtesy and doesn't ask for much. Her curiosity is piqued and she agrees to escort him to the place where is true loves' ghost may be. Along the way they discover they've stepped into an old vendetta and perhaps the making of the ancient items that caused the shattering.

I wanted to like it more than I should. I'm always a bit wary of interventionist gods, because they should be able to do anything, and yet they can't. The initial hero's curtesy and hte border keeper's responses was charming but I wasn't particularly interested in the way the author has developed the plot, and I won't be reading more of them. Nothing really wrong with it as such, just not to my taste. ( )

a multi-verse of earths, each one ruled by different individuals. satisfying read ( )