Review of The Nightward by R.S.A. Garcia (2024), 1st book of the The Waters of Lethe duology
SYNOPSIS:
On the day she would be granted her Blessing at nine years of age, Princess Viella’s court is overthrown, and she is sent on the run after witnessing her mother and queen murdered. Her bodyguard with a hidden past, Luka, manages to escape the court with the now-Queen Viella relatively unscathed and must now keep her safe from the Dark and the secret magic found in the pages of the Nightward. They eventually meet the third of their trio, Eleanor, a warrior-mage tasked with escorting Queen Viella to nearby court to give the young girl a fighting chance at retaking her thrown.
See my full review and rating below the cut!
RATING: 3/5 STARS
MY THOUGHTS:
I received an ARC of this book through a giveaway, thank you to the author and Harper Voyager for the opportunity!
Overall, I found The Nightward to be an atmospheric, high-fantasy adventure that had me so enthralled, I could not put it down- until the sci-fi aspects were introduced. I was unaware and found it incredibly jarring for unexplained technology to appear after such an exciting fantasy environment and premise were unfolding in front of me; it felt unnecessary to convolute the plot further. I am also not well-versed enough in Caribbean mythology to know if it was done well, but I did find the included mythology intriguing. While I may not pick up the next one, I mostly enjoyed the time I spent in the sci-fantasy genre and The Nightward. It made me feel things that most books could only dream of. RSA Garcia is a strong writer, and I would love to delve into more of the worlds she so vividly creates.
CW: explicit depictions of violence & death, sexism, misandry
RECOMMENDATION: I would recommend this novel for fans of sci-fantasy looking for something emotion evoking, who also don’t need their hand held through world-building and mystery unraveling.
THE GOOD:
The atmosphere of this novel was wonderfully crafted and such a pleasure to read. RSA Garcia is obviously a talented writer when it comes to her beautiful environmental descriptions and exposition, not to mention her skill in evoking emotion and developing an air of suspense. The opening of The Nightward exemplifies this. I was so stressed, so heartbroken, and I knew what was coming!
I found the choice to make a nine-year-old one of the main characters to be interesting and refreshing. The dichotomy of being practically helpless and emotional while also sophisticated and intelligent due to her upbringing made Viella a compelling protagonist despite not actually doing very much to further her journey.
THE BAD:
Despite the wonderful descriptors, I found the world-building to both be poorly explained and convoluted. The magic/caste system still does not make sense to me. I could not tell you the difference between the Word vs. the Sight, except that only certain genders can use one but sometimes both but sometimes none at all?
Perhaps this is rectified in the formal release, but my copy of this novel did not include a map, and boy, did I need one. Queens and courts are introduced seemingly at random and when convenient, and they are sometimes conveniently connected by portals. I cannot even tell you if we were on the same continent or a different world by the end.
Unfortunately, The Nightward lost my attention soon after the beginning, which is a travesty for how much I enjoyed it. Most of the midsection felt like a slog of repetitive scenes and strangely informative dialogue, like the characters were too busy explaining things for the reader to continue their conversation. Many side characters felt pointless and unmemorable, like their ‘stories’ were only included to pad the page count.
Speaking of padding the page count, here is my final gripe: it is a personal pet peeve of mine when authors are so focused on building up to next book in the series that they leave the ending of the first without resolving a single thing. It is not a cliffhanger if the climax never comes to a head, it is poor pacing and drawn-out story beats that force readers into purchasing a sequel when all of this could have been solved by writing a single, albeit longer, book.
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Please donate to Rhonda's GoFundMe! She's a lovely person, and a beautiful writer. She's undergoing treatment for breast cancer, and also heart-related troubles.
Go read (for free!) her writing. For example: '12 THINGS A TRINI SHOULD KNOW BEFORE TRAVELLING TO A BACK IN TIMES FETE™' or 'The Sun From Both Sides' or 'Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200' and everything else RSA Garcia has written. Then from the fullness of the overflow of your heart, donate!
