Voice of the Lost: Medair Part 2

It was a bit short, but I found the overall concept to be pretty interesting. It really makes no sense out of context of Part 1 so its impossible to review them separately. I found the whole My people are gone, my enemy are now my people aspects. And it was pretty interesting learning her real motivations for seeking the horn in the first place. Obviously there are some echoes of other work in this; i.e. the horn, the maze] but they are more setup, most of the story revolves around Medair and her choices, and the choices of the invaders. I admit to being confused at first, but later finding their motivations compelling. Its nice that there isnt really a bad side here, except possibly for the troublemaker that remakes the world. That was rather odd, actually, and perhaps could bear further exploration. I also found the bottomless bag interesting, though again its borrowed from other work. A bit of expansion on why a society would reserve that sort of utility for heralds would have perhaps been worthwhile,though the focus wasnt on the dead historical society in spite of the protagonist being a member.

Good story - enjoyable premise but the writing style is bulky and stands in the way of an enjoyable story.

E-publishing definitely has advantages and one of them is being able to read this author. I read both the Medair books recently and have ordered everthing else this author has written. Excellent character creation, great new world, -- just enormously appealing books. Ill buy everything else she writes in future as well. Style is somewhere between Michelle Sagara and Robin McKinley but her voice is her own. One of my best reads this year.

Honestly anything this woman writes I devour. This duo was so epically amazing and I can’t tell you how much I was pleased with the ending. A fantastic book and a fantastic way to end.

(Cross-posted from the Adarna SF book blog) Voice of the Lost is the perfect sequel to The Silence of Medair. The first book is a political fantasy thats epic in scope, and Voice continues to develop the themes of colonialism, empire, and sacrifice and a controversial romance is set in motion. Medair chooses to side with the descendants of her invaders while facing an oncoming apocalypse brought on by wild magic. Talk about raising the stakes! I loved this book, and it has the strengths of The Silence of Medair, but with a slightly different focus. Its still character-driven, but theres less brooding introspection and more political intrigues. Medair is thrust in the midst of a war and makes tough choices, possibly earning her place as a villain in history. What makes it interesting is how she deals with it, and how she views heroism, sacrifice, and ethics in herself and the colonizers. Medairs character development is one of the best Ive seen in the fantasy genre. I must commend the author for how she handles magic in the world-setting. Magic systems are best explained in some books, while in others, its best left as a mysterious force of nature-whichever helps the suspension of disbelief. Höst treats it as the latter, and it works. Magic is a messy thing in this world-it merges parallel worlds, triggers a looming apocalypse, and even changes peoples ethnicity-which is a big deal in a historical reality of heated colonizer vs. colonized dynamics. While those are all crazy, its believable because the emotional consequences for the characters are so real, and thats the key achieving verisimilitude in fantastical literature. I dont know how the author pulled it off, but she deserves mad props. With sacrifice as a key theme, it mostly reads like a tragedy. Whenever I cheered for the small victories, things became infinitely worse, but none of it came off as melodramatic. I was on the verge of tears in some parts, unable to decide whether its best to read on (and feel that screwdriver to the chest) or put the book down (and be unable to think of anything else!). Medairs internal dialogue sometimes summarizes what just happened and her reaction to it instead of only the latter, and its a little redundant. But other than that minor quibble, theres nothing Id change about the book. Its rare to find an epic fantasy thats ambitious in scope and yet ties the story together succinctly. Theres no filler subplots or unnecessary scenes, it hits hard but ends with a satisfying conclusion. The story is emotionally involving and deals with heavy themes, but its worth it. I highly recommend this duology if youre looking for an epic fantasy thats character-driven, different, and thought-provoking. Note: A free review copy was provided by the author.