Obsidian: Awakening (Book one of Obsidian Series)

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No one was shy, naive, retiring, quiet or bookish because, of course, the world was set up so they would have died before the book started. That said, love, self-sacrifice, devotion, bravery, family, honour are also to be found within “Obsidian: Awakening”, and the book is not completely devoid of hope. Zahara goes on to become the favourite wife of the Salar, and the one who will never capitulate to him, since he has murdered her whole family. When Fate offers seven heroes a chance to bring peace to the peninsula, she finds out none of them are interested.

She’d stopped thinking of it as a privilege after that, and had always tried to forgive him afterward when he refused to share those visions with her. If you like that sort of court intrigue in your fantasy, adding piquancy to the tale, this is your book. The antagonism and hostility between them gradually turns into something more, even as Hasheem experiences the life of the Shaksis of the White Desert and sees that his people by birth are, in many ways, very much the same as the Rashais, capable of committing a lot of atrocities and being downright monsters, with a society that supports some of these horrors. Nonetheless, it’s extremely entertaining, with many tense situations and action scenes often involving manly characters being exceptionally manly (although Djari does get to be badass riding bareback on a horse).Djari’s powerful brother, Nazir, who is a seer, has his doubts about his sister’s new protector, and how close their relationship is becoming. Even if the Salasar didn’t have maps, the empire’s spy network could just pay a trader from a neutral nation - like Makena - to give them a rough idea, and then follow the roads/merchants/aqueducts right up to the gate. Every word earns its place and many of the passages are works of art in themselves, irrespective of the story they tell.

So I was very much surprised to enjoy reading it as much as I did and find that it did not do to me what I expected from something labeled “grimdark” – and rightfully. That’s because everything about this magnificent book makes it a fertile oasis for waxing lyrical about it. It’s another paradox of Obsidian, how some aspects can be so horrific and brutal and yet so amazingly readable. It was one of those rare books where I could really sink into the writing itself and let it carry me along, no matter how the story unfolded.I am not kidding when I say that I read the final 300 pages of this book in one day, because it was simply that compelling to me.

There are characters on opposing sides, but we're not necessarily supposed to be rooting for one over another. I was so impressed with the characterwork, which plays on popular tropes that people love while also being sharp and original.And I have to add one more thing, even though I said I was not going to, since for some reason this last paragraph brought it to mind. As it was, it felt like neither of them had the emotional intelligence to stop the game playing, and - rather than being determinedly vengeful - Zahara seemed merely petty. Despite being together for almost twenty years, with a son between them, Muradi and Zahara didn’t seem to have moved on from her performatively hating him during sex and passionately wanting him dead. We may die tomorrow for all I know, ‘ Baaku had said, his face softened in the dim light of the tent. Some of the character interactions had my heart rate spiking to unhealthy levels and I was completely gripped by the insanely dangerous games that they are all playing with each other.

His story begins when a woman he loved in some way hangs herself in his bedroom when she cannot take the abuse of her marriage anymore, and Hasheem takes into his hands to assassinate (and one wonders if some torture preceded the assassination? Anyway, regardless of GRRM-ometer level, it was gripping enough that I immediately checked to see if Book Two was out (it isn’t), and I’ll definitely add to the many people rating Obsidian: Awakening 4. I’d seen rave reviews of it from esteemed reviewers such as Esmay Rosalyne and Craig Bookwyrm so knew I was in for a treat but wow, I wasn’t expecting the impact it would have on me. Duality is used time and time again throughout the story, which is something I revel in as a reader, along with the clever symbolism and imagery Frost employs to great effect.I’ve got to say I didn’t notice this issue myself, however, and it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the novel. The number of people who would need to know roughly where Citara was (and roughly is enough because you would be able to see it from ten miles off) means that the location just couldn’t be kept secret. But there are circles within circles at play and not everything in this world – like the characters - is black and white. One was that there were a few action scenes that I really struggled to picture as I was re Every single scene in this book carries weight and nothing is in here for shock-value, which is exactly what makes this story so engrossing, emotionally impactful, and ultimately just unputdownable.