Monday, February 10, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst

Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on April 21, 2020 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.


Race the Sands is the latest novel from SF/F author Sarah Beth Durst, writer of the Renthia novels (The Queen of Blood) among a whole bunch of others.  The Renthia novels were dark fantasy novels whose settings I enjoyed quite a bit, along with a few really highlight characters, so I was excited to see a new novel from Durst show up on NetGalley.  This book is an entirely stand alone novel, with no signs within that any follow ups are expected.

That said, I wouldn't mind if we get more books in this world, because Race the Sands is once again really well done in setting and characters.  Like the Renthia books, the book features a number of dark plot developments (although not as many as in Renthisa), so if you're looking for a fun light fantasy read this isn't for you.  But if you're looking for a fantasy story that's a dark at times but not too dark, with a plot that is executed rather well and characters who are easy to enjoy, if a bit simple sometimes, you could do a whole lot worse.


------------------------------------------------Plot Summary------------------------------------------------------
In the Empire of Becar, and the rest of the world, reincarnation is not just a religious belief, it is known to be fact.  Those who are good may be reborn as a respectable animal, or even as a human being, and trained Augers who can sense souls can even track down reincarnated souls.  But those who are the worst of humanity find themselves reincarnated as Kehoks - chimera-like monsters who act only to destroy and kill all they see.  In some other Kingdoms, Kehoks are killed on sight, but in Becar, a tradition of racing Kehoks - who can be influenced and temporarily controlled by strong wills - has emerged - a thrilling but often deadly sport.

Tamra was once an elite Kehok rider until she was injured.  Now she acts as a trainer, desperately trying to earn money in order so that she not lose her daughter.  After her last trained Kehok and Rider combination ended in disaster, Tamra knows she will only have one more chance at success....and that its a longshot at best.  But she's determined to succeed no matter what.

Raia is a young woman whose parents sought to sell her for their own greed - to a monster of a fiancee.  On the run, Raia knows her only path to survival, and some sort of freedom, is to find some way to earn money....money like prize money from the Kehok races.  Yet to become a rider, especially under a trainer like Tamra, will require her to focus her will on one specific thing, without letting the distractions of her dire situation get to her....and even on lapse in concentration may be fatal.

Together, Raia and Tamra, will attempt to do the impossible, and pair an extremely unsuitable Kehok with an utterly inexperienced rider, in order to win the races for their own salvations.  And that's before they will discover that others have plans for the all of Becar, plans that involve the very Kehok races Tamra and Raia are trying to survive....
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Writing a plot summary for Race the Sands is difficult because the book essentially switches course midway through into its second half, and it's kind of hard to write a plot summary that's accurate when it'd be a spoiler to talk where things go from there.  The book begins as basically the story of Raia and Tamra's attempts to succeed in the races for their own goals, with occasional interludes to the story of Auger Yorbel and the greater story of the Empire, before switching halfway through to a story that has more wide reaching implications.  Which is not to say that the switch doesn't feel wholly natural, as there is ample foreshadowing of it coming at some point just by Yorbel's chapters, although the introduction of essentially a fifth point of view character in the 2nd half is a bit of a surprise.

Still it all works because Durst is great at executing the character work in her stories, and this is no exception.  Tamra is the clear highlight, a single mother who will do anything for her daughter, no matter how impossible or who is in her way, which is not the most common type of main protagonist in fantasy stories these days.  Her determination to do what's best for her daughter, Tamra's own soul be damned, makes her a compelling character, as she attempts to figure out a way for her latest Kehok training to actually work.  Raia is a more simple and classic character, the 18 year old girl on the run, trying to convince herself she can do something and that she has actual value....given her parents lack of caring for her.  But she's rather well done and it's tremendously easy to root for her.  The other major characters - Emperor to be Dar, Auger Yorbel, and one other I won't spoil - are generally also done well, featuring just enough depth to surprise at times and yet feel natural and worthy of reading.

The characters inhabit a world that is fascinating, with its focus on reincarnation and of the Augers who can detect such things, and the dark implications of the Kehok's own souls.  And Durst does a great job building up the strands of conflicts throughout - not just the races, but the race to find the old Emperor's soul lest the new Emperor-to-be be needed to be killed, the ambassador from a foreign country attempting to take advantage of the situation, and the other forces trying to make moves just under the radar throughout - to keep the reader interested in where it's all going....and the payoff when it all bursts in the final act is well worth it.  It all ends in an ending that isn't exactly happy - again, without spoiling, what happens is definitely in the vein of Renthia in its dark tone - but is very satisfying.

In short, yeah I enjoyed Race the Sands.  It's not a book that will necessarily wow readers, especially at the start, but it shows all of Durst's craft into a story with enough surprises, to go along with well done characters, to be worth your time.
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