Friday, August 7, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Archer at Dawn by Swati Teerdhala


The Archer at Dawn is the sequel to Swati Teerdhala's "The Tiger at Midnight" (reviewed here), a YA epic fantasy novel based upon Ancient India/Hindu Myth.  I enjoyed that novel quite a bit, which essentially featured a plot that featured a heavy "Catch Me if You Can"-esque setup in the chase between its two protagonists in a fantasy world suffering due to magic.  The two protagonists - were really enjoyable, and with that first book over (and it ending with a pretty strong sequel hook), I was really excited to see where the sequel took things now that the series' first arc was clearly over.

Alas, I wasn't quite as thrilled about The Archer at Dawn.  On one hand the two protagonists are mainly still great, and the world expands in interesting ways in this novel, which is everything I tend to want in the second novel of a trilogy.  On the other hand, the plot trades in two of my least favorite tropes, especially towards its ending, which was extremely frustrating to read.  I still enjoyed the plot and the way things expanded in new ways here, with not everything being as black and white as it seemed, but those annoyances were very real and took away a great deal of what I liked about the first novel....

SPOILER WARNING:  I will try to be as vague as possible about the reveals of the first novel below, but spoilers are inevitable as this book relies upon those spoilers.

----------------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------
Kunal and Esha know that perhaps the fate of saving Jansa comes down to the two of them rescuing the country's Lost Princess Reha - who they have every reason to believe has been found and captured by the tyrant king Vaardaan.  But when their attempt to do so on their own fails, the two realize they will need help to pull off the rescue to save the country: and so they call on their allies: The Silver Blades, the rebel group of Dharka led by Dharka's crown prince - Esha's childhood friend and perhaps more.

Soon the two are infiltrating the capital in different ways: Kunal pretending to once again be a loyal soldier and Esha as the Dharkan crown prince's advisor and suspected lover as the two nations' leadership comes together for the first time in years to sign a peace treaty.  But when they discover the princess is being held at the most secure facility possible, accessible only to the most loyal soldiers and to winners of an annual coliseum-like competition, Kunal is forced to enter and face off against the country's best archers, mace wielders, and charioteers.  All the while hiding is true abilities from his royal lineage, which might draw too much attention where it isn't wanted.

However, Kunal, Esha and the Silver Blades aren't the only ones in the capital seeking a change in power - the mysterious Jansan rebels Kunal's one time friend belong to are also clearly present and in the shadows, working at some mysterious purpose.  A purpose that might put everything in jeopardy, from Kunal and Esha themselves, to the very magical bond that has sustained the land for ages......
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Like its predecessor, this novel alternates between Kunal and Esha's perspectives, although unlike that novel, it never stays with either of the two protagonists for very long (not a single chapter as far as i can tell doesn't have POV parts from both characters).  Also unlike its predecessor, the two protagonists are nearly always in the same general place and aligned, so we're no longer dealing with a catch me if you can type of situation, but more of a general epic fantasy plot.

Which is more than fine, because the book does an excellent job expanding the scope of this world and bringing in more interesting parties and individuals to the story, adding complexity in a very natural way.  Whereas before we just the hint of the Jansan rebels, here we get to meet them and learn more about them in specifics - having suffered under Vaardaan's rule, their brand of rebellion isn't simply to restore the old order like Esha and her friends wish, but to destroy the order entirely - and is naturally very nationalistic in its beliefs (which is a problem considering how many of the characters are Dharkan).  Then you have the Yavar people, whose leaders show up in this book, who were only hinted at in the prior book and become major players here.  A second book in an epic fantasy novel almost always does expand the setting and this book does so really well.

Into this setting comes our main duo of Kunal and Esha, both of whom are confronted by many doubts throughout.  Esha is of course in a bit of a love triangle which is done nicely here, with the crown prince Harun clearly loving her romantically (in addition to the casual sexual relationship they seem to have once had), but Esha not quite believing that.  She's not just torn between Harun and Kunal, but also between her need for vengeance, stoked here by the presence of the ones who likely killed her parents all those years ago.  It's a struggle that she has to deal with, one of trust and of duty and it works really well.  And Kunal's struggle to understand who he is now that he's thrown in with the Silver Blades and Esha is similarly natural, especially as he tries to figure out what his true bloodline actually means for him and the country.  Kunal has always been a character who valued duty above all else, which is why his friends at the Fort respected him, but what does that duty mean?  These conflicts again work really well and help the plot move forward and made me care and understand the two of them.

Unfortunately, that plot relies on a pair of my least favorite tropes in some of the absolute worst ways.  So for example, the trope of one character not telling another character important information resulting in embarrassment or worse is really badly done here: early on Kunal is confronted with Laksh, his former friend turned Jansan rebel, and Kunal resolves to tell Esha about it as soon as possible.  Despite the two of them being together for the entire rest of the book, with plenty of conversations, he never tells her with only flimsy justification for deliberately omitting the interactions (he worries Laksh will out their identities if he tells her, but how exactly is he going to know?) and it is beyond frustrating.  This trope is mitigated by it not mattering much in the end, but is then followed by one that is just as annoying: the final sequence relying on an absolutely ridiculous coincidence to work.*  The last book arguably also relied upon a big coincidence - namely that Kunal would turn out to be Esha's childhood friend, but it was hinted at early enough and could be seen as fateful to work out, so it still worked.  This book the coincidence is absolutely laughable and the entire ending depends upon it.  Maybe this coincidence is directly drawn from the myth that this story is somewhat derived from, but in the modern era it just does not work.

*Spoiler in ROT13: Fb, vg gheaf bhg va gur raq gung Rfun'f unaqznvqra jnf gur frperg yrnqre bs gur Wnafna eroryf.  Svar, fbyvq erirny.  Ohg, nccneragyl, gunaxf gb n trz gung npgf yvxr cbvfba gb gubfr bs eblny oybbq gung Rfun cbffrffrf, gung fnzr tvey qvfpbiref rneyvre va gur obbx gung (haorxabjafg gb ure) fur vf urefrys gur ybfg cevaprff Erun: gur irel fnzr cevaprff ure tebhc jbhyq ungr qhr gb ure unys-sbervta oybbq.  Guvf pnhfrf ure gb nonaqba gur Wnafna eroryf (xvaqn) naq gb crefhnqr Xhany gb tb jvgu ure nybar gb gur evghny fvgr gb erarj gur obaq.

Ntnva, V pna ohl Rfun naq Xhany'f puvyqubbq pbaarpgvba - vg'f gur xvaq bs sngrshy guvat gung vf pynffvp va n fgbel naq vg jnf frg hc jryy - naq v pbhyq rira unir obhtug gur vqrn gung Erun vf gur yrnqre bs gur Wnafna eroryf, ohg gur snpg gung fur qvqa'g xabj fur jnf gur cevaprff hagvy whfg arne gur raq vf hggreyl evqvphybhf.

So yeah, solid characters, interesting plot but these plot devices bothered me quite a bit, which took away a lot of my enjoyment of this novel.  I'll be back for the conclusion to see how it plays out I think, but I'm not as high on it as I wish I was.
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