Tuesday, April 6, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Gifting Fire by Alina Boyden

 




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 13, 2021 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.

Gifting Fire is the sequel to Alina Boyden's "Stealing Thunder", which I reviewed here.  Stealing Thunder was advertised as the first major publisher published adult fantasy featuring a trans woman protag by a trans woman author, and while I had some doubts about that claim (see that review), it was still a very enjoyable book.  The series is based upon Boyden's research into historical communities of trans-women in India/Pakistan (Hijras) and features a fantasy world with dragon-like creatures based upon that area of the world, which worked really well in the first book, even if the overall plot wasn't much special.  

Gifting Fire is very similar in a lot of regards, once again featuring a plot where a lot of things seem to go right for the heroine at perfect times to allow her to prevail in a seemingly impossible situation, but portraying it all in a way that is still incredibly fun and enjoyable.  At the same time, it leans far more into transphobic behavior in the antagonists of the story, and features our heroine in a predicament where the possibility of being beaten or worse is very present, which is not really what I like to read.  Still, the dragon-like zahhaks and aerial combat is very fun to read, our heroine's scheming and fighting is really enjoyable, and the world is generally well done, so if you liked Stealing Thunder, you'll enjoy this one.

Trigger Warning: Transphobia/Misgendering.  A good good amount of it.  Spousal/Physical Abuse and Rape as Backstory.  

Note:  This is a satisfying wrapping up of a complete story, but it does not stand alone of Stealing Thunder, which you need to read first or you will be lost.  


-----------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-----------------------------------------------------
Razia's days of hiding from her father, the Sultan of Nizam, are over, but to save her love - Prince Arjun - she was forced to not only reveal herself to him, but to submit herself to him as a potential ruler of a rebellious province - the province of Zindh.  Razia's very being a woman, a Hijra, was what caused her to flee in the first place, and she knows that going back to him now could simply be a trap to result in her death.  

But what she finds is something with the potential to be worse, an impossible task: to secure a province with practically no resources and a living rightful ruler acting up in exile.  It's a task her father clearly expects her to fail and it's hard for Razia to disagree...until the exiled ruler turns out to be another Hijra, forced to seek Razia's aid after a surprise attack by Razia's old tormentor and rapist, the arrogant Prince Karim.  

But Karim has more planned for Razia than simply attacking her new province - he schemes a plan that convinces Razia's father to hand her over to Karim in marriage in order to secure Zindh.  For Razia and her Hijra sisters to survive, they will need to somehow message uncertain allies for help, all the while having their every move watched by a family well aware of her intelligence, and it will take all of Razia's skills, experiences, and a lot of luck for her just to survive...nevertheless to take back the life she wanted.....
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With Stealing Thunder, we were introduced to Razia, former prince of Nazim (one of the more powerful countries in this world) who fled her father to live as her true self as a woman, as a Hijra.  In that book she met another noble Prince (Arjun), fell in love with him, and used her physical skills and tactical brilliance to help him and his family prevail in armed conflict against other nobles.  Razia had to deal with transphobia in that book for sure, as the male nobles often looked down on her for who she was, but they came to respect her as she proved her worth with her mind and capabilities, and she was never really facing head on transphobic violence as her main antagonist.  That's not the case in Gifting Fire, where Prince Karim - a side antagonist/character from the first book - takes center stage as the main antagonist, and while he respects her intelligence and may want her in "marriage" for political purposes, he and his family are explicitly transphobic and willing to beat Razia for being who she is if she shows any sign of defiance.  This....might not be the type of plot that will be for every reader, so I wanted to get that out of the way in the beginning.  

If you can deal with that, and the fact that the threat facing Razia is abuse from people who don't respect who she truly is, then what we have here is a fun and enjoyable plot as Razia tries to find a way to scheme her way out of a seemingly impossible situation - first in how to contact outside help, then in how to deal with changes to her security to make it impossible for her to follow through in aiding that outside help, and then in having to deal with more changes in circumstances that pose threats to her and her family - her Hijra sisters.  Razia's scheming is a lot of fun, as is her physical prowess in climbing and sneaking, and the side characters on her side are nice complements to her....even if none of them are really developed nearly as much as her.  And this book's aerial combat on the Zahhaks, the dragon-like creatures that have various types of breath weapons, are really well done and super fun to read.  

Again, it's a plot where a lot has to implausibly go right in the protagonist's favor for things to work, and they seem to always do - in particular, people have to be incredibly wowed by her and willing to take risks in her favor constantly in order for it all to work, which makes things feel a bit too easy (the two childhood friend nobles who she hasn't seen in years who she has to send a message for help, when it would be an immense risk to their own positions to help her?  Yeah, you know they're going to respond favorably).  And honestly I'm much less in love these days with the plot arc of a trans or otherwise queer character proving her worth in living as they truly are by being exceptional, which this book highly relies upon with various characters.  

Still the fun parts of Razia's scheming and the aerial combat alone make this one highly enjoyable, so even though I have the above complaints for pretty much the second straight book, I still did like this one enough to recommend it. 

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