With Fate Conspire
It turns out that when you're stuck in a room without internet for
two days, doing regression testing on a machine so slow it takes half an
hour to compile your code and 2-3 hours to load data and run through
each test, you can get a lot of reading done. Which is how I finished
this 500+ page book in two days. I'm glad it was as entertaining and
engrossing as it was, or I might have started to pull my hair out.
With Fate Conspire is the fourth (and probably final) book in the Onyx Court series by Marie Brennan. I read the third one when Kevin gave it to me for Christmas last year, but I haven't read the first two yet. Though after reading this one, tracking them down has become a priority.
This book has a few characters in common with A Star Shall Fall, but they've been shuffled around. The protagonists from that book have either died (the mortals) or moved into supporting roles (the faeries). I don't remember if any of the protagonists from this book popped up earlier, though I suspect they did. This is part of why I want to go back and read the earlier books. I feel like I'm missing part of the picture.
That's not to say you necessarily need the earlier books to enjoy this one. At least I didn't. It's a complete story, removed enough from the last book in time that it doesn't depend on it too much. Where the last book concerned the scientific discoveries of the Royal Society of London during the Age of Enlightenment, this one is far more concerned with the impact of industry on the faeries. Specifically, the construction of the Underground in London, and the effect of all the iron on the faerie's domain.
Their palace is crumbling and, as the book opens, has been for some time. The book spans the construction of the inner loop, the first stage of construction on London's underground. Upon its completion, the Onyx Court will be destroyed once and for all. The faeries are alternately looking for ways to preserve their life in London or flee before this happens.
Parallel to this is the story of a young Irish woman, searching for her friend who was captured by the faeries seven years earlier. There's a lot in this book about the rampant poverty in London, the mistreatment and segregation of immigrants, and the struggles they face every day. It isn't at all what I was expecting, but it was absolutely fascinating. If you like faeries and history, you should absolutely give this series a chance. Brennan does a great job of combining the two.
With Fate Conspire is the fourth (and probably final) book in the Onyx Court series by Marie Brennan. I read the third one when Kevin gave it to me for Christmas last year, but I haven't read the first two yet. Though after reading this one, tracking them down has become a priority.
This book has a few characters in common with A Star Shall Fall, but they've been shuffled around. The protagonists from that book have either died (the mortals) or moved into supporting roles (the faeries). I don't remember if any of the protagonists from this book popped up earlier, though I suspect they did. This is part of why I want to go back and read the earlier books. I feel like I'm missing part of the picture.
That's not to say you necessarily need the earlier books to enjoy this one. At least I didn't. It's a complete story, removed enough from the last book in time that it doesn't depend on it too much. Where the last book concerned the scientific discoveries of the Royal Society of London during the Age of Enlightenment, this one is far more concerned with the impact of industry on the faeries. Specifically, the construction of the Underground in London, and the effect of all the iron on the faerie's domain.
Their palace is crumbling and, as the book opens, has been for some time. The book spans the construction of the inner loop, the first stage of construction on London's underground. Upon its completion, the Onyx Court will be destroyed once and for all. The faeries are alternately looking for ways to preserve their life in London or flee before this happens.
Parallel to this is the story of a young Irish woman, searching for her friend who was captured by the faeries seven years earlier. There's a lot in this book about the rampant poverty in London, the mistreatment and segregation of immigrants, and the struggles they face every day. It isn't at all what I was expecting, but it was absolutely fascinating. If you like faeries and history, you should absolutely give this series a chance. Brennan does a great job of combining the two.
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