The Kwaga is alive and unextincted in this world! (that's a word right?). Victory for the kwaga. Now do the Dodo. Kidding. Maybe

Listen, there has got to be a better, more elegant or regal word for whatever garment or piece of clothing they wear than "wrappers" - it just took away the exoticism and left me imagining candy🍬🍭 wrappers. I mean something, hell even make up a word whatever but every time wrappers came onto the page, I got a hankering for something sweet. Suyi created a WHOLE world filled with a complex caste system, body magic, rare minerals, deep rich history and then ...wrappers🤔 it's reminiscent of Tolkiens worldbuilding and ...Mount Doom as the big bad place 🤣

Plot/Storyline/Themes:
This is one hefty book, it's got all this body and tons of fat.The first 19 chapters, essentially the Bassai Section should have been ground down to 10 well crafted flavorsome chapters. There were some chapters where the important element made up 5% of the chapter and the rest of it was the filling you stuff in a turkey. The quest should begin once the Codex is stolen but then there's more dilly dallying and politicking in the chapters to follow before we get back to Danso - the shashi Jali Novitiate accused of stealing it.

Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
There are way too many characters and their povs which is great at first but it is evidently Danso who is the main protagonist yet his story gets lost in all the political and social climbing machinations. Sometimes I'd find myself screaming into a pillow - I didn't give a damn about a ton of the other povs. Until The Breathing Forest - then I was hooked on these characters.

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:

Iborworker, Skinchanging Islander meets/captures Danso.

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Information before you need it is just as dangerous as the lack of it. Patience.” (Nem, the formidable Emuru Fixer)
🖤 “A drop of wonder had landed on his tongue, and Danso knew that henceforth his thirst would be insatiable” (Danso's thirst)

Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Bassai Mainland Caste System:
■Mooncrossing Festival
■Guilds
■ Jali Novitiate
■ Ashu and Menai Two Moons/Gods
■Bassai Architecture: mudbrick
■Yellowskin: skin-changing islanders
■Ibor, Iborworkers: White, Amber, Grey
■3 Steps of Iborpower: Draw it, Possess it, Command it

StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Fantasy Books by 2025