davramlocke's Reviews (777)

I loved this damned collection.

There is not much wrong with Devin Madsen’s entry into the SPFBO contest. From a checklist standpoint, We Ride the Storm hits all the boxes. It has smart, simple prose. Its story is engaging and well-paced. The characters are mostly likable and feel well-rounded. And it has an interesting world that feels dynamic and large. This is a fantasy book, grimdark in execution and likely to attract a host of followers for this up and coming author. I liked this book, but for whatever reason I did not love it, and I can not completely figure out why.

We Ride the Storm features three viewpoints, all highly different in background and personality. Rah e’Torin is the leader of a troop of horse-warriors, the most feared mounted fighters anywhere. His pack has been outlawed, and Rah is forced continually to make decisions he never wanted just to keep his men and women alive. Cassandra is a woman of duality, a prostitute and assassin whose mind houses two different women, both struggling for control of one body. Princess Miko is the child of an Empress, but not of an Emperor, and struggles to find her place both within her own family and in her nation. Each of these characters represents a different nation and nationality in Madsen’s vision, and she does a masterful job drawing them closer and closer as the novel progresses. What Madsen does that might be considered unusual is to tell each of these narratives through the first person. First person narratives are traditionally told through one viewpoint, but it has become more and more common in recent years to buck this trend. I do not like this method of storytelling. I find it confusing if done poorly, and thankfully it is done well enough in We Ride the Storm that it is not so. Regardless, for me, this novel would have benefited from the third person, limited omniscient perspective. That makes me sound boring and traditional, but I don’t think I am alone in preferring this for large-scale, epic fantasy.

Madsen’s world takes many cues from our own. Races are never described in too much detail, but we can draw some obvious comparisons to Miko’s nation of Kisia and that of feudal Japan and China. Similarly, Cassandra’s home country of Chiltae houses any number of traditional European furnishings, and Rah’s horse-warriors are Mongol-adjacent with perhaps some Native American leanings. The world she has constructed is not one pulled from the ether of imagination, but rather one borrowed from the various histories of our own. Many fantasy authors do this, and even the ones that don’t do it intentionally are likely doing it as well. It is clear that world-building is not priority here, even though the events happening within We Ride the Storm are nation-shattering. Rather, Madsen focuses on individual lives within the world while peppering in those lovely morsels that we so long for in our fantasy - in short, magic stuff and fighting.

The magic in We Ride the Storm is understated and mysterious, akin to the George R.R. Martin style of magical storytelling. Madsen shows us hints and mysteries that are undoubtedly magical, but keeps the curtains over the window with nary a peek through. Cassandra’s mind-passenger is never explained in any way, and exhibits abilities beyond even Cassandra’s purview. There are telepaths within the novel who seem to not only delve into people’s most intimate secrets but also mysteriously escape death. While I can appreciate the Martin-style of magical storytelling, I do wish there would have been slightly more to speculate about in We Ride the Storm. The mysteries are mysterious only in that we can’t understand them. Good mystery allows for speculation and wonder, and I never felt that here. People simply have abilities that make them different, but I never had any impetus, or clue, as to how to go about diving into that mystery. Cassandra’s duality is one of the most fascinating points in the novel, but without any basis for how her extra personality got there or what its motivation is, I was left simply watching things unfold. I don’t expect every novel to allow me creative license to explore its hidden details, but I sure enjoy when it does.

We Ride the Storm's narrative is one of countries at war. Chiltae, acting much like the real nations it draws inspiration from, is bent on conquering Kisia. Why the leaders of Chiltae seek this is never explained, and with Rah being our only conduit into the armies of the would-be conquerors, we never get a good look at the cogs of its machine. Rah is an unwilling participant kept constantly in the dark. Similarly, Cassandra is a tool wielded by the rulers to foment chaos, but as a tool she never becomes privy and has only her own motivations to guide her. Miko is the one figure who does bring knowledge to the reader, at least knowledge about Kisia, but that knowledge can only ever be that of the attacked. She sees the knives coming at her, but knows not why. What We Ride the Storm does, amidst the backdrop of all this national warfare, is tell three unique stories, with characters caught up in events they never chose nor wanted.

In all, the highlight of Madsen’s work is her characters. Cassandra in particular is delightful, and my biggest gripe with her portrayal is that she is not truly the central character (if there can even be a central character). She feels like the bit player to the other two, whose roles are more defined and meaningful to the larger events. Perhaps this changes in the sequel, and it is very clear at the end that We Ride the Storm is only the beginning of something much larger. The novel feels almost incomplete in its abrupt ending, where some things end but resolutions are not truly reached. Likewise, I found Miko to be compelling and appreciated her growth arc. Some of her decisions and characterization bothered me, mostly in that she attempts to use her intellect throughout the entire novel, and failing decides that brute violence is the only way left to her. Maybe this speaks to her world, but it made me think less of her. Rah, I never liked, and I am conflicted about this. Fantasy needs more male characters like Rah. He is compassionate and caring and responsible, lacking the toxic masculinity that has for too long tainted our reading. He has all the traits I would look for in a friend, but in a grimdark fantasy setting, he just looks like a fool. I wanted to like him more, and I enjoyed learning about his culture, which is easily the most unique of the three from a creative standpoint.

There is no question that We Ride the Storm is a worthy finalist for the 2018 SPFBO. It is well-written, compelling, with characters that feel human and real. It is nearly perfect in its grammar and spelling, which is not a guaranteed in a self-publishing contest, and the prose, if not beautiful, is succinct and clear. I wish I would have loved this novel as much as others seem to, but as it stands I am torn on whether I have enough interest to continue with the inevitable sequel. The only driving force that makes me want to keep reading it is seeing where Cassandra’s story goes. That might be enough, and that’s testament to how well written at least on of the characters is.

I wish this was better.

I'd read about a thousand more of these spider-alts.