Day 513: Blood Over Bright Haven

I finished up 'Blood Over Bright Haven' and I'm happy to say the quality of the book remains high for the whole length of the novel, even after that killer first chapter. After Thomil manages to cross over into the city of Tiran, the book diverts from his character for a while to introduce the real protagonist, Sciona Freynan. But who is Thomil you ask? Well, I accidentally called him Beyern in the first impressions post. The first chapter threw like ten names at me so I got confused. Oops. He was the man who ran across the ice field into Tiran, losing his tribe, but saving his niece in the process. His story remains unknown for a while as Sciona develops.

Her story begins with an exam, her final exam in fact. Women in Tiran society don't typically practice magic at the highest level, but Sciona has staked her entire life on her mastery of the field. She's progressed as far as a mage as any woman ever has in Tiran history, but there's still one more hurdle. If she can pass her exam, she'll become one of a hundred Highmages in the entire city, and the first woman to have ever achieved the rank. As women are only allowed to take the exam once every ten years, this is her only chance to prove herself to the all-male court of Archmages who will decide her future. The exam is a really cool introduction to the magic, and Sciona as a character too (one of the most egotistical, obsessive characters I've ever read, but I'll get to that). It's a really cool language-based magic that has developed over three centuries into what is pretty close to a programming language. Using a spellograph, which is like typewriter for spells, mages are able to source energy from a place known as 'the otherworld' and turn that energy into action in the real world. The mysterious otherworld is Sciona's specialty, and she knows how to map it better than anybody else in the whole city. Like any good magic system, there's a dark side. Siphoning energy from 'the forbidden coordinates' will do ... bad things. Nobody is quite sure what since this dark magic was only ever practiced by the evil mage Sabernyn, who used it murder his enemies in cold blood. That won't be a problem for Sciona though. Right?

Naturally, she passes the exam, but not without some difficulties. Her benefactor, Archmage Bringham, is overjoyed to let her know she's become the first female Highmage in Tiran. He plays an important role in the story as a sort of 'benevolent' patriarch, helping Sciona adjust to the life of a highmage. After inducting her into the society, he puts her first task before her: develop a mapping solution that will allow her to source enough energy from the Otherworld to expand the massive barrier around the city. It's no small project, and the Highmages will be in tense competition to recommend the best solution. She's got her work cut out for her.

Even though she's successfully become the first female Highmage, her fellow Highmages, who are all massive assholes without exception, treat her like garbage. Many of them make sexist remarks about how she rose to such heights against the odds (including the suggestion that she probably has a sexual relationship with her 60-year-old benefactor, disgusting), but the worst among them is Cleon Renthorn. He's pure slime, a trust-fund adult made up of almost nothing but ego, arrogance, and spite. Sciona doesn't even get the satisfaction of being better than him thanks to his immense skill as a mage, making him a real threat. What I find most interesting about Renthorn is how much Sciona has in common with him, a point that's brought up a few times throughout the book. Sciona has a massive ego and a lot of spite in her heart too, due in no small part to the rampant sexism in Tiran culture. She's cold hearted, driven, and powerful, an intimidating combo for someone like the janitor she encounters on her first day as a Highmage.

Renthorn, as the guy in charge of staff, assigns Sciona a Kwen janitor as an assistant instead of an educated mage in an attempt to put her in her place. The janitor turns out to be none other than Thomil, who has survived in the city since his traumatic crossing years ago. I love how he ties back into the story as a result of Renthorn being a huge dick because he ends up being a blessing in disguise for Sciona. He's kind, patient, quiet, listens well, and is surprisingly intelligent. The opposite of Renthorn in every way. Like Thomil, those from the world beyond the barrier are known as Kwen, and are treated as an underclass in Tiran society. Sometimes people refer to them using the slur 'blighters,' which is kinda like if a Nazi referred to a Jewish person as a 'gasser.' It's pretty messed up. They work the hardest, lowest paying jobs in the city, and if they can't work, they're thrown outside the barrier to suffer the same fate as the rest of Thomil's tribe, obliterated by blight. It's a pretty miserable existence all things considered, but things turn around for him after becoming Sciona's assistant. He gets a raise, doesn't have to do as much manual labor, and he gets a free education. Sciona is happy with him despite her prejudices against Kwen, and even finds herself becoming his friend after they get plastered together at the bar. Wins all around. Of course, she'd never fall for him though ... right?

Yeah, there's a romance that plays a big part in the story. I actually didn't see much marketing for it as a romantasy, but I think the romance is such a big part that it probably counts. After reading this book, I've come to think of it as a really good version of what 'The Fourth Wing' was trying to be. It's a lot more creative, the writing is way better, and the characters actually make me care about them, but there remains some undeniable parallels with the strong female lead, feminist themes, prominent romance, and oppressive fantasy world. Another (much better) story it reminds me of is Ursula K. Le Guin's short story 'Those Who Walk Away From Omelas.' Mostly its the themes that coincide, but honestly 'Blood Over Bright Haven' has a lot more time and wiggle room to really nail down the moral ... I'd go so far as to say that I actually prefer this story despite Le Guin being a titan of politically oriented sci-fi. Sorry!

And with that I'm getting into some huge spoilers. Don't read further if you'd like to have this one unspoiled. If you decide not to read on, thanks for reading as far as you have! I hope it's clear by now that the book is a solid recommendation from me.

Right, the themes. There's this intriguing moral dilemma at the heart of the story, shown through the cultural differences between Thomil and Sciona. Thomil asks her at some point if she believes a person with good intentions who does awful things by accident is a better person than someone with bad intentions who accidentally ends up doing good. While Sciona is convinced that good intentions are what matters, especially to her God, Thomil believes the opposite, that the actual effect one has on the world is the only way to judge a person's morality. This burgeoning conflict between them leads right into a crazy twist.

After months of work and some brilliant deductions, Sciona and Thomil master a mapping algorithm that will let them look into the Otherworld in more detail and full color, something only ancient Kwen mages were capable of. But when Sciona uses this new magic to siphon energy from the Otherworld just as she usually does, Thomil recognizes something horrific. The window they've peered through looks almost identical to his home, a snowy white field where scarce bushes grow. He throws the spellograph off the desk when the siphoning begins, physically ill over what he's seen. Siphoning energy from the bushes on the plain looks identical to the blight that took his family. Combine this with the fact that the forbidden coordinates happen to overlap with the barrier around Tiran, and the terrible truth becomes obvious: that the magic in Tiran is powered by the lives of Kwen living beyond the barrier. The Tirans have been using magic to siphon energy from PEOPLE! Their lives power the trains, the lights, the heaters, everything! Every single one of the thousands of spells Sciona has written over her career has taken the lives of people outside the barrier just like Thomil. She, and everybody else in the city, are unwitting mass murderers.

The twist is probably the best part of the novel because its so obvious in hindsight. The book is paced just well enough that you might not catch on until it hits, even though it's pretty clear that something isn't right. I mean, it can't all be rosy with what happened in that explosive first chapter, right?

The conflict between Thomil and Sciona ramps up because she's unable to accept the truth and says some pretty racist things to him about her God being the only objective Truth, with the implication that it was only just that his tribe died for Tiran's magic. Part of this is that her ego won't allow her to sacrifice something as important to her as magic, not even for Thomil. He turns his back and spends some time with his niece for a while, the one he saved in the first chapter. His niece is an interesting side character, but doesn't contribute too much to the plot. I'm pushing my word count as is, but suffice to say she hates Sciona for good reason but comes around as they grow together. Thomil has felt guilty for raising her as a member of his tribe rather than a Tiranish woman who might have an easier life, but Sciona helps him overcome his guilt by convincing him that his people are worth carrying on for even if it's hard.

That comes long after some well-warranted depressive soul searching though, (the only part of the novel that did drag a little for me). Sciona realizes how right Thomil is and decides to do something about it. Despite Sciona's best efforts though, she's unable to convince any of the other mages to stop using magic (most of whom already knew what they were doing to people anyway). Even her mentor Archmage Bringham has accepted 'God's Truth' that the Kwen are inherently lesser, made to be harvested for the glory of Tiran. Renthorn is the worst of them though. He not only knows about the sacrifices, but tries to convince Sciona to show him her mapping solution so he can get off on watching his spells turn people into pulp. Thomil decks the hell out of him when he tries to get handsy with Sciona right after she refuses him, which is probably Thomil's best single moment. Sciona and Thomil make up (and the romance comes full swing), just in time to decide the only recourse is good old-fashioned violence. Meanwhile, the highmages are thinking about expanding the coordinate system so they can harvest people's bioenergy from other continents too, so they definitely have it coming. Sciona uses her new spell to show the whole city the truth, a race war ensues, Bringham reveals his even darker colors, and Renthorn gets a large object dropped on his head. Then Sciona nobly sacrifices herself to wipe out all the high mages by siphoning from the forbidden coordinates in the very spot that she first passed her exam. A fitting end if you ask me.

To sum up, I really enjoyed this novel. Author M. L. Wang made some decisions that could easily have turned the book sour that actually end up making it as good as it is. For one thing, Sciona is not a likeable character. Other than the goodness Thomil brings to her life, she's kind of a deranged egotist psycho. I'm sure if she hadn't met him she would have ended up accepting the deaths of the Kwen as a necessary sacrifice to fuel her power. This is a weird choice because even three fourths of the way through the novel, she's still doing really unlikeable, unrelatable things to people. What the book gains from this though is an unparalleled opportunity for Sciona to grow and change. She starts out almost inhumanly driven to her singular purpose of becoming a Highmage, but eventually grows a heart and learns to care about the people around her. Thomil also gets a little growth by the end, but he was certainly a more static character. Someone with a soul to judge Sciona against to see how far she's come. I think his story has a really traumatic ending to the point where I almost wish he would have gone out with Sciona. It comes full circle really well too though with how he lives on for his tribe and his niece. I'm torn on Thomil. Sciona on the other hand is extremely capable and powerful, and supremely interesting to follow, even if I'd probably never call her a friend.

I can't call it a heartwarming tale, but it does make you feel like even the worst of the worst can learn to be better. And that's really saying something from a book where almost every character is a mass-murderer who looks down on women and thinks other races are little more than fuel for their God-given gift of magic. I'd love to read some of her other stories in the future. I hope they're just as delightfully grim as 'Blood Over Bright Haven' is.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley