The Unspoken Name

It's a 3.5 star with the half star being exclusively for the last few amazing chapters. That really was a great ending.

As mostly a reader of YA fantasy, I don't follow a lot of news about adult fantasy releases but I kept seeing this book everywhere, and ended up requesting the ARC because I found to be an interesting premise. And after having finished it, I'm still not sure how I feel about it, so I'll probably be processing my feelings through this review. Be prepared for an incoherent mess below.

And this is where I don't know what to say. As it's a debut, I'm usually very generous and the writing style is not something that is very high up on my scale while rating a book for it's enjoyment. But right from the beginning, the writing in this book kept me hooked enough that I wanted to know what was going to happen next; but, I also never felt emotionally invested in it. The plot just meanders from one point to another and I frankly wasn't sure what the ultimate goal was. There are also many time jumps which I felt prevented me from getting to know the characters better, particularly because I thought the character growth happened during the time jumps which we never got to see. The pacing is also pretty slow throughout with only a couple of intense scenes in between, but I really loved the way it became action packed towards the end. The last few chapters really were what redeemed the book for me.

This book is essentially a portal fantasy where the characters can travel from one world to another using the Maze and mailships and I thought that was a cool idea. There are also multiple kingdoms with their own gods, cultures and beliefs and I think the author did a good job differentiating between them all. Even the landscape and climate of the different places visited are described very well so we are able to keep track of them. I won't say I completely understood the method used by the mages to channel the power of the gods, but there was enough information to follow the story and not feel confused. And the best part was that characters here used no labels and it was a very queernormative world.

Csorwe is a very sympathetic character in the beginning when we realize what her destiny is, but all that quickly changes when time passes by. We never get to see her train and become the fearsome right hand of a powerful mage she is supposed to be and that was disappointing. There was this sense that she wanted more from her life but she was too passive to ask for it. She was also mostly impulsive in her actions, just making in the moment decisions and not thinking through long term consequences. I wanted her to feel better and be more confident about her desires, but I truly wasn't so emotionally attached to her that it would have upset me if she didn't get a good ending.

Sethennai is the very powerful mage/wizard who has an air of mystery about him and he seems very detached, so that's exactly how we feel about him too. We never get to know him or feel connected to him, but I also couldn't see why Csorwe and the others were just so drawn to him and wanted to please him all the time. Tal is the youngest son of a prominent family who hasn't done much with his life and just wants to feel loved and does all kinds of impulsive for the attention. But he was definitely one character who brought some laughs to the proceedings with his caustic dialogue and rivalry with Csorwe.

Shuthmili is a young powerful mage who has been brought up in almost a cult like environment and her realizing that there's a whole other world outside, that she can make her own choices and her budding relationship with Csorwe are some of the best parts of the book. Oranna and Zhiyouri are quite compelling in parts but I wasn't always sure what they wanted.

To conclude, I think this debut has a lot of potential and I did go in with some expectations, so I was a bit disappointed because I couldn't connect to it. There's a very detached feeling to the whole story and characterization, so even when something bad happened, I didn't feel much. I'm a bit unsure whom I would recommend this to but if you enjoy portal fantasies, maybe you can give it a try. If you enjoy very character focused stories, then this might not be the right choice. I also think the author did a good job tying up a lot of threads towards the end, so I am feeling pretty satisfied, and not very compelled about picking up the sequel but we shall see.

An intriguing debut novel. The Unspoken Name had been getting some decent buzz at the start of the year so I figured I would check it out. I was not disappointed! The book follows the story of Csorwe, an orc assassin priestess as she progresses from a ritual sacrifice to a god (the Unspoken) to an awesome all action hero.

The book can be divided into three distinct sections, the first detailing her escape from the sacrificial altar and initial training, the second her search for a mysterious artifact and the third her developing relationship with another magician.

The world that Larkwood has built is an intriguing one of gates that travel between different worlds, some of which are dying some of which are the seats of mighty empires. There is a steampunk feel to the ships that traverse these worlds.

I was impressed with this debut and look forward to seeing where the story ends up!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.


“By the touch of thy hand shall the black lotus bloomThus shall we know thee, handmaid of desolationBy the corruption of the seasBy the fading of all thingsThy name shall be forsaken and thou be my brideThus spake the Nameless One upon the plains of dust from The Book of Unmaking”

A.K Larkwood's debut novel, The Unspoken Name, the first novel in The Serpent's Gate series, is all about choice. There is absolute power in hitting bottom; you have faced death, the end, and come out on the other side. After that, the world is open to you choice-wise.

“You have looked your foretold death in the face and turned from it in defiance. Nothing in this world or any other deserves your fear.”

This is one of the main aspects of the lead protagonist Csorwe, and I think of The Unspoken Name in general. This story delves deeply into the nature of what choice actually is. Are our actions in this world truly choices? Or do we choose to do things based on what is expected of us?

Larkwood's debut novel, the first of a grand new series aptly named The Serpents Gates stars the character Cswore. Csorwe is in a lot of ways unoriginal, at least at first. She grows up in what I can only think of as a cult where every 14 years, a girl child that has been groomed to become the bride of a god is devoured in sacrifice to appease the god. The first 14 years of her life have been entirely without choice. Choice, as a concept, is a wholly foreign concept. Csorwe has been brainwashed her entire life. This great honor that has been bestowed upon her by this wrathful god.

Her life's only meaning is in its death. In the last hour of her life, she is approached by the wizard Sethennai, a wizard, he offers her a choice, “serve me, and I will save you. Don't and accept your fate.” Csorwe, having never been offered a choice in anything, she is offered what could be the most pivotal choice of her life. She accepts life and defies a god. She takes her young life and runs for it. Sethennai needs Cswore to restore his position as ruler of a great city named Tlaanthothe. It is difficult as a reader to make the connection as to why Csorwe, basically a babe in the ways of the world, is essential in this great wizard's quest to gain his city back. Especially since, again, Cswore is groomed as an assassin and bodyguard, and it takes years to get her ready. And, still, what looks like a choice and an opportunity to live her life finally on her own terms is not what she thinks it is. She is bound to Sethennai by obligation and her honor.

The narrative The Unspoken Name has two plot arcs. It is almost as if two novels were joined together, each could have stood on their own as a book in the series. The first arc is of Cswore's escape, education, abduction, and finally, assistance in Sethennai's quest of restoring his position as ruler of Tlaanthothe. This arc is exciting and encompasses the first 30 or so percent of the story. After this arc concludes, we jump forward five years. Cswore and Talasseres, who is a fascinating side character and is both Cswore's foil and companion for much of the novel, are on the hunt for the Reliquary of Pentravesse for Sethennai. The Reliquary is an object of mystical and religious importance that Sethennai and Oranna are both searching for. Anyone who obtains the Reliquary will gain knowledge of the Pentravesse. A source of high power. Sethennai and Oranna are brutal and efficient characters in very different ways. Each stops at nothing to achieve their own goals. While Sethennai behaves like a razor blade cutting into and removing things in his search for the Reliquary, Oranna acts much like a cudgel and bashes into things and people with brutal raw force. Both Tal and Cswore get in the crossfire.

Another integral part of the second arc in The Unspoken Name is the developing romantic relationship that occurs. It becomes a complete expression of choice. The choice to live, to love, to die, and to protect. All vital and singular expressions of Cswore's budding ability to make choices for her self and her future. Her choices, Whether it burns the world down or not, it is her choices to make. It helped create a strong second half to this book that saved the pace and brought the full reader speeding into the conclusion.

“The desert called the Speechless Sea was of black sand, scattered with shards of volcanic glass that sparkled like the stars. A chain of hills emerged from this desert, as though the night sky was punctured by a row of vertebrae. Built on these was the city of Tlaanthothe.”

World-building in this story is exceptional, although occasionally, it is just a little bit murky. The setting of this story is a series of worlds, an almost infinite amount of them, that are accessed through gates. Each setting is entirely different culturally and geographically. It is a heady mix of ever-shifting landscapes that are a serious nod to writer's A.K Larkwood's imagination. The part that was a bit murky to me was the character's physical attributes. Csorwe is described as having tusks. Unless other descriptions are given, Cswore is immediately orc-like. The same goes for Sethennai. He is described as having pointed ears, which immediately makes me think of an elf. Maybe this is a function of my fantasy context from reading other books. But, it seemed like a missed opportunity for more complicated and exciting physical characteristics of the characters.

Is the power of choice enough to build a substantial epic series around?
The answer is a resounding, yes!

Choice is one of the most primal things humans can make. Your choices make or break your future. This debut novel is excellent and worth reading, even if it is just for the world-building alone. Is it perfect? No, there are plotting problems, and as I mentioned above, issues with suspended disbelief. But it is a great book that ended on a high note. This, in turn, will lead to the second book in the series perfectly. You should absolutely check out this debut novel and jump into this world.