Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

Celeste, a card sharp with a need for justice, takes on the role of advocatus diaboli, to defend her sister Mariel, accused of murdering a Virtue, a member of the ruling class of this mining town, in a new world of dark fantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of Black Sun, Rebecca Roanhorse. The year is 1883 and the mining town of Goetia is booming as prospectors from near and far come to mine the powerful new element Divinity from the high mountains of Colorado with the help of the pariahs of society known as the Fallen. The Fallen are the descendants of demonkind living amongst the Virtues, the winners in an ancient war, with the descendants of both sides choosing to live alongside Abaddon’s mountain in this tale of the mythological West from the bestselling mastermind Rebecca Roanhorse.

Maybe more of a 3.5 though.

I've only read the author's Black Sun and a couple of short stories but they've always been fun, so I thought it'll be interesting to checkout this little novella. And it's been a while since I've read a fantasy novel (been quite a few slumpy weeks), so I wanted to ease myself in the new year with a shorter read.

And this was both interesting but dissatisfactory. The author creates a very cool world with familiar elements like the angels and the fallen, but also imbues it with some parallels from Old West and the mining towns of America and the lives of those who worked the mines - marginalized people who were only trying to survive amidst discrimination. But everything is just only implied and we hardly get any details because the book is too short.

Even the characters are barely introduced to us and we don't get enough time to get invested in their lives, but I still thought the author did a very good job creating a connect with them, especially Celeste. We can see that these people are morally grey and aren't just closed with each other, but are also lying to themselves. It's a quick chance to peer into these dynamics but I was mostly left wanting more, because ultimately it's a murder mystery and it gets solved too quickly. I wouldn't mind though if the author decides to set more stories in this world.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.

Roanhorse is a strong writer and is perhaps better suited for longer works. There was a lot of focus on the very interesting setting here, so much so that the plot and characters took a backseat to it. This was an enjoyable and smooth read, but felt like it was missing something.

When everything was resolved it sure felt like the last twenty or so pages were doing a lot of the plot's legwork for it.

*3.75

This story could do with more pages to really explore the worldbuilding (and the characters). And maybe it would also make room for a better build-up to what I feel is a very unusual finale in a fantasy book. Unusual in a really good way! When you read this novella and get a bit restless, whatever you do, don't give up on it. It pays off.

Today's word is “unexpected”: the book started off so, then kept right on unexpecting along different directions. First, the setting, unlike any world I've seen before. The conflict, which at first appears to be thinly-disguised evangelical whitemales against everyone else but then ... well, that remains part of the story, but it goes in other interesting directions.

Not everything made sense, either in the story or in hindsight. Not the motivations, or some logistics. But none were showstoppers: the story kept me going, enough so for me to defer a couple of my day's priorities. It's a great little novella, suspenseful and provocative. And fascinatingly compassionate—not in the hugs-and-I-care way, but in a deeper, more reflective and caring way.

And, oh, so much more I'd love to say but nope. No spoilers.