Karina Sumner-Smith

It was only after I finished the entire Tower Trilogy – and it does stay good, all the way through – that I realized that I've had an unplanned run of books about female friendship. (Mars Evacuees, Giant Days, and the Towers Trilogy all feature a central, pivotal friendship between girls or women.) I like this trend and hope it continues.

Of all of those series, the friendship is definitely most important in this one, where it's between Xhea, ghost-seeing magic-null (...or is she?) show more citizen of a magic-obsessed world, and Shai, a dead girl who has All the Magic. The friendship is the engine that drives the books and their plots. I think if it doesn't work for you, the books won't work at all.

Fortunately, the friendship very much worked for me, and thus so did the books. They're fascinating, with novel, interesting worldbuilding and a driving central plot, plus main characters I really liked, who do not always make the right or best choices, but who do always make the choices that makes sense for who they are.

The books are a trifle uneven. You can tell the first one is a first novel, but the author finds her feet by the third one, and stops introducing characters by going, "Oh, here is this other person that Xhea has known for years that I never mentioned before. Let me give you a quick paragraph of background!" (That, for the record, is not the way to do that.) And they've been astonishingly poorly served by their publishing house – the editing and the copyediting were neither of them good, and I think the book has been badly packaged and marketed. But that doesn't change the central facts: these are fun to read, compelling and painful in spots, with gripping worldbuilding and good characters.

Entirely worth it. show less

I can't rave to enough people about how much I love this book. It's quiet moodiness and vivid world-building are the very thing I search for in a fantasy novel, the qualities that allow me to sink into a story and leave me craving more long after it's over. In this world magic is currency and there's the implication that we are in a distant future, where magic has made modern technology obsolete and privileged society has risen to the sky in grand towers. It's also a ghost story. Xhea, an show more anomalous dark spot in a world of bright magic users has the ability to see ghosts, and she becomes embroiled in the (after)life of Shai, young and dead before her time. Through Xhea's colorblind eyes, we explore this world, discover the pasts of both girls, and delve deeper into a plot that may doom Shai to nothingness. It's a tale of great friendship between two girls as well, and I'm always a fan of such relationships. Radiant is rich and savory in its prose, I've become a huge fan of Sumner-Smith, and I can't wait until the next book. show less

We are introduced to the world of Radiant through the eyes of Xhea, an unreliable narrator filled with bias, prejudice and a thick, brittle coating of insecurity and pride. In a world of the very rich and the very poor, Xhea is at the very bottom, one of the few - if not the only - who possess no natural magic. Instead she is forced to buy it, like a drug.

Magic gives color to her grey, unhappy life and makes her feel, for a time, normal, as if she were just like everyone else. But Xhea is show more not like everyone else, and as far from normal as you can get. Not only does she have no magic, she can see ghosts. More than just see them she can talk to them, communicate with them, banish them.

With the help of one ghost in particular Xhea will do more than just talk. Together they'll change their world.

Xhea's story isn't given to us in an info-dump or with lengthy exposition, instead it's doled out slowly, allowing us to piece the truth together as we get to know the character. The world is given the same careful treatment, Sumner-Smith has made a world that feels both fantasy and post-apocalyptic at the same time. The slums of her city feel dirty, and when we visit the of towers, we see their beauty and wonders through Xhea's eyes.

The relationship between the ghost - Shai - and Xhea feels natural and unforced. They aren't pushed into liking each other because the author makes them; in fact, there's very little love lost between the pair at the beginning of the book. They develop like real people, reacting to real events, and the emotions they go through feel genuine.

It's a slow story that takes its time, letting us explore both characters and setting while the plot is handled much like a mystery with just enough information given to the Xhea reader at any one time, allowing you to make your own guesses as to what will happen next. It doesn't end on a cliff-hanger but it is one of a trilogy. You could easily read it as a stand-alone, but if the sequels hold up to the same writing and story telling I'll be picking them up.

* I received a free copy of this book through Good Reads First Reads program in exchange for an honest review. show less

This series definitely deserves to be getting more attention. Karina Sumner-Smith’s debut novel Radiant was one of the most unique speculative fiction titles I read in 2014, and it’s so good to see that its follow-up Defiant is still pushing genre boundaries and keeping things exciting.

Two months have passed since the events at the end of the last book, and we catch up with Xhea as she attempts to heal from the chaotic aftermath, though nothing seems to be helping her badly injured leg. show more She and the ghost Shai, her ever faithful friend, are holed up within one of the towers called Edren. Shai’s radiant powers essentially makes her an enormous battery, so her very presence is making Edren magic rich and that is definitely not sitting right with the rest of the towers who are stirring up political trouble in order to balance the scales again.

As things heat up, Xhea and Shai find themselves embroiled in a brutal power struggle. Everyone is looking to get their hands on Shai, but in a shocking turn of events, it is revealed that Xhea may be just as important to the survival of the towers. For someone who has always been dismissed, disdained or pitied for her lack of magic, this is a great change for Xhea. At last, she learns the dark nature of her own power, and it’s something that both thrills and frightens her. Then tower Farrow proposes a deal, offering her something she’s ever only dared dream of, but of course the question is, is it going to be worth what they are asking her to do?

Defiant expands greatly upon the world that we were first introduced to in Radiant, now that Xhea’s no longer on the streets scrounging work from people with ghost problems. Her life may have been hard, but at least it was remarkably simple: find food and a place to sleep every night. Ever since she met Shai though, things have become infinitely more complicated – and dangerous. Now we’ve shifted from the hardships of the Lower City to the cutthroat political arena of the towers. It’s a whole different ballgame, and yet this sequel retains so much of what I enjoyed most about the first installment.

As ever, the dynamics between Xhea and Shai make me cheer in support for meaningful friendships between strong female characters. Their loyalty to each other warms my heart, it really does. In fact, one plot development that got me down early on in the novel is the fact that Xhea and Shai become separated after a disastrous accident, and neither has any idea about the fate of the other. It’s only been one book, but already in my mind it feels wrong to see Xhea without Shai, Shai without Xhea. This could probably account for the part right after in which I felt the plot faltered, when Shai’s chapters felt weaker and lacked a bit of direction compared to Xhea’s after her tether to her friend is severed. Thankfully, the story picked up again very quickly, and even when the two of them were apart, their concern and thoughts for each other served to deepen their friendship in my eyes, adding another layer of complexity to it. Without each other, they were still able to accomplish some great feats on their own, proving just how powerful each young woman is in her own right.

There’s also a greater focus on the magical systems and concepts. In this world of radiants and floating towers, everything runs on magic. It can be found within its denizens as well as right down to its very infrastructure. Magic is treated on such a vast scale here that it boggles the mind; it’s infused everywhere to such a degree that an entire city literally comes to life. I’ve only read a handful of books where a physical location or the actual setting itself is rendered akin to a living breathing entity, and it’s always an amazing thing to experience.

As far as I can tell, there’s no sophomore slump here; this sequel is as rich and engaging as the first book and gives us even more in terms of surprising twists and revelations. Like its predecessor, Defiant is a brilliant cross-genre piece that blends elements from many sources so that the result is something new and never before seen. Looks like Karina Sumner-Smith has scored another hit with her second novel, offering a spellbinding story as well as characters who are sure to captivate a wide audience. show less