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The great wall of Ebora is crumbling. Wolves walk streets that once shone with gold, and Ebora's people - diseased and inhuman - are fading into nothing. Tormalin the Oathless, last son of Ebora, has had enough. Better to enjoy the pleasures of wine and coin, the pursuit of men and women, than to waste away under the blind gaze of a long-dead god. Talk about a guilt trip. When the eccentric explorer Lady de Grazon offers him employment, he foresees an easy life escorting a rich old woman show more from one side of Sarn to the other. Even when they are joined by a fugitive witch with a tendency to set things on fire, the prospect of facing down monsters and retrieving ancient artifacts is still preferable to the abomination he left behind. But not everyone is willing to let the Eboran empire fall. And Tormalin is soon drawn into a conspiracy of magic and war, whilst a horror from the depths of history threatens to make even his people look reasonable. The Jure'lia are coming, and the Ninth Rain will fall ... show lessTags
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No hyperbole - this is one of the best fantasy/science fiction books I've read. I say both genres because this book has a unique blending of the two that works really well here. The book is the well-deserved winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Fantasy Novel.
There's a fine mix of distinctive characters and races. At the core are the Eborans, a warrior race who have fought in eight previous wars against alien invaders, the Jure'lia. They are also feared by humans because in the last war, the Eighth Rain, their tree-god died. They were sustained by the sap of the tree but turned to human blood. Then they've been stricken with the scarlet flux, a deadly disease that is slowly aging and wiping out the Eboran race.
Tormalin the show more Oathless left Ebora and ended up working for archeologist Vintage De Grazon as she explores the wreckage left by the Jure'lia. She needs a bodyguard as these wrecks are invested with parasite spirits (RAFO). Meanwhile, fell-witches are born to humans, women who manifest winnow fire. These women are imprisoned in the Winnowry and Fell Noon has been there for ten years, taken as a child, and longs to escape. These are the three primary characters but they all have fascinating backgrounds and I loved how they grew as the book goes on. I can't wait to see what happens to them in the next book in the series.
The secondary characters are interesting also. There are some very unique and complex people in the book. Tor's sister is definitely morally gray and will bear watching.
What we learn about the Jure'lia world is also fascinating. As I said earlier in this review, I can't think of a fantasy book (maybe some of Mark Lawrence's books set in Abeth) that so successfully combines fantasy and science fiction. There are also some horror elements incorporated into the story. It's a melange of genres that work together to create an excellent world and people.
I'm diving right into the next book in the series. These are books that should be recommended more, so read them now! show less
There's a fine mix of distinctive characters and races. At the core are the Eborans, a warrior race who have fought in eight previous wars against alien invaders, the Jure'lia. They are also feared by humans because in the last war, the Eighth Rain, their tree-god died. They were sustained by the sap of the tree but turned to human blood. Then they've been stricken with the scarlet flux, a deadly disease that is slowly aging and wiping out the Eboran race.
Tormalin the show more Oathless left Ebora and ended up working for archeologist Vintage De Grazon as she explores the wreckage left by the Jure'lia. She needs a bodyguard as these wrecks are invested with parasite spirits (RAFO). Meanwhile, fell-witches are born to humans, women who manifest winnow fire. These women are imprisoned in the Winnowry and Fell Noon has been there for ten years, taken as a child, and longs to escape. These are the three primary characters but they all have fascinating backgrounds and I loved how they grew as the book goes on. I can't wait to see what happens to them in the next book in the series.
The secondary characters are interesting also. There are some very unique and complex people in the book. Tor's sister is definitely morally gray and will bear watching.
What we learn about the Jure'lia world is also fascinating. As I said earlier in this review, I can't think of a fantasy book (maybe some of Mark Lawrence's books set in Abeth) that so successfully combines fantasy and science fiction. There are also some horror elements incorporated into the story. It's a melange of genres that work together to create an excellent world and people.
I'm diving right into the next book in the series. These are books that should be recommended more, so read them now! show less
This was a consistently terrible read through the six chapters I actually managed to choke down. From clunky dialogue (and by clunky I mean forced, inconsistent and completely unbelievable) to character inconsistencies (Tormalin the Oathless goes from telling a group of village folks he's come to slay their monster to asking Vintage if she's serious when she tells him to go chase the thing off so she can follow it back to its lair), to just horrendous editing (see highlighted examples of this).
I wanted to love this series. The synopsis is fire. The monsters are interesting and fun to read. The story itself is well-conceptualized, but so many glaring writing and editing errors makes it a DNF for me. Again, see my highlights and notes show more for examples. How this ever won a fantasy award makes my already dwindling faith in the publishing industry that much more prevalent. show less
I wanted to love this series. The synopsis is fire. The monsters are interesting and fun to read. The story itself is well-conceptualized, but so many glaring writing and editing errors makes it a DNF for me. Again, see my highlights and notes show more for examples. How this ever won a fantasy award makes my already dwindling faith in the publishing industry that much more prevalent. show less
The blurb for this book is very accurate as to the tone and feel of the book. It has all those epic fantasy tropes – a once great civilisation fallen to ruin, a loner adventure – but then it undercuts that with the “talk about a guilt trip” and introduces a more real grounded feel to the story, plus a bit of humour. And if I had to describe The Ninth Rain in a few words, then epic fantasy with added humour, would certainly be a large part of it.
There is also plenty of action and swordplay, plus magic and witches, peril and adventure. It’s proper heroic fantasy, that doesn’t take itself too seriously. In other words, it is a really entertaining read.
I’ve read the first two books in Williams’ first series The Copper Cat show more trilogy and I will get to the final one. I did order it in the library, but I think the suppliers’ must have forgotten about it. I’ll have to follow up soon. I really enjoyed those books, but I think this is a step up for Williams. It feels much more of page-turner, and I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions. Noon especially I loved. But Vintage! I love this new development of epic fantasy having older women as heroes. We’ve had so many men who might be past their “prime” as heroes in popular culture, but very few women of a similar age. They still aren’t hugely numerous, but there was Kate Elliott’s Black Wolves had now this. More please.1 . It’d be nice if this was a trend that more stories took note of. Women don’t just disappear when they turn 262 .
I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding, the elvish/vampire culture that makes Ebora is really interesting, and gives a real sense of history to Williams’ creation. The Winnowry are pure evil, but also so believable, and somewhat understandable3 in a horrible way.
All in all The Ninth Rain certainly lived up to the pull quotes on the cover, as SFX said "A fresh take on classic tropes". Now I just have to wait for book two, and it doesn’t even have a publication date, this is the trouble with reading newly published books, but it is a problem I’m glad to have. show less
There is also plenty of action and swordplay, plus magic and witches, peril and adventure. It’s proper heroic fantasy, that doesn’t take itself too seriously. In other words, it is a really entertaining read.
I’ve read the first two books in Williams’ first series The Copper Cat show more trilogy and I will get to the final one. I did order it in the library, but I think the suppliers’ must have forgotten about it. I’ll have to follow up soon. I really enjoyed those books, but I think this is a step up for Williams. It feels much more of page-turner, and I really enjoyed the characters and their interactions. Noon especially I loved. But Vintage! I love this new development of epic fantasy having older women as heroes. We’ve had so many men who might be past their “prime” as heroes in popular culture, but very few women of a similar age. They still aren’t hugely numerous, but there was Kate Elliott’s Black Wolves had now this. More please.1 . It’d be nice if this was a trend that more stories took note of. Women don’t just disappear when they turn 262 .
I also really enjoyed the worldbuilding, the elvish/vampire culture that makes Ebora is really interesting, and gives a real sense of history to Williams’ creation. The Winnowry are pure evil, but also so believable, and somewhat understandable3 in a horrible way.
All in all The Ninth Rain certainly lived up to the pull quotes on the cover, as SFX said "A fresh take on classic tropes". Now I just have to wait for book two, and it doesn’t even have a publication date, this is the trouble with reading newly published books, but it is a problem I’m glad to have. show less
Rating: 4.5
Very interesting world. I liked the story telling, where you don't find out everything immediately, but you get to know it through the characters investigations. I liked the characters as well, although there was some seriously questionable behavior at times. In particular, the cavalier attitude of Noon towards taking Tor's energy, and even Vintage's attitude, who is actually one of the most moral characters in this book, didn't sit well with me. That was a violation.
I'm usually not a fan of following different characters, but it worked well enough for me in this book. It wasn't too "cliffhangery", and I was interested enough in all the story lines.
Still, somehow this didn't fully pull me in, it felt a little like work at times. I show more think I didn't fully connect with the characters. Especially Tor seems a little distant to me. Vintage is clearly the best of the bunch, but even with her, the reader is not really looking through her eyes, it feels more like you're an outside looking from the side.
Despite liking it, I'm not sure I will read the next book. With the situation changed by the end of book 1, I fear the overall sense of discovery will change. show less
I'm usually not a fan of following different characters, but it worked well enough for me in this book. It wasn't too "cliffhangery", and I was interested enough in all the story lines.
Still, somehow this didn't fully pull me in, it felt a little like work at times. I show more think I didn't fully connect with the characters. Especially Tor seems a little distant to me. Vintage is clearly the best of the bunch, but even with her, the reader is not really looking through her eyes, it feels more like you're an outside looking from the side.
Despite liking it, I'm not sure I will read the next book. With the situation changed by the end of book 1, I fear the overall sense of discovery will change. show less
This book has a very creative world with many interesting ideas and mixes fantasy with scifi elements. I enjoyed it a lot and got attached to the characters. However, I wanted more about them.
The chapters are really short and that makes the book quick to read, but I wish the moments with the characters were expanded in order to have more insight into what they are thinking and feeling.
The plot is revealed slowly and the book isn't really fast paced even if the short chapters make it seem like it is. I feel like this book had a lot of world building and was more of an introduction to the characters.
There were some reveals that I saw coming and I was a bit let down by the ending. I was really expecting it to end in a big cliffhanger, show more but it just wrapped up very quickly and left the rest of the confrontation for later books.
The best way I can explain how this book made me feel is that it read like a shounen manga. The ideas for the characters, the world and the story were very creative, but I wanted more detail and depth. I will still continue because I did like the character and I love that there is lgbt and poc representation, which is always a plus for me. show less
The chapters are really short and that makes the book quick to read, but I wish the moments with the characters were expanded in order to have more insight into what they are thinking and feeling.
The plot is revealed slowly and the book isn't really fast paced even if the short chapters make it seem like it is. I feel like this book had a lot of world building and was more of an introduction to the characters.
There were some reveals that I saw coming and I was a bit let down by the ending. I was really expecting it to end in a big cliffhanger, show more but it just wrapped up very quickly and left the rest of the confrontation for later books.
The best way I can explain how this book made me feel is that it read like a shounen manga. The ideas for the characters, the world and the story were very creative, but I wanted more detail and depth. I will still continue because I did like the character and I love that there is lgbt and poc representation, which is always a plus for me. show less
I just don't have the patience for this anymore.
Character after character, storyline after storyline, none of them establish any kind of goal. Nothing is happening at all. All these POVs explain the current situation of these characters. Some of them begin some sort of quest for various reasons but they all end before anything of relevance happens whatsoever. The author doesn't give me a reason to care about any of it.
It's all disguised exposition but it is even worse than an outright info dump. If the story anchors me to a character or presents me with an intriguing premise and then drops an info dump on me I can at least decide if I have the patience to wade through it and get to the meat of the story. I know what parts are just show more there to teach me relevant information about this world and which are the actual story.
Here I don't know who or what is relevant. I don't even know what the story is about. The book, as it is written, could feasibly just keep going like this for the next 480 pages, switching to a different random POV every 10-20 pages of yet another insignificant nobody somewhere in this vast world.
I have now spent 1.5 hours with this book and there wasn't a single piece of anything interesting in here.
History in middle school was more interesting than this, and my teacher didn't care for history or teaching.
I am obviously too impatient here but this just feels like I am being strung along without ever getting to the actual story.
The blurb says "and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war."
I have no clue which of these characters are even relevant and which are just narrative devices. I have counted 7 POVs within the first 1,5 hours.
The world is vast and interesting, sure, but there is no story happening.
I think 10% of the book doesn't count as "quickly" and that is assuming the actual story begins right after I stopped reading which I doubt. show less
Character after character, storyline after storyline, none of them establish any kind of goal. Nothing is happening at all. All these POVs explain the current situation of these characters. Some of them begin some sort of quest for various reasons but they all end before anything of relevance happens whatsoever. The author doesn't give me a reason to care about any of it.
It's all disguised exposition but it is even worse than an outright info dump. If the story anchors me to a character or presents me with an intriguing premise and then drops an info dump on me I can at least decide if I have the patience to wade through it and get to the meat of the story. I know what parts are just show more there to teach me relevant information about this world and which are the actual story.
Here I don't know who or what is relevant. I don't even know what the story is about. The book, as it is written, could feasibly just keep going like this for the next 480 pages, switching to a different random POV every 10-20 pages of yet another insignificant nobody somewhere in this vast world.
I have now spent 1.5 hours with this book and there wasn't a single piece of anything interesting in here.
History in middle school was more interesting than this, and my teacher didn't care for history or teaching.
I am obviously too impatient here but this just feels like I am being strung along without ever getting to the actual story.
The blurb says "and the adventurers are quickly drawn into a tangled conspiracy of magic and war."
I have no clue which of these characters are even relevant and which are just narrative devices. I have counted 7 POVs within the first 1,5 hours.
The world is vast and interesting, sure, but there is no story happening.
I think 10% of the book doesn't count as "quickly" and that is assuming the actual story begins right after I stopped reading which I doubt. show less
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Awards
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Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Ninth Rain
- Original publication date
- 2017
- People/Characters
- Vincenza "Vintage" de Grazon; Noon; Tormalin; Nanthema; Hestillion; Bern (show all 7); Aldasair
- Epigraph
- You ask me to start at the beginning, Marin, my dear, but you do not know what you ask. Beginnings are very elusive things, almost as elusive as true endings. Where do I start? How to unpick a tapestry such as this? There ... (show all)was a thread that started it all, of course, but I will have to go back a good long way; beyond the scope of your young life, beyond the scope of even mine. Don't tell me I didn't warn you.
Extract from the private letters of Master Marin de Grazon, from Lady Vincenza 'Vintage' de Grazon - Dedication
- For Paul
(known to most as Wills)
With love from
Your skin & blister - First words
- Two hundred years ago
"Will we get into trouble?" - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Drink with me, my darling, and let's keep the darkness at bay for one more night, at least."
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- 42,634
- Reviews
- 13
- Rating
- (3.81)
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- English
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- ISBNs
- 4
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