Why read the Song of the Shattered Sands by Bradley P. Beaulieu
The Song of the Shattered Sands by Bradley P. Beaulieu is a series that includes six books and they are all published, which is already helpful to blaze through the entire series!
Why did I include this series on my TBR? Initially, I enjoyed the idea of a series that takes place in a desert setting and with a main female protagonist. And now, a couple of books in, the series lives up to expectations and makes the world building incredibly vivid!
These published books are: Twelve Kings in Sharakhai; With Blood Upon the Sand; A Veil of Spears; Beneath the Twisted Trees; When Jackals Storm the Walls and A Desert Torn Asunder.
There are also a few novellas in this story but I have never spent time reading those.
As I already shared, the attraction to the series i based on the setting. I do not recall many fantasy series set in a desert and with a Middle Eastern / North African feeling (since I first added the series in my TBR, I have read a few books in this setting, such as the Moontide Quartet by David Hair, the Dreamblood series by N.K. Jemisin and the Deavabad trilogy by S.A. Chakraboty). I do now know whether the author has background or heritage from this region but I feel that the world feels realistic and multifaceted (knowing that I am a virtual ignorant of the region).
I also enjoy the excursions that the main characters do sometimes in the desert; and I am find myself wanting to know more about the tribes (now, I think they have an impact in terms of story development and world building but I would love to spend a bit more time in a tribe and see how live goes on there).
I also love the way this story unfolds; because it is like pealing an onion of mysteries and there is no complete answers by the end of the first book. And this makes me feel quite good about what will come next; there should be sufficient new content to get to know for another couple of books until I will not care but to achieve the goal of our protagonist!
Among these mysteries, I am quite looking forward to getting a greater understanding of the magic system. So far, magic is associated to a specific flower and to the 12 kings. The flower is explained in quite a bit of detail but the other magical related scenes are still quite mysterious and I genuinely want to know more about the world building and the magic system, as I feel I am still missing quite a big chunk of knowledge about the world!
Also, this feels like accessible fantasy. I love how Sanderson makes quite complex fantasy digestible to anyone picking up fantasy or getting into adult fantasy. And I feel this is another series that belongs to this category (granted, I still need to read the whole series but so far it appears quite easy to slip into adult fantasy!).
There are also several fantasy tropes used quite effectively; there is the rebellion theme in this story and I liked the way that it unfolded. There are several pockets of rebellion and they have a little bit in common (essentially the overall goal) but not so much more than that. There is violent faction that does not care about the repercussions of their actions; there a more surgical version of it although it is distinct minority (and it requires significant skill). Also, in this context, I loved the clever use of the (and hopefully you understand where it comes from) elderly abuse and how the rebellion makes this stop. I loved this quite a bit; it is still stuck in my mind and I could not help this elderly woman enough (and the perpetrator is an ugly person).
While it is not as clear as day, there is also a chosen one theme in this story; while it is coated, it is about a woman making sure her daughter is ready to fight the evil oppressors. There are also prophecies in this story, yet the tool is used differently here. They announce how to defeat the kings. And they need to be collected one at a time and each king has a different weakness.
Prophecies are not usually my favorite trope but I enjoy how this story just peels the layers of mysteries surrounding the prophecies and why Çeda is prepared for her journey.
I am not so in love with the characters just yet. I struggled to connect with the characters first and I thought there were odd choices earlier on in the story. I think that I will end up enjoying these characters over time and I will want to know more about their motivations. I am looking forward to experiencing the next steps in the series and see where the characters go and what choices they make.
Have you read The Song of the Shattered Sands? If not, did this help you to decide to join the band of readers enthralled with this series? If you read it, what was the aspect that you liked the most? What do you think was the best element of it or what should convince readers to start the journey with Twelve Kings in Sharakhai?
