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Jaran #1
Jaran
A woman seeks her destiny among a clan of nomadic warriors trapped in interstellar intrigue.
In the past, humans were the dominant star-traveling species in the universe—until the Chapalil came, conquered, and absorbed the Earth into their intergalactic empire.
One of the only humans ever granted nobility by the Chapalil, Charles Soerenson once led a failed rebellion against the alien overlords. Now his sister, Terese, has abandoned her homeworld, impelled by a broken heart to seek a new life among the worlds her brother rules.
On Rhui, a planet off-limits to interstellar voyagers, Tess inadvertently stumbles upon a dangerous Chapalil conspiracy—and only the timely arrival of the Jaran saves her from near-certain death in the wilderness. A tribe of nomadic humans roaming the plains of Rhui, the Jaran have long forgotten their ancient Earth history and heritage. Intrigued by their world and their ways, Tess shares an immediate emotional connection with Ilya, the Jaran’s brilliant, charismatic leader, a man of extraordinary passion and vision.
But despite her growing loyalties to this proud chieftain and his people, Tess must take care. For Ilya’s ambitions threaten to trigger violent planetary upheaval. And the Jaran have been chosen to play an unwitting role in a plot that could have powerful repercussions far beyond the nomads’ volatile world.
The first book in Kate Elliott’s acclaimed Novels of the Jaran, this masterful science fiction classic combines rich characterization and world-building with adventure, intrigue, and romance. It is both a magnificent introduction to a compelling universe and a stellar standalone reading experience.
Jaran is the first volume of the Novels of the Jaran, which continues with An Earthly Crown, His Conquering Sword, and The Law of Becoming
In the past, humans were the dominant star-traveling species in the universe—until the Chapalil came, conquered, and absorbed the Earth into their intergalactic empire.
One of the only humans ever granted nobility by the Chapalil, Charles Soerenson once led a failed rebellion against the alien overlords. Now his sister, Terese, has abandoned her homeworld, impelled by a broken heart to seek a new life among the worlds her brother rules.
On Rhui, a planet off-limits to interstellar voyagers, Tess inadvertently stumbles upon a dangerous Chapalil conspiracy—and only the timely arrival of the Jaran saves her from near-certain death in the wilderness. A tribe of nomadic humans roaming the plains of Rhui, the Jaran have long forgotten their ancient Earth history and heritage. Intrigued by their world and their ways, Tess shares an immediate emotional connection with Ilya, the Jaran’s brilliant, charismatic leader, a man of extraordinary passion and vision.
But despite her growing loyalties to this proud chieftain and his people, Tess must take care. For Ilya’s ambitions threaten to trigger violent planetary upheaval. And the Jaran have been chosen to play an unwitting role in a plot that could have powerful repercussions far beyond the nomads’ volatile world.
The first book in Kate Elliott’s acclaimed Novels of the Jaran, this masterful science fiction classic combines rich characterization and world-building with adventure, intrigue, and romance. It is both a magnificent introduction to a compelling universe and a stellar standalone reading experience.
Jaran is the first volume of the Novels of the Jaran, which continues with An Earthly Crown, His Conquering Sword, and The Law of Becoming
494 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 1992
About the author
Kate Elliott
110 books2,736 followersAs a child in rural Oregon, Kate Elliott made up stories because she longed to escape to a world of lurid adventure fiction. She now writes fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction, often with a romantic edge. She currently lives in Hawaii, where she paddles outrigger canoes and spoils her schnauzer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 263 reviews
October 13, 2015
An example of what I would label "anthropological science fiction" -- the author creates an imaginary culture and most of the book is devoted to describing that culture, generally from the point of view of an outsider who has been removed from his or her own environment and must become immersed in the ways of the new culture.
In this case, Tess occupies an unusually advantaged position in her encounter. A member of a political an intellectual elite, she has already spent time on this planet (whose people are human but at a level roughly equivalent to the Middle Ages and are not aware of the interstellar empire) and speaks the most common language. She has a remarkable gift for learning languages and quickly becomes fluent in the local dialect. She is attractive and makes friends easily. Even though the natives have reason to be suspicious of her, they welcome her and almost immediately adopt her into a fairly prestigious family. There are strongly divided gender spheres but as an outsider she is allowed to transgress these limitations, enjoying the benefits of her sex without most of the disadvantages. She quickly becomes proficient at most of the essential female skills and is allowed to learn male ones when she requests. All the hot guys want to sleep with her. In short, she is a Mary Sue.
She's even practically a princess -- her brother is the only human lord in the alien empire and she is his heir. That means the aliens, who have a strict hierarchy, obey her or at least treat her respectfully, which they do to no other humans. This other narrative, concerning the alien empire and Charles' (Yes, Tess and Charles. Apparently these dull names are still in use however many centuries in the future.) political maneuverings and planned rebellion and the efforts to figure out where the hell his sister disappeared to, this all was plotwise more interesting to me than the endless descriptions of jaran nomadic culture and horses and embroidery and how sexy the men were (unbathed horsemen with beards, I'll pass, thanks), but alas there was little of that and it was related in a rather dull fashion.
The romantic pairing also did nothing for me. I thought the man in question was an overbearing arrogant jerk, not just to Tess but also to his own people and even family, and I did not find the way they ended up together forgivable. Tess was ok. There were some interesting bits of the book and it wasn't a pain to read, I just felt that at its considerable length it wasn't worth it. There was no payoff, nothing was resolved except the romantic tension, and I have the same feeling I often do with these sorts of books, which is that it isn't worth the hours learning about a made-up culture when I could spend that time learning about a real one.
In this case, Tess occupies an unusually advantaged position in her encounter. A member of a political an intellectual elite, she has already spent time on this planet (whose people are human but at a level roughly equivalent to the Middle Ages and are not aware of the interstellar empire) and speaks the most common language. She has a remarkable gift for learning languages and quickly becomes fluent in the local dialect. She is attractive and makes friends easily. Even though the natives have reason to be suspicious of her, they welcome her and almost immediately adopt her into a fairly prestigious family. There are strongly divided gender spheres but as an outsider she is allowed to transgress these limitations, enjoying the benefits of her sex without most of the disadvantages. She quickly becomes proficient at most of the essential female skills and is allowed to learn male ones when she requests. All the hot guys want to sleep with her. In short, she is a Mary Sue.
She's even practically a princess -- her brother is the only human lord in the alien empire and she is his heir. That means the aliens, who have a strict hierarchy, obey her or at least treat her respectfully, which they do to no other humans. This other narrative, concerning the alien empire and Charles' (Yes, Tess and Charles. Apparently these dull names are still in use however many centuries in the future.) political maneuverings and planned rebellion and the efforts to figure out where the hell his sister disappeared to, this all was plotwise more interesting to me than the endless descriptions of jaran nomadic culture and horses and embroidery and how sexy the men were (unbathed horsemen with beards, I'll pass, thanks), but alas there was little of that and it was related in a rather dull fashion.
The romantic pairing also did nothing for me. I thought the man in question was an overbearing arrogant jerk, not just to Tess but also to his own people and even family, and I did not find the way they ended up together forgivable. Tess was ok. There were some interesting bits of the book and it wasn't a pain to read, I just felt that at its considerable length it wasn't worth it. There was no payoff, nothing was resolved except the romantic tension, and I have the same feeling I often do with these sorts of books, which is that it isn't worth the hours learning about a made-up culture when I could spend that time learning about a real one.
June 9, 2014
This review and other cool stuff can also be seen at Addicted2Heroines
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.
If you are a fan of books with lovely descriptions and long journeys of self-discovery? Do you enjoy books that are set on planets that closely mirror our own? Do you love books filled with details that show what an alien culture might be like? Most importantly, ask yourself this...Do I like reallyreally long books?
'Cause this bad-boy is almost 600 pages long.
Just sayin'.
Evidently, a (mostly) benevolent race of aliens has taken over our solar system. Tess' brother fought back against them, and instead of punishing him, they gave him a bunch of planets to rule over. Weird, right? Her brother decided to make Tess his heir, which elevated her status among the aliens. Their whole caste system is kinda confusing, but after a few hundred pages you get a pretty good grip on it.
It starts with Tess boarding a ship to another planet, and accidentally discovering something hinky going on that relates to a planet under her brother's rule. Sounds cool.
I love me some evil alien stuff!
And then the sci-fi stuff sort of stops, and you end up following Tess as she rides over the countryside with a group of nomads called the Jaran.
Their society is different in the fact that women (sort of) rule the tribes. But in the same breath, they have no control over who they marry. See, the guy who wants to marry them sort of sneaks up and cuts them across the cheek. With a knife.
Eh?
There are lots of other odd and interesting tidbits of their society that Tess learns to navigate during her time with the Jaran. It's a learning experience for her, and for them. That's the theme of the book, I guess. Her growing respect for a culture that, at first glance, seems barbaric.
There's a romance that brews between Tess and one of the Jaran, but it slowly builds over the course of the story. It's also a romance that comes from respect and friendship. Let me assure you...this is no bodice ripper.
Look elsewhere if you want to read about kinky alien-lovin', ladies!
This is not the type of book that I would seek out...ever. For me, there were too many descriptions of their surroundings, not enough hot sex with yummy guys, and the page count was too high.
But.
That doesn't mean this was a bad book. It was well-written, it had fully developed characters, and great world-building.
It's wasn't my cuppa, but it might be yours.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.
If you are a fan of books with lovely descriptions and long journeys of self-discovery? Do you enjoy books that are set on planets that closely mirror our own? Do you love books filled with details that show what an alien culture might be like? Most importantly, ask yourself this...Do I like reallyreally long books?
'Cause this bad-boy is almost 600 pages long.
Just sayin'.
Evidently, a (mostly) benevolent race of aliens has taken over our solar system. Tess' brother fought back against them, and instead of punishing him, they gave him a bunch of planets to rule over. Weird, right? Her brother decided to make Tess his heir, which elevated her status among the aliens. Their whole caste system is kinda confusing, but after a few hundred pages you get a pretty good grip on it.
It starts with Tess boarding a ship to another planet, and accidentally discovering something hinky going on that relates to a planet under her brother's rule. Sounds cool.
I love me some evil alien stuff!
And then the sci-fi stuff sort of stops, and you end up following Tess as she rides over the countryside with a group of nomads called the Jaran.
Their society is different in the fact that women (sort of) rule the tribes. But in the same breath, they have no control over who they marry. See, the guy who wants to marry them sort of sneaks up and cuts them across the cheek. With a knife.
Eh?
There are lots of other odd and interesting tidbits of their society that Tess learns to navigate during her time with the Jaran. It's a learning experience for her, and for them. That's the theme of the book, I guess. Her growing respect for a culture that, at first glance, seems barbaric.
There's a romance that brews between Tess and one of the Jaran, but it slowly builds over the course of the story. It's also a romance that comes from respect and friendship. Let me assure you...this is no bodice ripper.
Look elsewhere if you want to read about kinky alien-lovin', ladies!
This is not the type of book that I would seek out...ever. For me, there were too many descriptions of their surroundings, not enough hot sex with yummy guys, and the page count was too high.
But.
That doesn't mean this was a bad book. It was well-written, it had fully developed characters, and great world-building.
It's wasn't my cuppa, but it might be yours.
June 17, 2007
A science fiction novel which has been compared to Jane Austen, if Jane Austen were writing about a young linguist running away from her position as sister and unwilling heir to humanity’s greatest leader (a former rebel who has been rewarded with power by Earth’s alien overlords), and who ends up stranded on an interdicted alien planet and adopted by a nomadic matriarchal horse tribe led by a man who is basically his culture’s equivalent to Genghis Khan or Alexander the Great in his ambition to conquer his world. This is probably a terrible description and it’s a long book, but one I can’t recommend highly enough.
July 1, 2008
The first time I read this book, I was floored by how captivating, engaging, entertaining, and engrossing it was for a sci-fi (technically) novel. This is despite the fact that I was reading a double-spaced draft in a cardboard box: it totally drew me in. My handicap was that I had long-since fallen out of love with most of the sci-fi/fantasy genre, and had grown tired of worn-out plot cliches and two-dimensional characters. "Jaran" really surprised me. When I thought I knew where the story was going, Elliott surprised me and turned a different direction pretty much every time.
When it was finally printed I was proud to own a "real" copy!
The sci-fi elements are minimal and only there to set the scene. This is not about spaceships and gadgets, it's about people, politics, and social systems. More romance, in the classical sense, than action adventure, there's still enough of both to make it a page-turner.
A nitpicky thing I really liked on my first reading, was her skill with rendering scenes and situations realistically without giving us too much information. Horses make new riders sore, horses can't be ridden relentlessly without soring THEM, personal hygiene is problematic on the march, etc. Nice touches.
It's now available in a special anniversary edition. That makes me very happy: I hope her books sell like hotcakes for a long, long time!
When it was finally printed I was proud to own a "real" copy!
The sci-fi elements are minimal and only there to set the scene. This is not about spaceships and gadgets, it's about people, politics, and social systems. More romance, in the classical sense, than action adventure, there's still enough of both to make it a page-turner.
A nitpicky thing I really liked on my first reading, was her skill with rendering scenes and situations realistically without giving us too much information. Horses make new riders sore, horses can't be ridden relentlessly without soring THEM, personal hygiene is problematic on the march, etc. Nice touches.
It's now available in a special anniversary edition. That makes me very happy: I hope her books sell like hotcakes for a long, long time!
November 23, 2013
So I give up on this book. I’m simply not in the mood for this and honestly I couldn’t care less about the plot, its characters or the intrigue.
This really isn’t a bad novel in itself. I appreciated especially that the author took her time to show us a different world with a different culture. Our heroine is stranded on the planet Rhui without the means to communicate to her brother, the Duke in charge of the planets in this territory. Tess attempts to get to the bottom of a supposed conspiracy against her brother by the Chapalii, an alien race that rules all territories. All science fiction in this books stems from this background but isn’t an integral part to the story, as Rhui is a planet populated by nomadic people quite similar to Arabs 2000 years or more ago on Earth. I don’t mean this in the least pejorative. According to Wikipedia in Biblical etymology, "Arab" (in Hebrew Arvi {{he:ערבי}}) comes from the desert origin of the people (Arava means wilderness). It is quite interesting how intricate and realistic the Jaran society and customs are depicted throughout the plot. Kate Elliott really did a good job creating this nomadic world. And for a while there I was really immersed into the story.
But Jaran is not really a science fiction novel and I sorely missed this element. I mean if something is taking place in the future, and space travel, alien races and intergalactic politics and intrigues are mentioned you want to see them played out. But for the main part this story takes place in an environment equal to 500 BC in the Middle East on Earth. Why look so far afield when there is so much close at hand?
Another complaint from my part: this story moves damn slowly. I mean Tess is learning the language of the tribe of this planet and learning to ride and trying to understand the very different culture and them she learns songs and native legends and myths. That's all well and good, but 35% into the story the romance didn't even start, not even romantic interest is really shown. Instead she is having casual sex with someone else.
In addition, the charismatic Jaran ruler, Ilya, is not that charismatic to me. He doesn’t talk much, he has a beard and imho he is something of a fanatic, who tries to lead a holy war. I couldn’t get this picture out of my head, and even the fluid grace of his walk, couldn’t make up for the facial hair and his brooding character.
The missing romance is a minor part compared to the overall missing emotions. I don’t care about the characters. I don’t care about the supposed conspiracy and Kate Elliott didn’t make me care. Conversations are ruled by customary phrasings and conduct: men talk to women this way, women to women talk this way. If a man touches you on your arm it means this, if he touches you on your shoulder it means something completely different. It’s all a bunch of traditions and norms, semantic nuances and honestly: Who the fuck cares? And to top it off there is this moment where they ride through the landscape and Ilya and Tess suddenly start talking about Newton and Aristotle and Plato.
My conclusion: this book is simply not for me, but I really understand what people like about it. It’s just not the right time for me to read it.
This really isn’t a bad novel in itself. I appreciated especially that the author took her time to show us a different world with a different culture. Our heroine is stranded on the planet Rhui without the means to communicate to her brother, the Duke in charge of the planets in this territory. Tess attempts to get to the bottom of a supposed conspiracy against her brother by the Chapalii, an alien race that rules all territories. All science fiction in this books stems from this background but isn’t an integral part to the story, as Rhui is a planet populated by nomadic people quite similar to Arabs 2000 years or more ago on Earth. I don’t mean this in the least pejorative. According to Wikipedia in Biblical etymology, "Arab" (in Hebrew Arvi {{he:ערבי}}) comes from the desert origin of the people (Arava means wilderness). It is quite interesting how intricate and realistic the Jaran society and customs are depicted throughout the plot. Kate Elliott really did a good job creating this nomadic world. And for a while there I was really immersed into the story.
But Jaran is not really a science fiction novel and I sorely missed this element. I mean if something is taking place in the future, and space travel, alien races and intergalactic politics and intrigues are mentioned you want to see them played out. But for the main part this story takes place in an environment equal to 500 BC in the Middle East on Earth. Why look so far afield when there is so much close at hand?
Another complaint from my part: this story moves damn slowly. I mean Tess is learning the language of the tribe of this planet and learning to ride and trying to understand the very different culture and them she learns songs and native legends and myths. That's all well and good, but 35% into the story the romance didn't even start, not even romantic interest is really shown. Instead she is having casual sex with someone else.
In addition, the charismatic Jaran ruler, Ilya, is not that charismatic to me. He doesn’t talk much, he has a beard and imho he is something of a fanatic, who tries to lead a holy war. I couldn’t get this picture out of my head, and even the fluid grace of his walk, couldn’t make up for the facial hair and his brooding character.
The missing romance is a minor part compared to the overall missing emotions. I don’t care about the characters. I don’t care about the supposed conspiracy and Kate Elliott didn’t make me care. Conversations are ruled by customary phrasings and conduct: men talk to women this way, women to women talk this way. If a man touches you on your arm it means this, if he touches you on your shoulder it means something completely different. It’s all a bunch of traditions and norms, semantic nuances and honestly: Who the fuck cares? And to top it off there is this moment where they ride through the landscape and Ilya and Tess suddenly start talking about Newton and Aristotle and Plato.
My conclusion: this book is simply not for me, but I really understand what people like about it. It’s just not the right time for me to read it.
February 27, 2015
I wanted to like this book. For the first half or so, I was very happy and making favorable comparisons to Damar. (There will be major spoilers for the rest of the book. Enter at your own risk.)In short, I couldn't stand this book and will no longer read any Kate Elliot.
September 6, 2011
The five word summary of “Genghis Khan meets Jane Austen” is accurate, but fails to encompass the rich world building and the wonderful story in this book. The heroine, Tess, is the much younger sister of the only human to lead a revolt against humanities’ (mostly) benevolent conquerors, the Chapalii. The Chapalii, having quashed this revolt, reward Charles with an interstellar dukedom. Making him the only human in the upper echelons of Chapalii society. Tess is his heir, but she would rather be almost anything other than that. She starts the story by running away, but not quite the way she intended. Her curiosity about the odd behavior of the Chapalii leads her to follow them into a preindustrial world her brother has quarantined.
Stumbling though the steppes without water, Tess is rescued by Ilyakoria Bahktiian - a university-trained Jaran horse-nomad intent on uniting the clans in order to drive the cities from the steppes. Tess is immediately adopted into his clan, and then finds that Ilya is playing tour-guide to the Chapalii because they’re paying him in the horses he’ll need for his up-coming campaign. Tess inveigles her way into accompanying Ilya and the Chapalii on their tour, thus embarking on a journey both of self discovery and fraught romance.
The romance between Ilya and Tess reminds me a lot of Cordelia and Aral in Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold (enough so, that I had to go immediately re-read that old favorite!). The world building is complex and nuanced – both the Jaran and the Chapalii have their own separate history and traditions. It reminds me a bit of Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders saga, in the slowly-revealed history and the complexity of the back-story.
Stumbling though the steppes without water, Tess is rescued by Ilyakoria Bahktiian - a university-trained Jaran horse-nomad intent on uniting the clans in order to drive the cities from the steppes. Tess is immediately adopted into his clan, and then finds that Ilya is playing tour-guide to the Chapalii because they’re paying him in the horses he’ll need for his up-coming campaign. Tess inveigles her way into accompanying Ilya and the Chapalii on their tour, thus embarking on a journey both of self discovery and fraught romance.
The romance between Ilya and Tess reminds me a lot of Cordelia and Aral in Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold (enough so, that I had to go immediately re-read that old favorite!). The world building is complex and nuanced – both the Jaran and the Chapalii have their own separate history and traditions. It reminds me a bit of Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders saga, in the slowly-revealed history and the complexity of the back-story.
Read
November 3, 2019So I got this book from a HumbleBundle female authored-SFF - in which I have others books to target for - so I actually did not have any expectation at all, considering it as a bonus.
I should have read the description and some reviews first before proposing it as a BR. Sorry, friends!
Tried 50 to 60 pages and it was a slog. Worldbuilding was weird and semi chaotic, the main female character was dull, and I just don't like the story when a woman entering a foreign culture then suddenly entered into a marriage, underwear, which-hot-male-you-gonna-bang-first discussion, all leading to a more romance trajectory....while not addressing the fact that she was not supposed to be there and there's like a planetary-political upheaval going on. So yeah...peace out.
I should have read the description and some reviews first before proposing it as a BR. Sorry, friends!
Tried 50 to 60 pages and it was a slog. Worldbuilding was weird and semi chaotic, the main female character was dull, and I just don't like the story when a woman entering a foreign culture then suddenly entered into a marriage, underwear, which-hot-male-you-gonna-bang-first discussion, all leading to a more romance trajectory....while not addressing the fact that she was not supposed to be there and there's like a planetary-political upheaval going on. So yeah...peace out.
October 14, 2018
Premise: The sister of an influential interstellar duke accidentally finds herself on one of the planets her brother is in charge of. She discovers a conspiracy amongst an alien race in addition to finding her own identity independent of her brother.
Review: Although I wanted to like this novel more than I did, the underlying message of "just embrace your gender identity and gender roles!" wasn't working well for me. The book's primary theme revolved around the protagonist, Tess, accepting her feminine side and being accepted by the Jaran tribe as a woman. She does, admittedly, defy some gender roles by insisting on riding with the tribe hunters. However, she is only able to succeed in this because the men make allowances for her and help her at every step of the way. She has a few other moments as well, involving flouting the normal marriage/relationship dynamic in the tribe. Despite these, I couldn't help but feel that all of her genuine successes in the book were due to her deciding to accept her place as a woman, since she would be happiest there. She is often extremely passive in decision-making and is strongly influenced by the men around her, who often coddle her or make decisions for her (tricking her into hiding her away from a battle, et cetera).
It also ended up being a bit more of a romance than I anticipated. I'll be honest in that I'm sometimes a sucker for romance... but the "will she-won't she?" thing gets kind of old, and it was a major theme throughout the whole book. In the end, her decision in the matter was taken from her, which was another strike against her independence.
I went in with high hopes for Kate Elliot, as it would have been great to have another wonderful woman author to add to my shelf. At the end of the day, this book just fell flat for me with the portrayal of gender. It feels like Elliot was half-heartedly trying to be progressive in many areas, but still ended up robbing the protagonist of her agency in 90% of circumstances. I didn't dislike the book and felt like I got something out of reading it, but I don't think I'll be picking up another Kate Elliot novel in the near future.
Review: Although I wanted to like this novel more than I did, the underlying message of "just embrace your gender identity and gender roles!" wasn't working well for me. The book's primary theme revolved around the protagonist, Tess, accepting her feminine side and being accepted by the Jaran tribe as a woman. She does, admittedly, defy some gender roles by insisting on riding with the tribe hunters. However, she is only able to succeed in this because the men make allowances for her and help her at every step of the way. She has a few other moments as well, involving flouting the normal marriage/relationship dynamic in the tribe. Despite these, I couldn't help but feel that all of her genuine successes in the book were due to her deciding to accept her place as a woman, since she would be happiest there. She is often extremely passive in decision-making and is strongly influenced by the men around her, who often coddle her or make decisions for her (tricking her into hiding her away from a battle, et cetera).
It also ended up being a bit more of a romance than I anticipated. I'll be honest in that I'm sometimes a sucker for romance... but the "will she-won't she?" thing gets kind of old, and it was a major theme throughout the whole book. In the end, her decision in the matter was taken from her, which was another strike against her independence.
I went in with high hopes for Kate Elliot, as it would have been great to have another wonderful woman author to add to my shelf. At the end of the day, this book just fell flat for me with the portrayal of gender. It feels like Elliot was half-heartedly trying to be progressive in many areas, but still ended up robbing the protagonist of her agency in 90% of circumstances. I didn't dislike the book and felt like I got something out of reading it, but I don't think I'll be picking up another Kate Elliot novel in the near future.
October 21, 2018
This book was not what I thought it was going to be.
I picked up this book because I had heard it dealt with a matriarchal culture and I was intrigued. I enjoy reading about matriarchies, and I was hoping for a woman-focused book with a lot of strong female characters interacting with each other, shaping events, taking action, and basically exercising a great deal of agency.
That's not what I got.
The people in this book, the Jaran, are basically matriarchal "in name only." Women are supposedly powerful, and supposedly exercise control over the clans .... but we see almost none of this as the most active and dynamic character by far is a man, Ilya Bakhtoriin. He is the head of the all-male jahar, or warrior group, of the Jaran clans, and he has dreams of conquest. He wants to unite all the Jaran and lead the jahar against the settled people of the towns, the khaja. He's basically a proto-Genghis Khan.
What do the women, the supposedly powerful matriarchs of the clans, think about this? Do they encourage this? Do they want to stop him? Is there a wise old crone around who either has decreed this shall be done or is determined to put this young whipper-snapper in his place? Well, the women don't seem to care one way or the other. They know Ilya has dreams but they seem remarkably unconcerned about this literally world-shaping vision of his, content to stick to gossiping about who is sleeping with who and who gets what tent. You see the affairs of the jahar are men's matters and have nothing to do with women. Their attitude seems basically to be "Well, Ilya gonna do what Ilya gonna do, and it doesn't have much to do with us."
It's possible there are Jaran women out there who are more proactive about this, but we just don't see them. That would be *very* possible in fact because the vast majority of this book about a supposedly matriarchal culture in which women are dominant is taken up with following the doings of Alpha Male Ilya and his all-male warrior band as they ride across the plains, waging and winning battles, outwitting political rivals, and so on. The message of the book couldn't be clearer: men have agency; women are just along for the ride.
Literally, in fact, and this brings me to the second part of the book that I didn't like. Ilya's jaran is not *quite* all male, no. There is one woman riding with it. Her name is Tess and she is the book's main character. Tess is an offworlder. She is the younger sister of Charles, the nobleman whose domains include Rhuy, the planet the action takes place on. In this book, humanity is something of a client species under the rulership of the Chapalii, a patriarchal advanced alien race. Yes, their name sounds like pasta noodles and yes, it is distracting and makes it difficult to take them seriously. Charles is the only human who's managed to achieve a title from the Chapalii, and under their extremely hierarchical rules, Tess is his only heir, even if she's a woman.
As a female character, Tess leaves a lot to be desired. She ends up on stranded on Rhuy after making a stupid decision that results in her getting left behind accidentally while her ship takes off, whence she is picked up by the Jaran. The Jaran, a pre-industrial culture, aren't aware of space travel or aliens so she has to conceal her background, telling them that she's the sister of a nobleman (true) and she needs to make it to the nearest large city, Jeds, to contact her brother (true, she needs to tell him some vagely important information about what the Chapalii are doing here).
Tess is very much a bog-standard romance protagonist (because despite what it was billed as, this is, in fact a romance novel). She has no particularly interesting character traits, and no skills whatsoever that would be useful in Jaran society, despite the fact that it would not be beyond the realm of probability for her to, say, have taken riding lessons, or done archery or fencing. She does have a standard-issue emo college break-up to angst over for a bit, but that doesn't help. Nor do her feelings of being in her brother's shadow and being out of place in his world help because we don't see enough of her brother's world before the action starts for it to feel "real." To be fair, she is Spunky (tm) and Feisty (tm) -- which honestly are two of my *least* favorite female character traits. By dint of this spunkiness, she manages to strong-arm Ilya into taking her with his jahar to help her get to Jeds, along with two Chapalii whom she wants to keep an eye on -- and the romance begins.
This brings me to another point: I *really* don't care for romance novels, and this one was hitting all the spots about romance novels that I don't like. Female protagonist passes up sweet, caring, respectful man to crush on brooding, arrogant alpha douchebag? Check. We're supposed to somehow find douchebag's arrogance attractive? Check. Female character is one-down to alpha douchebag even if she could have some attributes that place her as his equal or even -- gasp -- superior? Check. Female character has little agency and is dragged along in alpha douchebag's wake? Check. Alpha douchebag is somehow mysteriously attracted to female even though she displays no interesting attributes whatsover? Check. Alpha douchebag has secret pain that we're supposed to feel sorry for him about somehow? Check.
I *really* didn't like Ilya -- of course, I don't really care for speshul, god-like alpha douchebags to begin with, so that didn't help. My feelings toward him were basically mild to mediocre dislike for about two thirds of the book, until he pulled a certain particular stunt with Tess that tipped them over into outright hatred. In real life, that stunt should have caused Tess to be blindingly furious with him, completely re-evaluate everything she had ever known about his character, and eject him forcefully from her life forever, having recognized him as a thoroughly toxic, abusive, controlling creep with no respect for her, her boundaries, her free will, or anything else about her. And yes, they did have a cute little lover's spat over it for a chapter or two (if it even lasted that long). But even as I read it, I felt a sinking dread in the pit of my stomach because I knew the signs, and yes; she forgives him and by the end of the book they get their HEA.
(Someone else pointed out that Tess shows a remarkable lack of concern for the fact that her main squeeze Ilya's plans involve bringing brutal violence, death, destruction and war to thousands of innocent people; this is certainly true and ... not exactly a point in her favor.)
This isn't a bad book. It's well written, and Elliot has a vivid descriptive style. People who like romances will probably like this. But it wasn't what I thought I was getting when I picked it up, and in fact it was several things I really, really don't care for. I was disappointed, and don't think I'll check out the rest of the series.
I picked up this book because I had heard it dealt with a matriarchal culture and I was intrigued. I enjoy reading about matriarchies, and I was hoping for a woman-focused book with a lot of strong female characters interacting with each other, shaping events, taking action, and basically exercising a great deal of agency.
That's not what I got.
The people in this book, the Jaran, are basically matriarchal "in name only." Women are supposedly powerful, and supposedly exercise control over the clans .... but we see almost none of this as the most active and dynamic character by far is a man, Ilya Bakhtoriin. He is the head of the all-male jahar, or warrior group, of the Jaran clans, and he has dreams of conquest. He wants to unite all the Jaran and lead the jahar against the settled people of the towns, the khaja. He's basically a proto-Genghis Khan.
What do the women, the supposedly powerful matriarchs of the clans, think about this? Do they encourage this? Do they want to stop him? Is there a wise old crone around who either has decreed this shall be done or is determined to put this young whipper-snapper in his place? Well, the women don't seem to care one way or the other. They know Ilya has dreams but they seem remarkably unconcerned about this literally world-shaping vision of his, content to stick to gossiping about who is sleeping with who and who gets what tent. You see the affairs of the jahar are men's matters and have nothing to do with women. Their attitude seems basically to be "Well, Ilya gonna do what Ilya gonna do, and it doesn't have much to do with us."
It's possible there are Jaran women out there who are more proactive about this, but we just don't see them. That would be *very* possible in fact because the vast majority of this book about a supposedly matriarchal culture in which women are dominant is taken up with following the doings of Alpha Male Ilya and his all-male warrior band as they ride across the plains, waging and winning battles, outwitting political rivals, and so on. The message of the book couldn't be clearer: men have agency; women are just along for the ride.
Literally, in fact, and this brings me to the second part of the book that I didn't like. Ilya's jaran is not *quite* all male, no. There is one woman riding with it. Her name is Tess and she is the book's main character. Tess is an offworlder. She is the younger sister of Charles, the nobleman whose domains include Rhuy, the planet the action takes place on. In this book, humanity is something of a client species under the rulership of the Chapalii, a patriarchal advanced alien race. Yes, their name sounds like pasta noodles and yes, it is distracting and makes it difficult to take them seriously. Charles is the only human who's managed to achieve a title from the Chapalii, and under their extremely hierarchical rules, Tess is his only heir, even if she's a woman.
As a female character, Tess leaves a lot to be desired. She ends up on stranded on Rhuy after making a stupid decision that results in her getting left behind accidentally while her ship takes off, whence she is picked up by the Jaran. The Jaran, a pre-industrial culture, aren't aware of space travel or aliens so she has to conceal her background, telling them that she's the sister of a nobleman (true) and she needs to make it to the nearest large city, Jeds, to contact her brother (true, she needs to tell him some vagely important information about what the Chapalii are doing here).
Tess is very much a bog-standard romance protagonist (because despite what it was billed as, this is, in fact a romance novel). She has no particularly interesting character traits, and no skills whatsoever that would be useful in Jaran society, despite the fact that it would not be beyond the realm of probability for her to, say, have taken riding lessons, or done archery or fencing. She does have a standard-issue emo college break-up to angst over for a bit, but that doesn't help. Nor do her feelings of being in her brother's shadow and being out of place in his world help because we don't see enough of her brother's world before the action starts for it to feel "real." To be fair, she is Spunky (tm) and Feisty (tm) -- which honestly are two of my *least* favorite female character traits. By dint of this spunkiness, she manages to strong-arm Ilya into taking her with his jahar to help her get to Jeds, along with two Chapalii whom she wants to keep an eye on -- and the romance begins.
This brings me to another point: I *really* don't care for romance novels, and this one was hitting all the spots about romance novels that I don't like. Female protagonist passes up sweet, caring, respectful man to crush on brooding, arrogant alpha douchebag? Check. We're supposed to somehow find douchebag's arrogance attractive? Check. Female character is one-down to alpha douchebag even if she could have some attributes that place her as his equal or even -- gasp -- superior? Check. Female character has little agency and is dragged along in alpha douchebag's wake? Check. Alpha douchebag is somehow mysteriously attracted to female even though she displays no interesting attributes whatsover? Check. Alpha douchebag has secret pain that we're supposed to feel sorry for him about somehow? Check.
I *really* didn't like Ilya -- of course, I don't really care for speshul, god-like alpha douchebags to begin with, so that didn't help. My feelings toward him were basically mild to mediocre dislike for about two thirds of the book, until he pulled a certain particular stunt with Tess that tipped them over into outright hatred. In real life, that stunt should have caused Tess to be blindingly furious with him, completely re-evaluate everything she had ever known about his character, and eject him forcefully from her life forever, having recognized him as a thoroughly toxic, abusive, controlling creep with no respect for her, her boundaries, her free will, or anything else about her. And yes, they did have a cute little lover's spat over it for a chapter or two (if it even lasted that long). But even as I read it, I felt a sinking dread in the pit of my stomach because I knew the signs, and yes; she forgives him and by the end of the book they get their HEA.
(Someone else pointed out that Tess shows a remarkable lack of concern for the fact that her main squeeze Ilya's plans involve bringing brutal violence, death, destruction and war to thousands of innocent people; this is certainly true and ... not exactly a point in her favor.)
This isn't a bad book. It's well written, and Elliot has a vivid descriptive style. People who like romances will probably like this. But it wasn't what I thought I was getting when I picked it up, and in fact it was several things I really, really don't care for. I was disappointed, and don't think I'll check out the rest of the series.
February 15, 2024
This book will stick with me for the rest of my life. I can't wait to continue this series.
April 13, 2017
I haven't picked up this series since high school, and I found myself more engrossed as an adult than ever before. As a teen I mostly wanted to see an assertive heroine navigating her love life, as an adult I also appreciate the politics and supporting characters around her.
February 22, 2015
I have absolutely no idea what to think right now. Jaran combines familiar elements in a way that might be new, and yet when I look at it closely, might be derivative; events are telegraphed in a way that feels more obvious than organic; certainly a large part of the central relationship is nothing new at all.
Tess, as a political idea in a complicated power dynamic, is a fascinating character. As a person finding her way, her journey is much more typical: she's welcomed into strangers' homes because protagonists can't be allowed to die on the plains, she's compelling because she's foreign, which makes her attractive to everyone, and she's good at everything because - well, because she's the protagonist, I guess, and only significant people seem to have books center around them. She shakes up the gender politics in a way that's familiar to modern readers, even though the gender dynamics are different in the world of Jaran - an interesting inconsistency. Especially because one aspect of her relationship would make modern readers uncomfortable.
And yet it's well-written, which is where that sense of freshness comes from, I think. There's also a lack of obvious evil, a subtlety which is interesting for high fantasy. Jaran is - well, a good starting point would be Elizabeth Bear's non-European high fantasy. If you liked the idea of that but not the actual work, like I did, Jaran might be a good fit for you.
Tess, as a political idea in a complicated power dynamic, is a fascinating character. As a person finding her way, her journey is much more typical: she's welcomed into strangers' homes because protagonists can't be allowed to die on the plains, she's compelling because she's foreign, which makes her attractive to everyone, and she's good at everything because - well, because she's the protagonist, I guess, and only significant people seem to have books center around them. She shakes up the gender politics in a way that's familiar to modern readers, even though the gender dynamics are different in the world of Jaran - an interesting inconsistency. Especially because one aspect of her relationship would make modern readers uncomfortable.
And yet it's well-written, which is where that sense of freshness comes from, I think. There's also a lack of obvious evil, a subtlety which is interesting for high fantasy. Jaran is - well, a good starting point would be Elizabeth Bear's non-European high fantasy. If you liked the idea of that but not the actual work, like I did, Jaran might be a good fit for you.
October 28, 2011
The first book I've read solely by Kate Elliott, and the first she published (under this name.)
I'm not sure why I hadn't read anything by her previously, as I did love 'The Golden Key,' which she co-wrote.
'Jaran' was good enough that I'm now planning of reading more from her. It was a very enjoyable space opera. My one criticism, however, is that at times it seems a little unsure of where it's going, plot-wise. Our protagonist, Tess, is accidentally stranded on a primitive planet. To survive, she joins a nomad horse-clan - and also starts investigating a possible alien intrigue against her rich and powerful brother. However, the intrigue and investigation kinda falls by the wayside in favor of quite a lot of romance. I didn't mind as much as I usually would, because it was actually rather interesting and hot (though non-explicit) romance. It's just that at times, I was like, "hey! Tess! Aren't you worried about what those aliens are up to? Stop looking at that hot guy!" I'm just going to have to accept that she's an easily distracted individual.
Still, it was a fun book; although long it didn't drag at all, and I very much enjoyed the details of the unique culture that Tess finds herself in.
I'm not sure why I hadn't read anything by her previously, as I did love 'The Golden Key,' which she co-wrote.
'Jaran' was good enough that I'm now planning of reading more from her. It was a very enjoyable space opera. My one criticism, however, is that at times it seems a little unsure of where it's going, plot-wise. Our protagonist, Tess, is accidentally stranded on a primitive planet. To survive, she joins a nomad horse-clan - and also starts investigating a possible alien intrigue against her rich and powerful brother. However, the intrigue and investigation kinda falls by the wayside in favor of quite a lot of romance. I didn't mind as much as I usually would, because it was actually rather interesting and hot (though non-explicit) romance. It's just that at times, I was like, "hey! Tess! Aren't you worried about what those aliens are up to? Stop looking at that hot guy!" I'm just going to have to accept that she's an easily distracted individual.
Still, it was a fun book; although long it didn't drag at all, and I very much enjoyed the details of the unique culture that Tess finds herself in.
July 19, 2017
When I try to think about what I want to write about in this review, I have to keep coming back to Roger Ebert's famous and useful maxim "it's not what it's about, it's how it is about it." He's talking about movies, of course, but it's just as applicable to books. And that's where my troubles lie. I will defend strongly the idea that science fiction and romance should not be mutually exclusive categories, although I have to admit that I haven't loved the couple of entries into that hybrid genre I've read so far. I do not, however, think that good romance science fiction books can't be written.
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
March 30, 2012
[3 and 1/2 stars] A solid and engaging first novel from Kate Elliott, with fairly minimal SF elements and a strong focus on world-building. There's a comment from Judith Tarr on the cover that the book reminds her of C.J. Cherryh's work, and I can see that resemblance - however, this feels less of an intellectual puzzle/ almost clinical analysis of culture(s), with more emotional investment on the part of characters, writer and reader (this isn't a criticism of either author's approach, as I love them both). Certainly, there are hints of the magic Elliott works so very well in other, later books, with peoples and cultures in flux and the sense of the epic sweep of history. I'm interested to see where this is going!
September 11, 2013
This review can also be found on my blog, Snowflakes and Spider Silk.
It's books like these that keep me coming back to sci-fi. Jaran is set in a the future where alien species and humans coexist rather delicately, vying for power. This is only one side of this story, however, and a rather small side at that. The majority of the book hardly reads like science fiction at all - the protagonist, Tess, finds herself learning about and assimilating into the jaran culture, one that is markedly different from the Westernized world she has grown up in. Along the way, she builds friendships, thwarts foes, learns to wield a saber, falls in love, and ultimately discovers herself.
I loved the world of the Jaran. You would think the whole nomadic tribe concept would get stale, but Elliott delivers a world that I would almost want to live in. The women are the ones in charge in this culture, and the freedom they had to make decisions for themselves and their families was refreshing. I thought it interesting that while the women chose their lovers, the men chose their wives. The Jaran people ride like the wind upon their horses, always restless and searching for more to explore and experience. As Tess absorbs this new way of life, she really spreads her wings and becomes a far more liberated person, even though she her instinct is to hold herself back.
While the plot is slow-moving (the first half was especially long), I didn't really feel bored. I was captivated by the world and the mysteries of the characters and their individual motivations. You really get to know these characters, and they felt very real to me. Once things get going, though, things really pick up. They aren't really twists so much as bends in the road, shuffling the dynamics between characters and cultures as they learn more about one another.
Tess was an incredible main character. I really enjoyed reading about her transformation from someone burdened by her association with her infamous brother to someone free to live and love as she pleases. Bhakhtiian was equally dynamic and incredibly intense. You never quite know what he's up to or what he's really thinking, but you know for sure that this incredibly proud but very courageous man has something up his sleeve. I adored Yuri with all his babbling, and his relationship with Tess was really sweet. I didn't like Kirril much at first, but by the end of the novel I really liked him as well. Even the more minor characters had personality and none of them blended into one another. I will admit that I was a little confused with the dozens of names as more and more tribes and relationships were introduced, but it wasn't too bad.
The whole mystery involving the Chapallii didn't seem so relevant during the first half of the book other than the fact that it was why Tess came to the planet of the Jaran in the first place. I felt like the Chapallii conflict could have been a little more intense in the middle of the book, because it kind of fades before coming back full force towards the end. Still, there was definitely enough going on with the other subplots that I was entertained the whole way through.
I highly recommend this book!
*An e-copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
It's books like these that keep me coming back to sci-fi. Jaran is set in a the future where alien species and humans coexist rather delicately, vying for power. This is only one side of this story, however, and a rather small side at that. The majority of the book hardly reads like science fiction at all - the protagonist, Tess, finds herself learning about and assimilating into the jaran culture, one that is markedly different from the Westernized world she has grown up in. Along the way, she builds friendships, thwarts foes, learns to wield a saber, falls in love, and ultimately discovers herself.
I loved the world of the Jaran. You would think the whole nomadic tribe concept would get stale, but Elliott delivers a world that I would almost want to live in. The women are the ones in charge in this culture, and the freedom they had to make decisions for themselves and their families was refreshing. I thought it interesting that while the women chose their lovers, the men chose their wives. The Jaran people ride like the wind upon their horses, always restless and searching for more to explore and experience. As Tess absorbs this new way of life, she really spreads her wings and becomes a far more liberated person, even though she her instinct is to hold herself back.
While the plot is slow-moving (the first half was especially long), I didn't really feel bored. I was captivated by the world and the mysteries of the characters and their individual motivations. You really get to know these characters, and they felt very real to me. Once things get going, though, things really pick up. They aren't really twists so much as bends in the road, shuffling the dynamics between characters and cultures as they learn more about one another.
Tess was an incredible main character. I really enjoyed reading about her transformation from someone burdened by her association with her infamous brother to someone free to live and love as she pleases. Bhakhtiian was equally dynamic and incredibly intense. You never quite know what he's up to or what he's really thinking, but you know for sure that this incredibly proud but very courageous man has something up his sleeve. I adored Yuri with all his babbling, and his relationship with Tess was really sweet. I didn't like Kirril much at first, but by the end of the novel I really liked him as well. Even the more minor characters had personality and none of them blended into one another. I will admit that I was a little confused with the dozens of names as more and more tribes and relationships were introduced, but it wasn't too bad.
The whole mystery involving the Chapallii didn't seem so relevant during the first half of the book other than the fact that it was why Tess came to the planet of the Jaran in the first place. I felt like the Chapallii conflict could have been a little more intense in the middle of the book, because it kind of fades before coming back full force towards the end. Still, there was definitely enough going on with the other subplots that I was entertained the whole way through.
I highly recommend this book!
*An e-copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
September 13, 2021
I have read a few Kate Elliott books before and enjoyed them but this wasn't really my jam. It's a story of a woman who finds herself lost in an allien world and has to come to terms with this world in order to get back to her brother and the constraints of her life with him and finding that maybe a different life could be possible. Add to it some alien politics and some slightly dodgy rigid gender roles and you have a book that just didn't quite sit right with me.
I may return and read the next books in the series but I'm in no real rush.
I may return and read the next books in the series but I'm in no real rush.
May 10, 2016
Not exactly what I was expecting; Jaran reads like a fantasy but with other planets and an alien race thrown in. I was expecting more scifi. I liked this book but it took a really long time to get into. It was rather boring for a long time. There was a lot about Tess learning the culture, the language, learning to ride, and learning to use a weapon. I almost quit reading before I was halfway through, but the reviews I read said that it picked up after the halfway point, so I stuck with it, and I am glad that I stuck with it.
I liked the main character Tess. I thought she was true to herself and remained a strong woman who made her own choices, even though I didn't agree with a couple of the choices she made. I wasn't crazy about the casual attitude the Jaran people had about sex, especially even after they were married to someone else. But even with the casual sex those scenes are all left to the imagination. I really liked Ilya, Yuri and many of the other characters. I felt like they were very well drawn.
A bit of a spoiler here...
I was disappointed when she allowed her husband to mark her with the blade at the end of the book. Actually I cringed. Then was relieved when she marked him back, something no woman had ever done. I felt they were equal then, however I didn't like that they marked each other that way. I had hoped that she would not let him do that and maybe they could show the rest of the Jarans that you didn't have to mark someone like properly to be married to them.
I liked the main character Tess. I thought she was true to herself and remained a strong woman who made her own choices, even though I didn't agree with a couple of the choices she made. I wasn't crazy about the casual attitude the Jaran people had about sex, especially even after they were married to someone else. But even with the casual sex those scenes are all left to the imagination. I really liked Ilya, Yuri and many of the other characters. I felt like they were very well drawn.
A bit of a spoiler here...
I was disappointed when she allowed her husband to mark her with the blade at the end of the book. Actually I cringed. Then was relieved when she marked him back, something no woman had ever done. I felt they were equal then, however I didn't like that they marked each other that way. I had hoped that she would not let him do that and maybe they could show the rest of the Jarans that you didn't have to mark someone like properly to be married to them.
May 7, 2017
It's not Kate Elliott's greatest, but it's readable and well-written.
It's about horse-riding nomads IN SPACE.
Let me say that again.
HORSE-RIDING NOMADS IN SPACE.
Overall, most of the book is pretty standard girl-meets-another-much-less-advanced-culture-and-then-becomes-enchanted-with-it stuff plus some frontier romance plus friendships plus aliens. And horses. In space. There is also a political subplot concerning the heroine's much older brother, which I wish was more extensive. Perhaps in volume 2?
It's about horse-riding nomads IN SPACE.
Let me say that again.
HORSE-RIDING NOMADS IN SPACE.
Overall, most of the book is pretty standard girl-meets-another-much-less-advanced-culture-and-then-becomes-enchanted-with-it stuff plus some frontier romance plus friendships plus aliens. And horses. In space. There is also a political subplot concerning the heroine's much older brother, which I wish was more extensive. Perhaps in volume 2?
September 12, 2011
So engrossing. I'm not sure what this sub genre of science fiction is called, but it really works for me. It raises the anthropological issues that occur when different alien races meet but is set in the context of one culture on a planet, not as a space opera ... just fascinating. It did have a few Dances with Wolves/Avatar-ish moments, but Elliot doesn't get quite that cliche, thankfully. I love books involving a lot of land travel, and Elliott's descriptive writing style perfectly frames the landscapes, the buildings, etc. While this is the first book in a series and leaves many of the larger conflicts open, it ends in a satisfying way and can be read stand alone (good thing, since I can't get a hold of the 2nd book, which is out of print).
p.s. I oddly love Yuri, Fedya, and Kirrill more than Ilya.
p.s. I oddly love Yuri, Fedya, and Kirrill more than Ilya.
October 4, 2022
I love it. It's one of the few books I've ever started re-reading immediately after finishing, because the characters journeyed so far during the story - I just had to go back and see it over again. The balance between the science fiction and the fantasy is perfect, and the splash of anthropology kept my interest. The Jaran society Elliott has built is unique and completely believable. The characters feel realistic, and speak and act naturally. Nothing jarred, and watching Tess integrate herself into Jaran culture from being a complete outsider was fascinating.
This remains one of my favorite books 15 years after my first reading, and I probably read it at least once a year. I'm already on my second copy, the first having worn out.
This remains one of my favorite books 15 years after my first reading, and I probably read it at least once a year. I'm already on my second copy, the first having worn out.
May 24, 2021
I loved this book! It reminded me somewhat of Ursula K. LeGuin's books (and I can't pay a higher compliment than that), because it's kind of an anthropological science fiction story, with overlapping alien races who know about each other but don't know each other. It's old school, and yet it's fresh, and I enjoyed and was engaged by the way it unfolded. I'm going to keep going with the series, as soon as I can get my hands on book #2. Please please please let the entire series be as good as the first!
December 30, 2013
Kind of old-school (and loooong) SFF, but I loved this book - I was totally absorbed by Tess and Ilya’s relationship and the slow-burning tension between the two of them, set against the background of the Jaran culture. I also have a soft spot for those SF/fantasy hybrids, and this was one of them.
August 27, 2013
I'm so glad these books are out as ebooks at last and I can reread them easily. I first read this when it came out and it was lovely to read again. I'm not going to dive into the next one immediately, but I'm looking forward to gowing back to Rhui again.
April 10, 2014
This was the second time I've read Jaran - but the first time in 13 years - and I loved it even more this time 'round. Fabulous, fun, smart and romantic space opera, all of it centered around a really wonderful heroine.
April 9, 2017
Huh.. Not what I was expecting at all!
So I loved the Crossroads series by Kate Elliot (Spirit Gate, Shadow Gate, and Traitors' Gate) I was expecting more of the same... and I sort of got it... maybe.
This is supposedly a science fiction story - there are aliens and spaceships and other trappings of scifi, but the meat of the story is set on a "medieval" world among a whole bunch of steppe horse-lords :) The titular "Jaran" tribes. If you have read Outlander then you have the same kind of idea going on.
The really good part of this story was the culture clash, and getting to know the jaran culture. Tess is the our point of view character, an earthling from a privileged background who gets accidentally involved in an alien plot to do something on this primitive world (that happens to be owned by her brother and is a kind of nature preserve?) The alien plot and all the sci-fi happenings are an occasional intrusion into a story that feels more like dances with wolves - an outsider from a civilised area being brought in and learning to love a primitive culture because it is more "honest" in some way.
The Jaran are really interesting -something like medieval mongolians or huns, with a young warrior just starting out on his quest to unite the tribes and war on the settled people of his world. Like outlander there is a romance story in here, but the meat of the story is all about cultural assimilation and change.
I understand this is one of the author's earlier books, and it shows as the characters are (pretty much) stereotypes and not up to the level of her later books.
Nonetheless, I will be getting to the rest of this series someday soon. (I hope)
So I loved the Crossroads series by Kate Elliot (Spirit Gate, Shadow Gate, and Traitors' Gate) I was expecting more of the same... and I sort of got it... maybe.
This is supposedly a science fiction story - there are aliens and spaceships and other trappings of scifi, but the meat of the story is set on a "medieval" world among a whole bunch of steppe horse-lords :) The titular "Jaran" tribes. If you have read Outlander then you have the same kind of idea going on.
The really good part of this story was the culture clash, and getting to know the jaran culture. Tess is the our point of view character, an earthling from a privileged background who gets accidentally involved in an alien plot to do something on this primitive world (that happens to be owned by her brother and is a kind of nature preserve?) The alien plot and all the sci-fi happenings are an occasional intrusion into a story that feels more like dances with wolves - an outsider from a civilised area being brought in and learning to love a primitive culture because it is more "honest" in some way.
The Jaran are really interesting -something like medieval mongolians or huns, with a young warrior just starting out on his quest to unite the tribes and war on the settled people of his world. Like outlander there is a romance story in here, but the meat of the story is all about cultural assimilation and change.
I understand this is one of the author's earlier books, and it shows as the characters are (pretty much) stereotypes and not up to the level of her later books.
Nonetheless, I will be getting to the rest of this series someday soon. (I hope)
February 13, 2022
I'm a romantic at the core, but I hate pretty much anything from the romance genre as such, because it's usually unbearably shallow and cliched.
It took me a while to get into this book because the introduction felt lacking for details, and I was rolling my eyes when I started suspecting the male protagonist (MP) would become a love interest. There are certainly some cliches and red flags there. But as the book progressed, I found myself liking more and more how Elliott skillfully and seamlessly weaved the heroine's inner conflict between her realistic concerns, her pride, and her feelings, with her independent behavior, and the very slowly burning, but continuously intensifying romance. I liked how the conversations between characters became more and more thoughtful. I liked the variety and individuality of other characters. I thought the book struck a nice balance between story, romance, companionship, danger, and exploring more than one culture.
Speaking of culture, I appreciated how Elliott made both the alien and the human culture in some ways constructive, and in some ways very weird or unfair. Unlike some reviews I read here, I don't have puritan and perfectionist expectations - I think it's very realistic that cultures involve a certain level of outright stupidity, just as any existing culture on Earth. However, I did feel comforted by the level of respect and honor shown to women in jaran culture, even if it wasn't perfect - in fact, if it was perfect, it would just be cheesy. Its faults made it more believable.
The uncovering and "softening" of the MP was also slow, bumpy, and imperfect, therefore believable. Although I still very much dislike his warmongering attitude and I hope the author will find some solutions to avoid major wars in the sequels.
It took me a while to get into this book because the introduction felt lacking for details, and I was rolling my eyes when I started suspecting the male protagonist (MP) would become a love interest. There are certainly some cliches and red flags there. But as the book progressed, I found myself liking more and more how Elliott skillfully and seamlessly weaved the heroine's inner conflict between her realistic concerns, her pride, and her feelings, with her independent behavior, and the very slowly burning, but continuously intensifying romance. I liked how the conversations between characters became more and more thoughtful. I liked the variety and individuality of other characters. I thought the book struck a nice balance between story, romance, companionship, danger, and exploring more than one culture.
Speaking of culture, I appreciated how Elliott made both the alien and the human culture in some ways constructive, and in some ways very weird or unfair. Unlike some reviews I read here, I don't have puritan and perfectionist expectations - I think it's very realistic that cultures involve a certain level of outright stupidity, just as any existing culture on Earth. However, I did feel comforted by the level of respect and honor shown to women in jaran culture, even if it wasn't perfect - in fact, if it was perfect, it would just be cheesy. Its faults made it more believable.
The uncovering and "softening" of the MP was also slow, bumpy, and imperfect, therefore believable. Although I still very much dislike his warmongering attitude and I hope the author will find some solutions to avoid major wars in the sequels.
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