The Collarbound

The best epic fantasy manages to make very big events feel very small and intimate. The Collarbound maybe takes this a bit too much to an extreme (there are so many grand events eluded to, but the entire book is set in the politics of a small university like environment). This book leaves more questions than it answers. Some people may find that frustrating, but for me that is actually one of the good things about this book. It leaves me intrigued about the world.

Beyond the grand world scale politics there is also a clear race politics motive going on. There are two very different peoples in this world, the humans and the Kher, and there is a lot of prejudice and discriminatory undercurrents.

This is not action packed fantasy. Instead it revels in the intricate details of the plotting, the small scale and petty lives overshadowed by the greater events. There is a rebellion going on, but this very distant and impacts only on the edges of the lives of people here.

The ideas are very clever, the world building intriguing in both its simultaneous grandeur and small scale detail. I don't think this will be for everyone - if you want all action bombast you wont find it here. But you will find epic fantasy on a small and intimate scale.

This story was very compelling. I found the mind based magic fascinating.

With rebellion in the air, Isha finds herself at the Nest. The Nest is a school for mages and a safe haven for refugees. In a tavern near the Nest, Isha meets a Collarbound named Tatters. He lets students practice their mind magic on him for a bit of coin. Isha is one of the strongest he's come across and she's only just starting her formal training. There's also something familiar about her. She has a tattoo on her face and he feels like he's seen it before.

As Isha and Tatters form a friendship and practice with each other, tensions are rising in the Nest.
With the country on the brink of war, Isha has to figure out what side she's on. The trouble is that she has strong ties to people on both sides. Either way, she will lose.

I really liked this one. The characters are great. Some I loved, others I hated. Hopefully they get what they deserve in the next book!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an early copy.