Runedance
Series: The Sagathas Bard, #2
Author: Beth Hudson
Genre: Fantasy
Book Description:
A deadly curse will shape a young king’s future.
The gods have given Traedis Atenel the kingship of Tolin. Already she has stopped the export of assassins and altered her country’s destructive course. Still, not everyone agrees with the changes she has made. Her uncle and brother are leading a rebellion, and they will not hold back simply because Traedis is family. And the curse that binds her pulls tighter with each move she makes.
With a lethal deadline looming over her, Traedis needs to find her uncle before it’s too late. But a new danger has emerged, and now she must learn the secrets of bardic runes before they topple her rule.
Review:
I really enjoyed Traedis – and her friends – throughout this book. I loved getting back into Traedis’ adventures. Her struggles as someone who’s really good at heart, and really committed to her ideals, but who is also chained by a lot of trauma and insecurity, as she struggles to be king of the city the gods gave her are refreshing. That is one of the things Runedance starts to explore in Traedis’ relationships. There are some really well-done and striking scenes, in which Traedis is talking to someone who really cares about her from outside her city, and the things her family did to her that she thinks are normal are utterly appalling to him.
Given some of the pressures currently placed on Traedis, I was a bit worried that she would end up compromising her character, and so much of what I loved about Goldsong is that even when pressed, even when she doesn’t see a way out, she does not compromise. But with the way her trauma and past is being dealt with, even though that pressure is not resolved yet, I’m a lot less worried it will become a compromise. Traedis is being urged to grow out of her slavish feelings about certain family members, and confronted with some of the horrible things her beloved uncle does to her – not just in the past, but in the present – she seems like she might be getting ready to reconsider her loyalty to him. To realize in a way that’s actually heartfelt that being biologically related to her isn’t really the same as family. And she needs to stop making excuses for her family who’ve abused her since she was a little child that she wouldn’t make for anyone else.
It seems like all these things are developing in an organic way that doesn’t have to mean she compromises her idealism or her character.
I can’t say that I know how I feel or think about everything, but I enjoyed a lot of the themes and discussions in the story. I really enjoyed the magic, and – among other things – I particularly noticed Ymre’s approach to teaching Traedis the runes, and his emphasis on intuitive understanding and learning of them. She has to get to know them for herself, not just be taught them, if she’s ever to do them well.
I also enjoyed the way we continue to delve deeper into the natural world, and also in the magic and history of other peoples. Everything hangs together – constellations and dragons, magic of earth and gods and runes and music and snow. There’s a really fun scene where Traedis speaks to the snow. I mean it’s kind of heavy, so not really fun, but the snow is fun. I love a main character with this kind of connection to the world. I simply can’t note everything about this book and its magic that I liked.
It was also fun getting to know more of the people in this world, more of its history and world-building. Though there were a few things I did not understand: for example, given how the gods seem to choose and bless the kings, why is it important for them to marry and have children?
I really enjoyed the character of Dame Jae-Jae. She’s a herald of the gods, once mortal, now not really mortal, and she only appears briefly, yet I could really see her and feel her personality, even in those short interactions. That’s just one instance in many of the rich, lush world-building that I really enjoyed.
I did, however, find this book even more overwhelming and confusing than Goldsong when it comes to keeping track and putting together all the pieces of Traedis’ previous adventures. They have so much bearing on her current abilities and relationships with both gods and kings and servants of gods, and they’re quite complicated. Combine that with the complex and intricate events unfolding in the book itself, and I have a hard time sometimes of making sense of things. I’d really like a timeline of the major events of her life. Or a prequel series. Lol. Or both. The timeline, please? At least?
I do find at times the emphasis on certain forms of honor are a little overdone. There’s a situation where someone who is not innocent at all gets hurt, and while maybe that’s not the best way to do things … well, it’s not really as if it were as unprovoked as it’s made out to be. I can understand some people are bound by certain oaths of conduct, but … well, I’m not really sure I should be complaining. It’s more a thing of broad context. By which I don’t particularly mean The Sagathas Bard.
I want to finish this by saying this was a really fun read, in so many ways I don’t know how to count them all. I really enjoyed everything from the characters through the world-building. And it was easy to read, too. I remember complaining that Goldsong’s only flaw was being difficult to read. Runedance was not difficult to read. I was able to fly through it without exhausting myself on awkward sentences and word-choices.
Enthralled By Love 