‘Red Sister’ by Mark Lawrence

5 Stars

Warning: There is one scene early in the book that contains animal cruelty/abuse. And yes I am still sad about it!

I don’t know what it is about Mark Lawrence but it takes me much much longer to read his pages than most other books out there! I consider myself a slow reader, but with his books I am a molasses reader. His writing style must vibrate at a different frequency than my brain’s cpu functions.

But what an amazing landscape his writing paints; just wow. I would classify Red Sister as dark academia with magic, melee, and fisticuffs. And that is just the nuns!

Red Sister is the first book in the series Book of The Ancestor. I found the world building very unique, certainly not the typical fantasy world. Set on an ice planet, yet not quite, a young girl is put on the path of slavery - to fighting ring - to the hangman’s noose - to a convent. She has to contemplate her place in the world and if prophecy is real or a just a story for ulterior motives. I honestly can’t tell if this is considered a fantasy or a science fiction story and if this is a ‘chosen one’ storyline our girl sure does get her ass handed to her just about every chapter!

Red Sister made me think. It unexpectedly surprised me by not following the usually tropes and plot twists. This is a dark story, heart wrenching at times, but you will want to keep turning the page (way after your bedtime) to see if your prediction for the main character is as spot on as Carnac the Magnificent.

Those of you who love young adult fantasy may not fully enjoy or appreciate the slow methodical pacing and the serious undertones to the plot.

- Steph
a doddering reader

(Yes. I used a curse word. You can stop clutching your pearls now.)