The Awakened City

Way of Ârata #2

by Victoria Strauss

Following her acclaimed novel "The Burning Land", Victoria Strauss delivers a powerful tale of faith and persecution, forbidden magic, love, and redemption. . . .

After long years of oppression, the Kingdom of Arsace has reclaimed the capital city of Ninyâser and the First Temple of Ârata. But the powerful Brethren can tolerate no challenge to their rule of the Âratist church, and an expedition to destroy the secret colony of Refuge, home to ancient mysteries and heretical sorcery, has become the catalyst for war.

Râvar, the last and mightiest of Refuge’s hidden Shapers, vows vengeance against the Brethren and the god he believes has abandoned him. Kidnapping the Dreamer Axane to aid him in his quest, he claims the title of Next Messenger, harbinger of the world’s rebirth into a new age of light, and, with his army of fanatical followers, marches on the holy city of Baushpar. As Arsace races to prepare for battle, the Shaper and former priest Gyalo Amdo Samchen must leave his peaceful life behind to save Axane--and to confront, at last, his own terrifying destiny.

Against a backdrop of war, insurrection, and sacrifice, two powerful Shapers must discover who is the true Next Messenger, a quest that could transform their world...or utterly destroy it.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

464 pages, Hardcover

First published March 14, 2006

About the author

I'm the author of nine novels for adults and young adults, including the Stone duology ("The Arm of the Stone" and "The Garden of the Stone"); the Way of Arata duology ("The Burning Land" and "The Awakened City"); and "Passion Blue" and "Color Song," a pair of historical novels for teens. I've reviewed books for SF Site, Black Gate, and Fantasy magazine, and my articles on writing and how to get published have appeared in Writer’s Digest and elsewhere. In 2006, I served as a judge for the World Fantasy Awards.

I'm an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), and co-founder, with Ann Crispin, of Writer Beware, a publishing industry watchdog group that warns about literary schemes and scams. I maintain the Writer Beware website, blog, and Facebook pages, and I was honored with the SFWA Service Award in 2009.

Reviews

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel to 'The Burning Land.' (I would recommend starting with that one first.)

For centuries, Âratist doctrine has promised the coming of the Next Messenger - a prophet of the god who will come out of the Burning Land, bearing the blood of the god. His coming will be marked by an act of destruction and an act of generation.

When, in the last book, Brother Gyalo Amdo Samchen returned from his dangerous mission to the Burning Lands, he met all of those criteria - but it was noted by only a few. The Brethren - leaders of his religion - were too busy denouncing him as an apostate to note that there was an option to see him as holy.

Now, one of the last survivors of the 'heretic' settlement known as Refuge is out for revenge - against the Brethren and the whole world. A talented Shaper, Râvan is also arrogant, violent and self-entitled. He intentionally sets himself up as a false prophet, claiming to be the Next Messenger, with the aim of destroying everything and everyone he can, body and soul.

Tales of prophecy are all too common in the fantasy genre, but Strauss does manage to accomplish something complex and original here, through her story of two possible prophets and an interesting ambiguity about which - if either - of them is actually fulfilling the god's will. It's also nice that she gets in the fact that there are alternate viewpoints - including atheism and those of members of other religions altogether.

However, it was disappointing that Axane, one of the main characters of the previous book, spends most of this one as a prisoner, meaning she doesn't get to do much, and has little viewpoint-time given to her.

The book also spends a great deal of time with Râvan - who is just not someone who's what you could call fun to spend time with.

In addition to Râvan and Gyalo, this volume introduces the viewpoint of Sundit, an elderly woman who's one of the Brethren. Her chapters give an interesting insight into religious schisms and also, eventually, give voice to a doubt the reader might have had about some of the tenets of the Âratist church.

Worthwhile reading both for fantasy fans, and for those interested in the power structures and methodologies of religion and belief.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Media for the opportunity to read this book. As always, my opinions are solely my own.

[Metaphorosis · Rating 4 out of 5]

reviews.metaphorosis.com

3.5 stars

Gyalo and Axane have tried to fade into normal life, despite his status as a powerful, apostate Shaper, and hers as one of only two survivors of distant Refuge. But the other survivor, Râvar, is claiming to be the long-awaited Second Messenger of the god Ârata, and gradually, he draws Axane, Gyalo, and the entire country into his vengeful design.

The prequel to this book, The Burning Land, was a well-imagined exploration of religious faith, hampered by some structural problems, and weakened by the author's unwillingness to explore the issue as deeply as she might have. The Awakened City follows a similar path, though happily with better structure.

The Burning Land suffered from poor sequencing, with long, slow flashbacks and info-dumps getting in the way of the story. Similar problems afflict The Awakened City - poor sequencing, and unnecessary repetition, but after the first third, the book finds its pace. It starts, as did the prequel, with a religious/mythological text, but with the context now familiar, this one is far more interesting.

Strauss again declines to dig as deeply into her concept as she might. She steers clear of answers to the world's major religious question - does god exist or not? Strauss does offer some hints, only to undercut them later. It's a reasonable literary decision to provide no easy answers, but the argument is weakened by Strauss' choice of at least one of the narrative points of view, which should have answered at least one of the mysteries, and thus hinted strongly at the major questions.

I wish that Strauss had taken a position, but since she doesn't the story also has to work well as an adventure, and here she's more successful. Gyalo and Râvar both undergo quite a bit of soul searching, and it's well-handled. While these key characters are frustrating from the outside, internally they're complex and credible. While Strauss could have taken each of them further, the path of each protagonist is fairly satisfying.

What's left out is information about Axane's psyche. We see her mainly from Gyalo's perspective, and I think that does her a disservice. She's the logical third point of a character triangle, and a strong character in her own right. Where in the first book, she provided a key point of view, here she's mainly a maiden-in-distress prop. Not only could she have provided another narrative view, (and I'd rather have had her than Sundit - one of the religious rulers), she'd have offered a key perspective on the book's central religious theme. Plus, I could have sworn she played a greater theological role - in fact, I still think she does, though Strauss nowhere specifically implies this.

There are a few odds and ends that should have been tidied up - some careless errors of consistency, some loose ends, but largely this is a good book, and better than its predecessor. Strauss missed some chances to make the duology great, but it's still much worth reading.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what I was expecting but after really liking the first book in this series, this one was good but a bit of a letdown. Still well worth reading with some standout ideas and writing.
Likes: I still found the exploration of belief and disbelief interesting, especially in the context of the author not saying positively one way or the other who is right and providing compelling evidence for both.

Dislikes: one of my favorite characters disappeared :/ and I didn't like how Axane is relegated to prisoner and acted upon instead of taking action. Gyalo has changed a lot and I was sad at the end.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed this book for NetGalley.

Once again, we travel to the Kingdom of Arsace with Ms. Strauss. And again, religious themes are the central core of the novel.

This novel deals with religious intolerance, revenge and false vs. true prophets. Very interesting and thought provoking, as was the first novel. We worth reading if you're into this type of fantasy.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating book about love and religion. I found it fascinating as the book explored two Messengers--one who claims to be called of God as the act of ultimate sacrilege, believing that God has betrayed him--and one who is called of God, but has difficulty accepting it.