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Jhi'kaara, pathfinder of the Tau fire caste, reflects upon the events and battles that have shaped her life and given her the meaning of her name: broken mirror.
13 pages, ebook
First published December 22, 2012
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August 3, 2019
She nods at her scarred shadow, acknowledging the moment when perfection withered and doubt blossomed – the moment when her true name became a lie.
The humble “outcast” (wordplay!) Pathfinder Jhi'kaara – one of the many diverse, original and hugely appealing characters featured in Peter Fehervari’s debut novel Fire Caste– gets herself a special story of her own.
Despite being no more than exactly 1500 words long (where, naturally, every one counts), Out Caste does present a strong, concise first-person narrative that Fehervari is so great at composing. The female Fire Warrior tells (reflects? or maybe confesses?) about her origins and early career – the very events that would shape the warrior’s personality and her own role within the meritocratic T'au society (reflected by her name, the idea behind which ties in to one of Peter’s favourite motives – that of mirrors). But of especial import for her was one particular episode when she had to bear witness not just to the measure ofhu-maans gue’la bravery and resilience, but also the unpalatable truth about the certain avian auxiliaries of the T'au Empire – eventually making her begin to question her own place in the Greater Good. And we’d been told that those T’au don’t have a soul…
My verdict:
- A very nice addition to the broader Fire Caste arc, lacking neither in action nor in deep meaning, and explaining the way Jhi’kaara would think and act years later, stranded with her diminishing forces in the coral jungles of Planet Phaedra.
- A cursory but wonderfully engaging psychological study of the youngest and most materialistic alien race of the Warhammer 40K setting, offering the fans of both the T’au and Imperium some vivid glimpses into the respective factions’ most meaningful traits.
- A necessarily short yet brilliantly woven little thread of one pretty tangly Dark Coil, with all of its hallmark features present even in this extra-short form (as you can already make sure from the quote preceding the review). And of course, those connections to Fehervari's other tales… After all, we shall yet get to hear the name Oba’rai (or, in the gue’la dialect, Oberai) not just this once!
The humble “outcast” (wordplay!) Pathfinder Jhi'kaara – one of the many diverse, original and hugely appealing characters featured in Peter Fehervari’s debut novel Fire Caste– gets herself a special story of her own.
Despite being no more than exactly 1500 words long (where, naturally, every one counts), Out Caste does present a strong, concise first-person narrative that Fehervari is so great at composing. The female Fire Warrior tells (reflects? or maybe confesses?) about her origins and early career – the very events that would shape the warrior’s personality and her own role within the meritocratic T'au society (reflected by her name, the idea behind which ties in to one of Peter’s favourite motives – that of mirrors). But of especial import for her was one particular episode when she had to bear witness not just to the measure of
My verdict:
- A very nice addition to the broader Fire Caste arc, lacking neither in action nor in deep meaning, and explaining the way Jhi’kaara would think and act years later, stranded with her diminishing forces in the coral jungles of Planet Phaedra.
- A cursory but wonderfully engaging psychological study of the youngest and most materialistic alien race of the Warhammer 40K setting, offering the fans of both the T’au and Imperium some vivid glimpses into the respective factions’ most meaningful traits.
- A necessarily short yet brilliantly woven little thread of one pretty tangly Dark Coil, with all of its hallmark features present even in this extra-short form (as you can already make sure from the quote preceding the review). And of course, those connections to Fehervari's other tales… After all, we shall yet get to hear the name Oba’rai (or, in the gue’la dialect, Oberai) not just this once!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 30, 2013
My review on this excellent short story here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
Out Caste is told in a bifurcated narrative; we get a first person POV of the newly minted shas'la J'kaara ('the mirror'), as well as musings on the history of the scarred Jhi'kaara ('the broken mirror').
What I think works best about Out Caste is that it ties so nicely into the themes presented in Fire Caste. Between the Tau and the Imperium, there seem to be more similarities than differences; in fact, to very loosely paraphrase Fire Caste, it comes down to "one evil empire against the other". The Tau have the collective notions of the Greater Good, and the Imperium stresses the harsh dogmatic regime of the God-Emperor, but in the end, it all comes down to control, top to bottom.
The reason I mention this is because it all plays into Jhi'kaara, and the meaning of her name. She is originally named J'kaara because she can "read the hearts of her comrades". Therefore, should anyone be so surprised that she can find respect and nobility in a race that shares more parallels than divergences with her own? This might be the real reason behind the broken mirror moniker; more of a tribute to her ability to read her enemy as well as her own kind than a badge of shame, resulting from the kiss of a chainsword when she stopped questioning the natural deadliness of the gue'la (humans) for a moment.
But of course she bears it as a mark of shame. A reminder that she is no longer the shining phenom that went out, full of confidence, on her first mission. A reminder that life is fractured, hard to look at face on, and never yields a clear answer.
One other thing to mention, beyond the thematic elements, is the prose. The writing in Out Caste is full of juicy, bloody descriptions, especially the savage, avian motions of the Kroot warriors. The philosophies and tactics of the Tau are properly laid out, and the scene with the commissar is a wonderfully gory scene.
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
Out Caste is told in a bifurcated narrative; we get a first person POV of the newly minted shas'la J'kaara ('the mirror'), as well as musings on the history of the scarred Jhi'kaara ('the broken mirror').
What I think works best about Out Caste is that it ties so nicely into the themes presented in Fire Caste. Between the Tau and the Imperium, there seem to be more similarities than differences; in fact, to very loosely paraphrase Fire Caste, it comes down to "one evil empire against the other". The Tau have the collective notions of the Greater Good, and the Imperium stresses the harsh dogmatic regime of the God-Emperor, but in the end, it all comes down to control, top to bottom.
The reason I mention this is because it all plays into Jhi'kaara, and the meaning of her name. She is originally named J'kaara because she can "read the hearts of her comrades". Therefore, should anyone be so surprised that she can find respect and nobility in a race that shares more parallels than divergences with her own? This might be the real reason behind the broken mirror moniker; more of a tribute to her ability to read her enemy as well as her own kind than a badge of shame, resulting from the kiss of a chainsword when she stopped questioning the natural deadliness of the gue'la (humans) for a moment.
But of course she bears it as a mark of shame. A reminder that she is no longer the shining phenom that went out, full of confidence, on her first mission. A reminder that life is fractured, hard to look at face on, and never yields a clear answer.
One other thing to mention, beyond the thematic elements, is the prose. The writing in Out Caste is full of juicy, bloody descriptions, especially the savage, avian motions of the Kroot warriors. The philosophies and tactics of the Tau are properly laid out, and the scene with the commissar is a wonderfully gory scene.
May 27, 2019
A very brief (i.e. micro-short) prequel to Fire Caste, focused on the character of Jhi’kaara, a scarred and battle-hardened t’au Fire Warrior. Nominally set sometime before the events of Fire Caste, it sees Jhi’khaara in reflective mood, looking back on her path through life and the events which led her to where she’s ended up.
It’s only short, but despite that it’s a perfect distillation of the darkly insightful way Fehervari has of getting into his characters’ heads.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/05/...
It’s only short, but despite that it’s a perfect distillation of the darkly insightful way Fehervari has of getting into his characters’ heads.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/05/...
September 17, 2020
New favourite author spotted. It is a great joy to discover world building and characters that I'd read for 700 pages, in a 7 page short story.
June 20, 2020
Espejo roto
November 25, 2020
With regards to Peter Fehervari's stories, I have developed a tradition of sorts. Every time he has published a new novel belonging to 'The Dark Coil' (a moniker given by fans to Fehervari's interconnected 40k-stories) and I have finished it, I feel the urge to revisit all of the stories that have come before. Themes, characters and arcs appear in a new light after a major addition to the Coil: questions answered give former stories new context, mysteries raised encourage detective work amongst the rest of Fehervari's narrative web.
Following the release of Fehervari's fourth novel, 2020s The Reverie, I've now started my third re-(t)read through the Coil, after my initial venture upon reading Fire Caste. Instead of following a charted course, I let every story I read inspire the next step - an arc, a character, a question, a theme will jump into the foreground, and I'll follow to the next story until I've read the whole cycle once again. I love that in this way, no re-read of the Coil is the same.
Out Caste, a short-story originally released in 2012 and available as part of the Shas'O anthology, is usually a piece of the Coil that comes to me as an afterthought - this short little footnote in the annals of the Coil, a brief piece about a secondary character from Fehervari's first novel. But despite, or maybe because it seems to be so insignificant, I felt myself drawn to it after reading The Thirteenth Psalm, a horror story framed by a Space Marine contemplating himself in a mirror. Mirrors are a recurring motif in Fehervari's stories, and Out Caste felt almost like a reflection or a spiritual twin to what Fehervari did in The Thirteenth Psalm.
Out Caste, too, is framed by a warrior contemplating herself - in this case not a Space Marine, but a t'au warrior. She's trying to find her "true name":
'A tau chooses neither its caste nor its true name. We are blood born to the first and borne by blood to the second, named for what we have done and might yet do. And like ourselves, our true names are not carved in stone.’ - the Tau'va
She's also faced by a reflection of herself - not a literal mirror, but her helmet, bearing the traces of what has led her to this point. Over the course of the story (which is really just a few pages long - Fehervari is a master of using minimal words for maximal effect), she will share her life's story up to this point, relive the trauma that left her broken/changed/revealed and re-frame her view upon the system she belongs to. The story ends with herself finishing her contemplation with a new look at herself. A new name has come to her, an expression of what she now accepts as her true (current?) self, a reflection of the imperfect, cruel universe she lives in. Bjargo Rathana fears whether the look in the mirror will lead to his destruction or evolution. I believe that this t'au warrior understands that both go hand in hand.
Out Caste is much more than an addendum to Fire Caste, but a distillation of a lot of what Fehervari's work is all about - the journey to and transformation of the Self. A fascinating little piece of writing that I have now found a new appreciation for.
Addendum: For anyone seeking guidance among or easier access into the perhaps daunting number of stories of "The Dark Coil", the book blog Track Of Words has an extensive article titled "A Traveller's Guide to the Dark Coil", including an overview over factions and places as well as a recommended reading order and links to various interviews with the author.
Following the release of Fehervari's fourth novel, 2020s The Reverie, I've now started my third re-(t)read through the Coil, after my initial venture upon reading Fire Caste. Instead of following a charted course, I let every story I read inspire the next step - an arc, a character, a question, a theme will jump into the foreground, and I'll follow to the next story until I've read the whole cycle once again. I love that in this way, no re-read of the Coil is the same.
Out Caste, a short-story originally released in 2012 and available as part of the Shas'O anthology, is usually a piece of the Coil that comes to me as an afterthought - this short little footnote in the annals of the Coil, a brief piece about a secondary character from Fehervari's first novel. But despite, or maybe because it seems to be so insignificant, I felt myself drawn to it after reading The Thirteenth Psalm, a horror story framed by a Space Marine contemplating himself in a mirror. Mirrors are a recurring motif in Fehervari's stories, and Out Caste felt almost like a reflection or a spiritual twin to what Fehervari did in The Thirteenth Psalm.
Out Caste, too, is framed by a warrior contemplating herself - in this case not a Space Marine, but a t'au warrior. She's trying to find her "true name":
'A tau chooses neither its caste nor its true name. We are blood born to the first and borne by blood to the second, named for what we have done and might yet do. And like ourselves, our true names are not carved in stone.’ - the Tau'va
She's also faced by a reflection of herself - not a literal mirror, but her helmet, bearing the traces of what has led her to this point. Over the course of the story (which is really just a few pages long - Fehervari is a master of using minimal words for maximal effect), she will share her life's story up to this point, relive the trauma that left her broken/changed/revealed and re-frame her view upon the system she belongs to. The story ends with herself finishing her contemplation with a new look at herself. A new name has come to her, an expression of what she now accepts as her true (current?) self, a reflection of the imperfect, cruel universe she lives in. Bjargo Rathana fears whether the look in the mirror will lead to his destruction or evolution. I believe that this t'au warrior understands that both go hand in hand.
Out Caste is much more than an addendum to Fire Caste, but a distillation of a lot of what Fehervari's work is all about - the journey to and transformation of the Self. A fascinating little piece of writing that I have now found a new appreciation for.
Addendum: For anyone seeking guidance among or easier access into the perhaps daunting number of stories of "The Dark Coil", the book blog Track Of Words has an extensive article titled "A Traveller's Guide to the Dark Coil", including an overview over factions and places as well as a recommended reading order and links to various interviews with the author.
April 18, 2018
This is only 6 pages long, do not but this book, it is not worth more than 50p. Note Broken Mirrior has a cameo appearance in Fire Caste also by Peter Fehervari, if you want a bit more story into her. I am surprise that is not mentions of this fact I have found on the web.
June 15, 2019
“The disfigured helmet gazed back at her. Challenging. Accusing. It has been crudely repaired by her own hands, functional but ugly. An artisan of the Earth Caste could have restored it to perfection, but perfection would have been a lie.”
Out Caste is a piece of micro fiction centered on the Tau warrior Jhi’Kaara, a recurring character in several of Fehervari’s stories. It’s a brooding meditation on the path that lead her to her current role and her nickname, the “broken mirror”.
Out Caste has no plot, but this is intentional. The narrator holds her helmet...staring into its eyes and reminiscing, somewhat like the scene from Hamlet where he talks to Yorick’s skull.
I gained a little more insight into the Tau from reading this story. The Tau military commander in one scene is given the choice between extending the Open Hand or delivering the Killing Blow to a colony of humans. Jhi’Kaara struggles with his decision and the resulting gruesome behavior of her Kroot allies. She wrestles with her belief in the Greater Good.
It’s no spoiler to share that she reconciles to “...still serve the Greater Good, not because it is perfect, but because everything else is less so.” This echoes the “Better our evil empire than theirs” sentiment of both Cutler and Iverson in Fire Caste.
We can assume that this story takes place before Sanctuary for Wyrms, because Jhi’kaara names herself at end of this story and has this new name in SFW.
This story is set in the Dark Coil universe, but it’s by no means mandatory reading. If you’re curious to learn Jhi’kaara’s backstory or if you’re suspicious that the Greater Good may not be all it’s cracked up to be, by all means give Out Caste a shot.
Out Caste is a piece of micro fiction centered on the Tau warrior Jhi’Kaara, a recurring character in several of Fehervari’s stories. It’s a brooding meditation on the path that lead her to her current role and her nickname, the “broken mirror”.
Out Caste has no plot, but this is intentional. The narrator holds her helmet...staring into its eyes and reminiscing, somewhat like the scene from Hamlet where he talks to Yorick’s skull.
I gained a little more insight into the Tau from reading this story. The Tau military commander in one scene is given the choice between extending the Open Hand or delivering the Killing Blow to a colony of humans. Jhi’Kaara struggles with his decision and the resulting gruesome behavior of her Kroot allies. She wrestles with her belief in the Greater Good.
It’s no spoiler to share that she reconciles to “...still serve the Greater Good, not because it is perfect, but because everything else is less so.” This echoes the “Better our evil empire than theirs” sentiment of both Cutler and Iverson in Fire Caste.
We can assume that this story takes place before Sanctuary for Wyrms, because Jhi’kaara names herself at end of this story and has this new name in SFW.
This story is set in the Dark Coil universe, but it’s by no means mandatory reading. If you’re curious to learn Jhi’kaara’s backstory or if you’re suspicious that the Greater Good may not be all it’s cracked up to be, by all means give Out Caste a shot.
March 18, 2020
A micro-short story released as part of 2012 Black Library Advent Calendar, "Out Caste" follows Jhi'kaara as she reminiscents about the path she had taken that led her to renounce the name J'kaara and take the name Jhi'kaara (Broken mirror).
The story is split between Jhi'kaara's present and past, with the present portions of the story being told in the third-person present while first-person past tense is used for the flashbacks. This format helps lead the reader as Jhi'kaara relives her past.
If I have to say, the short length of "Out Caste" is probably its biggest weakness. While the final flashback is perfectly done, I felt the flashbacks to our protagonist earning the name J'kaara and taking command of her squad upon their leader's death needed to be expanded. As is, we were informed of J'kaara's talent, but not actually shown it.
The story is split between Jhi'kaara's present and past, with the present portions of the story being told in the third-person present while first-person past tense is used for the flashbacks. This format helps lead the reader as Jhi'kaara relives her past.
If I have to say, the short length of "Out Caste" is probably its biggest weakness. While the final flashback is perfectly done, I felt the flashbacks to our protagonist earning the name J'kaara and taking command of her squad upon their leader's death needed to be expanded. As is, we were informed of J'kaara's talent, but not actually shown it.
April 28, 2015
One of 2012's 40K "advent stories". An interesting and moving short story rather different from the usual 40K material of "super hero marines with big guns". A sympathetic (if troubled) female alien (tau) protagonist makes for an interesting change and shows that BL are willing to take chances in some of the themes and styles they explore. Wish they'd do more of this kind of story.
February 17, 2013
Really enjoyed it. A very lyrical piece and offers some refreshing originality in writing style compared to the standard WH40K fare.
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