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Failures of Four Kingdoms #1
Kalyna the Soothsayer
A fantastical game of political intrigue played by a fraud, where the grumpy snark of K. S. Villoso’s The Wolf of Oren-Yaro meets a rich Eastern European–inflected world akin to Ava Reid’s The Wolf and the Woodsman.
A plucky, sardonic con artist must “prophesize” her way out of peril— discovering along the way that the keys to power and politics are nothing more than the stories that we can sell as truth.
Kalyna’s family has the the ability to see the future. For generations, they traveled the four kingdoms of the Tetrarchia selling their services as soothsayers. Every child of their family is born with this Gift—everyone except Kalyna.
So far, Kalyna has used informants and trickery to falsify prophecies for coin, scrounging together a living for her deteriorating father and cruel grandmother. But Kalyna’s reputation for prophecy precedes her, and poverty turns to danger when she is pressed into service by the spymaster to Rotfelsen.
Kalyna is to use her “Gift” to uncover threats against Rotfelsen’s king, her family held hostage to ensure her good behavior. But politics are devious; the king’s enemies abound, and Kalyna’s skills for investigation and deception are tested to the limit. Worse, the conspiracy she uncovers points to a larger threat, not only to Rotfelsen but to the Tetrarchia itself.
Kalyna is determined to protect her family and newfound friends, but as she is drawn deeper into palace intrigue, she can no longer tell if her manipulations are helping prevent the Tetrarchia’s destruction—or if her lies will bring about its prophesized downfall.
A plucky, sardonic con artist must “prophesize” her way out of peril— discovering along the way that the keys to power and politics are nothing more than the stories that we can sell as truth.
Kalyna’s family has the the ability to see the future. For generations, they traveled the four kingdoms of the Tetrarchia selling their services as soothsayers. Every child of their family is born with this Gift—everyone except Kalyna.
So far, Kalyna has used informants and trickery to falsify prophecies for coin, scrounging together a living for her deteriorating father and cruel grandmother. But Kalyna’s reputation for prophecy precedes her, and poverty turns to danger when she is pressed into service by the spymaster to Rotfelsen.
Kalyna is to use her “Gift” to uncover threats against Rotfelsen’s king, her family held hostage to ensure her good behavior. But politics are devious; the king’s enemies abound, and Kalyna’s skills for investigation and deception are tested to the limit. Worse, the conspiracy she uncovers points to a larger threat, not only to Rotfelsen but to the Tetrarchia itself.
Kalyna is determined to protect her family and newfound friends, but as she is drawn deeper into palace intrigue, she can no longer tell if her manipulations are helping prevent the Tetrarchia’s destruction—or if her lies will bring about its prophesized downfall.
496 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2022
49 people are currently reading
5375 people want to read
About the author
Elijah Kinch Spector
3 books39 followersElijah Kinch Spector is a writer, dandy, and rootless cosmopolitan from the Bay Area who now lives in Brooklyn.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
July 23, 2022
Kalyna the Soothsayer is a long, meaty read full of political intrigue and dry humor, with a downright cunning strong female protagonist. Kalyna is a formidable main character with smarts and no magic in a fantasy world.
THE PREMISE:
Kalyna is a fake soothsayer descended from a long line of real soothsayers. The gift of seeing the future that runs in her family seems to have skipped her. With an ailing father and abusive grandmother to support, she took to faking soothsayer abilities using observation, deduction, paid informants, and the rarely coherent prophecies of her ailing father. At 27, she’s long since developed a seasoned con artist’s eye for reading people. Her family has always been nomadic because real or fake, seers tend to get run out of town (or worse) if they stick around too long. Apparently, she got a little too good at faking it and made a bit too good of a reputation for herself in travels. One day, she gets recruited (more like drafted or kidnapped) by the Prince to use her soothsaying to stop an assasination plot against the King. That is, the King of one of the four kingdoms that make up Kalyna’s bizarre Tetrarchic country. Kalyna’s supposed to do this before the next regular meeting of the four monarchs in about three months. Unfortunately, her father’s latest prophecy foretold the bloody destruction of their country in about three months too. This leaves Kalyna trying to figure out how she can escape the country with her family before it is destroyed or prevent said destruction. She also has to keep from being revealed as a fraud (which would probably get her executed). The court is full of factions, schemers, and different armies that most certainly do not work together. Pretty soon, Kalyna begins to wonder if it’s possible to save her country or even if she somehow triggers its destruction.
THE MAIN CHARACTER:
Kalyna is a rare strong female protagonist that’s truly cunning and clever without being immoral, sadistic, selfish, or unlikeable.
She survives using her wits, guile, and trusty sickle. She’s crafty and clever and most definitely a liar. She may be a con woman, but she does it for the right reasons. She does it for the sake of her ailing father. She has a healthy sense of self-preservation and looks after her own first and foremost. And yet, she’s still empathetic.
She thinks fast in a crisis. Sometimes she talks her way out of a fight. Sometimes she talks others into a fight. Sometimes she fights for her life. When she does, she fights dirty, not very skillfully, not too incompetently, and with everything she’s got. When she spins lies to talk people into or out of a fight in order to avert catastrophe, she does it with everything she’s got.
Kalyna is cynical, pessimistic, and just a little bit petty in such a relatable and darkly funny way.
“I formulated, and discarded, a hundred different ways to take Lenz hostage, or kill him, during the Ball. None were feasible, but all were satisfying to imagine.”
Now that’s a reaction to being kidnapped and coerced that I can relate to.
Kalyna’s got a trickster’s confidence and guile, the perceptive eyes of a conwoman, the loyalty of a loving daughter, the fighting spirit of a survivor, the fear of someone who wants to live, and the dry, black humor of a cynic who half expects to die.
As a member of a nomadic family, Kalyna has ancestry all over the Tetrarchy and is seen as a foreigner everywhere. She has the empathy of an outsider and a traveler that has seen all walks of life. She’s been desperate and hungry enough of her life to empathize with those in desperate straights. She has the wisdom of someone that’s seen so much of the world, so many people, and paid attention.
She’s smart and shrewd, but not always right. She sometimes misreads people or procrastinates. She makes some things worse while trying to protect herself and her father with clever lies. She struggles with her self worth after a lifetime of abuse from her grandmother, but saving an entire nation might just do wonders for self esteem (if she succeeds). She spends half the book not knowing a character’s name because it was far too late to ask. While her motives for being a con artist are good, she’s not immune to darker impulses: anger, jealousy, spite, the power trip of manipulating others’ with expert skill, etc. She’s not perfect and definitely grows as a person in this story.
I want to see more characters like Kalyna! This story is told in first person and past tense from her POV. Since Kalyna is such an entertaining and cynical character, this book has a great, expressive narrative voice.
“There was also a vine in the center that writhed as though it were trying to escape the palace: at least this vine understood me.”
THE PLOT & WRITING:
This book is perfect if you’re looking for a substantial read full of intricacies, details, fantastic would-building, intricate plots, and mysteries to ponder between sittings. And yet, it still manages to never be confusing, far-fetched, or predictable. If you’re looking for a quick read where you don’t need to think much, this probably isn’t a good choice.
The complicated web of political plots and schemes gets quite convoluted, verging on satire. The story has an odd type of humor and a healthy dose of irony. For example, the Prince in the story goes to great efforts and scheming to stop the king from being assassinated just so he doesn’t have to become king himself and do all that tedious work that comes with the job. That’s an enormous amount of work to avoid work. The prince's specific schemes are both absolutely ridiculous and rather terrifying.
There is fantastic worldbuilding and a richly complicated political landscape and intrigue that skirts the line between realism and parody of both humanity and society. It’s never too confusing. The book is set in Rotfelsen, one of four mostly independent Kingdoms that make up one greater Tetrarchic country. Rotfelsen alone has four separate armies, which all answer to a different part of the Rotfelsen government with a different agenda. Naturally, none of these armies get along or work together peacefully. Each of the four kingdoms fancy themselves the most advanced one and the only thing standing between the Tetrarchy and doom. All of this reflects human nature quite realistically. This is done in a hyperbolically ridiculous fashion that pokes fun at human nature.
There’s a lot of brief bite-sized tangents that give you a sense of the political and cultural setting and are often amusing. These brief word-building tangents sometimes seem like weird digressions, but they’re never boring and usually turn out relevant to the plot. They occasionally slow down the pacing of the story, but only in the beginning of the book.
There’s just a smidgeon of sapphic romance for Kalyna. Blink and you might miss it. In general, this book doesn’t have much romance at all. This book has LGBTQ+ rep with some bi and gay main characters (including the Kayna).
The ending is fairly happy, but not a rose-colored glasses perfect fixall ending.
This is an adult book with adult characters making adult decisions. Well, most of them are making adult decisions, I’m not so sure about the Prince. It’s still largely PG-13 though. It touches on serious issues, like xenophobia and homophobia.
WARNINGS: Child abuse (physical and emotional), homophobia, xenophobia, violence, death, alcohol, kidnapping (but absolutely no stockholm syndrome type creepiness), blackmail
I received a free digital advanced reader copy via NetGalley. I am writing this review completely honestly and voluntarily.
THE PREMISE:
Kalyna is a fake soothsayer descended from a long line of real soothsayers. The gift of seeing the future that runs in her family seems to have skipped her. With an ailing father and abusive grandmother to support, she took to faking soothsayer abilities using observation, deduction, paid informants, and the rarely coherent prophecies of her ailing father. At 27, she’s long since developed a seasoned con artist’s eye for reading people. Her family has always been nomadic because real or fake, seers tend to get run out of town (or worse) if they stick around too long. Apparently, she got a little too good at faking it and made a bit too good of a reputation for herself in travels. One day, she gets recruited (more like drafted or kidnapped) by the Prince to use her soothsaying to stop an assasination plot against the King. That is, the King of one of the four kingdoms that make up Kalyna’s bizarre Tetrarchic country. Kalyna’s supposed to do this before the next regular meeting of the four monarchs in about three months. Unfortunately, her father’s latest prophecy foretold the bloody destruction of their country in about three months too. This leaves Kalyna trying to figure out how she can escape the country with her family before it is destroyed or prevent said destruction. She also has to keep from being revealed as a fraud (which would probably get her executed). The court is full of factions, schemers, and different armies that most certainly do not work together. Pretty soon, Kalyna begins to wonder if it’s possible to save her country or even if she somehow triggers its destruction.
THE MAIN CHARACTER:
Kalyna is a rare strong female protagonist that’s truly cunning and clever without being immoral, sadistic, selfish, or unlikeable.
She survives using her wits, guile, and trusty sickle. She’s crafty and clever and most definitely a liar. She may be a con woman, but she does it for the right reasons. She does it for the sake of her ailing father. She has a healthy sense of self-preservation and looks after her own first and foremost. And yet, she’s still empathetic.
She thinks fast in a crisis. Sometimes she talks her way out of a fight. Sometimes she talks others into a fight. Sometimes she fights for her life. When she does, she fights dirty, not very skillfully, not too incompetently, and with everything she’s got. When she spins lies to talk people into or out of a fight in order to avert catastrophe, she does it with everything she’s got.
Kalyna is cynical, pessimistic, and just a little bit petty in such a relatable and darkly funny way.
“I formulated, and discarded, a hundred different ways to take Lenz hostage, or kill him, during the Ball. None were feasible, but all were satisfying to imagine.”
Now that’s a reaction to being kidnapped and coerced that I can relate to.
Kalyna’s got a trickster’s confidence and guile, the perceptive eyes of a conwoman, the loyalty of a loving daughter, the fighting spirit of a survivor, the fear of someone who wants to live, and the dry, black humor of a cynic who half expects to die.
As a member of a nomadic family, Kalyna has ancestry all over the Tetrarchy and is seen as a foreigner everywhere. She has the empathy of an outsider and a traveler that has seen all walks of life. She’s been desperate and hungry enough of her life to empathize with those in desperate straights. She has the wisdom of someone that’s seen so much of the world, so many people, and paid attention.
She’s smart and shrewd, but not always right. She sometimes misreads people or procrastinates. She makes some things worse while trying to protect herself and her father with clever lies. She struggles with her self worth after a lifetime of abuse from her grandmother, but saving an entire nation might just do wonders for self esteem (if she succeeds). She spends half the book not knowing a character’s name because it was far too late to ask. While her motives for being a con artist are good, she’s not immune to darker impulses: anger, jealousy, spite, the power trip of manipulating others’ with expert skill, etc. She’s not perfect and definitely grows as a person in this story.
I want to see more characters like Kalyna! This story is told in first person and past tense from her POV. Since Kalyna is such an entertaining and cynical character, this book has a great, expressive narrative voice.
“There was also a vine in the center that writhed as though it were trying to escape the palace: at least this vine understood me.”
THE PLOT & WRITING:
This book is perfect if you’re looking for a substantial read full of intricacies, details, fantastic would-building, intricate plots, and mysteries to ponder between sittings. And yet, it still manages to never be confusing, far-fetched, or predictable. If you’re looking for a quick read where you don’t need to think much, this probably isn’t a good choice.
The complicated web of political plots and schemes gets quite convoluted, verging on satire. The story has an odd type of humor and a healthy dose of irony. For example, the Prince in the story goes to great efforts and scheming to stop the king from being assassinated just so he doesn’t have to become king himself and do all that tedious work that comes with the job. That’s an enormous amount of work to avoid work. The prince's specific schemes are both absolutely ridiculous and rather terrifying.
There is fantastic worldbuilding and a richly complicated political landscape and intrigue that skirts the line between realism and parody of both humanity and society. It’s never too confusing. The book is set in Rotfelsen, one of four mostly independent Kingdoms that make up one greater Tetrarchic country. Rotfelsen alone has four separate armies, which all answer to a different part of the Rotfelsen government with a different agenda. Naturally, none of these armies get along or work together peacefully. Each of the four kingdoms fancy themselves the most advanced one and the only thing standing between the Tetrarchy and doom. All of this reflects human nature quite realistically. This is done in a hyperbolically ridiculous fashion that pokes fun at human nature.
There’s a lot of brief bite-sized tangents that give you a sense of the political and cultural setting and are often amusing. These brief word-building tangents sometimes seem like weird digressions, but they’re never boring and usually turn out relevant to the plot. They occasionally slow down the pacing of the story, but only in the beginning of the book.
There’s just a smidgeon of sapphic romance for Kalyna. Blink and you might miss it. In general, this book doesn’t have much romance at all. This book has LGBTQ+ rep with some bi and gay main characters (including the Kayna).
The ending is fairly happy, but not a rose-colored glasses perfect fixall ending.
This is an adult book with adult characters making adult decisions. Well, most of them are making adult decisions, I’m not so sure about the Prince. It’s still largely PG-13 though. It touches on serious issues, like xenophobia and homophobia.
WARNINGS: Child abuse (physical and emotional), homophobia, xenophobia, violence, death, alcohol, kidnapping (but absolutely no stockholm syndrome type creepiness), blackmail
I received a free digital advanced reader copy via NetGalley. I am writing this review completely honestly and voluntarily.
August 3, 2022
4.25 stars★★★★☆
**I was provided with an ARC from Erewhon Books and Netgalley for an honest review**
This book is out now!!
☞ Trigger warnings: **contains spoilers* .
✿ Representation present: queer rep (two main characters are queer), disability rep, poc representation, chronic illness rep.
Kalyna is a con artist. With a degeneratively ill father and an emotionally and verbally abusive grandmother, Kalyna is the sole breadwinner for her family. The fact that she doesn't have the gift of seeing the future doesn't stop her from telling the future to unsuspecting paying customers. Too get by she makes generalisations, she pays informants for information and makes elaborate showings to pull off this long con. If it doesn't come true, then that's fine because she and her family will be gone, off to a new place, conning new people.
Kalyna is a witty character, with a cynical pessimistic perspective. She has seen the full range of all humanity has to offer through her travels and soothsaying. People have not treated her and her family well. She is always fleeing towns and cities to avoid harassment and persecution for 'witchcraft'. She has been threatened and beaten, bullied and oppressed. Her life is always at risk.
Kalyna goes and gets herself kidnapped (or according to her handler, conscripted) by a Prince. She is tasked with ferreting out the ones looking to harm the royal family with her alleged soothsaying gift. She knows this con will be the riskiest one yet. This should be a cushy job, acting as a fake soothsayer but nothing is ever so simple and being a fake psychic is a lot more demanding especially with her family's lives held against her and the impending end of the world.
Unfortunately, Kalyna's father has also foreseen the end of everything.The four nations will buckle under this impending danger, devolving into a lawless land of destruction with no where safe from its devastation. Kalyna is stuck in a rock and hard place. All she wants is her freedom and to survive what's coming. To do that, she must play ball, act as the soothsayer for the Prince and figure out how to get her family and herself out safely of the Tetrarchia before it all goes to hell.
"What was certainly not comforting was the fact that this job for a sybaritic prince was not going to be the greatest con of my career, but a death sentence. Even without the looming end of the Tetrarchia, there was no freedom on the horizon."
People have not been kind to Kalyna and her family. They have suffered under xenophobic hands that would rather see them all dead and end their family line. Kalyna sees herself as reflected in the common people. They are the ones she is willing to save, not the oppressive upper class. The common people were her people and they didn't deserve to suffer under this impending doom. To save everyone she has to step up, uncover what this mass casualty event her father has foreseen and stop it before it happens.
"The whole Tetrarchia is my people, and I am also a foreigner here.
One of the best qualities of this book is the atmosphere of the self awareness of traditional fantasy stories, particularly political fantasies with its elaborate story lines with complex family trees, and weird name structures. The tongue-in-cheek humour presented in the outrageously long names from the official name for the Tetrarchia and the council of barbarians to the names of people at court and in the history books. This gave a levity to the dark situations Kalyna was entrenched in. Although this book does not take itself too seriously, it sometimes stumbles into its own traps becoming confusing in parts. I love a fantasy map, and this definitely would have been a great book to have not just of the Tetrarchia, but of Rotfelsen. I would have awarded this book double points if it was Kalyna's with her detailed family history on safe locations, hidden roads and campsites she frequents.
The world-building was an interesting aspect of this book as it was set within a tetrarchy - four sovereign states merging into one nation, the Tetrarchia, ruled by a council of four monarchs. It is more of a legal merger than a true unification as the four regions are still very separate, very culturally different.
What surprised me about this book was the commentary - xenophobia, gentrification, homophobia, nationalism, classism, a Manchurian candidate King, fascism and religious fanaticism. It even touches on access to medical care, medical ethics, homelessness, various forms of privilege, and women's rights. These are very heavy themes that are quite relevant today's climate. Many books try and incorporate real issues within their worlds, but to do it well is hard, and can run the risk of isolating or annoying the reader. When we read, most expect a form of escapism, so when authors blend reality with their story, the blend is either seamless or can take you out and potentially ruin your experience. This book blends such important discussions while still being funny, poignant, and piercing.
The first half of this book (Parts 1, 2 and 3) was entertaining. I was entertained! I was enamoured by the political plots Kalyna was trying to navigate. The country of Rotfelsen has so many problems that any one of them could be the flashpoint that leads to the ruination of the Tetrarchia. Kalyna is the optimal person to fish out this conspiracy. She is multilingual, a great liar, an actress and has no emotional investment in the future of Rotfelsen (beside saving them all from certain doom). She was the perfect spy.
"I am a liar, after all."
Parts 4, 5 and 6 when everything was meant to come to a head. It was the crescendo of the book, and it fell flat. I was conflicted. I was absorbed with the story but I found myself repeatedly placing the book down. My expectations from the first three parts were not being met. Ultimately, I trudged my way through Part 6 with fond memories of the first half of this book, questioning where it all went wrong. Kalyna was such a great protagonist, with her conflicting relationship with the truth and with the people she learns to care about. Her frenemies relationship with Lenz was a notable highlight that was so well developed and executed faultlessly.
Unfortunately, I felt the impeding destruction was repeated ad nauseum and became somewhat tedious. I fully understood what was at stake. I understood what was at stake every step of the way. Kalyna's desperate decisions were always because of her knowledge of what the future would potentially hold. The constant repetition felt annoying at times, especially when the reminders were so close together. I was so happy when Kalyna shared her knowledge later one with certain parties, because her shouldering this burden was exhausting for her, and the reader.
Also, when the cause of this impeding destruction was revealed, I wasn't convinced. I expected something else, and the threat didn't feel as earth shattering as it was intended to be. Maybe the hype was too much to have a satisfying pay-off.
"This country will collapse in chaos and war, Kalyna"
The saddest aspect was Kalyna's internalised hatred. The emotional abuse she suffered under her grandmother and her continued inability to access her Gift have seeped in and polluted her perception of herself. The Gift that has spanned her family for generations, and her inability to be a true soothsayer like her ancestors is a constant shadow for Kalyna. She constantly admonishs herself for her supposed failure, and for being the one weighed down with the responsibility to save everyone with a gift she doesn't have. Kaylna never really lets go of this self-hatred, but eventually establishes a semblance of peace with her situation, and I think that is a more realistic depiction. I would have shunned a depiction of a full 180° attitude where she is 100% healed and is a thriving #girlboss.
"Perhaps the Gift is in me somewhere, and instead of being broken I am simply too stupid to access it."
The open ending of this story allows room for possible sequels or a companion novel and I would enjoy another story following Kalyna or the next generation of soothsayers. I wouldn't say I was happy with the way the romance was resolved or Kalyna's choice of partners. I was on board with her choice in continuing her family tradition, rather than settling down but I think either option would have been bittersweet. She would have had to compromise a part of herself either way. Ultimately, I felt the epilogue was too fast, brief, and wasn't very satisfying or worth it. I would have preferred not to have it.
The Romance (or attempt at romance)
Ah, the romance. I am partial to a good romance moment. I love an epic romance that makes me swoon and sweeps me off my feet. I even enjoy the slow understated romance that feels harmonious and serene. If the story has romance, then I am 100% here for it. My one contention is that it has to make sense with the overall story and if it doesn't, I don't want it. Kalyna the Soothsayer had the hallmark of being a great story with no romance. Just a girl conning her way around a court, trying to avoid or prevent the end of the Tetrarchia. I didn't release the was a romantic aspect until the 60% mark. Kalyna is such an eclectic character that I thought she would have possible a few romantic prospects. Was I happy with the way this sub plot was developed? Not really, but I was intrigued all the same. Her love life wasn't a part of the political conspiracy plot, which I liked, and it was just a quiet separate thing that she experienced during her time in Rotfelsen. However, like I had previously stated how her love life was resolved in the epilogue, I did not like. You win some, you lose some.
The structure
The story is told as a memoir. The events have already happened and this is a simple retelling of Kalyna's perspective and her hand in these events. The story is broken up into six parts. Each part has small sections with headings (not chapters) separating the flow of events within the parts. It's an unconventional structure, one that might be disconcerting and possibly contentious for some readers but I don't believe it takes anything away from the overarching story. It makes the story feel much bigger with only six 'chapters'.
It is never explained why Kalyna has written this memoir. Lenz, her boss/mentor/kidnapper is known (and mocked) for writing his own histories, and incorporating his own perspective and theories into these histories, so logic dictates it is a call back to Lenz and his influence. Perhaps it is because Kaylna has a hand in all the kingdom's futures and her journey is influential enough to require a detailed account. Having an explanation on why this story is told in this format and why Kaylna decieded to 'write' this memoir would have been interesting and was a missed opportunity. I would have loved fake intertextual references interspersed in, with the full titles of histories Kalyna has to read and a fake glossary of all the fake texts mentioned. Academic style with footnotes would have gone over well with me.
Despite my reservations on the second half, this book is a great witty political fantasy. The characters were fun, well developed and distinguishable and had distinct motivations that moved the story forward. The structure was unconventional but overall a non-issue. This book makes me want to read more big political fantasies. Political fantasies have a stigma of being inaccessible to people as they can be too far reaching, to complicated and to intellectual. At no point in this book did I feel too dumb or the story too complicated.
Would I recommend this book?
Yes. You love political fantasies like Graceling, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and Spinning Silver.
Will I continue reading this series?
I don't think this is a series. If Spector writes another Kalyna book I might be interested in seeing what chaos she causes next but I think it would depend on if it's a time jump, if Kalyna is no longer a soothsayer or if it's a different (future or past) soothsayer in her family.
Will I re-read this book?
One day maybe
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July 25, 2022
HIGHLIGHTS
~a seer who can’t See
~a literally underground nation
~one seriously awful grandmother
~a very distressing eye
Thank the gods that’s over!
I am not kidding: after a pretty solid start, Soothsayer rapidly became my ‘knockout’ read – the book I read to cure my insomnia. It worked excellently, and even when it didn’t put me to sleep, it made me put my ereader away and close my eyes just to escape it.
It’s not that Soothsayer is an actively bad book, like, say, Silk Fire. Spector knows how to put sentences together, has a pretty engaging protagonist, and does not shove excess worldbuilding down our throats.
But it’s so freaking heavy. 464 pages felt like twice that, and for the majority of them I was bored out of my mind.
Which I will grant is odd, because Soothsayer isn’t packed full of long stretches of nothing. Something was always happening. It’s just that they tended to be meandering things, or pretty plot-irrelevant things, or things that went in circles. And I fundamentally just didn’t care about any of it. Something about this book never clicked for me, leaving me passively watching instead of actively engaged in the story.
I really, really just wanted it to be over.
I think a huge part of this was due to the setting. The Tetrarchia – four kingdoms pretending to be one – really made no sense, and Spector didn’t try to justify it – I loved Kalyna’s disgust and ambivalence about royals and nobles and the rich, but her shrugging at the stupidity of her ‘betters’ wasn’t really enough for me. I tried to think of it as being like US states calling themselves one country, but the cultures Kalyna described were so wildly different they made Texas and New York look indistinguishable. I just didn’t buy it.
But even if I accepted the Tetrarchia, I actively resented the majority of the book being set in Rotfelsen. Rotfelsen should have been incredibly weird and interesting – it’s a country that exists almost entirely underground! But Kalyna is stuck on the surface for most of the book, because that’s where all the important people live.
…Why on Earth would you create a setting as cool as an underground nation – and then barely let your protagonist into it?! We get occasional mention/speculation of giant monsters that first carved out the tunnels that later turned into Rotfelsen – which, again, so cool – but that was another detail that went nowhere, shared as historical trivia rather than leading to a reveal that these monsters are still around, or something. And the glimpses we did get of the proper underground Rotfelsen were minimal, with very little visual description and no real worldbuilding – it’s just handwaved that people live down there pretending like everything’s aboveground, rather than going into the myriad ways a culture would have to adapt to, and be shaped by, living underground.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
~a seer who can’t See
~a literally underground nation
~one seriously awful grandmother
~a very distressing eye
Thank the gods that’s over!
I am not kidding: after a pretty solid start, Soothsayer rapidly became my ‘knockout’ read – the book I read to cure my insomnia. It worked excellently, and even when it didn’t put me to sleep, it made me put my ereader away and close my eyes just to escape it.
It’s not that Soothsayer is an actively bad book, like, say, Silk Fire. Spector knows how to put sentences together, has a pretty engaging protagonist, and does not shove excess worldbuilding down our throats.
But it’s so freaking heavy. 464 pages felt like twice that, and for the majority of them I was bored out of my mind.
Which I will grant is odd, because Soothsayer isn’t packed full of long stretches of nothing. Something was always happening. It’s just that they tended to be meandering things, or pretty plot-irrelevant things, or things that went in circles. And I fundamentally just didn’t care about any of it. Something about this book never clicked for me, leaving me passively watching instead of actively engaged in the story.
I really, really just wanted it to be over.
I think a huge part of this was due to the setting. The Tetrarchia – four kingdoms pretending to be one – really made no sense, and Spector didn’t try to justify it – I loved Kalyna’s disgust and ambivalence about royals and nobles and the rich, but her shrugging at the stupidity of her ‘betters’ wasn’t really enough for me. I tried to think of it as being like US states calling themselves one country, but the cultures Kalyna described were so wildly different they made Texas and New York look indistinguishable. I just didn’t buy it.
But even if I accepted the Tetrarchia, I actively resented the majority of the book being set in Rotfelsen. Rotfelsen should have been incredibly weird and interesting – it’s a country that exists almost entirely underground! But Kalyna is stuck on the surface for most of the book, because that’s where all the important people live.
…Why on Earth would you create a setting as cool as an underground nation – and then barely let your protagonist into it?! We get occasional mention/speculation of giant monsters that first carved out the tunnels that later turned into Rotfelsen – which, again, so cool – but that was another detail that went nowhere, shared as historical trivia rather than leading to a reveal that these monsters are still around, or something. And the glimpses we did get of the proper underground Rotfelsen were minimal, with very little visual description and no real worldbuilding – it’s just handwaved that people live down there pretending like everything’s aboveground, rather than going into the myriad ways a culture would have to adapt to, and be shaped by, living underground.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
December 17, 2024
I have two words for this book: Palace. Intrigue!
(Ok, I have more words for this book.)
Kalyna is an absolute delight from cover to cover. Intricate, not dense but full--full of plots and twists and reversals, full of dry humor and wit, full of intrigue that keeps you guessing until it all comes together at the end. Kalyna herself is possibly one of my favorite characters ever: a manipulative jerk with a heart of such pure gold, who thinks she's a bad person even as she tries to save the world. She's smart, and I love her for it. This whole book is smart, and it was a joy to read.
(Ok, I have more words for this book.)
Kalyna is an absolute delight from cover to cover. Intricate, not dense but full--full of plots and twists and reversals, full of dry humor and wit, full of intrigue that keeps you guessing until it all comes together at the end. Kalyna herself is possibly one of my favorite characters ever: a manipulative jerk with a heart of such pure gold, who thinks she's a bad person even as she tries to save the world. She's smart, and I love her for it. This whole book is smart, and it was a joy to read.
August 15, 2024
alyna Aljosanovna is from a long line of soothsayers, though she lacks the gift. She lives and travels throughout the four kingdoms of the Tetrarchia, primarily because the family needs to ply their trade, but people, though enamoured by the idea of soothsaying, often turn on the trio because of fear, keeping the family constantly moving to stay ahead of trouble. To keep the family fed, Kalyna has masqueraded as the soothsayer, using, at times, her father's visions, but others, mostly just well-crafted readings of people's words, and sometimes outright lies.
Though her bad-tempered and coldhearted grandmother can probably still see the future, she prefers to keep mum on the subject, while constantly emotionally abusing Kalyna for killing her mother at her birth, and for lacking the family gift. Kalyna's kind and loving father continues to have visions, but his lack cohesion, and require much interpretation, though his latest is fairly unambiguous, showing the utter physical destruction of the Tetrarchia and most of its people within three months.
Shortly afterward, Kalyna, her father and grandmother are kidnapped by Lenz, the spymaster of Prince Friendhelm of Rotfelsen (one of the four kingdoms) because of her supposed soothsaying ability. Kalyna knows that she must now run the most dangerous con of her life, while escaping Tetrarchia in time to save her family and herself.
Lenz wants her help foretelling the future so that the Prince can maintain his position and the King is kept from harm. To do this, Kalyna must get to know various ministers and higher-ups in the army so she can let Lenz know who's might try to assassinate the King, all while wondering how long she can keep her many lies to Lenz and others straight so that her father will stay alive (she's not so sure she wants her grandmother safe). Through careful observation, and a number of strange conversations with the many factions, Kalyna slowly unravels many of the intricate plots, after some false assumptions and starts, to reveal that there is much more going on in Rotfelsen, including an ancient danger, which is likely the cause of her father's dire prediction.
Kalyna won my heart almost immediately after I met her. She's smart, unsentimental (except about her father), witty, clever at reading people and crafting what they want to hear, and fast with her sickle (women aren't allowed swords in this world). She's got a healthy amount of self-preservation, and will do her best to talk herself out of bad situations, and when she can't, well, there are her fists and her sickle….
Kalyna is a wonderfully complicated person, who, though empathetic, won't hesitate at using someone if it means she can protect those she cares about. She is observant and cynical, and though she makes many mistakes in Rotfelsen's Court, and sometimes steers others in poor or dangerous directions, her aim is averting the massive disaster her father saw coming.
I absolutely loved Kalyna, and the amusing tone of her narration. I also loved the complicated relationships and many machinations swirling around her, wonderfully fleshing out this part of the Tetrarchia. Kalyna gets to know many important players in Rotfelsen, and it's through the many odd conversations she has that Rotfelsen is revealed to be full of political intrigue, while also giving the reader a great sense of the type of people in this kingdom.
Although much of this book is occupied with political scheming, Kalyna does have her heart touched by a few people, and even develops feelings for two. Despite gaining her freedom thanks to her actions, Kalyna is on the move again, a little wiser, and more confident of herself after all that she accomplished. It's a great place to wrap this book up, though I know she's headed for another part of the Tetrarchia, where I hope we get more of Kalyna's fast-thinking and cunning on display.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Erewhon Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
Though her bad-tempered and coldhearted grandmother can probably still see the future, she prefers to keep mum on the subject, while constantly emotionally abusing Kalyna for killing her mother at her birth, and for lacking the family gift. Kalyna's kind and loving father continues to have visions, but his lack cohesion, and require much interpretation, though his latest is fairly unambiguous, showing the utter physical destruction of the Tetrarchia and most of its people within three months.
Shortly afterward, Kalyna, her father and grandmother are kidnapped by Lenz, the spymaster of Prince Friendhelm of Rotfelsen (one of the four kingdoms) because of her supposed soothsaying ability. Kalyna knows that she must now run the most dangerous con of her life, while escaping Tetrarchia in time to save her family and herself.
Lenz wants her help foretelling the future so that the Prince can maintain his position and the King is kept from harm. To do this, Kalyna must get to know various ministers and higher-ups in the army so she can let Lenz know who's might try to assassinate the King, all while wondering how long she can keep her many lies to Lenz and others straight so that her father will stay alive (she's not so sure she wants her grandmother safe). Through careful observation, and a number of strange conversations with the many factions, Kalyna slowly unravels many of the intricate plots, after some false assumptions and starts, to reveal that there is much more going on in Rotfelsen, including an ancient danger, which is likely the cause of her father's dire prediction.
Kalyna won my heart almost immediately after I met her. She's smart, unsentimental (except about her father), witty, clever at reading people and crafting what they want to hear, and fast with her sickle (women aren't allowed swords in this world). She's got a healthy amount of self-preservation, and will do her best to talk herself out of bad situations, and when she can't, well, there are her fists and her sickle….
Kalyna is a wonderfully complicated person, who, though empathetic, won't hesitate at using someone if it means she can protect those she cares about. She is observant and cynical, and though she makes many mistakes in Rotfelsen's Court, and sometimes steers others in poor or dangerous directions, her aim is averting the massive disaster her father saw coming.
I absolutely loved Kalyna, and the amusing tone of her narration. I also loved the complicated relationships and many machinations swirling around her, wonderfully fleshing out this part of the Tetrarchia. Kalyna gets to know many important players in Rotfelsen, and it's through the many odd conversations she has that Rotfelsen is revealed to be full of political intrigue, while also giving the reader a great sense of the type of people in this kingdom.
Although much of this book is occupied with political scheming, Kalyna does have her heart touched by a few people, and even develops feelings for two. Despite gaining her freedom thanks to her actions, Kalyna is on the move again, a little wiser, and more confident of herself after all that she accomplished. It's a great place to wrap this book up, though I know she's headed for another part of the Tetrarchia, where I hope we get more of Kalyna's fast-thinking and cunning on display.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Erewhon Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
July 23, 2022
Spector has written a remarkably interesting tale of deceit and deception.
Our tale has us follow Kalyna. A non-magical, conniving, con artist, and thief. Kalyna however is very smart, yet she also not deceived by false hope.
Kalyna’s world centers around her abusive grandmother and her extremely ill father, who also have the gift of soothsaying. However, Kalyna does not have the gift, so she must use deceit instead of soothsaying.
Kalyna ends up getting kidnapped by the prince and is told to find out who the people are with intentions to hurt the royal family. She knows however, how bad the assignment can be in finding anyone who wants the hurt royal family.
However! This should also be the easiest assignment of a true soothsayer. Keep in mind, Kaylna is a fraud. So, this ends up not being what she predicted and not being as easy as she had thought. Being a fraud is not all that she had thought it would be, especially when the lives of the ones she loves are on the line.
Kalyna has to perform her best acting ever. She must save her people from the impending doom her father prophesied to happen to Tetrachia. Her ability to be multilingual adds a great deal of who she is, her ability to be cunning makes her a perfect spy.
Spector amasses many genres including the LGBTQIA+ within Kaylna who is bisexual, has a transexual ancestor and a gay character within the novel.
I particularly liked the fact that Spector added the disability representation element. As a Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorder Nurse, the father as a double amputee, reminds me of my patients. The fact that he is a loved character of the book is a refreshing quality in the book. Kudos for that aspect alone.
Kalyna is actually a product of her environment, due to that environment and the stressors that are reigned upon her it is no wonder Kalyna has had to become the person she is.
She has had to suffer the abuse at the hands of her grandmother who blames her for very existence, because she blames her mother’s death since she died while giving birth to Kalyna.
She carries the weight of her father debilitating mind damage by taking on most of the burdens and supporting.
But most of all she carries guilt, the guilt that she does not carry the gift of being a soothsayer, that she has not been able to access the gifts. However, Kalyna does form some type of acceptance.
Spector does leave the book open ended which gives room for another novel, which would be ideal. It would be nice to see if Kalyna’s ancestral line will actually end the soothsayers for good. Overall Spector did a respectable job with this book!
Well Done
Thank you NetGalley, Elijah Kinch Spector and Erewhon Books for this free eArc, This review is of my own volition.
Our tale has us follow Kalyna. A non-magical, conniving, con artist, and thief. Kalyna however is very smart, yet she also not deceived by false hope.
Kalyna’s world centers around her abusive grandmother and her extremely ill father, who also have the gift of soothsaying. However, Kalyna does not have the gift, so she must use deceit instead of soothsaying.
Kalyna ends up getting kidnapped by the prince and is told to find out who the people are with intentions to hurt the royal family. She knows however, how bad the assignment can be in finding anyone who wants the hurt royal family.
However! This should also be the easiest assignment of a true soothsayer. Keep in mind, Kaylna is a fraud. So, this ends up not being what she predicted and not being as easy as she had thought. Being a fraud is not all that she had thought it would be, especially when the lives of the ones she loves are on the line.
Kalyna has to perform her best acting ever. She must save her people from the impending doom her father prophesied to happen to Tetrachia. Her ability to be multilingual adds a great deal of who she is, her ability to be cunning makes her a perfect spy.
Spector amasses many genres including the LGBTQIA+ within Kaylna who is bisexual, has a transexual ancestor and a gay character within the novel.
I particularly liked the fact that Spector added the disability representation element. As a Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorder Nurse, the father as a double amputee, reminds me of my patients. The fact that he is a loved character of the book is a refreshing quality in the book. Kudos for that aspect alone.
Kalyna is actually a product of her environment, due to that environment and the stressors that are reigned upon her it is no wonder Kalyna has had to become the person she is.
She has had to suffer the abuse at the hands of her grandmother who blames her for very existence, because she blames her mother’s death since she died while giving birth to Kalyna.
She carries the weight of her father debilitating mind damage by taking on most of the burdens and supporting.
But most of all she carries guilt, the guilt that she does not carry the gift of being a soothsayer, that she has not been able to access the gifts. However, Kalyna does form some type of acceptance.
Spector does leave the book open ended which gives room for another novel, which would be ideal. It would be nice to see if Kalyna’s ancestral line will actually end the soothsayers for good. Overall Spector did a respectable job with this book!
Well Done
Thank you NetGalley, Elijah Kinch Spector and Erewhon Books for this free eArc, This review is of my own volition.
July 2, 2022
I received an eARC from the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
DNF at 25%
The premise of this book is so good. That's why I wanted to read this book - someone faking being a soothsayer in the midst of a dangerous court? It's sounds exactly my sort of thing.
Unfortunately, it was a very difficult book to follow and keep track of, to the point that I was so turned around and struggling to remember the various factions and names that I stopped reading.
KALYNA THE SOOTHSAYER is told through lots of short chapters - from maybe 1 kindle page to 10 or so. The issue I had was that a lot of these are world building diversions. You could be in the middle of a ball and then have a diversion into world building explaining the various different cultural attitudes of the four kingdoms towards duelling. Then it would be back to the ball for something that a one line about duels being a thing would have covered, except by now you've lost track of who was involved because of that massive information dump of unnecessary information.
It was like that the entire way through and I found it so hard to follow what was happening - let alone care - as there were continual side trips into information that wasn't necessary to me understanding. These felt like info-dumping and distracted me from what was happening until the plot became very hard to understand. It's absolutely a stylistic choice, just one that didn't work for me.
DNF at 25%
The premise of this book is so good. That's why I wanted to read this book - someone faking being a soothsayer in the midst of a dangerous court? It's sounds exactly my sort of thing.
Unfortunately, it was a very difficult book to follow and keep track of, to the point that I was so turned around and struggling to remember the various factions and names that I stopped reading.
KALYNA THE SOOTHSAYER is told through lots of short chapters - from maybe 1 kindle page to 10 or so. The issue I had was that a lot of these are world building diversions. You could be in the middle of a ball and then have a diversion into world building explaining the various different cultural attitudes of the four kingdoms towards duelling. Then it would be back to the ball for something that a one line about duels being a thing would have covered, except by now you've lost track of who was involved because of that massive information dump of unnecessary information.
It was like that the entire way through and I found it so hard to follow what was happening - let alone care - as there were continual side trips into information that wasn't necessary to me understanding. These felt like info-dumping and distracted me from what was happening until the plot became very hard to understand. It's absolutely a stylistic choice, just one that didn't work for me.
Read
March 5, 2022I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The cover caught my attention (really like it!) and then the blurb sounded so interesting.
It's rare to have a fantasy book where the main character doesn't have magic powers of some kind.
I also like a good spy plot, so I was intrigued and the plot did hold my interest for most of the book.
It was just that the writing was so heavy somehow. I guess it had too much information? I felt like I was getting a history lesson on Tetrarchia sometimes. I did enjoy the sarcastic humour at first, though, but thought it was over-done later on, and the language was too modern at times.
Kalyna was an interesting character at first. A lot of contradictory traits, but pretty realistic, in a way. She just became more and more insufferable to me as the plot advanced. Her behaviour was just so arrogant and over-confident.
I'll be honest, I was tempted to DNF, so I ended up just skim-reading the last 20%. It was a bit anti-climactic for me, in the end.
The cover caught my attention (really like it!) and then the blurb sounded so interesting.
It's rare to have a fantasy book where the main character doesn't have magic powers of some kind.
I also like a good spy plot, so I was intrigued and the plot did hold my interest for most of the book.
It was just that the writing was so heavy somehow. I guess it had too much information? I felt like I was getting a history lesson on Tetrarchia sometimes. I did enjoy the sarcastic humour at first, though, but thought it was over-done later on, and the language was too modern at times.
Kalyna was an interesting character at first. A lot of contradictory traits, but pretty realistic, in a way. She just became more and more insufferable to me as the plot advanced. Her behaviour was just so arrogant and over-confident.
I'll be honest, I was tempted to DNF, so I ended up just skim-reading the last 20%. It was a bit anti-climactic for me, in the end.
June 8, 2025
I believe I found this book on the site formerly known as tordotcom's best of 2024 list, and I finally got around to reading it after kicking in down the hold line for months. In Kalyna the Soothsayer, the titular Kalyna makes a living as a fraud psychic to support her family--because unlike the rest of her line, she never inherited the gift for seeing the future. But when one of her prophecies is a little too successful, she's kidnapped by a foreign prince, who wants her to predict the tangled web of court politics for him.
Kalyna the Soothsayer is set in a world flavored a bit like nineteenth century Europe, except in that much of the action takes place inside a miles-long hollowed-out rock. Kalyna's cynical perspective skews the tone darker than it might otherwise be. Her grandmother constantly degrades her for not having the Gift and for killing her mother (by being born). She scrabbles a living by lying to people who see her as an ethnically suspicious looking outsider, no matter what country she's in. Unfortunately, these factors combine to make her largely indifferent to the fate of Rotfelsen politics, even as her false prophecies are killing off people like flies. While I normally enjoy court politics novels, Kalyna's disconnect from the outcome rob the book of its stakes and make its five hundred pages start to drag. Which is a shame, because the politics are particularly juicy, with at least four different scheming factions, a nationalist movement, and an imposter.
Fascinating concept, but I'm not sure the flavor of the execution was quite to my taste.
Kalyna the Soothsayer is set in a world flavored a bit like nineteenth century Europe, except in that much of the action takes place inside a miles-long hollowed-out rock. Kalyna's cynical perspective skews the tone darker than it might otherwise be. Her grandmother constantly degrades her for not having the Gift and for killing her mother (by being born). She scrabbles a living by lying to people who see her as an ethnically suspicious looking outsider, no matter what country she's in. Unfortunately, these factors combine to make her largely indifferent to the fate of Rotfelsen politics, even as her false prophecies are killing off people like flies. While I normally enjoy court politics novels, Kalyna's disconnect from the outcome rob the book of its stakes and make its five hundred pages start to drag. Which is a shame, because the politics are particularly juicy, with at least four different scheming factions, a nationalist movement, and an imposter.
Fascinating concept, but I'm not sure the flavor of the execution was quite to my taste.
February 25, 2022
Interesting idea and fantasy universe, but the first-person narration does not fully convince, though overall the book was entertaining enough to keep me reading
dnf
August 3, 2022dnf p. 273
Thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for providing an eARC to review!
I will say that (unintentionally) the last three books I have read (including this one) have all been seer-based, so maybe I was a little tired of the concept. I did find the take on soothsaying this presents is a unique one, and I really liked the idea of not being able to see the futures of those you're close to because you're so rooted in their present. I also enjoyed Kalyna's way of getting around her lack of Gift, especially in her small town where people were unlikely to catch on.
However, as soon as we got to the palace, I didn't really understand what made her different from just a regular spy-type, apart from her making some quite bold assumptions and then being able to blame the vagueness of her gift? I felt her having to get 'context' for her visions, even if she had the Gift, would make soothsaying pretty useless, especially if you wouldn't be able to place your vision until you're seeing it played out. I don't know if this was meant to be the point, but I felt this book quickly devolved into Kalyna just going around asking people what they were up to, and then basically reporting back and just saying it was prophecy.
I also didn't really like the way this book was formatted - which I know is a bit petty - but I found the headings and sections that gave us kind of an encyclopaedic overview of the world pulled me out of Kalyna's story, and there was just way too much detail. The author has obviously thought a lot about this world, but I felt there wasn't enough left up to the imagination to allow me to really feel immersed in the story. The opposite, interestingly, I felt was true of Kalyna. I felt like I didn't know much about her apart from 1) she wanted to protect her father, 2) she hated her Grandmother and 3) she wanted to escape. And especially as that last one never really felt like something she was ever going to try to do, Kalyna fell a little flat for me. I think I needed a bit more street smarts, survivalist cunning about her, but instead at times she just felt snarky and childish.
I think this had a lot of potential, but just needed some tightening up to make the story more immersive. I needed a bit more showing rather than telling, for the world-building to be a bit better incorporated into the story, and for Kalyna to be a bit more of a character I could root for. I think if you're looking for something with similar themes, The Wolf and the Woodsman or The Poppy War would do the job very nicely.
Thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for providing an eARC to review!
I will say that (unintentionally) the last three books I have read (including this one) have all been seer-based, so maybe I was a little tired of the concept. I did find the take on soothsaying this presents is a unique one, and I really liked the idea of not being able to see the futures of those you're close to because you're so rooted in their present. I also enjoyed Kalyna's way of getting around her lack of Gift, especially in her small town where people were unlikely to catch on.
However, as soon as we got to the palace, I didn't really understand what made her different from just a regular spy-type, apart from her making some quite bold assumptions and then being able to blame the vagueness of her gift? I felt her having to get 'context' for her visions, even if she had the Gift, would make soothsaying pretty useless, especially if you wouldn't be able to place your vision until you're seeing it played out. I don't know if this was meant to be the point, but I felt this book quickly devolved into Kalyna just going around asking people what they were up to, and then basically reporting back and just saying it was prophecy.
I also didn't really like the way this book was formatted - which I know is a bit petty - but I found the headings and sections that gave us kind of an encyclopaedic overview of the world pulled me out of Kalyna's story, and there was just way too much detail. The author has obviously thought a lot about this world, but I felt there wasn't enough left up to the imagination to allow me to really feel immersed in the story. The opposite, interestingly, I felt was true of Kalyna. I felt like I didn't know much about her apart from 1) she wanted to protect her father, 2) she hated her Grandmother and 3) she wanted to escape. And especially as that last one never really felt like something she was ever going to try to do, Kalyna fell a little flat for me. I think I needed a bit more street smarts, survivalist cunning about her, but instead at times she just felt snarky and childish.
I think this had a lot of potential, but just needed some tightening up to make the story more immersive. I needed a bit more showing rather than telling, for the world-building to be a bit better incorporated into the story, and for Kalyna to be a bit more of a character I could root for. I think if you're looking for something with similar themes, The Wolf and the Woodsman or The Poppy War would do the job very nicely.
May 7, 2022
3,5 stars for this book
I almost stopped reading this book at 40%, because it was SO long, and kind of boring sometimes. However, I am glad I did not!
The story, though very complex and hard to get into, was rich and interesting. There were multiple layers to the plot, without being too difficult to comprehend. The informations on the world were explained in a very clear way, there were just too much of it that my little head had trouble remembering everything at the beginning.
But the thing I absolutely, absolutely LOVED was Kalyna, our main character. She is messy, traumatized by her grandmother that insults her, hits her and tells her everyday that she is a waste of life, but she is also brave, and fun, and kind. Her sarcasm and cynic view of life was so full of humor and refreshing, I kept reading mainly to know more about her adventures! Writing with a first person POV can be tricky, but this was handled perfectly.
The other characters are just as lovable, and the representation, both of various ethnicities, sexualities and disabilities was great.
In summary, if you are not afraid of a long and rich book full of cynical humor, I highly recommend this!
Thanks to Erewhon books and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book.
I almost stopped reading this book at 40%, because it was SO long, and kind of boring sometimes. However, I am glad I did not!
The story, though very complex and hard to get into, was rich and interesting. There were multiple layers to the plot, without being too difficult to comprehend. The informations on the world were explained in a very clear way, there were just too much of it that my little head had trouble remembering everything at the beginning.
But the thing I absolutely, absolutely LOVED was Kalyna, our main character. She is messy, traumatized by her grandmother that insults her, hits her and tells her everyday that she is a waste of life, but she is also brave, and fun, and kind. Her sarcasm and cynic view of life was so full of humor and refreshing, I kept reading mainly to know more about her adventures! Writing with a first person POV can be tricky, but this was handled perfectly.
The other characters are just as lovable, and the representation, both of various ethnicities, sexualities and disabilities was great.
In summary, if you are not afraid of a long and rich book full of cynical humor, I highly recommend this!
Thanks to Erewhon books and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book.
March 8, 2022
I have never read a fantasy novel quite like this. I have always been fascinated by fortune tellers, and this brings the sly tales of mythical abilities to an entire new level. For a first novel, Elijah Spector has done extremely, extremely well - Kalyna is an enchanting character, even if she doesn't have the abilities that her family wants her to have. An enthralling novel at first, though it was a little anti-climatic in the end.
August 31, 2024
Unfortunately due to pacing issues, I stopped caring what happened to Kaylna the charlatan seer and her changing gang of compatriots. By her nature of being anti-monarchy, anti-establishment, anti-aristocrat, it's difficult to see why anyone would bother with these palace power struggles. Vague concern for the 'common people.' In this xenophobic fantasy world, Kaylna's background gives me the impression of having been taken from the Roma/Sinti (nomadic life, prosecuted everywhere in Europe, darker skin colour, colourful clothing, mixed blood, fortune telling). The names and places hint of a Eastern European origin (although Wiki informs that harquebusiers are cavalry from Western Europe). Fruits like lychee, persimmons and durian are added for some Orientalism, as with white authors. Coffee still exists as coffee and there are guns with no mention of the origin of gunpowder (China). Worldbuilding was fairly solid at the beginning but I do not plan on reading the next book.
June 23, 2025
3.5 rounded down
Had won the paperback in a goodreads giveaway and originally dnf’d, but tried again & enjoyed better as an audiobook as there were too many names and places I struggled to pronounce and the book didn’t include a pronunciation guide or anything. Overall enjoyed the story I suppose; kind of felt like the plot was happening around the FMC rather than her being a part of it if that makes any sense.
Had won the paperback in a goodreads giveaway and originally dnf’d, but tried again & enjoyed better as an audiobook as there were too many names and places I struggled to pronounce and the book didn’t include a pronunciation guide or anything. Overall enjoyed the story I suppose; kind of felt like the plot was happening around the FMC rather than her being a part of it if that makes any sense.
August 3, 2022
Originally posted on Just Geeking by.
Content warnings:
Have you ever finished a book, sat back and wondered what on earth you have just read? That was me after I had finished Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector. There was something about this one that kept me hooked even when I kept looking at the percentage read and realised that what I thought was a huge chunk read was only a measly 20 percent!
I have to admit I went into Kalyna the Soothsayer expecting there to be a point where the main character, Kalyna was revealed to have real soothsaying powers or some other gift. At some points it felt as though that was where Spector was heading, and I thought I read a few hints dropped to that extent. I’m not quite sure if I’m glad that I was wrong about the direction Spector took the book in or not, because while I think that route would have been interesting it was also refreshing to have a protagonist who didn’t have any powers. As a result, Kalyna the Soothsayer is more fantasy with a spy and thriller twist than your usual epic fantasy and I think that is what kept me hooked. I had to know what was going to happen, how things would turn out.
As a main character Kalyna is probably not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Anyone who read Throne of Glass and complained that Celaena was bratty should give this a miss, especially because they missed the fact that Celaena had been through traumatic experiences and was dealing with PTSD. The world of Kalyna the Soothsayer is divided into four kingdoms which eventually banded together to form a “gigantic country” called the Tetrarchia. Kalyna and her family are travelling soothsayers, and as she tells people multiple times throughout the book, she’s not “foreign”; she belongs to every country.
“I have got something from everywhere, and I am exotic to all” is how she explains, “It is useful for business, and also for being dragged out by a mob to be throttled”.
Her grandmother is an extremely toxic person who told her as a child that she killed her mother (she died in childbirth), and has been emotionally abusing her since it became obvious that Kalyna had not inherited their family gift. Being forced into a coach and taken to one of the kingdoms to act as a soothsayer in a prince’s mad scheme is just another traumatic event in a long line for this young woman. Spector does a great job of walking that fine line between exploring Kalyna’s feelings of imprisonment, anxiety of being found out as a fraud, worry about her disabled father while feeling guilty for enjoying luxuries that she has never had before.
I found her likeable and relatable, and a lot of that was to do with Spector’s narrative voice. At one point during Kalyna the Soothsayer a character introduces herself while eating something and Kalyna is too embarrassed to ask her to repeat it because she likes her. She spends an awfully long time calling this woman a random misheard name until someone finally says her name properly, and it was just so relatable. It also brought the whole situation and the character down to earth. She’s running around trying not to get caught, up to her neck in the middle of political conspiracies, risking certain death and there she is worried about embarrassing herself in front of a pretty girl!
While there was enough to keep me hooked, the massive downfall of the Kalyna the Soothsayer is its length. There is just so much waffling on which just isn’t needed. I don’t know whether a map is included in the final edition (there’s no preview available on Amazon and no information on the author’s website), but this is one of those books where one is sorely needed. From the way the kingdoms are described and the etymology of the names Spector has used I would guess that this is one of those fantasy worlds stylised on real world locations and cultures. Sometimes that can be done very well, and sometimes it can feel like I’m reading historical fiction rather than fantasy. In this case, it wasn’t done well. When Kalyna is reading through her captor’s tireless and boring notes, the reader does not need to know all those details as well, for example.
Some things were well done, and it was good to see a disabled character and lots of LGBT representation in a fantasy novel without any negative connotations attached to either. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for what Elijah Kinch Spector does next, but Kalyna the Soothsayer just wasn’t quite the right fit for me.
For more of my reviews please visit my blog!
Content warnings:
Have you ever finished a book, sat back and wondered what on earth you have just read? That was me after I had finished Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector. There was something about this one that kept me hooked even when I kept looking at the percentage read and realised that what I thought was a huge chunk read was only a measly 20 percent!
I have to admit I went into Kalyna the Soothsayer expecting there to be a point where the main character, Kalyna was revealed to have real soothsaying powers or some other gift. At some points it felt as though that was where Spector was heading, and I thought I read a few hints dropped to that extent. I’m not quite sure if I’m glad that I was wrong about the direction Spector took the book in or not, because while I think that route would have been interesting it was also refreshing to have a protagonist who didn’t have any powers. As a result, Kalyna the Soothsayer is more fantasy with a spy and thriller twist than your usual epic fantasy and I think that is what kept me hooked. I had to know what was going to happen, how things would turn out.
As a main character Kalyna is probably not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. Anyone who read Throne of Glass and complained that Celaena was bratty should give this a miss, especially because they missed the fact that Celaena had been through traumatic experiences and was dealing with PTSD. The world of Kalyna the Soothsayer is divided into four kingdoms which eventually banded together to form a “gigantic country” called the Tetrarchia. Kalyna and her family are travelling soothsayers, and as she tells people multiple times throughout the book, she’s not “foreign”; she belongs to every country.
“I have got something from everywhere, and I am exotic to all” is how she explains, “It is useful for business, and also for being dragged out by a mob to be throttled”.
Her grandmother is an extremely toxic person who told her as a child that she killed her mother (she died in childbirth), and has been emotionally abusing her since it became obvious that Kalyna had not inherited their family gift. Being forced into a coach and taken to one of the kingdoms to act as a soothsayer in a prince’s mad scheme is just another traumatic event in a long line for this young woman. Spector does a great job of walking that fine line between exploring Kalyna’s feelings of imprisonment, anxiety of being found out as a fraud, worry about her disabled father while feeling guilty for enjoying luxuries that she has never had before.
I found her likeable and relatable, and a lot of that was to do with Spector’s narrative voice. At one point during Kalyna the Soothsayer a character introduces herself while eating something and Kalyna is too embarrassed to ask her to repeat it because she likes her. She spends an awfully long time calling this woman a random misheard name until someone finally says her name properly, and it was just so relatable. It also brought the whole situation and the character down to earth. She’s running around trying not to get caught, up to her neck in the middle of political conspiracies, risking certain death and there she is worried about embarrassing herself in front of a pretty girl!
While there was enough to keep me hooked, the massive downfall of the Kalyna the Soothsayer is its length. There is just so much waffling on which just isn’t needed. I don’t know whether a map is included in the final edition (there’s no preview available on Amazon and no information on the author’s website), but this is one of those books where one is sorely needed. From the way the kingdoms are described and the etymology of the names Spector has used I would guess that this is one of those fantasy worlds stylised on real world locations and cultures. Sometimes that can be done very well, and sometimes it can feel like I’m reading historical fiction rather than fantasy. In this case, it wasn’t done well. When Kalyna is reading through her captor’s tireless and boring notes, the reader does not need to know all those details as well, for example.
Some things were well done, and it was good to see a disabled character and lots of LGBT representation in a fantasy novel without any negative connotations attached to either. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for what Elijah Kinch Spector does next, but Kalyna the Soothsayer just wasn’t quite the right fit for me.
For more of my reviews please visit my blog!
August 23, 2024
I really, really enjoyed this! It gave me vibes that I associate with being a teenager, curling up with a fat fantasy book from my father's collection on a Saturday afternoon, with all the innocent freedom of not needing to do my own taxes. Just a rollicking good fantasy book, with politics and intrigue and con jobs and so much punching and stabbing. Just a grand ride, all along.
December 29, 2022
This was long! But I liked it. I really want an audiobook so I can reread it.
Read
May 9, 2022DNF. It's not a good sign when I'm wanting to skip ahead of the boring bits on page 3.
August 2, 2022
I found Kalyna the Soothsayer absolutely fascinating. What the reader will first notice is the choice of structure Spector has chosen to write in. The book is broken up into parts and each part is broken up into small, bite-size sections that have section headers. Think of the Parts like seasons and the Sections like episodes (sometimes with a telenovela cliffhanger that’s addressed in the next section immediately) and you’ll get a sense of how Spector approached this story.
There are parts that either become heavy with dialogue or heavy with exposition and it does seem like the author struggled to find a balance there - but there are so many hidden gems of writing that it truly ended up not bothering me as a reader.
This book is heavy on the politics but Kalyna was a very interesting protagonist to follow, especially when she gets into her banter. She has such a dry wit that is just so fun to read. There is also one person I love especially when she banters with, and I won’t say who, but there’s a very good reason why their banter is so good - and it was a fist pump moment when it’s revealed.
I do sincerely hope that Kalyna the Soothsayer finds its audience because I do worry that the structure will discourage some readers from trying it or recommending it and that shouldn’t be the case.
If the premise sounds interesting, and you don’t mind a little challenge in writing style - I recommend this book.
*I received an eARC from Erewhon Books & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*
There are parts that either become heavy with dialogue or heavy with exposition and it does seem like the author struggled to find a balance there - but there are so many hidden gems of writing that it truly ended up not bothering me as a reader.
This book is heavy on the politics but Kalyna was a very interesting protagonist to follow, especially when she gets into her banter. She has such a dry wit that is just so fun to read. There is also one person I love especially when she banters with, and I won’t say who, but there’s a very good reason why their banter is so good - and it was a fist pump moment when it’s revealed.
I do sincerely hope that Kalyna the Soothsayer finds its audience because I do worry that the structure will discourage some readers from trying it or recommending it and that shouldn’t be the case.
If the premise sounds interesting, and you don’t mind a little challenge in writing style - I recommend this book.
*I received an eARC from Erewhon Books & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*
Read
June 2, 2023This post first appeared on my blog BookishlyJewish
Every now and again I get asked where my family is from, only to receive a roll of the eyes when I reply “here." In casual contexts this occurs when people want to place me neatly on geographic maps in relation to their own ancestors. Annoying, but mostly harmless. In publishing contexts, this question comes in the form of well meaning, but frankly wrongheaded, gatekeepers trying to suggest I should look “in my ancestry” for material that I can mine to make my writing more “authentic” and “exotic." Yes, the word exotic has really been used in relation to Jewish themes in my writing. But I digress. The main issue at hand is that these people have zero concept of what it means to be a forced nomad.
How can one claim a geographic heritage when their forebears have been compelled to move from place to place due to relentless persecution and government sponsored genocide? How can one express their culture when the descendants of those very same pillagers will accuse you of appropriation because you “couldn’t possibly be from here. You're Jewish.” To be a Jew is to be from everywhere and nowhere all at once, because each place will refute your possibly belonging to them while instead insisting you must belong to whichever bogeyman they currently fear.
This is the central problem faced by the title character of Elijah Kinch Spector's Kalyna the Soothsayer. Kalyna is the first soothsayer of her line that cannot actually see the future, has been kidnapped by a merciless prince, and is also tasked with preventing the complete and total annihilation of the world as she knows it (which has been foreseen by her debilitated father, who actually can see the future). These, while thrilling plot points, are minor problems compared to the overwhelming refusal of everyone around her to actually see her for who she is rather than who they assume her to be.
The book is a second world fantasy, and I have no idea what religion is practiced in the kingdoms Kalyna journeys through, but there is such a Jewish sensibility about her plight. Everywhere she goes she risks being run out of town by a mob that accuses her of poisoning the water or turning men's heads. Every (fake) prophecy she gives is viewed in the context of her being “clearly foreign."
I have never felt so seen.
Adding to the delightfullness of this book is the fact that Kalyna is very clearly bisexual or pansexual and she is allowed to be so, unabashedly, on the page. Spector does not fall into the terrible stereotypes of greediness or indecision that sometimes plague writers of bisexual characters. In fact, while Kalyna is free to experience her desires, she very rarely acts on them because she has bigger fish to fry. Namely the whole end-of-the-world issue. She shows great care and consideration towards both the feelings and ability to consent of potential partners, even if it means she is more often than not left alone.
I won’t give any spoilers, but I’ll just say that when we do find out who Kalyna ends up with romantically, it is deeply satisfying. I may have read the epilogue some fifteen times simply for how happy it made me. If the author would care to write me some apocryphal fanfic of later events and adventures of these two, I would cherish it deeply. If anyone would like to let him know of this request, I would certainly be cool with that.
Kalyna finds power in her “otherness” by using it to help her navigate a tangled web of court politics and escape some tricky situations. At her core though, she’s not a courtier looking for advancement or a political schemer trying to control the throne. She's an often hilarious wandering soothsayer trying to keep her family together in the face of those that would hurt them. I can’t imagine anything more Jewish than that.
Every now and again I get asked where my family is from, only to receive a roll of the eyes when I reply “here." In casual contexts this occurs when people want to place me neatly on geographic maps in relation to their own ancestors. Annoying, but mostly harmless. In publishing contexts, this question comes in the form of well meaning, but frankly wrongheaded, gatekeepers trying to suggest I should look “in my ancestry” for material that I can mine to make my writing more “authentic” and “exotic." Yes, the word exotic has really been used in relation to Jewish themes in my writing. But I digress. The main issue at hand is that these people have zero concept of what it means to be a forced nomad.
How can one claim a geographic heritage when their forebears have been compelled to move from place to place due to relentless persecution and government sponsored genocide? How can one express their culture when the descendants of those very same pillagers will accuse you of appropriation because you “couldn’t possibly be from here. You're Jewish.” To be a Jew is to be from everywhere and nowhere all at once, because each place will refute your possibly belonging to them while instead insisting you must belong to whichever bogeyman they currently fear.
This is the central problem faced by the title character of Elijah Kinch Spector's Kalyna the Soothsayer. Kalyna is the first soothsayer of her line that cannot actually see the future, has been kidnapped by a merciless prince, and is also tasked with preventing the complete and total annihilation of the world as she knows it (which has been foreseen by her debilitated father, who actually can see the future). These, while thrilling plot points, are minor problems compared to the overwhelming refusal of everyone around her to actually see her for who she is rather than who they assume her to be.
The book is a second world fantasy, and I have no idea what religion is practiced in the kingdoms Kalyna journeys through, but there is such a Jewish sensibility about her plight. Everywhere she goes she risks being run out of town by a mob that accuses her of poisoning the water or turning men's heads. Every (fake) prophecy she gives is viewed in the context of her being “clearly foreign."
I have never felt so seen.
Adding to the delightfullness of this book is the fact that Kalyna is very clearly bisexual or pansexual and she is allowed to be so, unabashedly, on the page. Spector does not fall into the terrible stereotypes of greediness or indecision that sometimes plague writers of bisexual characters. In fact, while Kalyna is free to experience her desires, she very rarely acts on them because she has bigger fish to fry. Namely the whole end-of-the-world issue. She shows great care and consideration towards both the feelings and ability to consent of potential partners, even if it means she is more often than not left alone.
I won’t give any spoilers, but I’ll just say that when we do find out who Kalyna ends up with romantically, it is deeply satisfying. I may have read the epilogue some fifteen times simply for how happy it made me. If the author would care to write me some apocryphal fanfic of later events and adventures of these two, I would cherish it deeply. If anyone would like to let him know of this request, I would certainly be cool with that.
Kalyna finds power in her “otherness” by using it to help her navigate a tangled web of court politics and escape some tricky situations. At her core though, she’s not a courtier looking for advancement or a political schemer trying to control the throne. She's an often hilarious wandering soothsayer trying to keep her family together in the face of those that would hurt them. I can’t imagine anything more Jewish than that.
November 16, 2022
I don't know if Kalyna the Soothsayer is the best book I've read this year, but it's certainly the funniest. I can't remember the last time I read a book that had me genuinely laughing out loud every few pages the way Kalyna did. If you enjoy wry humor, Kalyna is worth reading for the knife-sharp one-liners alone.
But, of course, humor is not the only thing holding this book together. Kalyna herself is flawed, compelling, and all-too-human; her relationships with the people around her are complex and layered and often bittersweet. The court politics that Kalyna is thrust into are delightfully intricate, leaving you feeling like you never quite know whose side anybody is on; and yet somehow Spector manages to present them in a digestible and easy-to-follow way (it helps that the four major factions are conveniently color-coded). My only minor qualms I can't discuss without major spoilers, but they certainly were not enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of what has easily been one of my favorite books of the year.
I'm reluctant to discuss anything with more specifics, because I think it's best to go in blind and let Kalyna tell you her story herself – but I highly recommend that you do so, immediately.
April 2, 2023
Kalyna the Soothsayer is the debut novel of Elijah Kinch Spector. I saw it on the New Releases shelf at the library, and the summary on the book flap was intriguing enough that I check it out and brought it home. At 460 pages in the hardcover edition, it is a big story. The protagonist is Kalyna, the daughter of a soothsayer (her father, Aljosa), and also the granddaughter of a soothsayer (her grandmother, Vüsala). Unfortunately, Kalyna's mother died in childbirth, Kalyna's father is slipping in and out of dementia, and her grandmother hates her. It is a family heritage that each generation has one child, and that child is born with "the Gift" of foreseeing the future. Vusala and Aljosa both have that talent, but somehow the gift was not bestowed upon Kalyna. Her grandmother blames Kalyna for disrupting the passing of "the Gift", though any reasonable person could see that it is hardly Kalyna's fault that she born untalented.
Because her father is losing his mind, and her grandmother has retired from the business of foretelling, it is up to Kalyna to provide for the family. Though she has no talent at prognostication, Kalyna puts on an act, making vague predictions, slipping in a few shrewd guessing, and carefully rounding up enough information about the neighborhood in order to make sometimes-accurate forecasts of what's come. But the family has stay on the move, because too often Kalyna "sees" the wrong future.
Spector has created a unique fantasy kingdom - Kalyna lives in the Tetrarchia - which is four small kingdoms that have bonded together into one large federation. There are still four ruling monarchs, and the relationship between each kingdom is often strained, but the merger has benefits against the larger countries that press on Tetrarchia's borders. Alas - in one of his lucid moments, Kalyna' dad reveals that he has foreseen that Tetrarchia will be shattered, a great disaster will ensue when the next "Council of Barbarians" meets. (The Council of Barbarians is the name given to the gathering of the four monarchs when they decide on upcoming policy for Tetrarchia.) This year, the Council is to be held in the kingdom of Rotfelsen (Rotfelsen in one of the four kingdoms that comprise Tetrarchia ) - it would be wise to get as far away as possible from the pending doom.
Before Kalyna and her family can pack their wagon and roll out of town, the sinister Lenz kidnaps her. It turns out that Lenz is the top advisor for Prince Friedhelm of Rotfelsen. Prince Friedhelm is worried that someone is going to kill his brother, the King of Rotfelsen. The pleasure-loving Prince Friedhelm definitely does not want the burden the ruling the Rotfelsen, he is motivated to keep his brother on the throne at all costs. Lenz and Friedhelm have concluded that having a soothsayer in their employ will allow them to foresee the moves of their enemies and thwart their schemes. They have no idea that Kalyna is actually a fraud. In order to ensure that she cooperates, Lenz drags Kalyna's beloved father (and despised grandmother) to Rotfelsen as hostages. Kalyna is trapped - if Lenz and Prince Friedhelm realize that she is a fake, they will simply kill her and her family. Kalyna tries desperately to find away to escape with her family before the upcoming Council of Barbarians, and so she finds herself thrust into a nest of scheming nobles and untrustworthy ministers. There definitely is a plot against King Gerhold VIII, but who is the traitor to the crown? Lenz and Prince Friedhelm demand answers, while Kalyna temporizes and makes vague statements.
Spector has imagined an interesting Kingdom of Rotfelsen. It is full of red rock - the aristocrats live on the top of the rock in a vast palace, but the citizens live below, in huge tunnels that riddle the red rock. These tunnels were not naturally formed; instead, they appear to have been carved long ago by immense creatures that burrowed their way through the solid rock. The walls of the tunnels are still scored by their gigantic claws, the rock itself bears scars where their armored spines pushed the rock aside like a living glacier. There are passageways and chambers hidden in the red rock, does anyone actually know all the various secret routes?
My favorite characters were Dagmar, the invincible guardswoman, and Aljosa, Kalyna's father. Unfortunately they only play minor roles in this story. Although Kalyna understandably hates Lentz for kidnapping her and her family, I found that I actually liked the guy, who was doing everything he could think of to save the monarch of Rotfelsen. Although Kalyna is the protagonist, I found I did not relate to her that well. Kalyna never seem to come up with a coherent plan to escape, she never seemed to figure out who the conspirators were until they struck, mostly she was desperately reacting to events around her. This is entirely a reasonable portrayal, but it doesn't make Kalyna that heroic. If Spector writes another novel, I would interested, unless it stars Kalyna again, then I would skip it, because I don't think I would enjoy another big book starring her.
Because her father is losing his mind, and her grandmother has retired from the business of foretelling, it is up to Kalyna to provide for the family. Though she has no talent at prognostication, Kalyna puts on an act, making vague predictions, slipping in a few shrewd guessing, and carefully rounding up enough information about the neighborhood in order to make sometimes-accurate forecasts of what's come. But the family has stay on the move, because too often Kalyna "sees" the wrong future.
Spector has created a unique fantasy kingdom - Kalyna lives in the Tetrarchia - which is four small kingdoms that have bonded together into one large federation. There are still four ruling monarchs, and the relationship between each kingdom is often strained, but the merger has benefits against the larger countries that press on Tetrarchia's borders. Alas - in one of his lucid moments, Kalyna' dad reveals that he has foreseen that Tetrarchia will be shattered, a great disaster will ensue when the next "Council of Barbarians" meets. (The Council of Barbarians is the name given to the gathering of the four monarchs when they decide on upcoming policy for Tetrarchia.) This year, the Council is to be held in the kingdom of Rotfelsen (Rotfelsen in one of the four kingdoms that comprise Tetrarchia ) - it would be wise to get as far away as possible from the pending doom.
Before Kalyna and her family can pack their wagon and roll out of town, the sinister Lenz kidnaps her. It turns out that Lenz is the top advisor for Prince Friedhelm of Rotfelsen. Prince Friedhelm is worried that someone is going to kill his brother, the King of Rotfelsen. The pleasure-loving Prince Friedhelm definitely does not want the burden the ruling the Rotfelsen, he is motivated to keep his brother on the throne at all costs. Lenz and Friedhelm have concluded that having a soothsayer in their employ will allow them to foresee the moves of their enemies and thwart their schemes. They have no idea that Kalyna is actually a fraud. In order to ensure that she cooperates, Lenz drags Kalyna's beloved father (and despised grandmother) to Rotfelsen as hostages. Kalyna is trapped - if Lenz and Prince Friedhelm realize that she is a fake, they will simply kill her and her family. Kalyna tries desperately to find away to escape with her family before the upcoming Council of Barbarians, and so she finds herself thrust into a nest of scheming nobles and untrustworthy ministers. There definitely is a plot against King Gerhold VIII, but who is the traitor to the crown? Lenz and Prince Friedhelm demand answers, while Kalyna temporizes and makes vague statements.
Spector has imagined an interesting Kingdom of Rotfelsen. It is full of red rock - the aristocrats live on the top of the rock in a vast palace, but the citizens live below, in huge tunnels that riddle the red rock. These tunnels were not naturally formed; instead, they appear to have been carved long ago by immense creatures that burrowed their way through the solid rock. The walls of the tunnels are still scored by their gigantic claws, the rock itself bears scars where their armored spines pushed the rock aside like a living glacier. There are passageways and chambers hidden in the red rock, does anyone actually know all the various secret routes?
My favorite characters were Dagmar, the invincible guardswoman, and Aljosa, Kalyna's father. Unfortunately they only play minor roles in this story. Although Kalyna understandably hates Lentz for kidnapping her and her family, I found that I actually liked the guy, who was doing everything he could think of to save the monarch of Rotfelsen. Although Kalyna is the protagonist, I found I did not relate to her that well. Kalyna never seem to come up with a coherent plan to escape, she never seemed to figure out who the conspirators were until they struck, mostly she was desperately reacting to events around her. This is entirely a reasonable portrayal, but it doesn't make Kalyna that heroic. If Spector writes another novel, I would interested, unless it stars Kalyna again, then I would skip it, because I don't think I would enjoy another big book starring her.
October 12, 2023
This book was so much fun. Kalyna and her family are basically kidnapped by a prince to help him stop plots against his brother the king, but since she doesn't actually have the soothsaying abilities her family does, she's just making it up as she goes along. The book is basically political intrigue to the max, but done as a comedy of errors, with an utterly ridiculous kingdom and utterly ridiculous people, and I loved Kalyna and her messed up little world. I really loved the premise, and I thought the humor in the author's writing style was well-matched to the material. (It also doesn't hurt that Spector name-checked one of my favorite nonfiction books, Norman Davies's Vanished Kingdoms, in the afterword.)
March 3, 2022
DNF, 30%
I wanted to like this book - it was an interesting premise and I like political intrigue in fantasy settings. Kalyna should have been an amazing character but she was very flat. There was no emotion from her so it was hard to feel any sympathy for her. At one point someone mentions her lack of abilities and she describes feeling shame and unworthiness, and almost cries, and I was so startled because you really get no sense that she's upset about her situation. She keeps mentioning a vision her father had of catastrophe, and thinks about ways to save herself and her family, but there isn't a strong sense of urgency or even anything but vague worry. It felt like watching someone observing her own life, rather than participating in it.
Just wasn't for me.
I received this as an ARC from Net Galley
I wanted to like this book - it was an interesting premise and I like political intrigue in fantasy settings. Kalyna should have been an amazing character but she was very flat. There was no emotion from her so it was hard to feel any sympathy for her. At one point someone mentions her lack of abilities and she describes feeling shame and unworthiness, and almost cries, and I was so startled because you really get no sense that she's upset about her situation. She keeps mentioning a vision her father had of catastrophe, and thinks about ways to save herself and her family, but there isn't a strong sense of urgency or even anything but vague worry. It felt like watching someone observing her own life, rather than participating in it.
Just wasn't for me.
I received this as an ARC from Net Galley
June 20, 2023
Please consider reading the full version of this review at my website and support independent internet
Kalyna's a fun character to be sure, but the primary way she interacts with you, the reader, is more like a meta-level observer describing a roleplaying game system. I lost track of how many times something pretty basic about the world was repeated to me again, to make sure I didn’t miss it– “Four armies in this one kingdom, itself one of four kingdoms in a larger country, all desperate to tear each other apart.” I didn’t read the book in serial format or spread out over weeks of game nights. I just read it straight through. I can be trusted to remember the basic structure of the world, friend.
Kalyna's a fun character to be sure, but the primary way she interacts with you, the reader, is more like a meta-level observer describing a roleplaying game system. I lost track of how many times something pretty basic about the world was repeated to me again, to make sure I didn’t miss it– “Four armies in this one kingdom, itself one of four kingdoms in a larger country, all desperate to tear each other apart.” I didn’t read the book in serial format or spread out over weeks of game nights. I just read it straight through. I can be trusted to remember the basic structure of the world, friend.
November 7, 2022
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and finished copy from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Kalyna the Soothsayer
Author: Elijah Kinch Spector
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Diversity: Queer MCs, disabled character, POC characters, chronic illness character
Recommended For...: adult readers, high fantasy, LGBT, espionage, fantasy
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Genre: High Fantasy
Age Relevance: 16+ (alcohol consumption, child abuse and other abuse (physical, emotional, verbal), animal death, gore (blood), kidnapping, classism, racism, sexism, colorism, abelism, illness, parental death, death, grief, violence , torture, gun violence, drowning, drug usage, grief, homelessness, slavery, infertility, misogyny, queermisia, war)
Explanation of Above: There is some alcohol consumption shown and mentioned in this book. There is child abuse and regular abuse shown in this book, with physical, emotional, and verbal being showcased, There is animal death mentioned. There is some blood gore, violence, gun violence, death, and torture mentioned and shown in the book. There are scenes of kidnapping and slavery in the book. There are scenes and mentions of classism, racism, sexism, misogyny, colorism, abelism, and queermisia in the book. There is some illness mentioned. There is parental death shown. There is a drowning scene. There is a drugging shown. There are scenes of grief. There are mentions of homelessness and infertility. There is also an ongoing war with military violence shown.
Publisher: Erewhon
Pages: 464
Synopsis: Kalyna’s family has had the Gift for generations: the ability to see and predict the future. For decades, they have traveled around the four connected kingdoms of the Tetrarchia—one country with four monarchs—selling their services as soothsayers. The Gift is their calling and what defines them. Every child of their family has the Gift.
Except Kalyna. Born without the Gift, for years, she’s supported her father—who is losing sight of reality under the weight of his confused visions of the future—and her cruel grandmother on the strength of her wits, using informants and trickery to fake prophecies and scrounge a living. But it’s getting harder every year.
And poverty turns to danger when, on the strength of her reputation, Kalyna is “hired” (kidnapped, she would call it) by Lenz, the spymaster to the prince of Rotfelsen. Lenz wants Kalyna to use her talent for prophecy to uncover threats against Rotfelsen’s king, and he’s willing to hold her family hostage against her good behavior. But Rotfelsenisch politics are devious; the King’s enemies abound; and Kalyna’s skills for investigation and deception are tested to the limit. Worse, the conspiracy she begins to uncover points to a threat not only to the King of Rotfelsen but to all four monarchs of the Tetrarchia, when they meet for their annual governing “Council of Barbarians.” A Council that happens to fall at precisely the same time that Kalyna’s father has prophesied the catastrophic downfall of the Tetrarchia.
Kalyna is determined to protect her family (even Grandmother!), and her newfound friends—and to save the Tetrarchia too. But as she is drawn deeper into palace intrigue, she’s not sure if her manipulations are helping prevent the Tetrarchia’s destruction—or if her lies will bring it about.
Review: For the most part I thought the book was well done! I loved the journey and I thought Kalyna was wonderfully well written as a con artist character. I really like characters like that and it reminded me a lot of Kaz in a weird way? Anyways I thought the book did well to be a fun read, but one that tackled a lot of serious issues. I never see this book floating around in LGBT squares and I think the commentary on queermisia alone makes it worthy of being discussed. The world building was also well done and the character development was good.
However, I felt like the last half of the book fell extremely flat and it was a bit let down. The beginning is so strong and I was disappointed that the momentum didn’t carry through to the second half of the book.
Verdict: It was good! Highly recommend!
Book: Kalyna the Soothsayer
Author: Elijah Kinch Spector
Book Series: Standalone
Rating: 3.5/5
Diversity: Queer MCs, disabled character, POC characters, chronic illness character
Recommended For...: adult readers, high fantasy, LGBT, espionage, fantasy
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Genre: High Fantasy
Age Relevance: 16+ (alcohol consumption, child abuse and other abuse (physical, emotional, verbal), animal death, gore (blood), kidnapping, classism, racism, sexism, colorism, abelism, illness, parental death, death, grief, violence , torture, gun violence, drowning, drug usage, grief, homelessness, slavery, infertility, misogyny, queermisia, war)
Explanation of Above: There is some alcohol consumption shown and mentioned in this book. There is child abuse and regular abuse shown in this book, with physical, emotional, and verbal being showcased, There is animal death mentioned. There is some blood gore, violence, gun violence, death, and torture mentioned and shown in the book. There are scenes of kidnapping and slavery in the book. There are scenes and mentions of classism, racism, sexism, misogyny, colorism, abelism, and queermisia in the book. There is some illness mentioned. There is parental death shown. There is a drowning scene. There is a drugging shown. There are scenes of grief. There are mentions of homelessness and infertility. There is also an ongoing war with military violence shown.
Publisher: Erewhon
Pages: 464
Synopsis: Kalyna’s family has had the Gift for generations: the ability to see and predict the future. For decades, they have traveled around the four connected kingdoms of the Tetrarchia—one country with four monarchs—selling their services as soothsayers. The Gift is their calling and what defines them. Every child of their family has the Gift.
Except Kalyna. Born without the Gift, for years, she’s supported her father—who is losing sight of reality under the weight of his confused visions of the future—and her cruel grandmother on the strength of her wits, using informants and trickery to fake prophecies and scrounge a living. But it’s getting harder every year.
And poverty turns to danger when, on the strength of her reputation, Kalyna is “hired” (kidnapped, she would call it) by Lenz, the spymaster to the prince of Rotfelsen. Lenz wants Kalyna to use her talent for prophecy to uncover threats against Rotfelsen’s king, and he’s willing to hold her family hostage against her good behavior. But Rotfelsenisch politics are devious; the King’s enemies abound; and Kalyna’s skills for investigation and deception are tested to the limit. Worse, the conspiracy she begins to uncover points to a threat not only to the King of Rotfelsen but to all four monarchs of the Tetrarchia, when they meet for their annual governing “Council of Barbarians.” A Council that happens to fall at precisely the same time that Kalyna’s father has prophesied the catastrophic downfall of the Tetrarchia.
Kalyna is determined to protect her family (even Grandmother!), and her newfound friends—and to save the Tetrarchia too. But as she is drawn deeper into palace intrigue, she’s not sure if her manipulations are helping prevent the Tetrarchia’s destruction—or if her lies will bring it about.
Review: For the most part I thought the book was well done! I loved the journey and I thought Kalyna was wonderfully well written as a con artist character. I really like characters like that and it reminded me a lot of Kaz in a weird way? Anyways I thought the book did well to be a fun read, but one that tackled a lot of serious issues. I never see this book floating around in LGBT squares and I think the commentary on queermisia alone makes it worthy of being discussed. The world building was also well done and the character development was good.
However, I felt like the last half of the book fell extremely flat and it was a bit let down. The beginning is so strong and I was disappointed that the momentum didn’t carry through to the second half of the book.
Verdict: It was good! Highly recommend!
November 8, 2024
Firstly, I want to thanks Goodreads, Erewhon, and Elijah Kinch Spector for sending me a copy of Kalyna the Soothsayer in exchange For an honest review.
I had no idea what to expect when picking up this book. Okay, let me clarify, I made assumptions based off of the cover that ended up being very wrong. 😂😂 (I'll explain more at the end of the review).
Due to my complete lack of research, I struggled getting into the story at first. It wasn't that it was boring or poorly written, I just stayed very confused for the first third as I tried to wrap my head around the fact this was NOT a young adult book. Once i fully got my brain on board with that, I really started enjoying it!
This is a fantasy of it’s own kind. The main character is a soothsayer (fortune teller to those less read ;)) and yet she's actually not and more of a con artist. And the levels this girl goes to in order to make her fortunes come true is so extra and I loved it!
The characters in the story are all so unique. I would honestly like to know more about some of them. For instance, her dad has no legs (not a spoiler as this is revealed in the very beginning) and I want to know why. Something else I loved wa that there is a prince who literally revels in fitting all the stereotypical assumptions that he goes through more effort just so he can be lazy. Honestly, I think that was what I enjoyed about the comedic nature of the book was all the irony.
As far as the actual writing, I noticed very few errors and they were just words or letters missing. The author did a good job at keeping you engaged in the story and also in the main character’s thought process. Also, he left a lot to be expanded on, but not in an unfinished way.
Now for the reason I completely misread the genre. 😂😂
Looking at the cover, I assumed the book would probably be a young adult or middle grade fantasy novel. While it was definitely fantasy, it was neither of those! I came to discover this is most definitely an adult fantasy. There is a strong parody feel to the story, almost satire-like but not quite. I don't actually recall any curse words, and there is no spice. However, a lot of the topics discussed are on an adult level. Another reason I would recommend for older audiences is there is quite a bit of descriptive battle gore and a lot of derogatory conversations.
I had no idea what to expect when picking up this book. Okay, let me clarify, I made assumptions based off of the cover that ended up being very wrong. 😂😂 (I'll explain more at the end of the review).
Due to my complete lack of research, I struggled getting into the story at first. It wasn't that it was boring or poorly written, I just stayed very confused for the first third as I tried to wrap my head around the fact this was NOT a young adult book. Once i fully got my brain on board with that, I really started enjoying it!
This is a fantasy of it’s own kind. The main character is a soothsayer (fortune teller to those less read ;)) and yet she's actually not and more of a con artist. And the levels this girl goes to in order to make her fortunes come true is so extra and I loved it!
The characters in the story are all so unique. I would honestly like to know more about some of them. For instance, her dad has no legs (not a spoiler as this is revealed in the very beginning) and I want to know why. Something else I loved wa that there is a prince who literally revels in fitting all the stereotypical assumptions that he goes through more effort just so he can be lazy. Honestly, I think that was what I enjoyed about the comedic nature of the book was all the irony.
As far as the actual writing, I noticed very few errors and they were just words or letters missing. The author did a good job at keeping you engaged in the story and also in the main character’s thought process. Also, he left a lot to be expanded on, but not in an unfinished way.
Now for the reason I completely misread the genre. 😂😂
Looking at the cover, I assumed the book would probably be a young adult or middle grade fantasy novel. While it was definitely fantasy, it was neither of those! I came to discover this is most definitely an adult fantasy. There is a strong parody feel to the story, almost satire-like but not quite. I don't actually recall any curse words, and there is no spice. However, a lot of the topics discussed are on an adult level. Another reason I would recommend for older audiences is there is quite a bit of descriptive battle gore and a lot of derogatory conversations.
November 19, 2022
This was a bit of an odd read in that I loved it in the beginning, lost a lot of my enthusiasm for it over the middle, and finished it absolutely loving it again.
It’s told in first person with an honestly engaging and often witty narrative voice in a format essentially like diary entries: short, often less-than-5-page sections (sometimes less than 1 page) with headers. At the beginning, I thought this format would make this book feel incredibly quick to read as short chapters often do, however the pace in the middle dragged and I found the very short sections just made it very easy to set down instead.
The focus was definitely on intrigue and politics but I spent the middle feeling like there wasn't enough happening to justify the page count. Other than a looming but vague prophecy of destruction and overwhelming doom, it felt like a long time with no narrative movement, and Kalyna is so clueless as to the cause of the destruction as to render that meaningless because she can’t do anything about it except occasionally think of it. On top of that, Kalyna spends an annoying amount of time avoiding making any real decisions and just being spiteful and thinking about how she should run away for the middle ~200 pages. I don’t generally care if plot things are happening in a book so long as I have something to care about, but I just wanted Kalyna to pick a course of action and do the damn thing here.
That said, the last ~30% was an absolute blast of action, intrigue, plots falling apart to be replaced by shittier plots that also fall apart, and just a massively fun descent into chaos. The supporting characters went a long way toward making the ending such fun, and honestly the confrontations near the end were very reminiscent of The Three Musketeers for me. So I am torn between loving the thing for the beginning and end, and being annoyed by how bored I was in the middle.
Overall I think Kalyna is a really interesting character, and I appreciated what the book had to say about the othering of people and groups, and shitty nationalism, and shitty royalty, and having to choose between the status quo and something worse. I just wish she’d made a definite choice sooner, or that we’d had other characters to focus on while she waffled.
It’s told in first person with an honestly engaging and often witty narrative voice in a format essentially like diary entries: short, often less-than-5-page sections (sometimes less than 1 page) with headers. At the beginning, I thought this format would make this book feel incredibly quick to read as short chapters often do, however the pace in the middle dragged and I found the very short sections just made it very easy to set down instead.
The focus was definitely on intrigue and politics but I spent the middle feeling like there wasn't enough happening to justify the page count. Other than a looming but vague prophecy of destruction and overwhelming doom, it felt like a long time with no narrative movement, and Kalyna is so clueless as to the cause of the destruction as to render that meaningless because she can’t do anything about it except occasionally think of it. On top of that, Kalyna spends an annoying amount of time avoiding making any real decisions and just being spiteful and thinking about how she should run away for the middle ~200 pages. I don’t generally care if plot things are happening in a book so long as I have something to care about, but I just wanted Kalyna to pick a course of action and do the damn thing here.
That said, the last ~30% was an absolute blast of action, intrigue, plots falling apart to be replaced by shittier plots that also fall apart, and just a massively fun descent into chaos. The supporting characters went a long way toward making the ending such fun, and honestly the confrontations near the end were very reminiscent of The Three Musketeers for me. So I am torn between loving the thing for the beginning and end, and being annoyed by how bored I was in the middle.
Overall I think Kalyna is a really interesting character, and I appreciated what the book had to say about the othering of people and groups, and shitty nationalism, and shitty royalty, and having to choose between the status quo and something worse. I just wish she’d made a definite choice sooner, or that we’d had other characters to focus on while she waffled.
May 16, 2023
Elijah Kinch Spector’s Kalyna the Soothsayer is an enjoyable and engrossing debut.
Kalyna lives on the plains of Masovska with her father and grandmother eking out a living as a soothsayer… except she isn’t. Kalyna was born without the Gift which runs in her family. So she cons marks with sharp observation, presence of mind and a sickle.
She is “hired” by the prince’s spymaster to foresee threats against the king of Rotfelsen. Now Kalyna has to navigate court politics and competing factions and uncover and prevent a catastrophe befalling Rotfelsen which is hosting the Council of Barbarians of the 4 kings of Tetrarchia… all the while, keeping her secret.
Its a fun ride from start to finish with impressive world building and great character work.
The reader is gently introduced to the world of Tetrarchia and its component kingdoms. It is largely influenced on medieval Europe and sufficiently fantastic on its own.
Kalyna is a wonderful character - quick mind, sharp tongue, fighting chops and a penchant for trouble. She is plagued by self doubt, but she bulldozes her way through any self pity or confusion with her bias for action.
Special mention to Kalyna’s grandmother - a foul mouthed, unadulterated arsehole with absolutely no redeeming qualities at all. I’ve not seen such a vile yet fun character in my readings so far.
The rest of the characters are suitably interesting without seeming too stereotypical.
The book truly shines with regards to the plot and pacing. As the story is told from the perspective of Kalyna, we know only as much as she does - as her influence and intrigues increase, the world expands. Its quite nicely done.
The story progresses at a decent clip and you can feel the chaos, the plotting and counter-plotting without being confused.
Spector has kept scope to write sequels in this world and I would definitely lap them up, if they are published.
Overall, and enjoyable romp starring a young con artist to prevent a catastrophe she has no clue about to begin with.
Kalyna lives on the plains of Masovska with her father and grandmother eking out a living as a soothsayer… except she isn’t. Kalyna was born without the Gift which runs in her family. So she cons marks with sharp observation, presence of mind and a sickle.
She is “hired” by the prince’s spymaster to foresee threats against the king of Rotfelsen. Now Kalyna has to navigate court politics and competing factions and uncover and prevent a catastrophe befalling Rotfelsen which is hosting the Council of Barbarians of the 4 kings of Tetrarchia… all the while, keeping her secret.
Its a fun ride from start to finish with impressive world building and great character work.
The reader is gently introduced to the world of Tetrarchia and its component kingdoms. It is largely influenced on medieval Europe and sufficiently fantastic on its own.
Kalyna is a wonderful character - quick mind, sharp tongue, fighting chops and a penchant for trouble. She is plagued by self doubt, but she bulldozes her way through any self pity or confusion with her bias for action.
Special mention to Kalyna’s grandmother - a foul mouthed, unadulterated arsehole with absolutely no redeeming qualities at all. I’ve not seen such a vile yet fun character in my readings so far.
The rest of the characters are suitably interesting without seeming too stereotypical.
The book truly shines with regards to the plot and pacing. As the story is told from the perspective of Kalyna, we know only as much as she does - as her influence and intrigues increase, the world expands. Its quite nicely done.
The story progresses at a decent clip and you can feel the chaos, the plotting and counter-plotting without being confused.
Spector has kept scope to write sequels in this world and I would definitely lap them up, if they are published.
Overall, and enjoyable romp starring a young con artist to prevent a catastrophe she has no clue about to begin with.
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