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Tabat Quartet #1
Beasts of Tabat
When countryboy Teo arrives in the coastal city of Tabat, he finds it a hostile place, particularly to a boy hiding an enormous secret. It’s also a city in turmoil, thanks to an ancient accord to change governments and the rising demands of Beasts, the Unicorns, Dryads, Minotaurs and other magical creature on whose labor and bodies Tabat depends. And worst of all, it’s a city dedicated to killing Shifters, the race whose blood Teo bears.
When his fate becomes woven with that of Tabat’s most famous gladiator, Bella Kanto, his existence becomes even more imperiled. Kanto’s magical battle determines the weather each year, and the wealthy merchants are tired of the long winters she’s brought. Can Teo and Bella save each other from the plots that are closing in on them from all sides?
When his fate becomes woven with that of Tabat’s most famous gladiator, Bella Kanto, his existence becomes even more imperiled. Kanto’s magical battle determines the weather each year, and the wealthy merchants are tired of the long winters she’s brought. Can Teo and Bella save each other from the plots that are closing in on them from all sides?
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 19, 2015
27 people are currently reading
1053 people want to read
About the author
Cat Rambo
250 books582 followersF&SF writer Cat Rambo lives and writes in the Midwest. They have been shortlisted for an Endeavour Award, Locus Award, World Fantasy Award and most recently the Nebula Award. Their debut novel, BEASTS OF TABAT, appeared in 2015 from WordFire Press, the same year she co-edited AD ASTRA: THE SFWA 50TH ANNIVERSARY COOKBOOK. Their most recent book is DEVIL'S GUN (novel, Tor Macmillan). They are a former two-term President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and still volunteers with the organization.
They run the popular online writing school focused on fantasy and science fiction, the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. (academy.catrambo.com)
Sign up for Cat's newsletter at
They run the popular online writing school focused on fantasy and science fiction, the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers. (academy.catrambo.com)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
January 3, 2020
I am SO ANNOYED. This isn't a novel, it's the prologue and first quarter of a novel. I was wondering how things were going to wrap up and then BAM "HAHA SUCKER READ MY NEXT BOOK" appeared. NOPE. Not gonna.
And I'm especially annoyed because the characters are well fleshed out and the world building is fantastic. I'm honestly impressed with the writing, which is why this book gets three stars. I mean, this book can't even complete one plot arc, it's all the beginnings of a plot, and normally that would barely rate one star.
And I'm especially annoyed because the characters are well fleshed out and the world building is fantastic. I'm honestly impressed with the writing, which is why this book gets three stars. I mean, this book can't even complete one plot arc, it's all the beginnings of a plot, and normally that would barely rate one star.
June 21, 2018
Read for the Women of Genre Fiction Challenge.
I read this book in part because I've come to know Cat Rambo through my work with the SFWA YouTube channel (for those who don't know, she's the current President of SFWA.) I heard she had a new book coming out, hadn't read her stuff yet, and wanted to check it out. This book was the first in the series, so I decided to check it out first.
Of course, that's a bit of a misnomer, to say it's the first book in the series. She has said herself that she's written parallel stories about different people, so either this one or the "sequel," Hearts of Tabat, would make a good entrypoint into her world.
It was excellent, but hard to read, so it took me a long time. I felt like I was hiding under the blankets and trying to cover my eyes at intervals. This is a dark world Rambo has created. And I mean dark. I told her the cover was not entirely fair to the reader. What she needs is a severed unicorn head lying on a cobblestone street in the rain.
Tabat is a magical fantasy kingdom at about a tech level that's around the Enlightenment, perhaps? Just pre-Georgian, maybe. It is also a world where humans hate magical creatures - called "Beasts," - and they not only enslave them, they inflict horrible atrocities upon them, such as burning Dryad trees (which kills the Dryad in a slow and agonizing way) to power vast rail systems and artificial lights. But it's made clear that they are sentient creatures, with their own thoughts and hopes and dreams, who think like humans but aren't human (just like Campbell asked for.) Rambo does not spare us any of the horror, either. She wants you to feel their pain, so that you will get angry and want to fight for them.
Neither Beasts nor Humans trust Shapeshifters. Shapeshifters are, of course, technically Beasts, but Beasts in disguise, so not easily marked as such and so Humans have trouble finding them. Hence, they'll just kill them when they are discovered. Beasts resent shapeshifters because they can "pass" and are liable to beat them senseless when they find them. As a bisexual woman who came out in the early 90s, I am old enough to remember how that sort of resentment was once levied upon us by the gay and lesbian community, who thought we ought to bug off and stick with the opposite gender so we would stop drawing from their limited pool of potential partners. Of course, the resentment was not nearly as violent as it is towards Shapeshifters in Tabat. And to be fair, as long as they're willing to subject themselves to the erasure, Shapeshifters are in a much better position than other Beasts in Tabat, because they won't usually be killed or enslaved on sight. So just like bisexual people who happen to be in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender, they can (and sometimes do) benefit from their invisibility.
The political situation is tenuous because the hereditary Duke is required by ancient fiat to give up his power to a democratic government very soon. New parties are forming and advancing their agendas, and interplay between the parties is not only background, but a story element and plot point. In the meantime, there are of course forces who wish to take advantage of the instability to liberate the Beasts, and some are prepared to go to greater lengths than others.
Rambo is brilliant at painting shades of grey. There are no real "good guys" or "bad guys" here, and sometimes even the people whom you want to support because you know their cause is the right one, are so invested in the idea that the ends justify the means to them, and she shows us the evils of that path too. If you're looking for a muscle-bound white knight making things right by the power of his sword, you have come to the wrong place.
Actually, much of the action is character-driven. There is almost no real "action," as we understand it in modern fantasy. The action is mostly personal and political. Does this mean it's a less compelling story? Not on your life.
The tale follows two protagonists, each of whom are given equal page-time; a young late-blooming shapeshifter named Teo, and a middle-aged, tough-as-nails gladiatrix named Bella Canto. This approach is good writing, but I found it also creates a strange flip-flop in tone between an Ursula K. Le Guin style of YA that reminded me very much of A Wizard of Earthsea when I was reading about Teo, and a more backbiting, adult, A Game of Thrones style when I was reading about Bella. It took a few chapters to get into the rhythm. At first it left me feeling weird and off-base. By the end of the book, however, I understood perfectly why she felt she had to tell the story that way, but in the beginning I found it pulled me out of the story in places. So, there's one point of criticism, if I had to nitpick.
Another is that the protagonists are both hampered by deep-seated flaws that leave you conflicted about them. I found myself getting very frustrated with Teo, because he had very little agency and exercised almost none. The story basically swept him along with it and in many places, he felt more like a narrator than a participant. I don't know if that was intentional; I'm waiting to read the other books to see. On the other hand, he's just a genuinely nice, innocent person, and often nice, innocent people are swept along by the course of events, so I can't say it's unrealistic. I just kept wanting him to do more. Maybe he will in future stories. This is, after all, intended to be a series, and sometimes you can't tell a whole overarcing story in one book (else, why write a series?)
Bella has much to like about her. She strong, confident, fearless, and cheerfully bisexual and promiscuous (you're not given the gory details, it's not that kind of book.) Her bisexuality is not intrinsic to the plot because nobody seems to care about such things in Tabat, so yay, thank you for representation! She is also emotionally distant (that's why affairs and not romances) and almost painfully self-absorbed. I won't say self-centered because she does care about other people, but she has difficulty showing it, and maybe I found her challenging because I'm a lot like that IRL. (I might be self-absorbed too. Not willing to weigh in on that one right now.) Her back story totally explains why, and the deep damage and emotional wounds that cause her to be that way, and I hope her overall character arc, if we revisit her in other books, will be to develop more empathy. I'll say she's been given an opportunity; I won't tell you why because that would be a spoiler. She also unconsciously benefits from a privileged position, and her unconscious privilege is rendered with painstaking detail in Rambo's writing.
So again, because we see their flaws before we see their merits, I found the book difficult to get into. This is the thing that gives it four stars in my rating and not five.
Because otherwise, it's amazing. This is a book that does exactly what I think fantasy is uniquely equipped to do; it examines the way we live by giving it some distance in a fantastical setting. The book ends where it needs to, but I now find myself on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what happens next. So much is going on all at once, and I can't wait to find out how it evolves.
Not an easy read. But it's worth it. Looking forward to Hearts of Tabat!
I read this book in part because I've come to know Cat Rambo through my work with the SFWA YouTube channel (for those who don't know, she's the current President of SFWA.) I heard she had a new book coming out, hadn't read her stuff yet, and wanted to check it out. This book was the first in the series, so I decided to check it out first.
Of course, that's a bit of a misnomer, to say it's the first book in the series. She has said herself that she's written parallel stories about different people, so either this one or the "sequel," Hearts of Tabat, would make a good entrypoint into her world.
It was excellent, but hard to read, so it took me a long time. I felt like I was hiding under the blankets and trying to cover my eyes at intervals. This is a dark world Rambo has created. And I mean dark. I told her the cover was not entirely fair to the reader. What she needs is a severed unicorn head lying on a cobblestone street in the rain.
Tabat is a magical fantasy kingdom at about a tech level that's around the Enlightenment, perhaps? Just pre-Georgian, maybe. It is also a world where humans hate magical creatures - called "Beasts," - and they not only enslave them, they inflict horrible atrocities upon them, such as burning Dryad trees (which kills the Dryad in a slow and agonizing way) to power vast rail systems and artificial lights. But it's made clear that they are sentient creatures, with their own thoughts and hopes and dreams, who think like humans but aren't human (just like Campbell asked for.) Rambo does not spare us any of the horror, either. She wants you to feel their pain, so that you will get angry and want to fight for them.
Neither Beasts nor Humans trust Shapeshifters. Shapeshifters are, of course, technically Beasts, but Beasts in disguise, so not easily marked as such and so Humans have trouble finding them. Hence, they'll just kill them when they are discovered. Beasts resent shapeshifters because they can "pass" and are liable to beat them senseless when they find them. As a bisexual woman who came out in the early 90s, I am old enough to remember how that sort of resentment was once levied upon us by the gay and lesbian community, who thought we ought to bug off and stick with the opposite gender so we would stop drawing from their limited pool of potential partners. Of course, the resentment was not nearly as violent as it is towards Shapeshifters in Tabat. And to be fair, as long as they're willing to subject themselves to the erasure, Shapeshifters are in a much better position than other Beasts in Tabat, because they won't usually be killed or enslaved on sight. So just like bisexual people who happen to be in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender, they can (and sometimes do) benefit from their invisibility.
The political situation is tenuous because the hereditary Duke is required by ancient fiat to give up his power to a democratic government very soon. New parties are forming and advancing their agendas, and interplay between the parties is not only background, but a story element and plot point. In the meantime, there are of course forces who wish to take advantage of the instability to liberate the Beasts, and some are prepared to go to greater lengths than others.
Rambo is brilliant at painting shades of grey. There are no real "good guys" or "bad guys" here, and sometimes even the people whom you want to support because you know their cause is the right one, are so invested in the idea that the ends justify the means to them, and she shows us the evils of that path too. If you're looking for a muscle-bound white knight making things right by the power of his sword, you have come to the wrong place.
Actually, much of the action is character-driven. There is almost no real "action," as we understand it in modern fantasy. The action is mostly personal and political. Does this mean it's a less compelling story? Not on your life.
The tale follows two protagonists, each of whom are given equal page-time; a young late-blooming shapeshifter named Teo, and a middle-aged, tough-as-nails gladiatrix named Bella Canto. This approach is good writing, but I found it also creates a strange flip-flop in tone between an Ursula K. Le Guin style of YA that reminded me very much of A Wizard of Earthsea when I was reading about Teo, and a more backbiting, adult, A Game of Thrones style when I was reading about Bella. It took a few chapters to get into the rhythm. At first it left me feeling weird and off-base. By the end of the book, however, I understood perfectly why she felt she had to tell the story that way, but in the beginning I found it pulled me out of the story in places. So, there's one point of criticism, if I had to nitpick.
Another is that the protagonists are both hampered by deep-seated flaws that leave you conflicted about them. I found myself getting very frustrated with Teo, because he had very little agency and exercised almost none. The story basically swept him along with it and in many places, he felt more like a narrator than a participant. I don't know if that was intentional; I'm waiting to read the other books to see. On the other hand, he's just a genuinely nice, innocent person, and often nice, innocent people are swept along by the course of events, so I can't say it's unrealistic. I just kept wanting him to do more. Maybe he will in future stories. This is, after all, intended to be a series, and sometimes you can't tell a whole overarcing story in one book (else, why write a series?)
Bella has much to like about her. She strong, confident, fearless, and cheerfully bisexual and promiscuous (you're not given the gory details, it's not that kind of book.) Her bisexuality is not intrinsic to the plot because nobody seems to care about such things in Tabat, so yay, thank you for representation! She is also emotionally distant (that's why affairs and not romances) and almost painfully self-absorbed. I won't say self-centered because she does care about other people, but she has difficulty showing it, and maybe I found her challenging because I'm a lot like that IRL. (I might be self-absorbed too. Not willing to weigh in on that one right now.) Her back story totally explains why, and the deep damage and emotional wounds that cause her to be that way, and I hope her overall character arc, if we revisit her in other books, will be to develop more empathy. I'll say she's been given an opportunity; I won't tell you why because that would be a spoiler. She also unconsciously benefits from a privileged position, and her unconscious privilege is rendered with painstaking detail in Rambo's writing.
So again, because we see their flaws before we see their merits, I found the book difficult to get into. This is the thing that gives it four stars in my rating and not five.
Because otherwise, it's amazing. This is a book that does exactly what I think fantasy is uniquely equipped to do; it examines the way we live by giving it some distance in a fantastical setting. The book ends where it needs to, but I now find myself on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what happens next. So much is going on all at once, and I can't wait to find out how it evolves.
Not an easy read. But it's worth it. Looking forward to Hearts of Tabat!
March 9, 2015
Originally published at Risingshadow.
Cat Rambo's Beasts of Tabat is the first novel in The Tabat Quartet. It will be followed by Hearts of Tabat, Exiles in Tabat and Gods of Tabat.
Beasts of Tabat was a very pleasant surprise for me, because it turned out to be an excellent and refreshingly different kind of a fantasy novel with a touch of bittersweetness. To be honest, I'm tempted to say that this novel is an exceptionally good fantasy novel, because Cat Rambo shows genuine talent for creating an intriguing fantasy world with three-dimensional protagonists.
This novel has plenty of originality and quality, because the author avoids using clichés (there are many well-known elements, but the author uses them in a good way). Although this novel is clearly a fantasy novel, it has a few elements that can - at least partly - be considered to be new weirdish elements. In my opinion this novel is slightly reminiscent of Rjurik Davidson's new weirdish fantasy novel, Unwrapped Sky, because there are a few similarities.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
Teo is being sent to Tabat by his parents to have a better life among the Priests. A Priest called Grave is taking him there, but something happens during the journey and Grave is badly injured. Soon Teo manages to escape and finds himself all alone in Tabat. Then he meets Bella...
The characterization is flawless, because the author has created interesting and realistic protagonists. Teo and Bella are richly drawn characters that have their own feelings and opinions. The author fluently explores what kind of feelings they have of the happenings, politics and other people, and she doesn't sugarcoat anything that happens to them.
Here's a bit of information Teo and Bella:
- Teo is one of the Shifters, but he can't shapeshift. He feels bad about it, because he's different from the other persons in his village. He's sent away from his home so that he could have a good life elsewhere.
- Bella Kanto is a Gladiator and a Champion of the city. Alberic, the Duke of Tabat, is her lover and they often come together after Bella has won a fight. Bella also has female lovers.
The author writes realistically about what happens between Teo and Bella. When Bella takes Teo into her home and offers shelter to him, their lives become entwined with each other. It was nice that the author explored their lives from both point of views, because it added depth to the story.
In my opinion Cat Rambo wrote well about what happened between Bella and her many lovers, because Bella's feelings towards her lovers were explored in a deep way. For example, Bella's relationship with Adelina was handled in a good and realistic way (at first they were lovers, but when Bella began to avoid her, they became friends and managed to stay friends for many years).
The worldbuilding is excellent. The author has created a fascinating and richly drawn fantasy world that is inhabited by Humans, Beasts, Shifters etc. The world feels believable and realistic, because the author pays attention to many minor details and writes about what may happen to people and beings. She slowly reveals new wonders and horrors about the world and thus deepens the reading experience in a wonderful way.
Reading about Tabat was intriguing for me, because many Beasts had suffered and died in the city. Dryads were being burned alive each day in order to strip the magic from their bones to fuel the aetheric lights, the Great Tram and other machineries that kept Tabat running. Because the Beasts had suffered and continued to suffer there, discontentment was in the air.
Although there's plenty of beauty and diversity in this novel's fantasy world, the world can be a cruel and savage place - especially for those who are not Humans. Shifters were being exterminated and burned in Tabat, because Humans hated Shifters. Humans also enslaved Beasts and treated them badly in many ways. Humans did extreme things to Beasts to make sure that they behaved well.
It was great that every once in a while the author revealed interesting details about the world to her readers. For example, fairy bites and stings were dangerous. It was fascinating to read about how fairy bites and stings were treated, because you had to act quickly or the consequences would be deadly.
It was very intriguing that the ritual fights of the Gladiators determined the weather in the city. Because Winter had won for a long time, the Merchants were becoming annoyed and wanted Spring to win. This added nice tension to the story.
What makes this novel especially interesting is that at first it may feel a bit young adultish because of the teenage protagonist, Teo, but it soon develops into a complex adult fantasy novel with surprisingly dark undertones. This novel has a wonderfully dark and compelling undercurrent that runs throughout the story, because there are harsh and realistic moments that break the illusion of a pretty and innocent story.
One of the best things about this novel is that Cat Rambo has created a bit different kind of a growing up story for Teo. Because I've read many novels in which young male protagonists easily grow up to be heroes etc, it was refreshing to read how Teo had to struggle in order to survive and how difficult things were for him. Teo's problems added realism to the story.
I can honestly say that Cat Rambo's Beasts of Tabat is one of the best and most interesting fantasy novels I've had the pleasure to read during recent years. I look forward to reading its sequel, Hearts of Tabat, because it'll be interesting to see how the story continues.
This novel dares to be different and it offers excellent entertainment to readers who want to read good and thought-provoking stories. It's a fascinating combination of fantasy, magic and fight against oppression. I'm sure that this novel will appeal to readers who are interested in quality fantasy.
An excellent fantasy novel!
Cat Rambo's Beasts of Tabat is the first novel in The Tabat Quartet. It will be followed by Hearts of Tabat, Exiles in Tabat and Gods of Tabat.
Beasts of Tabat was a very pleasant surprise for me, because it turned out to be an excellent and refreshingly different kind of a fantasy novel with a touch of bittersweetness. To be honest, I'm tempted to say that this novel is an exceptionally good fantasy novel, because Cat Rambo shows genuine talent for creating an intriguing fantasy world with three-dimensional protagonists.
This novel has plenty of originality and quality, because the author avoids using clichés (there are many well-known elements, but the author uses them in a good way). Although this novel is clearly a fantasy novel, it has a few elements that can - at least partly - be considered to be new weirdish elements. In my opinion this novel is slightly reminiscent of Rjurik Davidson's new weirdish fantasy novel, Unwrapped Sky, because there are a few similarities.
Here's a bit of information about the story:
Teo is being sent to Tabat by his parents to have a better life among the Priests. A Priest called Grave is taking him there, but something happens during the journey and Grave is badly injured. Soon Teo manages to escape and finds himself all alone in Tabat. Then he meets Bella...
The characterization is flawless, because the author has created interesting and realistic protagonists. Teo and Bella are richly drawn characters that have their own feelings and opinions. The author fluently explores what kind of feelings they have of the happenings, politics and other people, and she doesn't sugarcoat anything that happens to them.
Here's a bit of information Teo and Bella:
- Teo is one of the Shifters, but he can't shapeshift. He feels bad about it, because he's different from the other persons in his village. He's sent away from his home so that he could have a good life elsewhere.
- Bella Kanto is a Gladiator and a Champion of the city. Alberic, the Duke of Tabat, is her lover and they often come together after Bella has won a fight. Bella also has female lovers.
The author writes realistically about what happens between Teo and Bella. When Bella takes Teo into her home and offers shelter to him, their lives become entwined with each other. It was nice that the author explored their lives from both point of views, because it added depth to the story.
In my opinion Cat Rambo wrote well about what happened between Bella and her many lovers, because Bella's feelings towards her lovers were explored in a deep way. For example, Bella's relationship with Adelina was handled in a good and realistic way (at first they were lovers, but when Bella began to avoid her, they became friends and managed to stay friends for many years).
The worldbuilding is excellent. The author has created a fascinating and richly drawn fantasy world that is inhabited by Humans, Beasts, Shifters etc. The world feels believable and realistic, because the author pays attention to many minor details and writes about what may happen to people and beings. She slowly reveals new wonders and horrors about the world and thus deepens the reading experience in a wonderful way.
Reading about Tabat was intriguing for me, because many Beasts had suffered and died in the city. Dryads were being burned alive each day in order to strip the magic from their bones to fuel the aetheric lights, the Great Tram and other machineries that kept Tabat running. Because the Beasts had suffered and continued to suffer there, discontentment was in the air.
Although there's plenty of beauty and diversity in this novel's fantasy world, the world can be a cruel and savage place - especially for those who are not Humans. Shifters were being exterminated and burned in Tabat, because Humans hated Shifters. Humans also enslaved Beasts and treated them badly in many ways. Humans did extreme things to Beasts to make sure that they behaved well.
It was great that every once in a while the author revealed interesting details about the world to her readers. For example, fairy bites and stings were dangerous. It was fascinating to read about how fairy bites and stings were treated, because you had to act quickly or the consequences would be deadly.
It was very intriguing that the ritual fights of the Gladiators determined the weather in the city. Because Winter had won for a long time, the Merchants were becoming annoyed and wanted Spring to win. This added nice tension to the story.
What makes this novel especially interesting is that at first it may feel a bit young adultish because of the teenage protagonist, Teo, but it soon develops into a complex adult fantasy novel with surprisingly dark undertones. This novel has a wonderfully dark and compelling undercurrent that runs throughout the story, because there are harsh and realistic moments that break the illusion of a pretty and innocent story.
One of the best things about this novel is that Cat Rambo has created a bit different kind of a growing up story for Teo. Because I've read many novels in which young male protagonists easily grow up to be heroes etc, it was refreshing to read how Teo had to struggle in order to survive and how difficult things were for him. Teo's problems added realism to the story.
I can honestly say that Cat Rambo's Beasts of Tabat is one of the best and most interesting fantasy novels I've had the pleasure to read during recent years. I look forward to reading its sequel, Hearts of Tabat, because it'll be interesting to see how the story continues.
This novel dares to be different and it offers excellent entertainment to readers who want to read good and thought-provoking stories. It's a fascinating combination of fantasy, magic and fight against oppression. I'm sure that this novel will appeal to readers who are interested in quality fantasy.
An excellent fantasy novel!
July 13, 2015
This is getting two stars from me because I get what the writer was doing, and I think she probably did it well, I just didn't like it. So, yeah, this review's probably going to be somewhat biased.
This book is mostly a characters study of two opposites: a country boy brought into the city with secrets and nothing, and a champion fighting woman who's mostly on top of the world.
The good parts: The worldbuilding here is good. The story mostly takes place in the city of Tabat or briefly on its outskirts, but there is plenty of discussion about other lands, how they're different, and what that means in the context of the city. Tabat itself also has some definite character to it with well-defined politics and religion and customs; it isn't just a generic fantasy/steampunk location.
Another plus is that, while there isn't a lot of it, she writes action well. The fights and active moments are written with good pacing and description so it's easy to get a sense of what's going on without there being painstaking detail slowing it up or incidents of "they fought" to describe a 15 minute bout between comtatants.
I'll throw this in as a non-judged obeservation - the book has a lot of what might be called liberal-minded elements to it: one of the protagonists is bisexual, and their "first real love" interest is same-gendered, all of the fighters in the city of any repute are women, and every business that's mentioned in the book is also run by a woman. There is an unrelenting theme of racial conflict (though as with most spec-fic it manifests as literal racism rather than having to do with skin color) which seems to be driving the main plot, and every characters opinion on it is clearly stated. All of the men who appear in the book are nakedly ambitious and untrustworthy or blatantly evil, though to be fair most of the women are little better, they just aren't as obvious about it.
Which brings me to my main complaint about the book: almost everyone you meet isn't worth knowing. Of the two protagonists, Bella is so self centered and arrogant her name may as well have been "hubris". Her arc was very, very predictable. Teo I think is supposed to be a more relatable character, but to me he was painfully naive and useless. He seemed incapable of taking any action on his own initiative and served more as a vehicle to convey what city life was like if you weren't a revered celebrity. All of the secondary characters in the book seem to live by the motto of "screw or get screwed"; very few of them act in ways that are respectable, and the ones that do end up being severely punished for it.
The other thing is that there isn't much of a plot; mostly it's just following the daily lives of the two protagonists. There are hints of this overarching conflict and conspiracy, but nothing concrete happens related to it until the very end. The end is also problematic for me because it ends on a cliffhanger, but I didn't know enough about the plot by then for me to understand what exactly the cliffhanger was about, and I didn't care enough about the protagonists to be interested in their fate(s).
The author seems to be a fan of tragedy; I already mentioned that one of the character arcs seems to be based on the Greek hubris motif. This is supposed to be a four book arc, and I suspect it's going to be mostly misery and miserable occurrences with an ending that will only be happy at surface level (e.g. "the protagonists are still alive, and that's the happy bit, despite their whole world being completely ruined). The misery will be realistic, because all of the behavior of characters made perfect sense if you assume that all of them are selfish bastards who don't care about anyone except themselves. That seems to be popular with a lot of people recently judging by what TV series are doing well, so more power to them. I'm not interested.
This book is mostly a characters study of two opposites: a country boy brought into the city with secrets and nothing, and a champion fighting woman who's mostly on top of the world.
The good parts: The worldbuilding here is good. The story mostly takes place in the city of Tabat or briefly on its outskirts, but there is plenty of discussion about other lands, how they're different, and what that means in the context of the city. Tabat itself also has some definite character to it with well-defined politics and religion and customs; it isn't just a generic fantasy/steampunk location.
Another plus is that, while there isn't a lot of it, she writes action well. The fights and active moments are written with good pacing and description so it's easy to get a sense of what's going on without there being painstaking detail slowing it up or incidents of "they fought" to describe a 15 minute bout between comtatants.
I'll throw this in as a non-judged obeservation - the book has a lot of what might be called liberal-minded elements to it: one of the protagonists is bisexual, and their "first real love" interest is same-gendered, all of the fighters in the city of any repute are women, and every business that's mentioned in the book is also run by a woman. There is an unrelenting theme of racial conflict (though as with most spec-fic it manifests as literal racism rather than having to do with skin color) which seems to be driving the main plot, and every characters opinion on it is clearly stated. All of the men who appear in the book are nakedly ambitious and untrustworthy or blatantly evil, though to be fair most of the women are little better, they just aren't as obvious about it.
Which brings me to my main complaint about the book: almost everyone you meet isn't worth knowing. Of the two protagonists, Bella is so self centered and arrogant her name may as well have been "hubris". Her arc was very, very predictable. Teo I think is supposed to be a more relatable character, but to me he was painfully naive and useless. He seemed incapable of taking any action on his own initiative and served more as a vehicle to convey what city life was like if you weren't a revered celebrity. All of the secondary characters in the book seem to live by the motto of "screw or get screwed"; very few of them act in ways that are respectable, and the ones that do end up being severely punished for it.
The other thing is that there isn't much of a plot; mostly it's just following the daily lives of the two protagonists. There are hints of this overarching conflict and conspiracy, but nothing concrete happens related to it until the very end. The end is also problematic for me because it ends on a cliffhanger, but I didn't know enough about the plot by then for me to understand what exactly the cliffhanger was about, and I didn't care enough about the protagonists to be interested in their fate(s).
The author seems to be a fan of tragedy; I already mentioned that one of the character arcs seems to be based on the Greek hubris motif. This is supposed to be a four book arc, and I suspect it's going to be mostly misery and miserable occurrences with an ending that will only be happy at surface level (e.g. "the protagonists are still alive, and that's the happy bit, despite their whole world being completely ruined). The misery will be realistic, because all of the behavior of characters made perfect sense if you assume that all of them are selfish bastards who don't care about anyone except themselves. That seems to be popular with a lot of people recently judging by what TV series are doing well, so more power to them. I'm not interested.
March 30, 2015
An interesting read. Abit like Andre Norton's Beastmaster series, I liked it. Animals, Magic, Shapeshifters, swordplay, and plenty of action. What's not to like. Throw in the typical smalltown boy trying to make his way in the big city, and it all comes together to make a rather enjoyable tale, even if it is one that has been often told. It's unique enough to keep things interesting, and not so predictable as to get boring. A good all around read.
April 20, 2015
Beasts of Tabat focuses on the intertwining tales of Teo, a young boy who has been sold to the Temple by his parents in order to save his younger sister’s life, and Bella Kanto, a gladiator who represents the force of winter in Tabat’s arenas.
Teo’s objections to his slavery are understandable. He is a shifter who is locked into human form. He wants to explore the world and not be bound to the Temple, but the priests use magic to control him. He has read about Bella Kanto’s exploits all of his life, and hopes that she can somehow save him.
Bella Kanto serves as the champion of Tabat and fights for the forces of winter. Until she is overthrown, winter will be the strongest force in the land. This does not set well with the merchants in Tabat, the citizens, or with the Duke who rules the land.
Tabat is seeped in magic and sorcery. The humans hold tight control over the other types of beings. The beasts, many of them recognizable fantasy-type creatures, are treated cruelly. The popular belief is that the beasts are non-sentient, and can be disposed of as animals. They are tortured, broken for service, dissected for magical “parts,” and eaten. Dragon flesh, for instance, is considered a delicacy because of its relative scarcity, although Bella finds it to be tough and stringy. Shifters, when discovered by humans, are killed outright because they are considered beasts who can look human. But shifters will prey on the beasts just as easily as beasts of the wild will prey on them.
Major Spoilers Ahead—Be Warned!
This is not an easy story. It is not a simple plot that unfolds in a predictable pattern. Cat Rambo creates a highly complex world and brings a reader into it slowly at the start. We begin by empathizing with Teo--a young boy longing for adventure. He yearns for freedom and idolizes the glamorous and brave gladiator Bella Kanto. When we are introduced to her, the backstory of how she was raised, how she became a gladiator, and the reasons why she fights for winter are stirred into the story.
Bella’s attitude and comments about the beasts reveal the main focus of the plot. When faced with helping the Duke choose creatures for his menagerie, she comments: “I have no way to save them, but increasingly I am loath to stand by and watch.” As a reader you might think that you know where this is going.
You would be wrong.
After a few chapters the book begins gaining speed as more and more layers are added to the narrative. This is not a simple tale of good versus evil. This is a tale of shades of grey—of multiple perspectives—of overlapping areas of right and wrong. Rambo has created a society where you cannot characterize anyone simply based on whether they are human, shifter, beast, or something else entirely. You have to judge the characters by their actions and motivations. It is easy to sympathize with some of the morally ambiguous characters in one chapter, only to be repulsed by their actions in the next.
Beats of Tabat is a engrossing novel. As a reader I was immersed in the storyworld created by Cat Rambo. I shivered at the cruelty and sometimes bleak outlook of the characters. I reveled in the joy and passion occasionally displayed by Bella, and felt anguish when she was tormented or betrayed. I felt so much sympathy for Teo when he was forced to leave his home and had to smile when he ran away to join the circus. Most importantly, I liked the fact that the races of human, beast, and shifter are not treated in a stereotypical fashion.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable novel that I would recommend to anyone who likes fantasy, dark fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and mystery.
Teo’s objections to his slavery are understandable. He is a shifter who is locked into human form. He wants to explore the world and not be bound to the Temple, but the priests use magic to control him. He has read about Bella Kanto’s exploits all of his life, and hopes that she can somehow save him.
Bella Kanto serves as the champion of Tabat and fights for the forces of winter. Until she is overthrown, winter will be the strongest force in the land. This does not set well with the merchants in Tabat, the citizens, or with the Duke who rules the land.
Tabat is seeped in magic and sorcery. The humans hold tight control over the other types of beings. The beasts, many of them recognizable fantasy-type creatures, are treated cruelly. The popular belief is that the beasts are non-sentient, and can be disposed of as animals. They are tortured, broken for service, dissected for magical “parts,” and eaten. Dragon flesh, for instance, is considered a delicacy because of its relative scarcity, although Bella finds it to be tough and stringy. Shifters, when discovered by humans, are killed outright because they are considered beasts who can look human. But shifters will prey on the beasts just as easily as beasts of the wild will prey on them.
Major Spoilers Ahead—Be Warned!
This is not an easy story. It is not a simple plot that unfolds in a predictable pattern. Cat Rambo creates a highly complex world and brings a reader into it slowly at the start. We begin by empathizing with Teo--a young boy longing for adventure. He yearns for freedom and idolizes the glamorous and brave gladiator Bella Kanto. When we are introduced to her, the backstory of how she was raised, how she became a gladiator, and the reasons why she fights for winter are stirred into the story.
Bella’s attitude and comments about the beasts reveal the main focus of the plot. When faced with helping the Duke choose creatures for his menagerie, she comments: “I have no way to save them, but increasingly I am loath to stand by and watch.” As a reader you might think that you know where this is going.
You would be wrong.
After a few chapters the book begins gaining speed as more and more layers are added to the narrative. This is not a simple tale of good versus evil. This is a tale of shades of grey—of multiple perspectives—of overlapping areas of right and wrong. Rambo has created a society where you cannot characterize anyone simply based on whether they are human, shifter, beast, or something else entirely. You have to judge the characters by their actions and motivations. It is easy to sympathize with some of the morally ambiguous characters in one chapter, only to be repulsed by their actions in the next.
Beats of Tabat is a engrossing novel. As a reader I was immersed in the storyworld created by Cat Rambo. I shivered at the cruelty and sometimes bleak outlook of the characters. I reveled in the joy and passion occasionally displayed by Bella, and felt anguish when she was tormented or betrayed. I felt so much sympathy for Teo when he was forced to leave his home and had to smile when he ran away to join the circus. Most importantly, I liked the fact that the races of human, beast, and shifter are not treated in a stereotypical fashion.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable novel that I would recommend to anyone who likes fantasy, dark fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and mystery.
May 10, 2015
(Full disclosure: I've taken writing classes from Cat. That said, I have liked her work since before I knew to even recognize her name--may I recommend the lovely Events at Fort Plentitude, which I first read in Weird Tales--and I think my review fairly reflects the fact that, dammit, she's good.)
Short summary: this is a secondary-world fantasy primarily set in the great strange port city of Tabat, which is about to have the Duke step down and hold elections. It revolves around two characters: Teo, a young country boy indentured into servitude at the temple of the Moons, and Bella Kanto, the gladiator whose unbroken string of triumphs in the annual Winter-vs-Spring battle have led to twenty years of long winters and late springs.
(This isn't a children's book, by the way. In case anyone was wondering. It's not gratuitous, but my niephlets aren't going to be getting this one for a few more years.)
I was expecting a straight-up secondary world fantasy--an adventure, or what you'd traditionally call a romance. There is some of that here; I think you see it most strongly in Teo. But there's more life than there is just adventure, if that makes sense.
Second, a lot of the fantasy adventures I mentioned are about solving a problem. Beasts of Tabat is so much more than this. There are problems, yes, and some of them get resolved, but this is not a book where the Tour goes around collecting Plot Coupons and applying them to a Clearly Defined Problem. This is coming into a world in flux--on a personal level, a professional level, a social level, a magical level--and watching it turn into something new and wonderful.
(This is perhaps an excellent time to remind people of the origins of words such as "wonderful", "fantastic", and "terrific". Terry Pratchett said it best.)
I think this works because of the attention paid to the characters and the small details. There's Bella Kanto and Teo, but the characters moving around them and affected by them (I'm particularly engaged by Eloquence Seaborn and Leonoa, but you can take your pick) feel so distinct that those two feel pleasantly more like windows to the world than heroes in it. (I grant Bella Kanto is of heroic stature, but it's not because of how she's framed in the text.)
The growing unrest, the prejudice against the Beasts, the changes coming--this is the kind of thing that could get handwaved into a simple didactic dichotomy, and instead the depiction of what living in a world like this is like makes it interesting and involving. I am having opinions about this world, dammit, and I love it.
(There are several other stories set in Tabat, which are listed at the bottom of the page here; I've read half a dozen of them, and am going to go read more now that I've finished the novel. Just figured I should mention (1) you don't need to have read them and (2) they're worth checking out.)
I want to see where this goes. I need to see how it comes out. And it will be wonderful.
Short summary: this is a secondary-world fantasy primarily set in the great strange port city of Tabat, which is about to have the Duke step down and hold elections. It revolves around two characters: Teo, a young country boy indentured into servitude at the temple of the Moons, and Bella Kanto, the gladiator whose unbroken string of triumphs in the annual Winter-vs-Spring battle have led to twenty years of long winters and late springs.
(This isn't a children's book, by the way. In case anyone was wondering. It's not gratuitous, but my niephlets aren't going to be getting this one for a few more years.)
I was expecting a straight-up secondary world fantasy--an adventure, or what you'd traditionally call a romance. There is some of that here; I think you see it most strongly in Teo. But there's more life than there is just adventure, if that makes sense.
Second, a lot of the fantasy adventures I mentioned are about solving a problem. Beasts of Tabat is so much more than this. There are problems, yes, and some of them get resolved, but this is not a book where the Tour goes around collecting Plot Coupons and applying them to a Clearly Defined Problem. This is coming into a world in flux--on a personal level, a professional level, a social level, a magical level--and watching it turn into something new and wonderful.
(This is perhaps an excellent time to remind people of the origins of words such as "wonderful", "fantastic", and "terrific". Terry Pratchett said it best.)
I think this works because of the attention paid to the characters and the small details. There's Bella Kanto and Teo, but the characters moving around them and affected by them (I'm particularly engaged by Eloquence Seaborn and Leonoa, but you can take your pick) feel so distinct that those two feel pleasantly more like windows to the world than heroes in it. (I grant Bella Kanto is of heroic stature, but it's not because of how she's framed in the text.)
The growing unrest, the prejudice against the Beasts, the changes coming--this is the kind of thing that could get handwaved into a simple didactic dichotomy, and instead the depiction of what living in a world like this is like makes it interesting and involving. I am having opinions about this world, dammit, and I love it.
(There are several other stories set in Tabat, which are listed at the bottom of the page here; I've read half a dozen of them, and am going to go read more now that I've finished the novel. Just figured I should mention (1) you don't need to have read them and (2) they're worth checking out.)
I want to see where this goes. I need to see how it comes out. And it will be wonderful.
March 25, 2016
Teo is from a village of shape-shifters, a race shunned by both beasts and humans; so essentially live in exile. Teo is different from the rest because he is unable to shift. His parents offer him to serve the Temple as payment for healing his sister. Teo despises the idea of serving the Temple, so has the mindset of taking any opportunity to escape. After setting up this part of the story, I felt that it would have been more interesting if Teo partly served the Temple before making his escape, but it wasn't to be.
Since Teo escapes from the Priest and never makes it to the Temple, you would imagine the guards would be on high-alert which would make Teo's life in the city an interesting read. As it happens, Teo just has a few inconsequential experiences with a few unsavoury characters he meets. These are quickly discarded, and only briefly mentioned again.
The book alternates between Teo and the gladiator Bella Kanto. Teo has read stories about Bella and idolises her. Bella is a long-reigning champion of Tabat, whose victories somehow cause Tabat to suffer from longer winters. Although it is described that the townsfolk aren't happy about this, she seems to be held in high regard when she walks through the city rather than being an assassination target like you would imagine.
The chapters involving Bella just seem complete filler. There's a bit of back-story about Bella's upbringing and her work training new Gladiators, but there's no real action or interesting things happening. Bella's sexual conquests are discussed ad-nauseam, so it seems more of a romance drama than a fantasy/action book.
At the midpoint of the book, Bella finally meets Teo. You would think this means the book would finally pick up pace and have some real plot, but it continues to plod along with inconsequential filler. Without giving spoilers, there's (what should be) a major event which happens to each of the two lead characters in the latter half of the book. These events are only given a few pages despite being a critical part of who the characters are. At the last 10% of the book, the plot finally starts to unfold but just ends abruptly, stating the plot is continued in the next book.
I found it amazing how Cat Rambo has managed to fill in so many pages without managing to develop the characters, the lore of the world or drive the plot in a meaningful way. It seems she was so focussed on creating a series, rather than making Beasts of Tabat a great stand-alone book.
Filling the pages with the following would have created a much better story:
Explaining the role of the Temple and the group of mages within the town.
Explaining how the Gladiators battling over the seasons came to be, and the consequences the victories have on the town.
Showing the tensions between the humans, shifters and beasts. There's a lot of scope for a good story here, especially because there's an upcoming election. The politics in the town was mentioned a lot at the start of the book, then was dropped for the second half.
Since Teo escapes from the Priest and never makes it to the Temple, you would imagine the guards would be on high-alert which would make Teo's life in the city an interesting read. As it happens, Teo just has a few inconsequential experiences with a few unsavoury characters he meets. These are quickly discarded, and only briefly mentioned again.
The book alternates between Teo and the gladiator Bella Kanto. Teo has read stories about Bella and idolises her. Bella is a long-reigning champion of Tabat, whose victories somehow cause Tabat to suffer from longer winters. Although it is described that the townsfolk aren't happy about this, she seems to be held in high regard when she walks through the city rather than being an assassination target like you would imagine.
The chapters involving Bella just seem complete filler. There's a bit of back-story about Bella's upbringing and her work training new Gladiators, but there's no real action or interesting things happening. Bella's sexual conquests are discussed ad-nauseam, so it seems more of a romance drama than a fantasy/action book.
At the midpoint of the book, Bella finally meets Teo. You would think this means the book would finally pick up pace and have some real plot, but it continues to plod along with inconsequential filler. Without giving spoilers, there's (what should be) a major event which happens to each of the two lead characters in the latter half of the book. These events are only given a few pages despite being a critical part of who the characters are. At the last 10% of the book, the plot finally starts to unfold but just ends abruptly, stating the plot is continued in the next book.
I found it amazing how Cat Rambo has managed to fill in so many pages without managing to develop the characters, the lore of the world or drive the plot in a meaningful way. It seems she was so focussed on creating a series, rather than making Beasts of Tabat a great stand-alone book.
Filling the pages with the following would have created a much better story:
Explaining the role of the Temple and the group of mages within the town.
Explaining how the Gladiators battling over the seasons came to be, and the consequences the victories have on the town.
Showing the tensions between the humans, shifters and beasts. There's a lot of scope for a good story here, especially because there's an upcoming election. The politics in the town was mentioned a lot at the start of the book, then was dropped for the second half.
May 18, 2015
A delightful steampunk fantasy novel of shapeshifters, betrayal, and intrigue.
Teo, an adolescent Shifter who is unable to change shape, is taken from his village to the grand city of Tabat where he will be trained as a priest. Though he doesn’t want to live in a temple for the rest of his life, he yearns to see the metropolis where the heroine of his penny-wise books, the gladiator Bella Kanto, reigns supreme in the arena. With a swipe of her sword Bella has been champion for twenty years, battling before the gods to decide whether or not Winter lingers or Spring comes early. Given Bella’s unmatched skill, Winter shadows Tabat, where Beasts are enslaved to their human masters—and where magical beings are burned to feed the very street lights. Such callousness is not without price, for Tabat is a powder keg…with Bella the fuse and Teo the spark.
Cat Rambo has crafted an engrossing tale split between two points of view: Teo’s, written in third person, past tense; and Bella’s, shown in first person, present tense. Both contain stylistic differences, often subtle, that highlight two alternate views of Tabat. Her descriptions are unique and lush, while her characters’ dialogue feels natural. Physical sensations, such as smell as taste, are well done, but I really like how Cat describes body language—she manages to infer so much without delving into clichés. Most of all, I’m impressed with the emotional depth she imparts into each scene. It is so easy to empathize with Teo’s anxieties of harboring a secret while trying to survive on the streets. It’s engrossing to witness the raw hurt and longing beneath Bella’s arrogant exterior. I will say, of the two main characters, Bella is my favorite in this novel, but I suspect we’ve only been shown a peek of what Teo will undergo.
The story gets underway quickly as Teo and Bella’s paths intersect while tensions rise in Tabat. Abolitionists seek the freedom of captive Beasts. Citizens riot in the streets, wanting Winter to end while despising Bella for not stepping down as champion. The Duke will be displaced in Tabat’s first election soon, but he doesn’t want to relinquish power. Change is coming, but not as much as it comes to Teo and Bella. Both will see their illusions shattered as the beasts within them—real or emotional—threatens to devour their hearts.
As you can guess, I loved this book. I connected with the characters, the setting, and the conflict between master and slave shown on various levels. I will definitely read the rest of the books in this series. If you like well-written fantasy, read Beasts of Tabat.
Teo, an adolescent Shifter who is unable to change shape, is taken from his village to the grand city of Tabat where he will be trained as a priest. Though he doesn’t want to live in a temple for the rest of his life, he yearns to see the metropolis where the heroine of his penny-wise books, the gladiator Bella Kanto, reigns supreme in the arena. With a swipe of her sword Bella has been champion for twenty years, battling before the gods to decide whether or not Winter lingers or Spring comes early. Given Bella’s unmatched skill, Winter shadows Tabat, where Beasts are enslaved to their human masters—and where magical beings are burned to feed the very street lights. Such callousness is not without price, for Tabat is a powder keg…with Bella the fuse and Teo the spark.
Cat Rambo has crafted an engrossing tale split between two points of view: Teo’s, written in third person, past tense; and Bella’s, shown in first person, present tense. Both contain stylistic differences, often subtle, that highlight two alternate views of Tabat. Her descriptions are unique and lush, while her characters’ dialogue feels natural. Physical sensations, such as smell as taste, are well done, but I really like how Cat describes body language—she manages to infer so much without delving into clichés. Most of all, I’m impressed with the emotional depth she imparts into each scene. It is so easy to empathize with Teo’s anxieties of harboring a secret while trying to survive on the streets. It’s engrossing to witness the raw hurt and longing beneath Bella’s arrogant exterior. I will say, of the two main characters, Bella is my favorite in this novel, but I suspect we’ve only been shown a peek of what Teo will undergo.
The story gets underway quickly as Teo and Bella’s paths intersect while tensions rise in Tabat. Abolitionists seek the freedom of captive Beasts. Citizens riot in the streets, wanting Winter to end while despising Bella for not stepping down as champion. The Duke will be displaced in Tabat’s first election soon, but he doesn’t want to relinquish power. Change is coming, but not as much as it comes to Teo and Bella. Both will see their illusions shattered as the beasts within them—real or emotional—threatens to devour their hearts.
As you can guess, I loved this book. I connected with the characters, the setting, and the conflict between master and slave shown on various levels. I will definitely read the rest of the books in this series. If you like well-written fantasy, read Beasts of Tabat.
March 12, 2016
This is an interesting fantasy novel, flawed by being obviously the setup for a trilogy. But the first half is really nice, if a bit too leisurely with an interesting main character Bella Kanto, a famous gladiator whose annual fight determines if winter will last an additional six weeks (that's right, she's the groundhog!) The city's rulers and business leaders have grown tired of her constant victories, they want an earlier Spring. The other main character is the son of a Shifter clan who doesn't have the ability to shift into an animal form. This world has magical beasts, unicorns, fairies and the like who don't have rights and are slaves.
After a nice leisurely pace and a developing love affair between Bella and one of her (female) gladiator students, the book rushes things to upset the status quo to set up the next book. Still, the language of the writing is very well done. Don't be put off that this is coming from a small press run by Kevin J. Anderson, this is big leagues writing.
After a nice leisurely pace and a developing love affair between Bella and one of her (female) gladiator students, the book rushes things to upset the status quo to set up the next book. Still, the language of the writing is very well done. Don't be put off that this is coming from a small press run by Kevin J. Anderson, this is big leagues writing.
June 10, 2015
Tentatively tagging this as feminist because it is rare to see women characters written well (pretty much only seen it from women authors). This book does a great job exploring relationships of different types (not all romantic or sexual) and it seems like women in this world are real people (yay) and not trophies (boo, hiss). I confess, this book hooked me from the second it revealed that the gladiator in question was one Bella Kanto (and if you guessed from the name that it's a she, you'd be right). I hope it's not presumptuous to see myself in her (no, not like that).
It's also rare to see split point of view done well; I usually just dislike it because it feels like the same story told twice from the same person. These two characters are distinct, and the use of first-person for one of them didn't even bother me all that much. I'm curious to see more (didn't realize how recent this book was, as I acquired it from a storybundle and therefore assumed it was an ebook reissue).
It's also rare to see split point of view done well; I usually just dislike it because it feels like the same story told twice from the same person. These two characters are distinct, and the use of first-person for one of them didn't even bother me all that much. I'm curious to see more (didn't realize how recent this book was, as I acquired it from a storybundle and therefore assumed it was an ebook reissue).
October 12, 2019
update 10/12/19: The previous review was TOO BLUNT, sorryyyyyy. I gave the book 4 stars, it can't have been that bad lol first review under the spoiler tag
December 20, 2016
The main strengths of Beasts of Tabat are the interesting setting and the poetic writing. Unfortunately the author does very little to take advantage of either of these strengths.
The plot is weak and only in the end you find out that this novel is simply a setup for a longer series with no real resolution or climax in sight. Both the main characters are also extremely unlikable and it's rather hard to care what happens to them.
While I would be happy to read other stories set in the same world, I'm unlikely to continue with this particular series if it focuses on this same set of characters.
The plot is weak and only in the end you find out that this novel is simply a setup for a longer series with no real resolution or climax in sight. Both the main characters are also extremely unlikable and it's rather hard to care what happens to them.
While I would be happy to read other stories set in the same world, I'm unlikely to continue with this particular series if it focuses on this same set of characters.
May 20, 2015
What a great start to a new fantasy series. Cat Rambo has raised her game here. The characters of Bella Canto and Teo are distinct, flawed, believable, and sympathetic. The world-building of Tabat seems effortless, and the clean prose is sprinkled throughout with gems of observation. Add to that a good dose of political upheaval and magic.
This is a grown-up tale, and I await the next volume with great impatience.
This is a grown-up tale, and I await the next volume with great impatience.
June 20, 2015
I kept wanting to like it. Interesting concept (reminded me of the land of Oz as described in Wicked with the Animals) and main characters but poor execution. Sex and a poorly conceived and unnecessary lesbian romance ended up dominating what could otherwise have been an interesting story. I skimmed through much of the second half (any of Bella's chapters). The main story (beyond the day to day of the characters) never really picked up.
January 17, 2020
This was my first time reading Cat Rambo’s work, and from this introduction, I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be reading more in the future. Most of my exposure to Rambo was in name only, hers being a name I at least recognized as one that I should read, should probably have already read.
So when offered a copy of Beasts of Tabat, I saw my chance and reached for it. I wasn’t disappointed.
Teo is a Shifter, someone who appears Human but who can change his appearance to that of an animal. In theory, anyway. Teo, for all his attempts, hasn’t managed that transformation, much to his shame. And when his parents trade him to the Temples in exchange for a cure for his sister’s illness, Teo takes it upon himself to rebel and run away, figuring he’ll make his own way in the world rather than be a bargaining chip. Running alongside Teo’s story is that of Tabat’s premier Gladiator, Bella Kanto, who is best known for being the one to delay spring’s arrival every year in a ritual tournament. Citizens of Tabat are understandably annoyed at a delayed spring for 2 decades running, and plots are under way to bring her down.
Honestly, I found Teo’s portion of the story much less interesting than Bella’s, though Teo’s parts were more engaging. From Teo’s perspective we see much of Tabat and its customs revealed, since he’s from a smaller village and has come to a big city and is forced to adapt. He’s a good medium for transferring a lot of that knowledge to readers, and for giving them a bit of a foothold on a world that is very well established and well built but that may not be too familiar to those who, like myself, haven’t read any of Rambo’s short stories set in the same world. But it felt as though more care was given to Bella’s parts of the story. Perhaps it was because her parts were written in first person while Teo’s were in third, perhaps it was because she was a mature woman and he was a teen, perhaps a mix of these and other things. But I found myself much more eager to read Bella’s story than Teo’s as the book went on.
Bella herself was a fascinating character, someone who was scarred by her past and who had made it her goal to put it behind her and rise above what it was assumed she would always be. She had high standards for herself and never failed to live up to them, even when it was pointed out that many people would benefit greatly if she stopped being so rigorous and exacting. More than once it felt as though she was using her public persona as a mask, a shield to keep her more private self locked inside, and it was almost as though she was striving to live up to herself, the image that others had of her. She was arrogant, but it was an arrogance that she’d earned. I disagree with many of the things she did, for she was a very selfish person at heart, but her flaws only made her more interesting to read about, and I think the entire novel could have been about her, from her viewpoint, and I would have loved it.
Beasts of Tabat was a comfortable length, neither particularly short nor dragging on too long, though it did take quite a while to get going. A good half of Teo’s chapters were largely setup to get him to meet Bella Kanto in the first place, to get entangled in a large rebellion, and much of the action of Bella’s chapters didn’t really kick up until the end. Hers seemed more like a character study. So while you may pick up this book expecting numerous high-action scenes, especially when you know there’s a gladiator in the mix, be warned that it’s a bit of a slow burn, taking its time in setting up small and subtle pins all over the place before rolling the ball that will knock them all down. But it is worth it, as the story that Rambo sets up is beautiful and intricate and with far more to it than you first expect.
This was a fantastic introduction to Rambo’s writing, and I can say without a shred of doubt that her worldbuilding is outstanding, wrought with care and full of fine detail that makes it all pop on the pages and come alive for the reader. From an omnipresent fish tea to a powerful woman’s strong sexuality to the way certain Beasts are treated by Humans, there’s a rich tapestry of a world here, one that feels full and complete and with so much potential for an infinite number of stories, which is something I always feel is the hallmark of a well-built secondary world. If the whole world feels like it revolves around the main characters, then the world isn’t very whole. If, as it does in Beasts of Tabat, the world expands beyond the characters, that the characters are shaped by the world rather than the reverse, then it’s a sign of a good and strong world, and that’s the kind that yields the best stories.
Whether you’re a fan of what Rambo has written in the past, or if, like me, you’re new-come to her work, there’s plenty here to entertain. It’s a world that will enthrall, with characters in the middle of real lives that go askew, believable and flawed and full of tremendous possibility, and the ending is such a cliffhanger that I really want to read the second book. Right now. (Is there a time machine I can use to go into the future and get it?) Rambo’s voice is strong and she addresses much that tends to get sensationalized in fantasy, only in a way that makes it all approachable and comprehensible and brings it down to a very human level of realism. Highly recommended, especially for the Bella Kanto parts!
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
So when offered a copy of Beasts of Tabat, I saw my chance and reached for it. I wasn’t disappointed.
Teo is a Shifter, someone who appears Human but who can change his appearance to that of an animal. In theory, anyway. Teo, for all his attempts, hasn’t managed that transformation, much to his shame. And when his parents trade him to the Temples in exchange for a cure for his sister’s illness, Teo takes it upon himself to rebel and run away, figuring he’ll make his own way in the world rather than be a bargaining chip. Running alongside Teo’s story is that of Tabat’s premier Gladiator, Bella Kanto, who is best known for being the one to delay spring’s arrival every year in a ritual tournament. Citizens of Tabat are understandably annoyed at a delayed spring for 2 decades running, and plots are under way to bring her down.
Honestly, I found Teo’s portion of the story much less interesting than Bella’s, though Teo’s parts were more engaging. From Teo’s perspective we see much of Tabat and its customs revealed, since he’s from a smaller village and has come to a big city and is forced to adapt. He’s a good medium for transferring a lot of that knowledge to readers, and for giving them a bit of a foothold on a world that is very well established and well built but that may not be too familiar to those who, like myself, haven’t read any of Rambo’s short stories set in the same world. But it felt as though more care was given to Bella’s parts of the story. Perhaps it was because her parts were written in first person while Teo’s were in third, perhaps it was because she was a mature woman and he was a teen, perhaps a mix of these and other things. But I found myself much more eager to read Bella’s story than Teo’s as the book went on.
Bella herself was a fascinating character, someone who was scarred by her past and who had made it her goal to put it behind her and rise above what it was assumed she would always be. She had high standards for herself and never failed to live up to them, even when it was pointed out that many people would benefit greatly if she stopped being so rigorous and exacting. More than once it felt as though she was using her public persona as a mask, a shield to keep her more private self locked inside, and it was almost as though she was striving to live up to herself, the image that others had of her. She was arrogant, but it was an arrogance that she’d earned. I disagree with many of the things she did, for she was a very selfish person at heart, but her flaws only made her more interesting to read about, and I think the entire novel could have been about her, from her viewpoint, and I would have loved it.
Beasts of Tabat was a comfortable length, neither particularly short nor dragging on too long, though it did take quite a while to get going. A good half of Teo’s chapters were largely setup to get him to meet Bella Kanto in the first place, to get entangled in a large rebellion, and much of the action of Bella’s chapters didn’t really kick up until the end. Hers seemed more like a character study. So while you may pick up this book expecting numerous high-action scenes, especially when you know there’s a gladiator in the mix, be warned that it’s a bit of a slow burn, taking its time in setting up small and subtle pins all over the place before rolling the ball that will knock them all down. But it is worth it, as the story that Rambo sets up is beautiful and intricate and with far more to it than you first expect.
This was a fantastic introduction to Rambo’s writing, and I can say without a shred of doubt that her worldbuilding is outstanding, wrought with care and full of fine detail that makes it all pop on the pages and come alive for the reader. From an omnipresent fish tea to a powerful woman’s strong sexuality to the way certain Beasts are treated by Humans, there’s a rich tapestry of a world here, one that feels full and complete and with so much potential for an infinite number of stories, which is something I always feel is the hallmark of a well-built secondary world. If the whole world feels like it revolves around the main characters, then the world isn’t very whole. If, as it does in Beasts of Tabat, the world expands beyond the characters, that the characters are shaped by the world rather than the reverse, then it’s a sign of a good and strong world, and that’s the kind that yields the best stories.
Whether you’re a fan of what Rambo has written in the past, or if, like me, you’re new-come to her work, there’s plenty here to entertain. It’s a world that will enthrall, with characters in the middle of real lives that go askew, believable and flawed and full of tremendous possibility, and the ending is such a cliffhanger that I really want to read the second book. Right now. (Is there a time machine I can use to go into the future and get it?) Rambo’s voice is strong and she addresses much that tends to get sensationalized in fantasy, only in a way that makes it all approachable and comprehensible and brings it down to a very human level of realism. Highly recommended, especially for the Bella Kanto parts!
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
April 8, 2015
The world of Tabat feels so fully realized, I almost believe I could point to it on a map. I loved the brittle arrogance of the Unbeaten Bella Kanto, . Definitely looking forward to reading more stories set in Tabat.
January 6, 2020
Beasts of Tabat is the most imaginative fantasy I've had the pleasure of reading in many years. At the same time the tale was masterfully told in a way that kept me grounded in the action and totally relatable/believable characters while spinning a wild web of world around me as tangible as my own daily life. I felt like I was there and like Tabat and its world had always been my home.
A warning to sensitive readers, though fanciful and often delightful, this world and its characters are also gritty and surprising in both wonderful (in the true sense of the word) and horrible (also true sense) ways.
I found the read enthralling. It swept me away each day I read it.
At first the change of tense as well as point of view was a bit jarring, but I agree with the choice to portray the two main characters so differently. They lived and viewed the world and themselves very differently and it was a brave literary choice to go with the tool that suited each best. The swaps became seamless as soon as I knew Teo and Bella well.
My stars show I loved it! The intensity was tough for me at times, but appropriate to the story and well worth it.
I always comment on what didn't work, and in this book, I think the only thing that wasn't perfection for me was the ending. Though it's first of a series and should leave us with a conflict, I felt the change of circumstances for the heroine was too abrupt and ramped up too high to be a holding point. And then (partly because of that), I was blindsided that it was the end and it dropped me out of the story into dissatisfaction instead of just leaving me wanting more. That being said, I definitely want to know what will happen. I love the characters and this world, and I'll eventually read the next book. I just wish I was left satisfied and within the story wanting more, instead of bereft.
A warning to sensitive readers, though fanciful and often delightful, this world and its characters are also gritty and surprising in both wonderful (in the true sense of the word) and horrible (also true sense) ways.
I found the read enthralling. It swept me away each day I read it.
At first the change of tense as well as point of view was a bit jarring, but I agree with the choice to portray the two main characters so differently. They lived and viewed the world and themselves very differently and it was a brave literary choice to go with the tool that suited each best. The swaps became seamless as soon as I knew Teo and Bella well.
My stars show I loved it! The intensity was tough for me at times, but appropriate to the story and well worth it.
I always comment on what didn't work, and in this book, I think the only thing that wasn't perfection for me was the ending. Though it's first of a series and should leave us with a conflict, I felt the change of circumstances for the heroine was too abrupt and ramped up too high to be a holding point. And then (partly because of that), I was blindsided that it was the end and it dropped me out of the story into dissatisfaction instead of just leaving me wanting more. That being said, I definitely want to know what will happen. I love the characters and this world, and I'll eventually read the next book. I just wish I was left satisfied and within the story wanting more, instead of bereft.
November 25, 2018
I am reviewing Beasts of Tabat after reading both the first and second books of the Tabat Quartet, which can be read in either order. I find this experimental series format fascinating - the ability to read a story from different perspectives and get a different experience either way. I think if I were starting fresh, I would read them in the published order, but both work.
Rambo’s world and characters are utterly immersive. She makes even the most simple moments deeply engaging, which fascinates me as I’m reading. With a dark tone to the overall story, she writes emotions, including pain, in a very naked and raw way. And the story and world are just unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s wonderful to read something so fresh.
CW on violence:
I will definitely be reading books 3 and 4.
Rambo’s world and characters are utterly immersive. She makes even the most simple moments deeply engaging, which fascinates me as I’m reading. With a dark tone to the overall story, she writes emotions, including pain, in a very naked and raw way. And the story and world are just unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s wonderful to read something so fresh.
CW on violence:
I will definitely be reading books 3 and 4.
January 26, 2019
an interesting book. A young boy fleeing a life of servitude under the church, and a female gladiator who keeps winning for winter and now people want her to learn. in the background beat men suffer from abuse and slavery.
There are a lot of odd choices first in the book first Bella is told in the first person But Teo is told in third person. also this book is the first in a series but none of the issues are really resolved the climex only brings more issues.
I did like reading the book while it was going, and i think i might enjoy if i read it as part of the series but only 2 of the 4 books have been released.
There are a lot of odd choices first in the book first Bella is told in the first person But Teo is told in third person. also this book is the first in a series but none of the issues are really resolved the climex only brings more issues.
I did like reading the book while it was going, and i think i might enjoy if i read it as part of the series but only 2 of the 4 books have been released.
March 14, 2021
Okay so, I enjoyed this book, but this isn't... like, an actual entire book. It ends on a horrific cliffhanger! Everything is terrible at the end of this book! I see also that the second book is out, but that the series is a "quartet," so I'm wary of reading the second book without the third or fourth, especially given that this one ends so horribly. I really liked the worldbuilding and found the characters engaging, but the To Be Continued at the end of the book left a bad taste in my mouth, unfortunately.
November 9, 2018
Cat Rambo has imagined a compelling fantasy world full of intrigue and conflict. I usually wait until a series is complete before diving in, but the characters and city are so compelling that I jumped right in. The interweaving of the main characters’ stories, young Teo and the fearsome Gladiator Bella Kanto is well done and I’m excited to start the second book in this four book series right away!
January 31, 2022
An interesting premise soon becomes an overly descriptive and repetitive slog. The world-building is confusing, one main character is a promiscuous egotist and the plot just starts to get interesting when it ends, leaving everything unresolved for the next book in the quartet.
October 18, 2017
Terrific story and fascinating, well-built world that centers around the exploitation of magical beasts. A great if slow-paced set up to the next book in the series.
June 29, 2018
Highly original fantasy with steampunk elements, reminiscent of Vonda McIntyre and with nods to Lloyd Alexander and Susan Cooper.
June 29, 2018
It was a fun story, but it ended quite abruptly, I felt like it was incomplete. I want my books to have an ending, not just a dangling story for the next book.
April 14, 2021
Cat makes language sing. Every scene is dripping with glorious detail. She also pries loose the boundary between people and humans
October 16, 2021
Fantastic, dense, gorgeously written fantasy full of vibrant and many-faceted characters and a moral question or two at its heart.
July 6, 2025
Reread in 2025. Original review below the ---- line. Five stars in 207, 1.5 stars in 2025, knocked the stars down to the average: three.
Quick synopsis : Set in a world where all sorts of mythical creatures are enslaved by humans, a "shifter" (were-animal) who can't shift and THE BEST FIGHTER TO EVER STEP FOOT ON THE PLANET live their lives and don't really do much.
Brief opinion : I rated this five stars in 2017, but eight years later I could barely finish it. One of the two main characters was the worst, but clearly the author loved her. [Reread from 2017, original review here.]
Plot : In a world where most gladiators hold the top position for two to three years max, Bella has been the champ for 20+ years. This may or may not be because even the gods love her.
Teo is a shifter who cannot shift, so his family sends him off to serve the church for life instead. Teo has issues with that plan, so runs off to the city to find his (and everyone's) hero Bella.
For the first 90% of the story there is really not much happening, just the two living their lives. By the time the plot started picking up in the last 10%, my interest was completely gone. Something something revolution in the city building.
Writing/editing : There were some editing issues.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : Bella was the worst character ever. Too good, too perfect, most of her chapters (half the book) were just her having sex and being loved.
Teo's chapters were somewhat more interesting, but the book lost my attention pretty early on.
The only thing I really liked was the world: The "Beasts" (all sorts of mythical creatures of varying intelligence, from animal to smarter than humans) were all owned slaves, and they were the most interesting part of the story. I wish the book had been about them.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️ ½ - Hated
-----
Don't judge a book by its cover. For me, it's usually in the opposite way: I fall for a cool cover hiding a horrible book. In the case of Beasts of Tabat, it's the opposite: That cover is just awful! And what does it tell you about the story? Nothing!
There was so so so much good about this story. Set in some other world, the planet was populated by every mythical creature you can think of, as well as by humans. Every non-human, non-animal mythical creature was classified as a Beast, and other than some free ones deep in wild areas, they were all slaves to humans. Many of these Beasts were thinking creatures, many were as intelligent if not more so than humans. As humans tend to do to slaves, Beasts were generally not treated very well, and in many cases, were abused. (Seriously disturbingly, when an intelligent Beast couldn't be tamed or otherwise rebelled, it was "dulled" -- lobotomized. Though it hadn't been described in detail at all, a scene about that being done to a Beast bothered me so much!)
As interesting as they were, the Beasts were just background information, part of the wonderful worldbuilding of this story (though in coming books are going to be a major part of the plot). This book centered around Bella and Teo. Bella is a gladiator, the star of the most popular "penny-wides" (graphic novel-type of book, read by adults and kids alike). In a city where seasons are represented by gladiator, Bella has extended winter an unnaturally long time because she just keeps winning. Teo is a "shifter" (were-animal, a Beast), but unable to shift. His village thinks him unlucky for being unable to change into his animal shape, so send him off to the city to work for the church. Teo, a big fan of penny-wides, seeks out Bella, and the two eventually cross paths.
There was nothing at all I disliked about this book (well, other than the cover...). The worldbuilding was deliciously good. I loved the characters, major and minor. I LOVED the idea of Beasts. I believed every single character's motivations.
Happily the second book should be coming out soon-ish, and the series is intended to be four books long.
Quick synopsis : Set in a world where all sorts of mythical creatures are enslaved by humans, a "shifter" (were-animal) who can't shift and THE BEST FIGHTER TO EVER STEP FOOT ON THE PLANET live their lives and don't really do much.
Brief opinion : I rated this five stars in 2017, but eight years later I could barely finish it. One of the two main characters was the worst, but clearly the author loved her. [Reread from 2017, original review here.]
Plot : In a world where most gladiators hold the top position for two to three years max, Bella has been the champ for 20+ years. This may or may not be because even the gods love her.
Teo is a shifter who cannot shift, so his family sends him off to serve the church for life instead. Teo has issues with that plan, so runs off to the city to find his (and everyone's) hero Bella.
For the first 90% of the story there is really not much happening, just the two living their lives. By the time the plot started picking up in the last 10%, my interest was completely gone. Something something revolution in the city building.
Writing/editing : There were some editing issues.
What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like : Bella was the worst character ever. Too good, too perfect, most of her chapters (half the book) were just her having sex and being loved.
Teo's chapters were somewhat more interesting, but the book lost my attention pretty early on.
The only thing I really liked was the world: The "Beasts" (all sorts of mythical creatures of varying intelligence, from animal to smarter than humans) were all owned slaves, and they were the most interesting part of the story. I wish the book had been about them.
Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved : ⭐️ ½ - Hated
-----
Don't judge a book by its cover. For me, it's usually in the opposite way: I fall for a cool cover hiding a horrible book. In the case of Beasts of Tabat, it's the opposite: That cover is just awful! And what does it tell you about the story? Nothing!
There was so so so much good about this story. Set in some other world, the planet was populated by every mythical creature you can think of, as well as by humans. Every non-human, non-animal mythical creature was classified as a Beast, and other than some free ones deep in wild areas, they were all slaves to humans. Many of these Beasts were thinking creatures, many were as intelligent if not more so than humans. As humans tend to do to slaves, Beasts were generally not treated very well, and in many cases, were abused. (Seriously disturbingly, when an intelligent Beast couldn't be tamed or otherwise rebelled, it was "dulled" -- lobotomized. Though it hadn't been described in detail at all, a scene about that being done to a Beast bothered me so much!)
As interesting as they were, the Beasts were just background information, part of the wonderful worldbuilding of this story (though in coming books are going to be a major part of the plot). This book centered around Bella and Teo. Bella is a gladiator, the star of the most popular "penny-wides" (graphic novel-type of book, read by adults and kids alike). In a city where seasons are represented by gladiator, Bella has extended winter an unnaturally long time because she just keeps winning. Teo is a "shifter" (were-animal, a Beast), but unable to shift. His village thinks him unlucky for being unable to change into his animal shape, so send him off to the city to work for the church. Teo, a big fan of penny-wides, seeks out Bella, and the two eventually cross paths.
There was nothing at all I disliked about this book (well, other than the cover...). The worldbuilding was deliciously good. I loved the characters, major and minor. I LOVED the idea of Beasts. I believed every single character's motivations.
Happily the second book should be coming out soon-ish, and the series is intended to be four books long.
May 17, 2018
I'll admit, I picked this up because I'm a sucker for gladiator games, and a story featuring a female gladiator was even better. So just by setting alone, it seemed that this would be right up my alley, and indeed there were some things that I liked.
Pros
The Society: The depiction of slavery, and the greed of a society that's been built on slavery, was brutal in its realism, and I would say the author didn't pull any punches, but... just from my outside studies on the topic, she didn't make her depictions nearly as brutal as she could have. That didn't mean it wasn't effective. I especially liked the inclusion of psychological manipulation in addition to the physical abuse.
The Gladiator Fights: This part was pretty much guaranteed to be a win with me, but I especially liked the twist that the battles were not solely for entertainment, but part of a magic ritual that had a real, palpable influence on the world around them.
Cons
The Characters: I honestly had a hard time connecting with either Bella or Teo - which, given that those were the two main characters, really put a damper on my enjoyment of the world. Teo, as a character, just felt flat to me - more of an idea of a character than an actual person I could sympathize with - and while his extreme lack of common sense can be put down to his youth and the unfamiliarity of his environment, there's only so many times I can yell "Don't do that, you idiot!" before I start to lose all sympathy. Bella... my primary problem with Bella was her self-centredness, and her refusal to consider the way that her actions affected others, which while probably a deliberate character flaw didn't make me like her any better. Some of the choices she made - "I'm not going to throw a fight just to appease the baying mob" - were completely justified, and I didn't have any problem with them. Others, such as sleeping with a fifteen-year-old student (ew), or taking her own guilt and grief out on someone who'd come to ask for her help, not so much.
The Pacing: Throughout the entirety of the story, the plot had spent its time building up to some really big things: the upcoming election, the restlessness of the Beasts, the magical gladiator battle... Then, right as the climax seems to finally be starting, the book just stops. Everything comes to a cold screeching halt. There's no closure for the characters, both of whom are left hanging in some really bad situations. There's no closure for the reader, who's left hanging on an obvious sequel hook. This feels less like a finished novel, and more like a TV episode that slaps "To Be Continued" on the screen right as things are getting interesting.
The Verdict
I'll keep reading once the next book comes out. Though I think that this book could have been done better, there are still things I liked and wanted to see more of.
Pros
The Society: The depiction of slavery, and the greed of a society that's been built on slavery, was brutal in its realism, and I would say the author didn't pull any punches, but... just from my outside studies on the topic, she didn't make her depictions nearly as brutal as she could have. That didn't mean it wasn't effective. I especially liked the inclusion of psychological manipulation in addition to the physical abuse.
The Gladiator Fights: This part was pretty much guaranteed to be a win with me, but I especially liked the twist that the battles were not solely for entertainment, but part of a magic ritual that had a real, palpable influence on the world around them.
Cons
The Characters: I honestly had a hard time connecting with either Bella or Teo - which, given that those were the two main characters, really put a damper on my enjoyment of the world. Teo, as a character, just felt flat to me - more of an idea of a character than an actual person I could sympathize with - and while his extreme lack of common sense can be put down to his youth and the unfamiliarity of his environment, there's only so many times I can yell "Don't do that, you idiot!" before I start to lose all sympathy. Bella... my primary problem with Bella was her self-centredness, and her refusal to consider the way that her actions affected others, which while probably a deliberate character flaw didn't make me like her any better. Some of the choices she made - "I'm not going to throw a fight just to appease the baying mob" - were completely justified, and I didn't have any problem with them. Others, such as sleeping with a fifteen-year-old student (ew), or taking her own guilt and grief out on someone who'd come to ask for her help, not so much.
The Pacing: Throughout the entirety of the story, the plot had spent its time building up to some really big things: the upcoming election, the restlessness of the Beasts, the magical gladiator battle... Then, right as the climax seems to finally be starting, the book just stops. Everything comes to a cold screeching halt. There's no closure for the characters, both of whom are left hanging in some really bad situations. There's no closure for the reader, who's left hanging on an obvious sequel hook. This feels less like a finished novel, and more like a TV episode that slaps "To Be Continued" on the screen right as things are getting interesting.
The Verdict
I'll keep reading once the next book comes out. Though I think that this book could have been done better, there are still things I liked and wanted to see more of.
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