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Shadowlands #1
Hidden Sun
An eccentric noblewoman scientist's journey into a hostile environment will change her world forever, in this enthralling fantasy novel.
Rhia Harlyn is a noble in Shen, one of the dozens of shadowlands which separate the bright, alien skyland. She has a missing brother, an unwanted marriage proposal and an interest in science considered unbecoming in her gender. Her brother's disappearance coincided with a violent unsolved murder, and Rhia impulsively joins the search party headed into the skyland - a place whose dangers and wonders have long fascinated her. The dangerous journey brings her into conflict with a young rebel stuck between the worlds of shadow and light, and a charismatic cult leader who believes he can defeat death itself.
File Under: Fantasy [ Secret Science - Iron Age - Caravan of Courage - Into the Light ]
Rhia Harlyn is a noble in Shen, one of the dozens of shadowlands which separate the bright, alien skyland. She has a missing brother, an unwanted marriage proposal and an interest in science considered unbecoming in her gender. Her brother's disappearance coincided with a violent unsolved murder, and Rhia impulsively joins the search party headed into the skyland - a place whose dangers and wonders have long fascinated her. The dangerous journey brings her into conflict with a young rebel stuck between the worlds of shadow and light, and a charismatic cult leader who believes he can defeat death itself.
File Under: Fantasy [ Secret Science - Iron Age - Caravan of Courage - Into the Light ]
448 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 2018
31 people are currently reading
344 people want to read
About the author
Jaine Fenn
43 books78 followersTruth may be stranger than fiction, but it's also far harder to track down. Jaine Fenn has had numerous short stories professionally published, some of which appear in the collection 'Downside Girls' and has won the British Science Fiction Association Short Fiction award. Her Hidden Empire space opera sequence, published by Gollancz, starts with the novel 'Principles of Angels'. Her Shadowlands science fantasy duology is published by Angry Robot.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
February 24, 2019
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
Received to review via Netgalley.
Well, thank goodness for other people’s reviews.
I was enjoying reading this, intrigued by the world and rather appreciative of one of the main female characters’ and her drive to understand the world. I can definitely appreciate a scholar! There were a few things that I felt weren’t really set up well enough — rather than feeling like I was understanding the world as I read, I felt like I was missing key pieces of information. It took a long time to understand what was going on in terms of skykin/shadowkin, and I’m still not clear (having stopped around 30% of the way through the book) what’s going on with the shadowlands and the skylands.
I was quite prepared to sit tight and keep working through that, but I had a quick Google to see if the description of the book prepared me any better, or anyone’s reviews; maybe someone would say something that would make everything fall into place for me (and make me feel like an idiot).
Instead, I found The Captain‘s review. Thank goodness I did, because I’m fairly sure I would’ve found the described rape scenes upsetting; having skimmed ahead in the book, I know for sure that I find the behaviour of a main character’s brother, and the main character’s reaction to it, disgusting. It turns out, after a long search for him, that Rhia’s brother Etyan was part of gang-raping a girl who he then found dead after going to pay her off for her silence. Rightly fearing what would happen, having found her dead, he ran away. And Rhia decides to forgive him, because although he brutally raped a girl, he didn’t kill her. So she decides to forgive him, because he was just being young and stupid, and at least he wasn’t as bad as she’d feared.
Gag. Spare me. I’ll read something else. Some of the ideas in this book intrigued me, but I’m not going to invest the time for that payoff.
Received to review via Netgalley.
Well, thank goodness for other people’s reviews.
I was enjoying reading this, intrigued by the world and rather appreciative of one of the main female characters’ and her drive to understand the world. I can definitely appreciate a scholar! There were a few things that I felt weren’t really set up well enough — rather than feeling like I was understanding the world as I read, I felt like I was missing key pieces of information. It took a long time to understand what was going on in terms of skykin/shadowkin, and I’m still not clear (having stopped around 30% of the way through the book) what’s going on with the shadowlands and the skylands.
I was quite prepared to sit tight and keep working through that, but I had a quick Google to see if the description of the book prepared me any better, or anyone’s reviews; maybe someone would say something that would make everything fall into place for me (and make me feel like an idiot).
Instead, I found The Captain‘s review. Thank goodness I did, because I’m fairly sure I would’ve found the described rape scenes upsetting; having skimmed ahead in the book, I know for sure that I find the behaviour of a main character’s brother, and the main character’s reaction to it, disgusting. It turns out, after a long search for him, that Rhia’s brother Etyan was part of gang-raping a girl who he then found dead after going to pay her off for her silence. Rightly fearing what would happen, having found her dead, he ran away. And Rhia decides to forgive him, because although he brutally raped a girl, he didn’t kill her. So she decides to forgive him, because he was just being young and stupid, and at least he wasn’t as bad as she’d feared.
Gag. Spare me. I’ll read something else. Some of the ideas in this book intrigued me, but I’m not going to invest the time for that payoff.
November 1, 2021
I love me some weird worlds, and that is probably why I bought this book when I'd spotted it in probably the American Book Center - because Hidden Sun has its fair share of weirdness, with skykin and shadowkin, different patches of the world being either too hot or too cold, et cetera. I can tell Fenn had a lot of fun with the worldbuilding.
However, when it comes to a book, I come for the world, but I stay for the characters, and unfortunately this is where Hidden Sun is lacking. While the worldbuilding was fun, the plot and characterization only really starts to pick up about halfway through the book. Before that, it honestly didn't manage to get me emotionally all that much. It took too long to get going, which is unfortunately why I'm sticking to only three stars, and I won't read the next installment in the series.
However, when it comes to a book, I come for the world, but I stay for the characters, and unfortunately this is where Hidden Sun is lacking. While the worldbuilding was fun, the plot and characterization only really starts to pick up about halfway through the book. Before that, it honestly didn't manage to get me emotionally all that much. It took too long to get going, which is unfortunately why I'm sticking to only three stars, and I won't read the next installment in the series.
July 29, 2020
Right up until the end, this was a 5 star book for me. One of the reasons science fiction and fantasy lies so close to my heart is that I have always loved the amount of imagination involved. Not only do speculative fiction authors have to invent characters and plots, they often have to create whole WORLDS, with all the unique species, races, cultures, biomes, and architecture that entails. A 5 star fantasy/science fiction, for me, is usually one that makes all these feel uniquely alien, while also crafting relatable characters and an engaging plot. That's what draws me to this genre over and over again.
This book definitely nails the worldbuilding. The worldbuilding throws you in the deep end, yet somehow also slowly unfurls until you understand it completely. I love how at first this feels like a fantasy setting only to slowly feel like more of a science fiction.
Despite the fact I fell in love with this world, I agree with other reviewers that the excusing of rape at the end of the novel is unforgivable, and it makes every single character involved completely unlikable. Throughout the novel, Rhia is clearly repressing and struggling with the idea that her brother has potentially raped and killed a woman. I assumed this would lead to a great internal conflict on her part when she confronts her brother. How do you process the idea that someone you love has committed a crime so terrible? What do you do when you want to condemn their actions but still love them? Well, the author chooses to address what could have been a complex topic by completely ignoring it.
I just don’t know how the author imagined I would feel about this ending. It is like she wants us to root for these characters and be glad that they managed to cover up this rape and move on with their happy lives. Well, yay. They did it, I guess. Congrats for managing to cover up that rape! Way to go, main characters! I haven’t been this conflicted about a book in a while. I look back on this book’s careful, intriguing worldbuilding so fondly, but that ending made me disgusted with every character involved. I’m not sure I care to continue their story, beautiful worldbuidling or no.
This book definitely nails the worldbuilding. The worldbuilding throws you in the deep end, yet somehow also slowly unfurls until you understand it completely. I love how at first this feels like a fantasy setting only to slowly feel like more of a science fiction.
Despite the fact I fell in love with this world, I agree with other reviewers that the excusing of rape at the end of the novel is unforgivable, and it makes every single character involved completely unlikable. Throughout the novel, Rhia is clearly repressing and struggling with the idea that her brother has potentially raped and killed a woman. I assumed this would lead to a great internal conflict on her part when she confronts her brother. How do you process the idea that someone you love has committed a crime so terrible? What do you do when you want to condemn their actions but still love them? Well, the author chooses to address what could have been a complex topic by completely ignoring it.
I just don’t know how the author imagined I would feel about this ending. It is like she wants us to root for these characters and be glad that they managed to cover up this rape and move on with their happy lives. Well, yay. They did it, I guess. Congrats for managing to cover up that rape! Way to go, main characters! I haven’t been this conflicted about a book in a while. I look back on this book’s careful, intriguing worldbuilding so fondly, but that ending made me disgusted with every character involved. I’m not sure I care to continue their story, beautiful worldbuidling or no.
August 20, 2020
This was a thoroughly entertaining adventure story. It is very well written and the world building is done with finesse, being woven into the story rather than the reader having to suffer interminable information dumps.
It is necessary, before moving on, ***spoiler alert*** to refute The Captain’s somewhat histrionic coruscation of the book and its supposed rape scenes. I can reassure the reader that all episodes relating to sexual encounters are dealt with sensitively. First, there is no explicit gang rape. We learn that in the recent past the dead body of a young woman has been found, and there are suspicions that the main protagonist’s brother fled because he was in some way involved. When he’s eventually found, he recalls being egged on by a couple of friends to sexually assault the young woman, however, he’s not sure whether he did so because he was very drunk at the time. Far from a lurid description of a ‘gang rape’ we have an off-scene allusion to the possible involvement of three young men in the death of young woman. Any reader can, like The Captain, choose to interpret events as gang rape but no such event is described. Furthermore, it is hardly surprising that the main protagonist, Rhia, forgives her brother because there is no proof he committed rape and his dying wish is for her to absolve him of any wrong doing.
This is an adventure story, therefore Rhia is involved in several fights and she always puts up a spirited defence. Yes, in one instance the stakes are higher because she fears her attacker intends to assault her both physically and sexually but again there is no rape and the scene is handled well.
Finally, another young female, Dej, fancies a male and agrees to have sex with him but experiences the encounter as unsatisfactory because he’s self-obsessed and doesn’t care about her feelings; to extend the term ‘rape’ to this sort of experience is to devalue the word. I have suffered both rape and bad sex, and I can assure you there is a marked difference.
In refuting The Captain’s critique, I may have given the impression the novel is all about sexual encounters, it is not. In the background are sexual episodes that are necessary to explain some of the key protagonists’ motivations. Most of the book, however, is a glorious, colourful sweep of a fantasy kingdom, vividly imagined with well-drawn characters having to overcome intriguing challenges. If you love adventure stories, with captivating protagonists in a wonderfully envisaged other world, this will be the book for you. It certainly was for me, and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel Broken Shadow.
It is necessary, before moving on, ***spoiler alert*** to refute The Captain’s somewhat histrionic coruscation of the book and its supposed rape scenes. I can reassure the reader that all episodes relating to sexual encounters are dealt with sensitively. First, there is no explicit gang rape. We learn that in the recent past the dead body of a young woman has been found, and there are suspicions that the main protagonist’s brother fled because he was in some way involved. When he’s eventually found, he recalls being egged on by a couple of friends to sexually assault the young woman, however, he’s not sure whether he did so because he was very drunk at the time. Far from a lurid description of a ‘gang rape’ we have an off-scene allusion to the possible involvement of three young men in the death of young woman. Any reader can, like The Captain, choose to interpret events as gang rape but no such event is described. Furthermore, it is hardly surprising that the main protagonist, Rhia, forgives her brother because there is no proof he committed rape and his dying wish is for her to absolve him of any wrong doing.
This is an adventure story, therefore Rhia is involved in several fights and she always puts up a spirited defence. Yes, in one instance the stakes are higher because she fears her attacker intends to assault her both physically and sexually but again there is no rape and the scene is handled well.
Finally, another young female, Dej, fancies a male and agrees to have sex with him but experiences the encounter as unsatisfactory because he’s self-obsessed and doesn’t care about her feelings; to extend the term ‘rape’ to this sort of experience is to devalue the word. I have suffered both rape and bad sex, and I can assure you there is a marked difference.
In refuting The Captain’s critique, I may have given the impression the novel is all about sexual encounters, it is not. In the background are sexual episodes that are necessary to explain some of the key protagonists’ motivations. Most of the book, however, is a glorious, colourful sweep of a fantasy kingdom, vividly imagined with well-drawn characters having to overcome intriguing challenges. If you love adventure stories, with captivating protagonists in a wonderfully envisaged other world, this will be the book for you. It certainly was for me, and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel Broken Shadow.
January 20, 2019
Wow! Vilken början mitt och påbörjad avslutning. Världsbygget intresserar och utmanar. Men, de sista 80 sidorna händer något, tempot tappas, känslan försvinner och boken tynar bort framför ögonen på mig.
September 16, 2020
I think the best thing I can say about this book is that I enjoyed it so much that as soon as I'd finished I bought the sequel, Broken Shadow. For me it took a couple of chapters to find its feet, but Hidden Sun quickly became a compelling and entertaining read I looked forwards to returning to whenever I could. Jaine Fenn has written a complex political fantasy filled with adventure on a strange and alien world. Recommended.
August 31, 2018
**** trigger warning – attempted rape scene, gang rape description, self-harm, violence, drug use ****
Ahoy there mateys! While I normally do not post spoilers on me reviews this post WILL contain several of them due to the nature of the discussion. It will also be very long. If the trigger warnings and spoilers be not to yer taste then read further at yer own peril.
I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
This fantasy book had many issues that led to a slow start and confusion, especially at the beginning. But I enjoyed enough elements to get to the 90% mark. Then what happened pissed me off. I was so close to the end that I was going to finish the approximately 45 pages I had left. But every time I tried to read the remaining bit, I would find meself angry again.
When I ranted me thoughts to the first mate, I realized that it was time to stop reading this book altogether. I was also unsure about whether I wanted to write a review at all even though that's me own rule for the log. It is supposed to be a history of me readin' thoughts for good or bad. And then I realized that I had to object to the treatment of rape in this book because what the author chose to do is in me mind, not only unnecessary, but horrific.
Now to be fair, I don't usually include trigger warnings in me posts. I have only done so one other time because of the nature of that particular book. It was well-written, thought-provoking, and I liked the book even if it was extremely hard to read. It was marketed as a YA dystopian and was graphic in certain ways that I felt potential readers should be warned about. That book is not for every reader.
But the lack of trigger warnings in me reviews come down to genre. For example, I can read grimdark where rape, murder, and other unsavoury things happen all the time. Some of me favourite books have these elements in them - like in the Game of Thrones series or the First Law Trilogy. A fantasy book with wars will have battles and blood. A romance book might have sex scenes. Readers chose their reading material based on taste, preference, and personal history.
For a milder personal example: when I was in grad school I had an experience where a male wearing no pants trapped me in me office and masturbated in the doorway in front of me. I honestly at this point cannot say if he said anything or not. The clearest memories of the situation are 1) that I calmly remained sitting in my office chair; 2) I had a screw driver sitting on top of a tool box and contemplated stabbing him with it if he tried to attack me; and 3) after some time I calmly yet forcefully told him to leave my office. I have no idea how long he stood there or any other details. What I do know it that it happened early in the afternoon not even 5:00 pm. There were a ton of people at the other end of the long hallway who heard and saw nothing. And the police who came proceeded to tell me it wasn't a big deal. And the experience put me in a state of shock that was odd to process afterwards.
I tell that story, not for sympathy or even comment, but because as a women living in the rich, fairly safe country of the U.S., rape is a legitimate concern. It is a concern for all women regardless of background, race, wealth, age, country, etc. For some men too, I don't deny that happens. So as a women and book blogger in the current era of #metoo and where women everywhere are trying to eliminate socially acceptable rape culture, I couldn't keep silent when I see rape being mishandled in this fantasy novel.
So in this book, one of the women, Rhia is an extremely intelligent noble women who sets off to a quest to find her brother, Etyan. He ran away and Rhia suspects him of murder. Yet she loves him and wants to protect him. Well long story short, when her brother is dying, he confesses on his deathbed that he did not murder the girl but did participate in a gang rape. He supposedly was going to apologize and then found her dead body, panicked, and fled the country. The author used gang rape as a convenient plot point to have a character do something. Rape as a plot point is not only lazy but horrible. There are a million possible other issues that could have replaced the rape with NO change to the overall story.
Now I thought the brother was horrible and assumed after his death that Rhia is finally going to realize her brother's true nature and grow and become the hero of the story. But of course not. One of the next things that happen is that Rhia is then subjected to a beating and an attempted rape where her brother, miraculously living, beats the would-be-rapist with a rock and then lets him live. So there is another rape scene that serves no purpose beyond "oh look bad guy is still alive." Rape as another plot point.
And here I should also mention that there was an earlier scene where the other main female character earlier has sex with this same bad guy due to low self-esteem and unpleasantly loses her virginity to him. I should have known then but given the nature of the character and her reasons for why she did it, it unsettled me but made some sense in terms of character and culture context.
But the final straw that made me fury explode was when Rhia who has just barely missed being raped herself and was pummeled and barely survived says this in response to her brother being alive:
"'But she needed to see beyond. Etyan's confession. He had done something terrible, but not as terrible as she feared. And he had not acted alone. Had, in fact, been led on by his noble cronies, as he so often was . . . For now, I need you to know that I will stand by you.' Despite what you did."
NO NO NO. She justifies her brother's behavior! Etyan's drunkenness and drug use DOES NOT excuse him. His friends' encouragement DOES NOT excuse him. His remorse DOES NOT excuse him. Because it was rape and not murder DOES NOT excuse him. Because he rescued his sister from her own potential rape DOES NOT excuse him. Her love of her brother DOES NOT excuse him. He only confessed when he was dying and then once he miraculously recovers expects his sister to forget all about it and asks her to cover up his crime.
Jaine Fenn should be ashamed of herself. Rape was used as plot points three times in this book and then the author excuses the behavior each time. Once because the woman agreed to the sex initially, once because the "bad guy" did it but was stopped, and the last because the of the love the sister has for the brother. This is unacceptable, horrific, and disgusting.
So lastly . . .
While I am grateful to Angry Robot Books for giving me a review copy, this be my call to the publishing house to make a better effort at eliminating status quo of rape culture where women deserve rape and rape is valid to be used for no other purpose than a plot point. Arrrr!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
Ahoy there mateys! While I normally do not post spoilers on me reviews this post WILL contain several of them due to the nature of the discussion. It will also be very long. If the trigger warnings and spoilers be not to yer taste then read further at yer own peril.
I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
This fantasy book had many issues that led to a slow start and confusion, especially at the beginning. But I enjoyed enough elements to get to the 90% mark. Then what happened pissed me off. I was so close to the end that I was going to finish the approximately 45 pages I had left. But every time I tried to read the remaining bit, I would find meself angry again.
When I ranted me thoughts to the first mate, I realized that it was time to stop reading this book altogether. I was also unsure about whether I wanted to write a review at all even though that's me own rule for the log. It is supposed to be a history of me readin' thoughts for good or bad. And then I realized that I had to object to the treatment of rape in this book because what the author chose to do is in me mind, not only unnecessary, but horrific.
Now to be fair, I don't usually include trigger warnings in me posts. I have only done so one other time because of the nature of that particular book. It was well-written, thought-provoking, and I liked the book even if it was extremely hard to read. It was marketed as a YA dystopian and was graphic in certain ways that I felt potential readers should be warned about. That book is not for every reader.
But the lack of trigger warnings in me reviews come down to genre. For example, I can read grimdark where rape, murder, and other unsavoury things happen all the time. Some of me favourite books have these elements in them - like in the Game of Thrones series or the First Law Trilogy. A fantasy book with wars will have battles and blood. A romance book might have sex scenes. Readers chose their reading material based on taste, preference, and personal history.
For a milder personal example: when I was in grad school I had an experience where a male wearing no pants trapped me in me office and masturbated in the doorway in front of me. I honestly at this point cannot say if he said anything or not. The clearest memories of the situation are 1) that I calmly remained sitting in my office chair; 2) I had a screw driver sitting on top of a tool box and contemplated stabbing him with it if he tried to attack me; and 3) after some time I calmly yet forcefully told him to leave my office. I have no idea how long he stood there or any other details. What I do know it that it happened early in the afternoon not even 5:00 pm. There were a ton of people at the other end of the long hallway who heard and saw nothing. And the police who came proceeded to tell me it wasn't a big deal. And the experience put me in a state of shock that was odd to process afterwards.
I tell that story, not for sympathy or even comment, but because as a women living in the rich, fairly safe country of the U.S., rape is a legitimate concern. It is a concern for all women regardless of background, race, wealth, age, country, etc. For some men too, I don't deny that happens. So as a women and book blogger in the current era of #metoo and where women everywhere are trying to eliminate socially acceptable rape culture, I couldn't keep silent when I see rape being mishandled in this fantasy novel.
So in this book, one of the women, Rhia is an extremely intelligent noble women who sets off to a quest to find her brother, Etyan. He ran away and Rhia suspects him of murder. Yet she loves him and wants to protect him. Well long story short, when her brother is dying, he confesses on his deathbed that he did not murder the girl but did participate in a gang rape. He supposedly was going to apologize and then found her dead body, panicked, and fled the country. The author used gang rape as a convenient plot point to have a character do something. Rape as a plot point is not only lazy but horrible. There are a million possible other issues that could have replaced the rape with NO change to the overall story.
Now I thought the brother was horrible and assumed after his death that Rhia is finally going to realize her brother's true nature and grow and become the hero of the story. But of course not. One of the next things that happen is that Rhia is then subjected to a beating and an attempted rape where her brother, miraculously living, beats the would-be-rapist with a rock and then lets him live. So there is another rape scene that serves no purpose beyond "oh look bad guy is still alive." Rape as another plot point.
And here I should also mention that there was an earlier scene where the other main female character earlier has sex with this same bad guy due to low self-esteem and unpleasantly loses her virginity to him. I should have known then but given the nature of the character and her reasons for why she did it, it unsettled me but made some sense in terms of character and culture context.
But the final straw that made me fury explode was when Rhia who has just barely missed being raped herself and was pummeled and barely survived says this in response to her brother being alive:
"'But she needed to see beyond. Etyan's confession. He had done something terrible, but not as terrible as she feared. And he had not acted alone. Had, in fact, been led on by his noble cronies, as he so often was . . . For now, I need you to know that I will stand by you.' Despite what you did."
NO NO NO. She justifies her brother's behavior! Etyan's drunkenness and drug use DOES NOT excuse him. His friends' encouragement DOES NOT excuse him. His remorse DOES NOT excuse him. Because it was rape and not murder DOES NOT excuse him. Because he rescued his sister from her own potential rape DOES NOT excuse him. Her love of her brother DOES NOT excuse him. He only confessed when he was dying and then once he miraculously recovers expects his sister to forget all about it and asks her to cover up his crime.
Jaine Fenn should be ashamed of herself. Rape was used as plot points three times in this book and then the author excuses the behavior each time. Once because the woman agreed to the sex initially, once because the "bad guy" did it but was stopped, and the last because the of the love the sister has for the brother. This is unacceptable, horrific, and disgusting.
So lastly . . .
While I am grateful to Angry Robot Books for giving me a review copy, this be my call to the publishing house to make a better effort at eliminating status quo of rape culture where women deserve rape and rape is valid to be used for no other purpose than a plot point. Arrrr!
Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordp...
January 30, 2019
If this had been written in the 80’s — and it certainly has all the marks of 80’s SFF with its colony-world-forgotten-its origins-and-regressed-to-feudalism setting, complete with mutant humans living nasty brutal and short lives in the desert, dangerous journeys across the treacherous flora of the unterraformed planet, an all-powerful Church repressing the intellectual discoveries of a secret network of scientists, and a corrupt city state of eunuchs, poison, effeminate princes and royal incest — I would have enjoyed it quite a bit as an artifact of its time, despite the extremely uneven pacing, overly-convoluted 11th hour explanations, and deeply unsympathetic protagonist. But one sort of expects more subtlety and skill these days.
Fenn’s protagonist is the noblewoman Rhia Harlyn, who is motivated by natural philosophy and the desire to recover and protect her feckless younger brother. Fenn deliberately, I think, tries to make Rhia an artifact of her society: she’s classist and blind to the inequities that her privilege depends on, self-righteous against others but eternally willing to make excuses for family — an unpleasant character, but a realistic one. I was already not especially inclined to root for her when
It’s all very plausible as the worldview and actions of the kind of person Rhia is. But when even the novel seems unwilling to make her confront her blind spots or provide a reckoning to her, it’s very hard to cheer her scientific discoveries on. But I am curious about where Fenn will take both the world and the characters, and I’m suspending a small amount of my judgment until I read the sequel.
Fenn’s protagonist is the noblewoman Rhia Harlyn, who is motivated by natural philosophy and the desire to recover and protect her feckless younger brother. Fenn deliberately, I think, tries to make Rhia an artifact of her society: she’s classist and blind to the inequities that her privilege depends on, self-righteous against others but eternally willing to make excuses for family — an unpleasant character, but a realistic one. I was already not especially inclined to root for her when
It’s all very plausible as the worldview and actions of the kind of person Rhia is. But when even the novel seems unwilling to make her confront her blind spots or provide a reckoning to her, it’s very hard to cheer her scientific discoveries on. But I am curious about where Fenn will take both the world and the characters, and I’m suspending a small amount of my judgment until I read the sequel.
April 23, 2020
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.0 of 5
Rhia Harlyn is a noblewoman in Shen. Being of noble blood she's been sheltered from much of common life and the only person she's been able to share that with, who understands her, is her brother, Etyan. But Etyan is missing and becomes a suspect in a local murder. Rhia wants to find him ... she's sure there's a misunderstanding.
Rhia also happens to have an interest in scientific research - which isn't very lady-like in Shen. She has to rebuff marriage proposals in order to stay focused on finding her brother and continuing her research.
Dej is a Skyland youth and must go through a bonding ceremony which will change her physically as well as emotionally. If things go wrong she will remain clanless and be the lowest of the low. And Sakhat is a priest in another Shadowland territory and is experimenting with the powers of life and death.
While world-building is an important aspect of any science fiction/fantasy novel, I still feel that it is characters who drive a story and the characters here just never spoke to me. Dej was probably the most interesting but her role in the book seemed the least clear to me.
Rhia was the most clear and clearly motivated, but I found her 1800's-era attitudes confusing and frustrating. This goes beyond the 'women don't do science' attitudes but includes 'women probably deserve the rape' attitude. That's right. Rape.
So between not finding the characters very interesting and a culture that I can't get behind, this just failed for me.
Looking for a good book? Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn is a fantasy with some outdated morals and the characters never step up and push these outdated morals aside.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Rhia Harlyn is a noblewoman in Shen. Being of noble blood she's been sheltered from much of common life and the only person she's been able to share that with, who understands her, is her brother, Etyan. But Etyan is missing and becomes a suspect in a local murder. Rhia wants to find him ... she's sure there's a misunderstanding.
Rhia also happens to have an interest in scientific research - which isn't very lady-like in Shen. She has to rebuff marriage proposals in order to stay focused on finding her brother and continuing her research.
Dej is a Skyland youth and must go through a bonding ceremony which will change her physically as well as emotionally. If things go wrong she will remain clanless and be the lowest of the low. And Sakhat is a priest in another Shadowland territory and is experimenting with the powers of life and death.
While world-building is an important aspect of any science fiction/fantasy novel, I still feel that it is characters who drive a story and the characters here just never spoke to me. Dej was probably the most interesting but her role in the book seemed the least clear to me.
Rhia was the most clear and clearly motivated, but I found her 1800's-era attitudes confusing and frustrating. This goes beyond the 'women don't do science' attitudes but includes 'women probably deserve the rape' attitude. That's right. Rape.
So between not finding the characters very interesting and a culture that I can't get behind, this just failed for me.
Looking for a good book? Hidden Sun by Jaine Fenn is a fantasy with some outdated morals and the characters never step up and push these outdated morals aside.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
August 30, 2018
*Book provided via NetGalley for an honest review.
This book was an intriguing introduction to an interesting world. It is well written and has some interesting characters and plot developments. The travel from Shen to Zekt provided some insight into the differences between the Shadowlands and the Skylands, the Skylands are on plateaus and are dangerously bright and hot for Shadowkin. And these plateaus and flatlands are in a honeycomb kind of pattern. You never get two Shadowlands or Skylands next to each other.
In order to survive the Skylands, Skykin children must undergo a bonding ceremony and be bonded with what is called an animus. This changes their physical and psychological nature. It gives them a magical talent (i.e. pathfinding) and gives them the kind of scaly skin, muscles and reflexes needed to survive the creatures of the Skylands. And if you have a damaged animus, you have to join the clanless, the lowest caste in the Skylands. The clanless tend to live down to that reputation.
This book wasn't really easy for me to get into. I had problems visualizing the world. I get it, but it was still difficult for me to visualize. I guess I was at odds with myself while reading because Rhia mentioned seeing a building built by the ancients and all I could think of was that this was a post-apocalyptic Earth or space colony and I was waiting for the big reveal. I accidentally made it more difficult on myself to get into the world.
That being said, I still liked the book. It's got an interesting blend of characters and three different, interesting, intersecting story lines. I really felt for Dej. I was encouraged by Rhia's scientific curiosity. I was intrigued by Sadakh's role in everything. I know there is more going on than meets the eye and it's well worth a read.
This book was an intriguing introduction to an interesting world. It is well written and has some interesting characters and plot developments. The travel from Shen to Zekt provided some insight into the differences between the Shadowlands and the Skylands, the Skylands are on plateaus and are dangerously bright and hot for Shadowkin. And these plateaus and flatlands are in a honeycomb kind of pattern. You never get two Shadowlands or Skylands next to each other.
In order to survive the Skylands, Skykin children must undergo a bonding ceremony and be bonded with what is called an animus. This changes their physical and psychological nature. It gives them a magical talent (i.e. pathfinding) and gives them the kind of scaly skin, muscles and reflexes needed to survive the creatures of the Skylands. And if you have a damaged animus, you have to join the clanless, the lowest caste in the Skylands. The clanless tend to live down to that reputation.
This book wasn't really easy for me to get into. I had problems visualizing the world. I get it, but it was still difficult for me to visualize. I guess I was at odds with myself while reading because Rhia mentioned seeing a building built by the ancients and all I could think of was that this was a post-apocalyptic Earth or space colony and I was waiting for the big reveal. I accidentally made it more difficult on myself to get into the world.
That being said, I still liked the book. It's got an interesting blend of characters and three different, interesting, intersecting story lines. I really felt for Dej. I was encouraged by Rhia's scientific curiosity. I was intrigued by Sadakh's role in everything. I know there is more going on than meets the eye and it's well worth a read.
August 28, 2018
Reviewed from an ARC.
Jaine Fenn has a gift for building unusual and fascinating worlds. The shadowlands are protected from the deadly sun and exist as autonomous city states. Between the city states the skylands are deadly. Exposure to solar radiation is lethal for non-adapted humans. Only the skykin – bonded with a symbiote – can survive there, and even then everything about it (the lands and the wildlife it harbours) is deadly.
Rhia is a noble of Shen, one of the Shadowlands. She's a Natural Enquirer, the closest thing to a scientist Shen has, but it's not a seemly task for a woman. Her feckless younger brother is missing, reportedly having crossed the skylands to another shadowland, and a girl has been brutally murdered. Is there a connection? Rhia hopes not, yet when the Duke sends three soldiers to escort him home she feels compelled to join the party.
Dej is destined to be a bonded skykin, but we first meet her in a shadowland crèche where she's a little troublemaker. Imperfectly bonded to her symbiote, she's no better off in the skylands, ending up clanless. Meanwhile a priest is carrying out illicit experiments with recovered skykin symbiotes, seeking the secret of immortality. Viewpoint shifts between these three characters, but it isn't until the last third of the book that the Dej and Rhia strands mesh. The story resolves, but there are still many unanswered questions about the world that Ms. Fenn will hopefully answer in the next book. Highly recommended.
Jaine Fenn has a gift for building unusual and fascinating worlds. The shadowlands are protected from the deadly sun and exist as autonomous city states. Between the city states the skylands are deadly. Exposure to solar radiation is lethal for non-adapted humans. Only the skykin – bonded with a symbiote – can survive there, and even then everything about it (the lands and the wildlife it harbours) is deadly.
Rhia is a noble of Shen, one of the Shadowlands. She's a Natural Enquirer, the closest thing to a scientist Shen has, but it's not a seemly task for a woman. Her feckless younger brother is missing, reportedly having crossed the skylands to another shadowland, and a girl has been brutally murdered. Is there a connection? Rhia hopes not, yet when the Duke sends three soldiers to escort him home she feels compelled to join the party.
Dej is destined to be a bonded skykin, but we first meet her in a shadowland crèche where she's a little troublemaker. Imperfectly bonded to her symbiote, she's no better off in the skylands, ending up clanless. Meanwhile a priest is carrying out illicit experiments with recovered skykin symbiotes, seeking the secret of immortality. Viewpoint shifts between these three characters, but it isn't until the last third of the book that the Dej and Rhia strands mesh. The story resolves, but there are still many unanswered questions about the world that Ms. Fenn will hopefully answer in the next book. Highly recommended.
September 5, 2018
Rhia is a noblewoman. It is not acceptable for a woman to run her own household. Many of the merchants won't deal with a woman. She is a scientist. She just wants to study the environment and be left alone. With a marriage proposal on the table, Rhia must go on a journey to find her brother, otherwise she may have to accept the proposal.
Rhia is also shadowkin. Shadowkin live in the shadowlands. There are also skykin. They live in the skylands. Skylands are dangerous for shadowkin. They can't be out during the day because the sun will kill them. During the night, there are other unfamiliar dangers to worry about. Rhia must pass through the skylands on her journey to Zekt to find her brother. It's a dangerous journey, but the scientist in Rhia is also excited. She has always wanted to know more about the skykin. This could be her chance to have all of her questions answered. But, her main goal is to find her brother and bring him home. What she doesn't know is that there are others looking for her brother as well.
This book was very interesting. The world is very unusual and fascinating. I loved Rhia's character. She is such a strong and smart woman. I'm interested in reading more from this author.
I received a copy from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Rhia is also shadowkin. Shadowkin live in the shadowlands. There are also skykin. They live in the skylands. Skylands are dangerous for shadowkin. They can't be out during the day because the sun will kill them. During the night, there are other unfamiliar dangers to worry about. Rhia must pass through the skylands on her journey to Zekt to find her brother. It's a dangerous journey, but the scientist in Rhia is also excited. She has always wanted to know more about the skykin. This could be her chance to have all of her questions answered. But, her main goal is to find her brother and bring him home. What she doesn't know is that there are others looking for her brother as well.
This book was very interesting. The world is very unusual and fascinating. I loved Rhia's character. She is such a strong and smart woman. I'm interested in reading more from this author.
I received a copy from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
May 8, 2019
I loved the first 100 pages of this novel. The story starts with a bang, with our heroine defeating some hapless burglars, and then creating the telescope. Rhia is tough, feisty and smart, and has big plans for her life. Then a whole bunch of things happen and Rhia is forced on a quest.
Then we meet Dej, an outcast who is trying to find a place where she fits in, and Sadarkh, a nebulous bad guy with a cool, ghost sidekick. I wondered how on Earth the story was going to tie up all those plot threads by the end of the book, and the answer is, they aren’t all tied up.
I enjoyed the story and loved the characters, but the novel spent so much time setting up each of the different plot strands, only to create a hurried ending in the final 50 pages, which I found dissatisfying. It’s a shame, because I had been loving it until that point, and I felt like Dej, in particular, needed a better story arc.
However, there is loads in this book, and I am excited to read the next novel, Broken Shadow, to find out.
Then we meet Dej, an outcast who is trying to find a place where she fits in, and Sadarkh, a nebulous bad guy with a cool, ghost sidekick. I wondered how on Earth the story was going to tie up all those plot threads by the end of the book, and the answer is, they aren’t all tied up.
I enjoyed the story and loved the characters, but the novel spent so much time setting up each of the different plot strands, only to create a hurried ending in the final 50 pages, which I found dissatisfying. It’s a shame, because I had been loving it until that point, and I felt like Dej, in particular, needed a better story arc.
However, there is loads in this book, and I am excited to read the next novel, Broken Shadow, to find out.
July 21, 2018
"Hidden Sun" is split between three narrators: a female scientist who is investigating the disappearance of her brother; a girl who is on the cusp of becoming "skykin"; and a priest engaging in some kind of anatomical investigation. I really loved how the three stories wove in and out of each other, to finally start to come together in the end. Rhia's story was probably most of interest to me. I loved hearing about her scientific experiments, the Natural Enquirers were a really cool bit of worldbuilding and I liked how how her discoveries paralleled certain real life scientific breakthroughs. This was probably also in part because the difference between skykin and shadowkin were explained as and when needed by the story, which led for a confusing start with the other two sections. Overall, I loved the mystery and political drama elements of the book. Definitely will be checking out the next one!
Thank you Netgalley for giving me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Netgalley for giving me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
December 1, 2018
Science Fiction with a fantasy attitude.
A renaissance era culture appear to be living on a semi-terraformed world, but don't realise that. Our first protagonist takes a coach between two of the habitable shadowlands, looking for her reprobate of a brother. Getting wrapped up in court intrigue of the upper classes. Her world feels very claustrophobic; there's not many people in her life, but she gets a complete narrative arc. Our second protagonist is an orphan being raised to leave the shadowlands, as once she reaches a certain age, her genetic alterations will kick in, and she'll become a skylander. Adapted to the bright light, and destined for a life as a hunter gather.
It didn't quite click for me. The world building is fascinating, but explanation for how this world came to be is a mystery that's not explained in this book, and only our protagonist shows any interest in it. I guess there's more to come in the sequel.
A renaissance era culture appear to be living on a semi-terraformed world, but don't realise that. Our first protagonist takes a coach between two of the habitable shadowlands, looking for her reprobate of a brother. Getting wrapped up in court intrigue of the upper classes. Her world feels very claustrophobic; there's not many people in her life, but she gets a complete narrative arc. Our second protagonist is an orphan being raised to leave the shadowlands, as once she reaches a certain age, her genetic alterations will kick in, and she'll become a skylander. Adapted to the bright light, and destined for a life as a hunter gather.
It didn't quite click for me. The world building is fascinating, but explanation for how this world came to be is a mystery that's not explained in this book, and only our protagonist shows any interest in it. I guess there's more to come in the sequel.
September 14, 2018
Hidden Sun follows three different people giving you three different points of view. It is not until the end that you find out how the three are connected. Shadowlands and Skylands are two very different parts of this unusual world. Each is inhabited by different types. The world and characters Fenn built are very different. It took me awhile to wrap my head around what she created and to become invested in the characters but the wait was worth it. This was a slow start and at the end it left a lot unanswered and available to use in the next book.
I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.
I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.
March 3, 2019
The author has created an interesting universe but the book is flawed because the author develops three different plot lines that barely intersect by the end of the novel. The characters are ok, but none are well-developed (not a big surprise, given the amount of plot to move along!). I also found that several of the characters were not very likeable. The ending, such as it is, includes a bunch of surprise plot twists, most of which are not plausible and not explained. I suspect that this book suffers from "sequel-itis," where much remains to be revealed in future books. Not to me, though; I give up!
June 14, 2021
I usually love a fantasy book akin to this one, but this didn’t leave an impression on me. In a world with two moons, different species based on child bearing, and a search for a lost brother. You would think these themes would really get me going. Normally this is really my kind of book; especially when I found out there’s a second installment and possibly a third in the future. The story was hard to follow and I thought there was an excess of characters. I won’t be continuing the series unfortunately.
September 14, 2019
Hidden Sun is a gritty, emotional ride about an enterprising, driven young woman trying to make her mark in the world. It touches on a variety of social aspects such as group control, hidden societal layers and of course the struggles of a young woman in an almost completely male-dominated medieval world, but who is determined to forge her own path. I very much enjoyed this book and especially all the world building that sets the scene for the follow-ons!
May 1, 2021
I really wanted to like this book. The world created in the first chapters is fabulous: divided between burning skylands and temperate shadowlands, with mysterious adaptations that have created two distinct races living in each. But then it all fell apart. The characters are unpleasant and shallow; the politics make no sense; and important information is withheld from the reader way too long. The sequel will probably fill in the blanks but I am not sure I am going to read it any time soon.
May 10, 2022
I really enjoyed the world building in this book, the early characterisation of the protagonists and characters working against them. However I didn't find the ending satisfying - there was no punishment or reparation for the main crime driving the characters actions and each of the main characters made decisions that seemed in conflict with their previous motivations, though being a trilogy this may be fixed in book 2.
May 26, 2025
This has the definate feel of a the first half of a story. The blub mentions contending with a cult leader while trying to save her brother but Rhis and Sadakh never meet and are only vaguely aware of eachother. There's a chance I'll pick up the sequel to see the conclusion but probably not for a while.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2019
Recent Reads: Hidden Sun. Jaine Fenn's planetary romance is a struggle for survival on a hostile world. Islands of shadow home a shattered society, linked by caravan clans. Mysteries unfold as scientist Rhia makes a journey; but can she save her brother? Now to wait for a sequel.
September 2, 2018
This is a promising start to a new sci-fi/fantasy series. I will be looking forward to the next installment.
(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.
(A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.
November 13, 2018
Fantasy with a strong science component, good characters, decent adventure, complete but with ground laid for the future.
May 22, 2019
I enjoyed the book and I have questions about the worldbuilding: I’m looking forward to the second instalment!
November 4, 2019
Why did good things only happen to the one character who didn't deserve them!?
April 15, 2019
Rhia is...unconventional, to say the least. She is a noble lady - but one who spurns the idea of a conventional marriage, because she knows that a conventional man would not allow his wife to continue with her scientific studies. She is also the acting head of household - as her brother disappeared the night a young lady was murdered. When she hears that her brother has been located, she decides to join the party going to fetch him, figuring she can see to her brother *and* her studies at the same time. When her path crosses with a skyborn who is only half-bonded, one who has no real history other than the one created for her at an orphanage...
Full review at http://vampirebookclub.net/early-revi...
Full review at http://vampirebookclub.net/early-revi...
July 31, 2018
Read for review in SFX.
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