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The Broken Trust #2
Transgressions of Power
The second book of The Broken Trust continues a deadly battle for succession, in this sociological sci-fi novel where brother is pitted against brother in a singular chance to win power.
To marry into the most powerful family in Varin is to step into a trap. Della has spent thirteen years under the scrutiny of Pelismara's political elites, supporting Tagaret in a dangerous pretense as his brother Nekantor's closest ally. In secret, however, they've planned to escape, and to break down the restrictions of Varin's caste society. When Nekantor offers to send them to Selimna, the city where their caste experiments can be carried out, how can they not accept the opportunity?
But ever since Nekantor seized power as the Eminence Herin's Heir, he's wanted to keep power in the family, and that means his eye is on the children--especially their thirteen-year-old brother Adon. In their absence, Nekantor begins to execute his own long-schemed plan, and soon Della realizes they've unwittingly become a part of it.
How far does Nekantor's influence spread? How much will he seek to control? And how can she save Adon from falling into his snare?
To marry into the most powerful family in Varin is to step into a trap. Della has spent thirteen years under the scrutiny of Pelismara's political elites, supporting Tagaret in a dangerous pretense as his brother Nekantor's closest ally. In secret, however, they've planned to escape, and to break down the restrictions of Varin's caste society. When Nekantor offers to send them to Selimna, the city where their caste experiments can be carried out, how can they not accept the opportunity?
But ever since Nekantor seized power as the Eminence Herin's Heir, he's wanted to keep power in the family, and that means his eye is on the children--especially their thirteen-year-old brother Adon. In their absence, Nekantor begins to execute his own long-schemed plan, and soon Della realizes they've unwittingly become a part of it.
How far does Nekantor's influence spread? How much will he seek to control? And how can she save Adon from falling into his snare?
476 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 23, 2021
3 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
About the author
Juliette Wade
20 books82 followersJuliette Wade's fiction has appeared in Analog, Clarkesworld, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Her studies in linguistics, anthropology and Japanese language and culture inspire her work. She lives the Bay Area of Northern California with her husband and two sons. She runs the Dive into Worldbuilding show on YouTube.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
July 19, 2020
Read it. Blurbed it. Blown away by how good it was.
December 18, 2021
Worthy next book in the series. I'm looking forward to the next one.
February 15, 2021
Wade’s debut novel, Mazes of Power, introduced readers to her gorgeously detailed underground world of Varin. Now in Transgressions of Power, Wade expands from the claustrophobic confines of the deteriorating elite Grobal caste to the brilliant and perilous planetary surface, to other cities and other levels of society. Beloved characters from the first book are joined by a cast of fascinating new characters with minds and destinies of their own.
January 29, 2023
I read the first book in this trilogy over winter break and after a slow start was totally hooked! So glad the second book arrived - I enjoyed it and can’t wait to start the third book.
January 16, 2025
Book 2 of a series, of which I very much enjoyed the first one. In Transgressions of Power, controlling demagogue Nekantor has solidified power as Heir of the underground eugenicist caste city Pelismara. Now, he plots to make his younger brother Adon follow after him, in attempt to solidify power in the family.
Wade takes the rather bold step of jumping nearly fifteen years in the future with this sequel, as well as switching to almost entirely all new POV characters. I personally like it, as it depicts a more realistic pace of political change, rather than jamming in some kind of climactic final battle within the span of six months. Of course, it is rather depressing that the status quo is relatively unchanged from the previous book, if not worse--no new rights for the lower castes, no freedoms for women, everyone still firmly under Nekantor's thumb--despite the lofty ambitions Tagaret and Della harbored in book one. Grim but accurate, I suppose.
The new character POVs were well enough done that I didn't miss the previous main characters. Tagaret's young brother Adon is very much in the position Tagaret was earlier--he's young, naive, and reluctant to be pushed into a position of power. Tagaret's wife Della, who is struggling with an endless series of miscarriages forced on her by a society that demands women have children, is an excellent look into the effect Pelismara's dystopian society has on women, even women with kind and sympathetic spouses. And I liked the plotline of Tagaret's cousin, whose fascination with the guard class and his forbidden romance causes him to be shunned by his own caste.
A fascinating and twisty political drama which stands up to the comparison to CJ Cherryh. I already have the next book on hold.
Wade takes the rather bold step of jumping nearly fifteen years in the future with this sequel, as well as switching to almost entirely all new POV characters. I personally like it, as it depicts a more realistic pace of political change, rather than jamming in some kind of climactic final battle within the span of six months. Of course, it is rather depressing that the status quo is relatively unchanged from the previous book, if not worse--no new rights for the lower castes, no freedoms for women, everyone still firmly under Nekantor's thumb--despite the lofty ambitions Tagaret and Della harbored in book one. Grim but accurate, I suppose.
The new character POVs were well enough done that I didn't miss the previous main characters. Tagaret's young brother Adon is very much in the position Tagaret was earlier--he's young, naive, and reluctant to be pushed into a position of power. Tagaret's wife Della, who is struggling with an endless series of miscarriages forced on her by a society that demands women have children, is an excellent look into the effect Pelismara's dystopian society has on women, even women with kind and sympathetic spouses. And I liked the plotline of Tagaret's cousin, whose fascination with the guard class and his forbidden romance causes him to be shunned by his own caste.
A fascinating and twisty political drama which stands up to the comparison to CJ Cherryh. I already have the next book on hold.
March 7, 2021
Another hit from Juliette Wade. The plotting begins slowly, but speeds up to a pace that makes it hard to put down the book. The book packs an emotional punch; I was surprised at how upset I was at one of the concluding twists.
But here's what you need to know about The Broken Trust series: they're anthropological fantasy. They're in the tradition of Janet Kagan's Hellspark in that they imagine completely different cultures in order to help shed light on our own and to ask intriguing "what if" questions. Characters talk in different ways than I'm used to reading and sometimes sound stilted and naive. Some criticized this in their reviews of Mazes of Power, but I found it to be helpful. It nurtures the ability to look behind how people say things to them meaning behind the words and style.
I continually struggle with the role of the Imbati (servant) caste. They take on service roles that in my mind are horribly unjust and negate their ability to be full human beings. The struggle helps me think: why does this version of servitude bother me so much when many in our world face injustice and lack opportunities for self-determination? The discomfort and the questions raised by the book are what make this series so interesting and worthy of reading.
A few other plusses:
- Differing governance methods between castes, including democratic methods in one and highly hierarchical decision making in another.
- Wildly different norms between castes around sexuality and sexual orientation, ranging from "same sex relationships are for kids, so don't let people know you're doing it" to "I have two foundational lovers of different sexes and I'm considering taking a third." Note that no caste seems to believe that same sex relationships are evil.
- Very different expectations for women between castes from patriarchal /"man knows what woman needs" to no visible differences between how sexes are treated. I spotted at least one non-binary character. I'd love to see more.
One request: I would love there to be a neuro-atypical character who is *not* a sociopath. Having just one neuro-atypical character and casting them as the villain isn't a great move. (Update: The author let me know that another character Forder, is not neurotypical. He's a great character and I'll need to reread now to figure out how I missed his atypicality.)
I'm looking forward to seeing how Della, Adon, Pyaras, Melín, Vant, Forder, and the rest fare in Book Three.
But here's what you need to know about The Broken Trust series: they're anthropological fantasy. They're in the tradition of Janet Kagan's Hellspark in that they imagine completely different cultures in order to help shed light on our own and to ask intriguing "what if" questions. Characters talk in different ways than I'm used to reading and sometimes sound stilted and naive. Some criticized this in their reviews of Mazes of Power, but I found it to be helpful. It nurtures the ability to look behind how people say things to them meaning behind the words and style.
I continually struggle with the role of the Imbati (servant) caste. They take on service roles that in my mind are horribly unjust and negate their ability to be full human beings. The struggle helps me think: why does this version of servitude bother me so much when many in our world face injustice and lack opportunities for self-determination? The discomfort and the questions raised by the book are what make this series so interesting and worthy of reading.
A few other plusses:
- Differing governance methods between castes, including democratic methods in one and highly hierarchical decision making in another.
- Wildly different norms between castes around sexuality and sexual orientation, ranging from "same sex relationships are for kids, so don't let people know you're doing it" to "I have two foundational lovers of different sexes and I'm considering taking a third." Note that no caste seems to believe that same sex relationships are evil.
- Very different expectations for women between castes from patriarchal /"man knows what woman needs" to no visible differences between how sexes are treated. I spotted at least one non-binary character. I'd love to see more.
One request: I would love there to be a neuro-atypical character who is *not* a sociopath. Having just one neuro-atypical character and casting them as the villain isn't a great move. (Update: The author let me know that another character Forder, is not neurotypical. He's a great character and I'll need to reread now to figure out how I missed his atypicality.)
I'm looking forward to seeing how Della, Adon, Pyaras, Melín, Vant, Forder, and the rest fare in Book Three.
May 6, 2021
Transgressions Of Power gave me a big second helping of everything I loved about Mazes Of Power—a marvelous alien setting, conflicted characters wrestling with difficult issues, and plenty of plot twists—and then topped it off with plenty of new & satisfying characters and revelations.
There’s a big time jump between Mazes and Transgressions, with some characters introduced in that book shifting into more support roles while others share center stage with new characters. I adore Adon & Melín.
Underlying cultural & political tensions that mainly played out behind the scenes in Mazes take come into the open in this book. True to the title, the plot centers on characters defying their rigid cast-based society’s rules of conduct. Their attempts to change the system from within meet with mixed results at best. The sense that matters are hurtling toward an inescapable crisis becomes stronger with every new puzzle piece of information that falls into place as the story progresses.
The geography, history, ecology, and economics of this world are fascinating but brutal, and I’m rooting for the heroes to overcome the obstacles (and people) standing between them and their world-shaking goals.
There’s a big time jump between Mazes and Transgressions, with some characters introduced in that book shifting into more support roles while others share center stage with new characters. I adore Adon & Melín.
Underlying cultural & political tensions that mainly played out behind the scenes in Mazes take come into the open in this book. True to the title, the plot centers on characters defying their rigid cast-based society’s rules of conduct. Their attempts to change the system from within meet with mixed results at best. The sense that matters are hurtling toward an inescapable crisis becomes stronger with every new puzzle piece of information that falls into place as the story progresses.
The geography, history, ecology, and economics of this world are fascinating but brutal, and I’m rooting for the heroes to overcome the obstacles (and people) standing between them and their world-shaking goals.
January 1, 2022
More like 2.5 stars, but I'm feeling generous tonight.
Meh. That's pretty much all I have to say about it. All the problems from the first book are still there, only with POVs from even more contemptible characters. I still don't buy literally everyone in this society being either so utterly terrified of or absolutely loyal to Nekantor that he can go around doing pretty much whatever the hell he wants without consequence. Is he supposed to be some kind of master manipulator genuis sociopath? Because with him there's too much crazy and nowhere near enough genius. He's not coming up with brilliant plans; he's being driven entirely by his batshit insane compulsions. And everyone knows it. How is he possibly commanding such fear, loyalty, and respect? I don't buy it, and the entire thing falls apart without it.
Meh. That's pretty much all I have to say about it. All the problems from the first book are still there, only with POVs from even more contemptible characters. I still don't buy literally everyone in this society being either so utterly terrified of or absolutely loyal to Nekantor that he can go around doing pretty much whatever the hell he wants without consequence. Is he supposed to be some kind of master manipulator genuis sociopath? Because with him there's too much crazy and nowhere near enough genius. He's not coming up with brilliant plans; he's being driven entirely by his batshit insane compulsions. And everyone knows it. How is he possibly commanding such fear, loyalty, and respect? I don't buy it, and the entire thing falls apart without it.
May 9, 2021
What an ending! So poignant. I love the characters in this book and how they are all so well-developed. Even minor characters have real motivations. Really picks up steam as the story progresses, and delivers at the end.
I am the author's husband and love how this story has developed. I am so proud.
I am the author's husband and love how this story has developed. I am so proud.
April 18, 2021
Entertaining and full of food for thought.
Excellent world building and character development, good storytelling.
It's a gripping story that I recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Excellent world building and character development, good storytelling.
It's a gripping story that I recommend.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
April 8, 2021
Strange and bizarre society. The author has a plan though and sticks to it through the chaos of the events. I hope their is not a delay in book #3, since the book ends with many unresolved issues.
April 18, 2021
Transgressions of Power is not a Romance, but it is intrigue with Relationships as the story driver, political revolution as the plot driver. It is a suspense novel set amidst palace intrigue, and all about "power."
Wade has spent the most time, words, and energy on describing and illustrating the social stratification of a civilization, rather than examining the human compulsion to acquire power over others. Power is the goal of the characters, and the author assumes the reader understands everything she wants to say about power rather than explaining and discussing power-mongering in the root theme.
The external "threat" is a species of flying somethings that kill people on the planetary surface but don't kill people who are in caves, underground. So the civilization has built buildings in a large cavern with a river flowing through it (noise does not seem to be a problem).
One (of several) lead characters is a woman who has excelled at killing the flying things on the surface, and loves the outdoors, but has been "rewarded" by being assigned a prestigious ceremonial guard position entirely underground.
Other characters are nobles of this civilization struggling over the succession for the "throne" or dictator position while engineering a revolution to overturn the caste stratification.
Everyone we meet interacting with these characters seems satisfied with the caste system, but some nobles want to destroy it. There is no explanation of where the system came from, why it should be overturned (other than that it is a system, and one gains power by destroying systems) or what army will do the overturning and what that army will replace the caste system with that is better (and why it is better).
The author spends most of the book describing the involuted caste system with forgettable names and functions and never addresses any of the obvious questions.
Thus the married couple of nobles trying to overturn the system seem vacuous. They intend to arouse a populace that is satisfied with their system (even when it leaves them trapped in poverty).
The highly skilled soldier is not satisfied with the ceremonial position, learns something odd is going on among the nobles, and gets herself appointed to be a spy on the nobles. Nothing in her character makes becoming a spy any sort of triumph or defeat of her personal purpose in life. She's not made of the fabric of a Hero such as we have discussed previously:
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.c...
The lack of show-don't-tell discussion of these points encoded into the worldbuilding and thematic underpinnings, illustrated symbolically, throws this novel into a category I could only designate as a polemic or possibly a screed. The novel seems to be expressing disgust for a caste system, a disgust based on nothing. This makes it seem that the author doesn't actually have an opinion of her own on the topic of caste-structured-society, but has simply adopted someone else's opinion.
In other words, the novel has no theme. It is a statement of opinion about caste and maybe somewhat about political power.
Possibly future novels in the series could reveal that the author has thought all this out. Possibly these deficiencies could simply be lack of writing craftsmanship. But this is the second published book in The Broken Trust series, and I expected more.
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com
Wade has spent the most time, words, and energy on describing and illustrating the social stratification of a civilization, rather than examining the human compulsion to acquire power over others. Power is the goal of the characters, and the author assumes the reader understands everything she wants to say about power rather than explaining and discussing power-mongering in the root theme.
The external "threat" is a species of flying somethings that kill people on the planetary surface but don't kill people who are in caves, underground. So the civilization has built buildings in a large cavern with a river flowing through it (noise does not seem to be a problem).
One (of several) lead characters is a woman who has excelled at killing the flying things on the surface, and loves the outdoors, but has been "rewarded" by being assigned a prestigious ceremonial guard position entirely underground.
Other characters are nobles of this civilization struggling over the succession for the "throne" or dictator position while engineering a revolution to overturn the caste stratification.
Everyone we meet interacting with these characters seems satisfied with the caste system, but some nobles want to destroy it. There is no explanation of where the system came from, why it should be overturned (other than that it is a system, and one gains power by destroying systems) or what army will do the overturning and what that army will replace the caste system with that is better (and why it is better).
The author spends most of the book describing the involuted caste system with forgettable names and functions and never addresses any of the obvious questions.
Thus the married couple of nobles trying to overturn the system seem vacuous. They intend to arouse a populace that is satisfied with their system (even when it leaves them trapped in poverty).
The highly skilled soldier is not satisfied with the ceremonial position, learns something odd is going on among the nobles, and gets herself appointed to be a spy on the nobles. Nothing in her character makes becoming a spy any sort of triumph or defeat of her personal purpose in life. She's not made of the fabric of a Hero such as we have discussed previously:
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.c...
The lack of show-don't-tell discussion of these points encoded into the worldbuilding and thematic underpinnings, illustrated symbolically, throws this novel into a category I could only designate as a polemic or possibly a screed. The novel seems to be expressing disgust for a caste system, a disgust based on nothing. This makes it seem that the author doesn't actually have an opinion of her own on the topic of caste-structured-society, but has simply adopted someone else's opinion.
In other words, the novel has no theme. It is a statement of opinion about caste and maybe somewhat about political power.
Possibly future novels in the series could reveal that the author has thought all this out. Possibly these deficiencies could simply be lack of writing craftsmanship. But this is the second published book in The Broken Trust series, and I expected more.
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com
December 11, 2021
HIGHLIGHTS
~never underestimate the importance of paper
~weaponise your privilege
~DON’T SHOOT THE PRETTY FLOATY GLOWY THING
~Melín can step on me any time she likes
~you know what, just straight-up inject Wade’s writing directly into my veins
I’m not sure I even have the words to explain how much I love this book!
Although I admit: I was very surprised when I opened it up and discovered there was a time-skip of thirteen years between the epilogue of Mazes of Power and the start of Transgressions. But it’s almost instantly clear that the jump was necessary, and that we haven’t really missed much: Nekantor has been Heir now for almost fourteen years, baby Adon is now thirteen, and Tagaret is publicly Nekantor’s right-hand man – but privately, he and Della have been working hard to get the ball rolling on serious societal reform. With extremely limited success, unfortunately. And behind closed doors, the First Family as a whole have been suffering the sudden rages and violent outbursts of Nekantor, which have, to put it mildly, made life extremely stressful.
Our cast has expanded from book one: Della is a PoV character now, which made me so happy, and so is Adon. We’ve lost Aloran’s perspective, but gained Melín, our first Arissen PoV character, and Pyaras, a distant cousin of Tagaret and Nekantor who is often mocked and sneered at for his familiarity with Arissen. And of course, there are plenty more secondary characters it’s hard not to adore!
After Mazes, I was expecting a twisty intricate plot, and that’s exactly what Wade gives us – except this time, things are even more intricate and intertwined, in large part because in this book, we see a good bit more of Varin and learn much more about the various non-Grobal castes. If Mazes was focussed in on Pelismara, and specifically the Grobal there, then Transgressions is the zoom-out that lets us in on a much bigger picture – and then brings us in for beautifully intimate close-ups on all the amazing people who are not Grobal!
I cannot tell you how relieved I was to have confirmation that the other castes are not as messed-up as the Grobal. I also cannot express how FREAKING DELIGHTED I was to discover the enormous diversity in queerness, political decision-making, and family structures that Wade has created. The castes really are like entirely separate countries, with hugely different beliefs, customs, honour codes, and ideas about love, family, and sex – it’s kind of amazing to think that all these people live alongside each other, all of them effectively living in completely different worlds from people they pass on the street.
Let me put it this way: the worldbuilding in Mazes excited the hell out of me. The worldbuilding in Transgressions left me in awe.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
~never underestimate the importance of paper
~weaponise your privilege
~DON’T SHOOT THE PRETTY FLOATY GLOWY THING
~Melín can step on me any time she likes
~you know what, just straight-up inject Wade’s writing directly into my veins
I’m not sure I even have the words to explain how much I love this book!
Although I admit: I was very surprised when I opened it up and discovered there was a time-skip of thirteen years between the epilogue of Mazes of Power and the start of Transgressions. But it’s almost instantly clear that the jump was necessary, and that we haven’t really missed much: Nekantor has been Heir now for almost fourteen years, baby Adon is now thirteen, and Tagaret is publicly Nekantor’s right-hand man – but privately, he and Della have been working hard to get the ball rolling on serious societal reform. With extremely limited success, unfortunately. And behind closed doors, the First Family as a whole have been suffering the sudden rages and violent outbursts of Nekantor, which have, to put it mildly, made life extremely stressful.
Our cast has expanded from book one: Della is a PoV character now, which made me so happy, and so is Adon. We’ve lost Aloran’s perspective, but gained Melín, our first Arissen PoV character, and Pyaras, a distant cousin of Tagaret and Nekantor who is often mocked and sneered at for his familiarity with Arissen. And of course, there are plenty more secondary characters it’s hard not to adore!
After Mazes, I was expecting a twisty intricate plot, and that’s exactly what Wade gives us – except this time, things are even more intricate and intertwined, in large part because in this book, we see a good bit more of Varin and learn much more about the various non-Grobal castes. If Mazes was focussed in on Pelismara, and specifically the Grobal there, then Transgressions is the zoom-out that lets us in on a much bigger picture – and then brings us in for beautifully intimate close-ups on all the amazing people who are not Grobal!
I cannot tell you how relieved I was to have confirmation that the other castes are not as messed-up as the Grobal. I also cannot express how FREAKING DELIGHTED I was to discover the enormous diversity in queerness, political decision-making, and family structures that Wade has created. The castes really are like entirely separate countries, with hugely different beliefs, customs, honour codes, and ideas about love, family, and sex – it’s kind of amazing to think that all these people live alongside each other, all of them effectively living in completely different worlds from people they pass on the street.
Let me put it this way: the worldbuilding in Mazes excited the hell out of me. The worldbuilding in Transgressions left me in awe.
Read the rest at Every Book a Doorway!
May 17, 2021
I found this slightly more confusing than the first book in the series, maybe because a number of new characters were introduced. Some of them were from Tagaret's family and some of them were from different castes. I was sorry not to see Tagaret's point of view again. Now that I've finished, I understand the political events, but I want to read this again to understand the relationships better. I think I will re-read when there's less going on and I can read it in a shorter time period. I enjoyed it but I think I will feel more satisfied after a second read.
March 15, 2021
The society encounters an disruption through the characters in the first family and their associates. Of course this society is difficult to stomach, with its caste system and inherited social standing dominating relationships. However, there are a few who would challenge historical tradition. Two things lead to change, Nekantor as Heir and Della noticing injustice. I suppose volume 3 will enlighten us as to how things turned out.
January 15, 2021
From my Netgalley review: This intricately plotted second book in Wade’s Broken Trust series features a fascinating cast of characters in a dangerous and intriguing world. If you’re looking for an engaging new science fiction series full of twists and plots, with a bit of sexy romance, this is definitely for you. Looking forward to the next book!
June 23, 2021
Feels really tone-deaf with the treatment of the caste system. The bad guy is cartoonishly bad. I probably won't continue the series.
November 4, 2021
Fantastic.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews