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Vacant Steppes
"A storm was brewing over the Steppe. The skies had been clear just hours before, but they were now filled with gray clouds. A few droplets pelted the ground as Sara rode to her destination. Thunder cracked in the distance and wind howled through the Steppe like the roar of a forgotten god."
As a second invasion by the Empire threatens the nomads of the Great Steppe, a new generation of leaders must mend the broken alliances of their fathers or face certain destruction. Vacant Steppes is a Mongolia-inspired epic fantasy novel about inheritance, family, and leadership in times of division and war.
As a second invasion by the Empire threatens the nomads of the Great Steppe, a new generation of leaders must mend the broken alliances of their fathers or face certain destruction. Vacant Steppes is a Mongolia-inspired epic fantasy novel about inheritance, family, and leadership in times of division and war.
- GenresFantasy
324 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2021
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September 15, 2021Probably somewhere around a 3 stars if I had to rate it?
Vacant Steppes is a Mongolian-inspired epic fantasy that follows the perspectives of three characters - Sara, Batu, and Erroll. We follow these characters as they each try to navigate their new-found positions within their groups - Sara and Batu as the incoming leaders of their respective clans after their fathers' deaths, and Erroll as a new recruit to the Empire's army. The nomadic tribes of the Great Steppes must find a way to come together despite their differences and past conflicts in order to protect their land from the Empire. This is a classic tale of family, friendship, and overcoming all odds, and one that I think fans of classic fantasies a la Brandon Sanderson will really enjoy.
I enjoyed this book a lot - at no point while I was reading it did I ever feel bored. The plot is very fast-moving, and the writing is very straightforward and easy to follow. I think this is both the book's greatest strength and weakest point. I think if you're a reader who prefers plot-focused stories, and like books that don't dwell on a lot of descriptions, but instead are driven by dialogue and action, you'd really enjoy this one. For me personally, however, it doesn't quite work - I personally prefer more time spent with the characters so that I can get to know them, and I just felt like the plot was too fast-paced for my liking. There were times where certain things happened, or conflicts were resolved really quickly, and I just felt like those moments would have been much more impactful if I had more time to actually understand and feel for the characters going through these moments.
Of the three main characters, Sara was by far my favourite, both because I related to a lot of her anxieties (hooray for impostor syndrome), and also because I felt like her character growth and arc was the most fleshed out of the three main characters. Right from the start, she was a character I knew I'd want to protect at all costs, and I was very invested in her storyline from the very beginning. I still would've liked to have seen her grapple with certain things that happened to her more, but overall, I was pleased with her storyline. Batu grew on me by the end, but I definitely felt like I couldn't get a strong grasp of who he was as a character until perhaps about halfway through. Erroll had a lot of potential to be a more complicated villain character (since he is on the side of the colonizers and is basically indoctrinated with very bigoted points of view), but I just didn't feel like he had the emotional depth needed to carry out his character arc.
Some other things I really liked about this book:
- I really enjoyed that regardless of what group of people we were following, the people in charge were always women (ie. chiefs, generals, the Empress).
- I did watch an interview where the author explained that so often in classic fantasies, we usually follow the Empire's side of the story, and there's this idea (both in fantasies and in real life) that nomadic tribes are somehow less civilized or in need of help or saving or education, and that he wanted to write a story that subverts this idea. I think he did a good job of doing this through this novel - while I still would've liked the themes to be explored a bit more, I think this theme in particular was tackled with a good amount of nuance and I'm interested to see if there will be a sequel in order to explore this even further.
- I loved the magic system and how it was also used as a parallel for the way colonizers appropriate and steal from the cultures they are colonizing.
The overarching feeling I had about this book was that it had so much potential, but ultimately did not quite reach it. That being said, I do think that this is a book that another reader - one that is more into classic fantasy and plot-focused stories than me - will enjoy a lot. I also think this would be a great intro to classic fantasy for anyone who is new to the genre and wanted something easy to read and not too complex. I had a lot of fun reading this, and despite my issues with it, I think for a debut novel, it was pretty solid. Steven Sy has a lot of potential as a fantasy author, and I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for his future works.
Vacant Steppes is a Mongolian-inspired epic fantasy that follows the perspectives of three characters - Sara, Batu, and Erroll. We follow these characters as they each try to navigate their new-found positions within their groups - Sara and Batu as the incoming leaders of their respective clans after their fathers' deaths, and Erroll as a new recruit to the Empire's army. The nomadic tribes of the Great Steppes must find a way to come together despite their differences and past conflicts in order to protect their land from the Empire. This is a classic tale of family, friendship, and overcoming all odds, and one that I think fans of classic fantasies a la Brandon Sanderson will really enjoy.
I enjoyed this book a lot - at no point while I was reading it did I ever feel bored. The plot is very fast-moving, and the writing is very straightforward and easy to follow. I think this is both the book's greatest strength and weakest point. I think if you're a reader who prefers plot-focused stories, and like books that don't dwell on a lot of descriptions, but instead are driven by dialogue and action, you'd really enjoy this one. For me personally, however, it doesn't quite work - I personally prefer more time spent with the characters so that I can get to know them, and I just felt like the plot was too fast-paced for my liking. There were times where certain things happened, or conflicts were resolved really quickly, and I just felt like those moments would have been much more impactful if I had more time to actually understand and feel for the characters going through these moments.
Of the three main characters, Sara was by far my favourite, both because I related to a lot of her anxieties (hooray for impostor syndrome), and also because I felt like her character growth and arc was the most fleshed out of the three main characters. Right from the start, she was a character I knew I'd want to protect at all costs, and I was very invested in her storyline from the very beginning. I still would've liked to have seen her grapple with certain things that happened to her more, but overall, I was pleased with her storyline. Batu grew on me by the end, but I definitely felt like I couldn't get a strong grasp of who he was as a character until perhaps about halfway through. Erroll had a lot of potential to be a more complicated villain character (since he is on the side of the colonizers and is basically indoctrinated with very bigoted points of view), but I just didn't feel like he had the emotional depth needed to carry out his character arc.
Some other things I really liked about this book:
- I really enjoyed that regardless of what group of people we were following, the people in charge were always women (ie. chiefs, generals, the Empress).
- I did watch an interview where the author explained that so often in classic fantasies, we usually follow the Empire's side of the story, and there's this idea (both in fantasies and in real life) that nomadic tribes are somehow less civilized or in need of help or saving or education, and that he wanted to write a story that subverts this idea. I think he did a good job of doing this through this novel - while I still would've liked the themes to be explored a bit more, I think this theme in particular was tackled with a good amount of nuance and I'm interested to see if there will be a sequel in order to explore this even further.
- I loved the magic system and how it was also used as a parallel for the way colonizers appropriate and steal from the cultures they are colonizing.
The overarching feeling I had about this book was that it had so much potential, but ultimately did not quite reach it. That being said, I do think that this is a book that another reader - one that is more into classic fantasy and plot-focused stories than me - will enjoy a lot. I also think this would be a great intro to classic fantasy for anyone who is new to the genre and wanted something easy to read and not too complex. I had a lot of fun reading this, and despite my issues with it, I think for a debut novel, it was pretty solid. Steven Sy has a lot of potential as a fantasy author, and I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for his future works.
November 6, 2021
I highly recommend this for readers who love epic battles, politics, and action-packed adventure.
The story is told in multiple perspectives by the three main characters Sara, Batu and Errol. Each will have to overcome their own struggles with their identity and sense of belonging.
Just like any other war novel, there is a lot of death and violence. I did like how the author tackled the process of grief for the loss of loved ones, and ultimately its acceptance. This novel is a great reminder of how no one could ever truly win when it comes to war. Everyone loses something or someone. The book also emphasized how a good leader is someone who doesn't want the power, but the opportunity to serve and save the people.
This novel has so many elements to unpack. I wish I was more of an artist so I can create a map or some sort of chart and track all the tribes and families and relationships. As much as I initially liked the novel's worldbuilding format of just being immersed in everything, I was also waiting for the author to take a break and take time to tell stories. I felt like I kept on reading endless dialogue and/or fight scenes between characters that I badly want to know more about, but I'm not given more insight other than whatever is happening at the moment.
Overall, Vacant Steppes is still an unforgettable coming of age story, and truly unique in its intensity and passion. I loved its message of how it's important to choose to make your own way in the world. Honoring your family's legacy and culture is admirable, but at the end of the day our choices that will affect the future generations are those that will matter the most.
Big thanks to Balestier Press for the gifted copy with request for honest review. I'll be looking forward to more works from this author 💙
The story is told in multiple perspectives by the three main characters Sara, Batu and Errol. Each will have to overcome their own struggles with their identity and sense of belonging.
Just like any other war novel, there is a lot of death and violence. I did like how the author tackled the process of grief for the loss of loved ones, and ultimately its acceptance. This novel is a great reminder of how no one could ever truly win when it comes to war. Everyone loses something or someone. The book also emphasized how a good leader is someone who doesn't want the power, but the opportunity to serve and save the people.
This novel has so many elements to unpack. I wish I was more of an artist so I can create a map or some sort of chart and track all the tribes and families and relationships. As much as I initially liked the novel's worldbuilding format of just being immersed in everything, I was also waiting for the author to take a break and take time to tell stories. I felt like I kept on reading endless dialogue and/or fight scenes between characters that I badly want to know more about, but I'm not given more insight other than whatever is happening at the moment.
Overall, Vacant Steppes is still an unforgettable coming of age story, and truly unique in its intensity and passion. I loved its message of how it's important to choose to make your own way in the world. Honoring your family's legacy and culture is admirable, but at the end of the day our choices that will affect the future generations are those that will matter the most.
Big thanks to Balestier Press for the gifted copy with request for honest review. I'll be looking forward to more works from this author 💙
October 31, 2021
3.5
this book was pretty good. i thought the idea was great and it was really interesting however i dont think we had enough time to “meet” the characters. because of that i found the characters kinda confusing. other than that the book was really interesting and different from what i’ve previously read!
this book was pretty good. i thought the idea was great and it was really interesting however i dont think we had enough time to “meet” the characters. because of that i found the characters kinda confusing. other than that the book was really interesting and different from what i’ve previously read!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews