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A Woman of the Sword
A Woman of the Sword is an epic fantasy seen through the eyes of an ordinary woman. Lidae is a daughter, a wife, a mother - and a great warrior born to fight. Her sword is hungry for killing, her right hand is red with blood. War is very much a woman's business. But war is not kind to women. And war is not kind to mothers and their sons.
338 pages, Paperback
First published April 4, 2023
45 people are currently reading
3198 people want to read
About the author
Anna Smith Spark
28 books923 followers'Game of Literary Thrones ... the next generation hit fantasy fiction' The Sunday Times
Anna Smith Spark lives in London, UK. She loves grimdark and epic fantasy and historical military fiction. Anna has a BA in Classics, an MA in history and a PhD in English Literature. She has previously been published in the Fortean Times and the poetry website www.greatworks.org.uk. Previous jobs include petty bureaucrat, English teacher and fetish model.
Anna's favourite authors and key influences are R. Scott Bakker, Steve Erikson, M. John Harrison, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Stewart and Mary Renault. She spent several years as an obsessive D&D player. She can often be spotted at sff conventions wearing very unusual shoes.
Anna Smith Spark lives in London, UK. She loves grimdark and epic fantasy and historical military fiction. Anna has a BA in Classics, an MA in history and a PhD in English Literature. She has previously been published in the Fortean Times and the poetry website www.greatworks.org.uk. Previous jobs include petty bureaucrat, English teacher and fetish model.
Anna's favourite authors and key influences are R. Scott Bakker, Steve Erikson, M. John Harrison, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Stewart and Mary Renault. She spent several years as an obsessive D&D player. She can often be spotted at sff conventions wearing very unusual shoes.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
May 30, 2024
My review is published on Before We Go Blog.
“War is written onto women’s bodies. War is women’s business. She knows this. She has known this since she was sixteen. Tries to forget. It has defined her life and the life of both of her sons.”
Anna Smith Spark’s latest novel, A Woman of the Sword, is a heart-wrenching grimdark masterpiece and a brutally honest depiction of depression and the struggles of motherhood.
Lidae is a soldier in a male-dominated world engulfed in civil war. She is also a widowed mother of two boys, Ryn and Samei, who are too young to understand the permanence of death. When their village is burned to the ground by enemy soldiers, Lidae finds that protecting her children from violence requires a ferocity of her own.
Being a soldier is traumatic, particularly during a time of war. Lidae is an exceptionally strong soldier, having slain more enemies than most of her male compatriots. But the strength required to be a mother is even greater:
“Bringing a child into life, bearing a child, birthing it. That was fighting. This is not fighting.”
For Lidae, the physical and emotional tolls of the soldiering life are compounded by the expectations placed on a young mother. Anna Smith Spark incisively highlights the sexism faced by mothers who choose to pursue a career or their own individual passion:
“She thought: men leave their children all the time, abandon them. And it’s often better for the children. It is no different just because I am a woman. I love them so much, but I also love, want, need… She felt emptied and light and numb and hollow and happy.”
A Woman of the Sword presents a devastatingly authentic portrait of depression, including both the inner anguish and its impact on loved ones. Lidae never feels that she is good enough and, despite her best efforts, cannot feel the joy of motherhood as her mental state spirals downward into overwhelming anguish. Her grief and traumatic experiences leave open wounds that never seem to heal.
All of this is set during a long civil war which serves as an external manifestation of Lidae’s internal struggles. As in her previous Empires of Dust series, Anna Smith Spark portrays the ruthlessness of war from the viewpoint of common soldiers who are manipulated by leaders who care nothing about them. The civil war also reflects a sibling rivalry that pits brother against brother.
Anna Smith Spark writes with fierce intensity and deep sincerity. Her well-honed, fragmented writing style perfectly captures Lidae’s shattered emotional state, reflecting more broadly the struggles of parenting and especially of motherhood.
A Woman of the Sword has many shocking and heartbreaking moments, but Anna Smith Spark’s authentic treatment of psychological trauma ultimately makes reading her new novel a cathartic experience. In this reviewer’s opinion, A Woman of the Sword is on par with Gemma Amor’s outstanding Full Immersion in terms of its powerful and honest depiction of depression.
A Woman of the Sword is a tragic masterpiece, reaffirming Anna Smith Spark’s reign as the queen of grimdark. Her new novel is a must-read for grimdark fans, and especially for parents.
“War is written onto women’s bodies. War is women’s business. She knows this. She has known this since she was sixteen. Tries to forget. It has defined her life and the life of both of her sons.”
Anna Smith Spark’s latest novel, A Woman of the Sword, is a heart-wrenching grimdark masterpiece and a brutally honest depiction of depression and the struggles of motherhood.
Lidae is a soldier in a male-dominated world engulfed in civil war. She is also a widowed mother of two boys, Ryn and Samei, who are too young to understand the permanence of death. When their village is burned to the ground by enemy soldiers, Lidae finds that protecting her children from violence requires a ferocity of her own.
Being a soldier is traumatic, particularly during a time of war. Lidae is an exceptionally strong soldier, having slain more enemies than most of her male compatriots. But the strength required to be a mother is even greater:
“Bringing a child into life, bearing a child, birthing it. That was fighting. This is not fighting.”
For Lidae, the physical and emotional tolls of the soldiering life are compounded by the expectations placed on a young mother. Anna Smith Spark incisively highlights the sexism faced by mothers who choose to pursue a career or their own individual passion:
“She thought: men leave their children all the time, abandon them. And it’s often better for the children. It is no different just because I am a woman. I love them so much, but I also love, want, need… She felt emptied and light and numb and hollow and happy.”
A Woman of the Sword presents a devastatingly authentic portrait of depression, including both the inner anguish and its impact on loved ones. Lidae never feels that she is good enough and, despite her best efforts, cannot feel the joy of motherhood as her mental state spirals downward into overwhelming anguish. Her grief and traumatic experiences leave open wounds that never seem to heal.
All of this is set during a long civil war which serves as an external manifestation of Lidae’s internal struggles. As in her previous Empires of Dust series, Anna Smith Spark portrays the ruthlessness of war from the viewpoint of common soldiers who are manipulated by leaders who care nothing about them. The civil war also reflects a sibling rivalry that pits brother against brother.
Anna Smith Spark writes with fierce intensity and deep sincerity. Her well-honed, fragmented writing style perfectly captures Lidae’s shattered emotional state, reflecting more broadly the struggles of parenting and especially of motherhood.
A Woman of the Sword has many shocking and heartbreaking moments, but Anna Smith Spark’s authentic treatment of psychological trauma ultimately makes reading her new novel a cathartic experience. In this reviewer’s opinion, A Woman of the Sword is on par with Gemma Amor’s outstanding Full Immersion in terms of its powerful and honest depiction of depression.
A Woman of the Sword is a tragic masterpiece, reaffirming Anna Smith Spark’s reign as the queen of grimdark. Her new novel is a must-read for grimdark fans, and especially for parents.
May 8, 2023
This standalone fantasy is as if Cormac McCarthy decided to dip his hand into sword and sorcery. Anna Smith Spark is a brilliantly evocative and impactful writer, with her prose she is able to carve so many layers into her stories. The characters really won me over in A Woman of the Sword, a veteran mother protecting her two sons, I was implored to read this and it did not disappoint. I love how Anna's writing always takes me in directions I really didn't anticipate and her craft of character is incredibly unique. It is grim at times, realistic and immensely emotional and there are many scenes that will stick out to me when I think of my favourite reads of the year.
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December 31, 2023Having heard a lot of buzz about this author, I was prepared and eager for an original voice in prose. Not for the impact of this book, which is stunning in scope and depth, cutting no corners and laying bare the deepest and darkest aspects of the psyche of women: in war, in peace, in child bearing, in conflict, mind and heart, with the biological role of childbearing and the mind's yearning in a love/hate push and pull that sounds depths few authors dare to tread.
This is a book of edges, an unvarnished look at the human drive to wage war, from the horror to the madness and thrill of glory in power, in all of its forms. Told with an incisive will to lay bare every base instinct in conflict with the ties of mothers and child, mothers and sons, family conflict, and hidden longings raised by dreams never realized, this is an unforgettable book.
Anna Smith Spark shares the brilliance of Gene Wolfe exploring the human psyche with unparalleled punch. Not a light read, but a book to raise questions and that in turn, questions, every myth attached to motherhood and the family dynamic.
Read this book. It is as serious a work of fiction as any novel ever gets, and in a genre where original voice in prose style is becoming increasingly rare, a true gem that shines for its individual character.
This is a book of edges, an unvarnished look at the human drive to wage war, from the horror to the madness and thrill of glory in power, in all of its forms. Told with an incisive will to lay bare every base instinct in conflict with the ties of mothers and child, mothers and sons, family conflict, and hidden longings raised by dreams never realized, this is an unforgettable book.
Anna Smith Spark shares the brilliance of Gene Wolfe exploring the human psyche with unparalleled punch. Not a light read, but a book to raise questions and that in turn, questions, every myth attached to motherhood and the family dynamic.
Read this book. It is as serious a work of fiction as any novel ever gets, and in a genre where original voice in prose style is becoming increasingly rare, a true gem that shines for its individual character.
April 3, 2023
Anna Smith Spark returns triumphantly after the completion of her Empires of Dust trilogy with a new standalone novel set in the same world. And it’s bloody brilliant.
I should point out that there is absolutely no requirement to have read any of her previous work, even if there are some nods to the world and history. The timeline is a few decades on from the trilogy too.
Where Empires of Dust followed the movers and players of conflicts, here the story is on a much more personal level, one of the common footsoldier.
Lidae is the titular Woman of the Sword; a career soldier who we see at the beginning of this novel settled down on a farm with her two young boys, having to say goodbye to her just-departed husband (and former comrade in arms). When raiders attack her house and neighboring village, Lidae and her boys narrowly escape a tragic end, setting in motion the events of the rest of the book.
Our protagonist brings a fresh and unique perspective in a number of different ways. Being a common foot soldier, we are treated to a completely different viewpoint than we usually experience in a fantasy or historical fiction novel. Yes, there are plenty of stories which feature soldiers. These soldiers though usually belong to some elite force, or rise up the ranks to a command position or they hold some magical powers, skill level or royal bloodline which takes their story into the forefront of the conflict
In A Woman of the Sword, Lidae and most of those that surround her are the regular grunts that get caught up in other men and women’s wars and are forced along for the ride, having no real control of their destinies. If your commander betrays someone, you by association become betrayer too. If your orders are to march into a seemingly impossible position, those are your orders; you don’t need to understand why – and a lot of those times it would be dangerous to know the real reason why. We are all too often at the head of the chess board and so rarely in the head of the pawns being sacrificed to set a trap for the bishops or knights on the next squares.
Smith Spark expertly captures this fog of war and the blindness of the common soldier following orders, fighting just to exist, or fighting because fighting is what they’re used to, unknowing, a feeling millions of men and women will have felt throughout real history. Although the strategies of the big chess players in this book are undoubtedly in motion, we are only able to see glimpses of it through the experiences of Lidae and the conversations of the soldiers around her. We see their tragic and gritty, fast burning lives and how nervous they are before battle, obsessively polishing their armour or sharpening swords, drinking or gambling, convinced they’d be dead tomorrow.
This ‘on the ground’ viewpoint gives the book a smaller scale and more focused feel than a lot of the epic grand fantasy we become accustomed to whilst still gripping us with high stakes. Making this such a personal story and giving us one POV character, especially a mother, in actual fact makes the stakes feel even higher
Lidae as a person is what makes this book even more compelling. She’s a middle aged woman in a largely young man’s world, she’s a mother, a warrior, with the conflicted heart of both. She is flawed and broken yet her inner turmoil makes her all the more courageous, which we have the benefit of witnessing first hand through her thoughts and feelings. She struggles with her mental health, with having parenthood thrust upon her in an already difficult world – one she would undoubtedly not have chosen to face alone. Smith Spark conveys passionately how difficult it can be as a parent – never mind as a single mother of two on the road with war and death potentially around every corner. Lidae may be a mother, but she is also a person, a woman, with her own desires and this struggle between her compulsion to live a soldier’s life and to look after her sons plays a significant role in the story.
When her eldest son Ryn says hurtful things or later in the story when the two sons diverge and come into conflict it can really pull at your heartstrings and make you feel Lidae’s pain, whether you can relate to being a parent or not. If you can relate, Smith Spark really nails that parental guilt and feeling overwhelmed – and then feeling guilty that you’re feeling overwhelmed! She is really able to convey that feeling of children making hard times even harder, but also being the glue to hold you together to face those times.
In this book, the complexity of Lidae’s character is that glue, but there is so much more to love, too.
I really enjoyed the glimpses of some high fantasy elements – the heat of dragon fire and the visions of it in the distance. Mages battling. Dark, demonic riders of old bone and metal. What I like is none of these elements are really explained and we only have the same insight as we would have if we were there as a footsoldier. The message is not to understand but to survive, and this adds to the immersion massively.
What do I love even more?
Anna Smith Spark has quite a distinctive writing style and admittedly it isn’t always to everyone’s taste, but it most certainly is to mine. Peter McLean calls Anna’s writing “Blood-drenched heavy metal Homeric poetry” and I’m very inclined to agree. I’ve spoken before about it having a very visceral immediacy in action packed moments. I have an overactive mind which turns up to 11 during stress or anxiety. When Anna writes these scenes, it really mirrors the way my mind works and makes the feelings of the characters involved feel so much more authentic. I love it so much. You have to sort of tune in to the writing style and then once you do, you can actually read much faster than a more conventional fantasy writing style because everything then flows so brilliantly.
There is a lovely poetry to her writing, with beautiful imagery that jumps out from the page. Reading Anna Smith Spark’s work is honestly a wonderful reading experience. It’s not just reading a novel, it feels unique and fulfilling and like you’ve been lucky enough to be a part of something. While you’re reading her work, it symbiotically becomes a part of you, forcing you to feel the raw emotions, gorgeous descriptions and smell the stenches of battle. Smith Spark is unapologetic and honest in her depiction of war. And she puts this same passion into all of her writing. In A Woman of the Sword, every word feels carefully selected, every sentence crafted into a thing of beauty.
I felt emotional at numerous points of the story, and after finishing it, sat speechless. Most great books stay with you afterwards, and some parts stay with you for years. Outlooks on life, or strong feelings they gave you. This is one of those books.
If you’re ready not just to read, but to experience, if you’re ready for a book to burn itself into your being, to feel and to marvel at an extraordinary writer, read A Woman of the Sword. And then go and read everything else Anna Smith Spark has written.
*I just want to say thanks so much to Anna for sending me a copy of this book. It in no way has impacted my review – those are from the heart after reading such a brilliant story. This hardback is a thing of beauty – the glossy cover, the amazingly powerful and emotive artwork from Stas Borodin. It’s been such a pleasure.
I should point out that there is absolutely no requirement to have read any of her previous work, even if there are some nods to the world and history. The timeline is a few decades on from the trilogy too.
Where Empires of Dust followed the movers and players of conflicts, here the story is on a much more personal level, one of the common footsoldier.
Lidae is the titular Woman of the Sword; a career soldier who we see at the beginning of this novel settled down on a farm with her two young boys, having to say goodbye to her just-departed husband (and former comrade in arms). When raiders attack her house and neighboring village, Lidae and her boys narrowly escape a tragic end, setting in motion the events of the rest of the book.
Our protagonist brings a fresh and unique perspective in a number of different ways. Being a common foot soldier, we are treated to a completely different viewpoint than we usually experience in a fantasy or historical fiction novel. Yes, there are plenty of stories which feature soldiers. These soldiers though usually belong to some elite force, or rise up the ranks to a command position or they hold some magical powers, skill level or royal bloodline which takes their story into the forefront of the conflict
In A Woman of the Sword, Lidae and most of those that surround her are the regular grunts that get caught up in other men and women’s wars and are forced along for the ride, having no real control of their destinies. If your commander betrays someone, you by association become betrayer too. If your orders are to march into a seemingly impossible position, those are your orders; you don’t need to understand why – and a lot of those times it would be dangerous to know the real reason why. We are all too often at the head of the chess board and so rarely in the head of the pawns being sacrificed to set a trap for the bishops or knights on the next squares.
Smith Spark expertly captures this fog of war and the blindness of the common soldier following orders, fighting just to exist, or fighting because fighting is what they’re used to, unknowing, a feeling millions of men and women will have felt throughout real history. Although the strategies of the big chess players in this book are undoubtedly in motion, we are only able to see glimpses of it through the experiences of Lidae and the conversations of the soldiers around her. We see their tragic and gritty, fast burning lives and how nervous they are before battle, obsessively polishing their armour or sharpening swords, drinking or gambling, convinced they’d be dead tomorrow.
This ‘on the ground’ viewpoint gives the book a smaller scale and more focused feel than a lot of the epic grand fantasy we become accustomed to whilst still gripping us with high stakes. Making this such a personal story and giving us one POV character, especially a mother, in actual fact makes the stakes feel even higher
Lidae as a person is what makes this book even more compelling. She’s a middle aged woman in a largely young man’s world, she’s a mother, a warrior, with the conflicted heart of both. She is flawed and broken yet her inner turmoil makes her all the more courageous, which we have the benefit of witnessing first hand through her thoughts and feelings. She struggles with her mental health, with having parenthood thrust upon her in an already difficult world – one she would undoubtedly not have chosen to face alone. Smith Spark conveys passionately how difficult it can be as a parent – never mind as a single mother of two on the road with war and death potentially around every corner. Lidae may be a mother, but she is also a person, a woman, with her own desires and this struggle between her compulsion to live a soldier’s life and to look after her sons plays a significant role in the story.
When her eldest son Ryn says hurtful things or later in the story when the two sons diverge and come into conflict it can really pull at your heartstrings and make you feel Lidae’s pain, whether you can relate to being a parent or not. If you can relate, Smith Spark really nails that parental guilt and feeling overwhelmed – and then feeling guilty that you’re feeling overwhelmed! She is really able to convey that feeling of children making hard times even harder, but also being the glue to hold you together to face those times.
In this book, the complexity of Lidae’s character is that glue, but there is so much more to love, too.
I really enjoyed the glimpses of some high fantasy elements – the heat of dragon fire and the visions of it in the distance. Mages battling. Dark, demonic riders of old bone and metal. What I like is none of these elements are really explained and we only have the same insight as we would have if we were there as a footsoldier. The message is not to understand but to survive, and this adds to the immersion massively.
What do I love even more?
Anna Smith Spark has quite a distinctive writing style and admittedly it isn’t always to everyone’s taste, but it most certainly is to mine. Peter McLean calls Anna’s writing “Blood-drenched heavy metal Homeric poetry” and I’m very inclined to agree. I’ve spoken before about it having a very visceral immediacy in action packed moments. I have an overactive mind which turns up to 11 during stress or anxiety. When Anna writes these scenes, it really mirrors the way my mind works and makes the feelings of the characters involved feel so much more authentic. I love it so much. You have to sort of tune in to the writing style and then once you do, you can actually read much faster than a more conventional fantasy writing style because everything then flows so brilliantly.
There is a lovely poetry to her writing, with beautiful imagery that jumps out from the page. Reading Anna Smith Spark’s work is honestly a wonderful reading experience. It’s not just reading a novel, it feels unique and fulfilling and like you’ve been lucky enough to be a part of something. While you’re reading her work, it symbiotically becomes a part of you, forcing you to feel the raw emotions, gorgeous descriptions and smell the stenches of battle. Smith Spark is unapologetic and honest in her depiction of war. And she puts this same passion into all of her writing. In A Woman of the Sword, every word feels carefully selected, every sentence crafted into a thing of beauty.
I felt emotional at numerous points of the story, and after finishing it, sat speechless. Most great books stay with you afterwards, and some parts stay with you for years. Outlooks on life, or strong feelings they gave you. This is one of those books.
If you’re ready not just to read, but to experience, if you’re ready for a book to burn itself into your being, to feel and to marvel at an extraordinary writer, read A Woman of the Sword. And then go and read everything else Anna Smith Spark has written.
*I just want to say thanks so much to Anna for sending me a copy of this book. It in no way has impacted my review – those are from the heart after reading such a brilliant story. This hardback is a thing of beauty – the glossy cover, the amazingly powerful and emotive artwork from Stas Borodin. It’s been such a pleasure.
May 29, 2023
Poet of the sword, Lidea, her blade shining.There's something about Anna Smith Spark's writing that makes me want to grab a sword and twirl around the house ballroom dance style. She has such a wonderful, poetic approach to her stories. I don't think I have encountered any other writing voice the same.
It's a story of Lidea. A woman of the sword. Being a soldier and killing comes natural to her. Motherhood, not so natural. This is her story about her two selves co-exsist.
I would also like to add a special BIIIIIGG thanks Anna Smith Spark for the postcards. 🤗
April 6, 2023
Full text review: https://jamreads.com/reviews/a-woman-...
A Woman of the Sword is the new novel of Anna Smith Spark, one of the great voices in grimdark. And while this is a really different book from her Empires of Dust trilogy, the elements that made it great are there, with the story having an epic scope, but instead of following important figures, we will be following Lidae, an old soldier who retired and had children, a mother.
Lidae has just suffered the loss of her husband, letting her as the only progenitor for her two sons, Ryn and Samei; something that she was not prepared for. She, one of the best soldiers of Illyrith, who helped King Durith to reach his status, is reduced to a task she's not prepared for.
To add salt to the wounds, their village gets attacked and burned by soldiers, forcing her to take her sons and travel in the company of other refugees in the search of protection. But what they don't expect is to be in the half of a civil war, as a self-appointed king has challenged Durith's domain over Illyrith.
As we can see, the proposal is quite different from others, as Lidae, our main character, is just a person that has been caught in the middle of what is an epic event. While she would love to come back to the army, she has to think about the welfare of her sons, prioritizing motherhood over what could be her wishes.
The struggle of Lidae to keep them safe, and most importantly, to have a sane mother-son relationship is a recurrent theme in this novel. She finds herself not knowing how to deal with the situation, having to gather the help of others; and when the conflict appears between her two sons, she's clearly unable to deal with it. For once in a time, she doesn't know what she should do. And you, as the reader, get to experience the pain she's suffering.
The plot gets divided into two parts, recognized each for the conflict that is told from the POV of Lidae. While the first one was about raising her children, this second one is grittier, as a war between Illyrith and its neighbour has started, with each one of her sons on each side. They have grown and taken their own decisions (some of them really disapproved by Lidae, wondering if she made a mistake raising them), and Lidae is fighting in the army of Illyrith; seeing how her sons will fight is just breaking her heart.
Smith Spark's prose is really special. While I understand that it is not for everybody, and that it might not click on some people, I'm a big fan of the lyrical style, closer to an epic poem than classical fantasy. And it does an excellent job transmitting the dirtiness, the grittiness, and the bloodbath of war; with extra impact as this time we are experiencing everything through the eyes of a simple soldier.
Choosing Lidae as the main character only makes this novel more emotionally impactful, as we get to connect with all of her struggles and tribulations; and while the epicness is a part of the novel, I would say it is different as we don't have a heroic character to follow, just a mother trying to do the best for her sons.
A Woman of the Sword is an excellent novel, different from the canon in fantasy, that will be a pleasure to read if you are a grimdark fan. If you liked her previous works, you will love this one.
A Woman of the Sword is the new novel of Anna Smith Spark, one of the great voices in grimdark. And while this is a really different book from her Empires of Dust trilogy, the elements that made it great are there, with the story having an epic scope, but instead of following important figures, we will be following Lidae, an old soldier who retired and had children, a mother.
Lidae has just suffered the loss of her husband, letting her as the only progenitor for her two sons, Ryn and Samei; something that she was not prepared for. She, one of the best soldiers of Illyrith, who helped King Durith to reach his status, is reduced to a task she's not prepared for.
To add salt to the wounds, their village gets attacked and burned by soldiers, forcing her to take her sons and travel in the company of other refugees in the search of protection. But what they don't expect is to be in the half of a civil war, as a self-appointed king has challenged Durith's domain over Illyrith.
As we can see, the proposal is quite different from others, as Lidae, our main character, is just a person that has been caught in the middle of what is an epic event. While she would love to come back to the army, she has to think about the welfare of her sons, prioritizing motherhood over what could be her wishes.
The struggle of Lidae to keep them safe, and most importantly, to have a sane mother-son relationship is a recurrent theme in this novel. She finds herself not knowing how to deal with the situation, having to gather the help of others; and when the conflict appears between her two sons, she's clearly unable to deal with it. For once in a time, she doesn't know what she should do. And you, as the reader, get to experience the pain she's suffering.
The plot gets divided into two parts, recognized each for the conflict that is told from the POV of Lidae. While the first one was about raising her children, this second one is grittier, as a war between Illyrith and its neighbour has started, with each one of her sons on each side. They have grown and taken their own decisions (some of them really disapproved by Lidae, wondering if she made a mistake raising them), and Lidae is fighting in the army of Illyrith; seeing how her sons will fight is just breaking her heart.
Smith Spark's prose is really special. While I understand that it is not for everybody, and that it might not click on some people, I'm a big fan of the lyrical style, closer to an epic poem than classical fantasy. And it does an excellent job transmitting the dirtiness, the grittiness, and the bloodbath of war; with extra impact as this time we are experiencing everything through the eyes of a simple soldier.
Choosing Lidae as the main character only makes this novel more emotionally impactful, as we get to connect with all of her struggles and tribulations; and while the epicness is a part of the novel, I would say it is different as we don't have a heroic character to follow, just a mother trying to do the best for her sons.
A Woman of the Sword is an excellent novel, different from the canon in fantasy, that will be a pleasure to read if you are a grimdark fan. If you liked her previous works, you will love this one.
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October 16, 20234.5
Perspective of a common foot soldier within an epic fantasy: there are fighting dragons and mages, but our point-of-view soldiers see them from a distance and are left confused as to their import. The high politics of kings and queens are similarly out of reach, the cycle of kingdoms' overthrow of essential indifference to a soldier's life.
Perspective of a woman soldier. That isn't normalised or made easy: there is a historicism in the novel's observations of women at war, whether in the ranks or in the baggage.
It is lifelike, realist; and from interviews, much informed by firsthand accounts of people in crisis and upheaval -- ordinary people, not key actors.
Lidae is a better soldier than she is a mother. She struggles to be both, or to choose between them. Men, even comrades, can't reconcile the two and the women of the army have a battle on two fronts. We follow Lidae from temporary retirement in her late thirties to return to service and on into her fifties (estimate).
The book inclines to tragedy and I sometimes thought we were in a Shakespeare play with tragic resolution an excuse for coincidence. The prose skirts near to stream-of-consciousness, with absent punctuation for velocity; this only wore on me when Lidae's thoughts repeat themselves, as thoughts are prone to do.
I'd describe it as a harsh but not brutal book, with too much kindness in it for me to call it grimdark. Sad but not void of hope, and never nasty for the sake of it. I say this for the grimdark-skeptical or -weary (like me), since that is how Anna Smith Spark is marketed. It was great to have children as irritating as children can be. It was great to have Lidae behave stupidly sometimes, and to doubt herself most times. I very much liked that life on a humble farm with an ex-comrade husband was never an idyll for her, and that she likes soldiering better. That the story ends on the ambivalence of all this for Lidae, and irreconcilable truths.
I read this over a couple of days, which is unusual for me lately.
Perspective of a common foot soldier within an epic fantasy: there are fighting dragons and mages, but our point-of-view soldiers see them from a distance and are left confused as to their import. The high politics of kings and queens are similarly out of reach, the cycle of kingdoms' overthrow of essential indifference to a soldier's life.
Perspective of a woman soldier. That isn't normalised or made easy: there is a historicism in the novel's observations of women at war, whether in the ranks or in the baggage.
It is lifelike, realist; and from interviews, much informed by firsthand accounts of people in crisis and upheaval -- ordinary people, not key actors.
Lidae is a better soldier than she is a mother. She struggles to be both, or to choose between them. Men, even comrades, can't reconcile the two and the women of the army have a battle on two fronts. We follow Lidae from temporary retirement in her late thirties to return to service and on into her fifties (estimate).
The book inclines to tragedy and I sometimes thought we were in a Shakespeare play with tragic resolution an excuse for coincidence. The prose skirts near to stream-of-consciousness, with absent punctuation for velocity; this only wore on me when Lidae's thoughts repeat themselves, as thoughts are prone to do.
I'd describe it as a harsh but not brutal book, with too much kindness in it for me to call it grimdark. Sad but not void of hope, and never nasty for the sake of it. I say this for the grimdark-skeptical or -weary (like me), since that is how Anna Smith Spark is marketed. It was great to have children as irritating as children can be. It was great to have Lidae behave stupidly sometimes, and to doubt herself most times. I very much liked that life on a humble farm with an ex-comrade husband was never an idyll for her, and that she likes soldiering better. That the story ends on the ambivalence of all this for Lidae, and irreconcilable truths.
I read this over a couple of days, which is unusual for me lately.
wishlist
May 29, 2023Bouncy is bouncing about this one so I'm adding it and stuff. Karen, this better be slightly amazing, or else...
May 19, 2023
The main character is one that I do not run into in most fantasy books. A mother with two children, a recent widow and retired warrior. The story opens up on Lidea the warrior in battle. The next chapter Lidea is burning the body of her dead husband, dealing with two children, ages 8 and 5, when the world crashes in. A good portion of the book is spent in the thoughts of Lidea, whose thoughts a lot of readers will identify with. The notion that you never had any true choices in life. Things out of your control are making the choices for you. Things I really liked about this Book: The battle scenes are told through the eye of Lidea, a foot soldier, who gets a limited view of the battle. Lidea changes sides in each battle, some by luck, sometimes with help. Having read Christian Cameron's Chivalry series, it is a concept I have ran across before, that foot soldiers change sides because it really does not matter who you fight for sometimes.
Read
December 9, 2023I told myself not to buy books any more without reading them from the library first but I loved the cover and thought I would love it. I just couldn’t get into it so I’ve dnf’ed and skimmed to the end. I’ve enjoyed some of this authors other books. I’m just changing my feelings on all books from every genre. I’m cranky in my old age and like random books now. No rhyme no reason. And some I still love immensely. I’m just weird and I don’t have to explain myself so there. 😉
Trading in my paperback so someone that will love it can own it 🥰
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Trading in my paperback so someone that will love it can own it 🥰
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
April 18, 2023
Thank you so much Luna Press Publishing, Insta Book Tours and Anna Smith Spark for my complimentary arc of The Woman and the Sword. 4.5 stars!
This is my first read by Anna Smith Spark and I was totally pulled into by the raw, personal and wholly unique telling of the story in the protagonist Lidae’s voice.
Lidae is a retired soldier, she has settled with her husband in a small holding where they are living a quiet life, rearing their 2 young sons until tragedy strikes. Lidae’s husband is struck down by infection and then then their home is attacked by raiders.
Lidae finds herself compelled to return to her previous life as a rank and file professional soldier, forced to leave behind the family she had been raising and once more subject to the orders and commands of her superiors in the midst of war.
Anna Smith Spark writing is as compelling a force as nature. She captures the blood, grit and violence of war as eloquently as she captures the pride, pain, guilt and challenge of being a mother. Her writing is both visceral and poetic, capturing the raw pain, emotion, guilt and sheer enormity of the story, at times I had to put this book down just to catch my breath.
Whilst Smith Spark’s style of writing will not be for everyone, it will and does capture your mind, heart and soul, and will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.
This is my first read by Anna Smith Spark and I was totally pulled into by the raw, personal and wholly unique telling of the story in the protagonist Lidae’s voice.
Lidae is a retired soldier, she has settled with her husband in a small holding where they are living a quiet life, rearing their 2 young sons until tragedy strikes. Lidae’s husband is struck down by infection and then then their home is attacked by raiders.
Lidae finds herself compelled to return to her previous life as a rank and file professional soldier, forced to leave behind the family she had been raising and once more subject to the orders and commands of her superiors in the midst of war.
Anna Smith Spark writing is as compelling a force as nature. She captures the blood, grit and violence of war as eloquently as she captures the pride, pain, guilt and challenge of being a mother. Her writing is both visceral and poetic, capturing the raw pain, emotion, guilt and sheer enormity of the story, at times I had to put this book down just to catch my breath.
Whilst Smith Spark’s style of writing will not be for everyone, it will and does capture your mind, heart and soul, and will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.
August 18, 2024
2.5 stars!
I'm really torn about this one! I loved the idea of this book and how it's about a retired soldier struggling with her role as a widowed mom of 2, while battling the need to pick up the sword again. The execution, however, was different from what I expected.
My expectations certainly played a big role in how I experienced the story - that and ... the writing style. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me, and the first half was where I struggled the most to get into the story - with lots of short or even half-finished sentences that, I assume, were meant to represent her distraught mind & inner conflict. Also, after a while, her inner monologue started to feel a bit tiresome and repetitive. Luckily, curiosity kept me going. The last part flowed a lot better and made it easier for me to focus on what was going on. But even so, I could never really get a feel for the main character and had a hard time comprehending her & her actions, especially towards the end.
This book has received a lot of praise and I feel like I'm in the minority here. But not every book can click with everybody ofc and that's okay. I'm still very much intrigued by this author and intend to pick up Empires of Dust soon!
I'm really torn about this one! I loved the idea of this book and how it's about a retired soldier struggling with her role as a widowed mom of 2, while battling the need to pick up the sword again. The execution, however, was different from what I expected.
My expectations certainly played a big role in how I experienced the story - that and ... the writing style. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me, and the first half was where I struggled the most to get into the story - with lots of short or even half-finished sentences that, I assume, were meant to represent her distraught mind & inner conflict. Also, after a while, her inner monologue started to feel a bit tiresome and repetitive. Luckily, curiosity kept me going. The last part flowed a lot better and made it easier for me to focus on what was going on. But even so, I could never really get a feel for the main character and had a hard time comprehending her & her actions, especially towards the end.
This book has received a lot of praise and I feel like I'm in the minority here. But not every book can click with everybody ofc and that's okay. I'm still very much intrigued by this author and intend to pick up Empires of Dust soon!
April 24, 2023
Anna Smith Spark does it again. McCarthy-esque prose meets mythic story-telling. This one was a bit more intimate than her previous Empires of Dust series and she executed it with aplomb. Always a day one buy.
January 7, 2025
One of the best standalone fantasy book's I've read.
Full disclosure that I LOVE reading books about mothers. But one of the things I always look for, are books that don't depict mother's as a monolith. This one doesn't only break the mold it completely shatters it!
It depicts someone who didn't particularly feel motherly, who became a mother because it was "time to do so", who relied on a partner who was much more parental than she was. Then she lost that partner. Then she had to parent these children by herself. She always questioned what she was doing, acutely aware of her flaws, but powerless to change any of it.
There were so many things I loved about this book. Firstly our protagonist Lidae was amazing, if not very difficult to follow. Secondly, a small thing but I loved that we had Lidae's partner die instead of leave. She had nowhere to focus her frustration at her circumstances, she wasn't wronged by a man whom she could hate and blame, she wasn't hurt or abandoned, she wasn't even particularly grieving him as you would the love of her life, she grieved her companion and then had to suck up the card she was dealt. It took away any potential focus we could have on the father and retained our attention solely on Lidae. Another thing I loved is how real the children felt. They were such an accurate representation of children of their age, it made some of the circumstances all the more heartbreaking.
This was such a raw, difficult, and emotional story, telling a side of motherhood we as a society don't like to discuss, a side of maternity that we like to pretend doesn't exist. Taking down the idea that all women are born to motherhood, that we are made better by having children, that they are our purpose and what will bring us most joy. That our nature will overcome any obstacles, that we will be made whole by the experience. It shows the raw truth, while holding up a mirror to society and the lies it tells its women.
I loved this book and it solidified this author as an auto-buy author for me.
Full disclosure that I LOVE reading books about mothers. But one of the things I always look for, are books that don't depict mother's as a monolith. This one doesn't only break the mold it completely shatters it!
It depicts someone who didn't particularly feel motherly, who became a mother because it was "time to do so", who relied on a partner who was much more parental than she was. Then she lost that partner. Then she had to parent these children by herself. She always questioned what she was doing, acutely aware of her flaws, but powerless to change any of it.
There were so many things I loved about this book. Firstly our protagonist Lidae was amazing, if not very difficult to follow. Secondly, a small thing but I loved that we had Lidae's partner die instead of leave. She had nowhere to focus her frustration at her circumstances, she wasn't wronged by a man whom she could hate and blame, she wasn't hurt or abandoned, she wasn't even particularly grieving him as you would the love of her life, she grieved her companion and then had to suck up the card she was dealt. It took away any potential focus we could have on the father and retained our attention solely on Lidae. Another thing I loved is how real the children felt. They were such an accurate representation of children of their age, it made some of the circumstances all the more heartbreaking.
This was such a raw, difficult, and emotional story, telling a side of motherhood we as a society don't like to discuss, a side of maternity that we like to pretend doesn't exist. Taking down the idea that all women are born to motherhood, that we are made better by having children, that they are our purpose and what will bring us most joy. That our nature will overcome any obstacles, that we will be made whole by the experience. It shows the raw truth, while holding up a mirror to society and the lies it tells its women.
I loved this book and it solidified this author as an auto-buy author for me.
April 5, 2023
A magnificent fantasy story telling a soldier’s life story rather than an epic storyline. In this case our soldier is also a mother and it’s how these worlds collide and mix that drives the story. Strongly recommended
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Want to read
January 5, 2023Anna Smith Spark fuck me UP (<-- still not recovered from the Empires of Dust trilogy)
February 27, 2024
This is an incredibly important and powerful feminist book about motherhood, identity and purpose, that also explores women as victors and victims.
April 19, 2023
Lidae is the Woman of the Sword; a career soldier who we see at the beginning of this novel settled down on a farm with her two young boys. Lidae’s husband (former comrade in arms) is now dead. Leaving Lidae to look after her two boys. When raiders attack her house and the neighbouring village, Lidae and her boys narrowly escape a tragic end, setting in motion the events of the rest of the book.
Smith-Spark expertly captures the fog of war and the blindness of the common soldier following orders, fighting just to exist, or fighting because fighting is what they are familiar with. The writing is very raw and sometimes poetic. Lidae’s perspective is often intimate and intense. The reader feels every single emotion throughout the story. This book is one of the best I've read in recent years. It is so different, especially since Lidae the heroine is centre stage and so unique. I hope this book wins lots of awards as it deserves all the accolades it gets. Excellent book and a brilliant writer, waiting for more books is going to be a killer!
Smith-Spark expertly captures the fog of war and the blindness of the common soldier following orders, fighting just to exist, or fighting because fighting is what they are familiar with. The writing is very raw and sometimes poetic. Lidae’s perspective is often intimate and intense. The reader feels every single emotion throughout the story. This book is one of the best I've read in recent years. It is so different, especially since Lidae the heroine is centre stage and so unique. I hope this book wins lots of awards as it deserves all the accolades it gets. Excellent book and a brilliant writer, waiting for more books is going to be a killer!
August 26, 2023
Anna Smith Spark is back, and frankly she's better than ever. I need to have a think about this one before I write a full review but in short, it's bloody brilliant. Five out of five stars definitely.
June 26, 2024
And Done! A heart wrenching story about a mother and her two boys. True pain and fear of being a parent in a war ravaged land with kids scared for their lives. Although a grimdark book I think this story will appeal to many readers if you can stomach it. Cheers!
May 24, 2023
I went into this with high expectations and was so disappointed that I didn't enjoy it. It ticks so many boxes that are often missing in fantasy. Lidae is married! She's a mother! It's about trying to be a mom in a war-torn land! But she's also a (retired) mercenary and she's torn between wishing she still had a career (that she was reasonably good at!) and being a mom. Heck, she didn't even ever really love her husband. He was handsome and a good man and she felt like settling down (especially as the aches and scars started piling up) and having kids was something she ought to do.
There's sooooo much appealing about all of this! I was super jazzed to pick this up and read it.
The book I expected and the book I got turned out to be two very different things and the book I got just wasn't especially fun or interesting to me.
The first half of the book is Lidae being a terrible mom and having a running interior monologue about how she's a terrible mom. Sure, she's dealing with the depression of suddenly being a widow and single mother and the trauma of a war breaking out....I don't blame her exactly. But this is not a rah-rah mama bear finds her inner strength to protect her kids kind of book. She basically fails them at every step and in every possible way. You can't even really say she's "trying to do her best". I just found it very.....tiresome and repetitive. Page 1: "I'm a bad mom", page 10: "I'm a bad mom", page 100: "I'm a bad mom". Okay, okay, I get it. I've had real life friends with depression and it is like this. But it can also honestly get tiresome in real life to hear a depressive friend go over the same loops over and over again.
So, that's the entire first half of the book.
The second half of the book is a fast-forward to 8 or 12 years later. Her sons are grown up and, surprise, surprise, she's still a terrible parent. I found that tiresome but it was more that I just didn't care what happened to anyone. That's always a risk that (especially grimdark) authors run with unlikeable characters.
I should add that, especially in the first half of the book, the writing style is this staccato of short sentences and half-sentences that I suppose is intended to reflect the fractured and halting nature of Lidae's interior monologue. But it meant reading never really flowed somehow
Also, this is the worst edited book I've read in many years and that's nothing something I normally pick up on much. I have no idea what happened with the editing but there are dozens of typos, missing quotation marks for dialogue, and other similar things. Many of them contribute to the stumbling, halting feeling of reading because I'd need to pause and re-read a section and go, "Oh, this was supposed to be Lidae saying something outloud? It's just missing a quotation mark. I was confused but now I see what's happening."
I made it to 75% in before I just went: I actually don't care what happens next, put it down, and picked up a different book to read instead. (Which turned out to be Some Desperate Glory which is fantastic and also features a bunch of unlikeable characters.)
There's sooooo much appealing about all of this! I was super jazzed to pick this up and read it.
The book I expected and the book I got turned out to be two very different things and the book I got just wasn't especially fun or interesting to me.
The first half of the book is Lidae being a terrible mom and having a running interior monologue about how she's a terrible mom. Sure, she's dealing with the depression of suddenly being a widow and single mother and the trauma of a war breaking out....I don't blame her exactly. But this is not a rah-rah mama bear finds her inner strength to protect her kids kind of book. She basically fails them at every step and in every possible way. You can't even really say she's "trying to do her best". I just found it very.....tiresome and repetitive. Page 1: "I'm a bad mom", page 10: "I'm a bad mom", page 100: "I'm a bad mom". Okay, okay, I get it. I've had real life friends with depression and it is like this. But it can also honestly get tiresome in real life to hear a depressive friend go over the same loops over and over again.
So, that's the entire first half of the book.
The second half of the book is a fast-forward to 8 or 12 years later. Her sons are grown up and, surprise, surprise, she's still a terrible parent. I found that tiresome but it was more that I just didn't care what happened to anyone. That's always a risk that (especially grimdark) authors run with unlikeable characters.
I should add that, especially in the first half of the book, the writing style is this staccato of short sentences and half-sentences that I suppose is intended to reflect the fractured and halting nature of Lidae's interior monologue. But it meant reading never really flowed somehow
The wound on Lidae’s face burned up in hot shame. Yes. I saw it. But I … I didn’t think … Not a fortress for war. Playing. Like I keep my sword and my helmet. She could not look at him. She could not stay there with Devid’s eyes on her, Devid and Ayllis holding her children that she had not been able to protect. I had a sword, she thought, a sword, a sword, a sword, I should have protected them, all of them. They must think that, all of them. Ryn is wounded, she thought, I am wounded, I should see to Ryn, I should see to Samei, I should clean my own wound.
Also, this is the worst edited book I've read in many years and that's nothing something I normally pick up on much. I have no idea what happened with the editing but there are dozens of typos, missing quotation marks for dialogue, and other similar things. Many of them contribute to the stumbling, halting feeling of reading because I'd need to pause and re-read a section and go, "Oh, this was supposed to be Lidae saying something outloud? It's just missing a quotation mark. I was confused but now I see what's happening."
I made it to 75% in before I just went: I actually don't care what happens next, put it down, and picked up a different book to read instead. (Which turned out to be Some Desperate Glory which is fantastic and also features a bunch of unlikeable characters.)
February 7, 2024
3.0 stars. Let's just say that the writing is excellent, Spark's prose is once again superb and distinct, and the depth and layers to the main character leave your brain working away at peeling it all apart - well after you've put the book down. However, said character is ultimately a deadbeat parent - and I struggled to feel any sympathy for her at all, which I know hurt the experience for me somewhat. I've seen others frame it differently, but I'm unconvinced. The book is in major need of a competent editor, with typos and spelling issues popping up constantly. The ending felt stupid to me after everything that happened. Overall, I'm very torn.
I imagine this one will percolate in the back of my brain for a while, and my overall opinion might change one way or the other.
I imagine this one will percolate in the back of my brain for a while, and my overall opinion might change one way or the other.
August 6, 2023
This book would’ve been significantly better if it was marked it as a literary fiction book; I say this, because there is little to no fantasy actually involved in this book.
I love the idea of this book however, a mother with her sons recently widowed in a war ridden fantasy world?!? Awesome. I also love the internal conflict the main character.
However, the book is quite boring outside of the main character’s internal conflict. There wasn’t much going on outside of her trying to figure out if she was a good mother or not there also wasn’t much going on in the world for being a fantasy book. The only things that were fantasy about this book were the few mentions of dragons and mages. Other than that we didn’t really get to see how magic worked for fantastical creatures in this book. I think fleshing out the world a little bit would’ve made this book significantly better however, it still would’ve been boring for having little to no plot outside of internal character conflict.
I love the idea of this book however, a mother with her sons recently widowed in a war ridden fantasy world?!? Awesome. I also love the internal conflict the main character.
However, the book is quite boring outside of the main character’s internal conflict. There wasn’t much going on outside of her trying to figure out if she was a good mother or not there also wasn’t much going on in the world for being a fantasy book. The only things that were fantasy about this book were the few mentions of dragons and mages. Other than that we didn’t really get to see how magic worked for fantastical creatures in this book. I think fleshing out the world a little bit would’ve made this book significantly better however, it still would’ve been boring for having little to no plot outside of internal character conflict.
May 21, 2024
What I liked:
* This book delivered on its promises.
* I rage read most of this book because of our main character, Lidae, and her intentional inability to mother from an emotional perspective. As a reader, you rage just wanting her to get. it. together.
* The writing style (perhaps poetical prose) lent to Lidae's madness, but... (see below for What I Didn't Like)
* This would be an excellent book club pick, because there are endless discussions points around grief, emotional availability, double standards of parenting, delusion, mother and son relationships, etc.
What I Didn't Like:
* The writing style took some getting used to, which made this a more mentally exhausting read than it needed to be.
Would I Recommend It:
Meh. Maybe? I think there is a devastating story to be read here that is sometimes suffocated by a cumbersome writing style. But, if you're up for the challenge, go for it. You'll have plenty to discuss with your reading buddies.
* This book delivered on its promises.
* I rage read most of this book because of our main character, Lidae, and her intentional inability to mother from an emotional perspective. As a reader, you rage just wanting her to get. it. together.
* The writing style (perhaps poetical prose) lent to Lidae's madness, but... (see below for What I Didn't Like)
* This would be an excellent book club pick, because there are endless discussions points around grief, emotional availability, double standards of parenting, delusion, mother and son relationships, etc.
What I Didn't Like:
* The writing style took some getting used to, which made this a more mentally exhausting read than it needed to be.
Would I Recommend It:
Meh. Maybe? I think there is a devastating story to be read here that is sometimes suffocated by a cumbersome writing style. But, if you're up for the challenge, go for it. You'll have plenty to discuss with your reading buddies.
July 25, 2023
Well, this one was tough. Cormac McCarthy meets Joe Abercrombie. I don't know, no one is paying me for a review. For obvious reasons.
This book was fucking heavy in a way I have not experienced before. I am not a parent, but I don't know that I would recommend this to parents. It filled me with an anxiety that is hard to describe.
Very narrow in perspective, it is almost claustrophobic. Big great (terrible) things are happening but they are only in the periphery. The mind of Lidae is really all we are given and her awareness is so tightly centered on her sons that it is almost impossible to get a sense of what is happening around her.
The prose is almost stream of conscious. Dialogue feels like a glass of ice water when it is finally dolled out.
I liked it a lot. This is the only review I've ever left on Goodreads. I am bad at it. Fuck off.
This book was fucking heavy in a way I have not experienced before. I am not a parent, but I don't know that I would recommend this to parents. It filled me with an anxiety that is hard to describe.
Very narrow in perspective, it is almost claustrophobic. Big great (terrible) things are happening but they are only in the periphery. The mind of Lidae is really all we are given and her awareness is so tightly centered on her sons that it is almost impossible to get a sense of what is happening around her.
The prose is almost stream of conscious. Dialogue feels like a glass of ice water when it is finally dolled out.
I liked it a lot. This is the only review I've ever left on Goodreads. I am bad at it. Fuck off.
April 19, 2023
This is my first exposure to Anna Spark Smith’s writing, and I will read more of her work. While this book ultimately may not have been what I was expecting by the end, I went in open-minded to her unique style and approach to the subject matter.
When she’s 16, Lidae’s family and her village are destroyed by soldiers. Everything she knows is gone. She recalls that her sister married a drunkard, her father swept shit from the street, and her mother washed pots in an inn. She knew the trajectory her life was on and she resented it. “War? The best bloody thing that ever happened to me.”
She joins the soldiers and becomes one of their ranks. Not only that, but she becomes good at what she does. She is praised by her comrades for how well she fights. She becomes renowned for her ability. She recalls compliments comrades gave her like,“Proper star you were, wasn’t she lads?”, “You’re a natural, Lidae. Like you were born to it.”, and “Poet of the sword” (which lends itself to the title).
She remains in the army for 10 years before she decides to create a home with Emmas, a fellow soldier in her crew. There, they live for 8 years until Emmas passes away. At this point, Lidae and Emmas had two boys; aged 4 (Samei) and 7 (Ryn).
The reader has a front-row seat to her recollections of the times before she left the army. She recounts them with fondness, a tone that she doesn’t use when speaking of her children. She doesn’t hold back when she refers to the children. She is open, brutal, raw, graphic, visceral. No holds barred. This is the reality.
She left soldiering because it was what was expected of her. She admits she didn’t love Emmas. Although they praise her ability to her face, she hears the whispers behind her back that a woman being a soldier is unnatural; it’s a man’s job. “These women soldiers, dirty and muscled, dressed like men, killing like men. War is men’s work for which women are unsuited. Leave war to the men. Women’s work is to bear children”
She has been pressured out of something she enjoyed, something she wasn’t ready to leave, and is dealing with the fallout. She doesn’t emotionally connect with her children. Emmas can continue doing more masculine tasks, leaving her as the primary carer of the children. It only worsens when he dies and everything is on her.
She sees herself as one of the women she has looked down upon; bereft of their homes, dragging their children with them, following the men and doing their will to survive. “Dead-eyed women, their bellies swollen with pregnancy, stumbling after the man they belonged to until they were so hollowed out that the man had no more interest in them.” In flashbacks she calls them stupid pitiful things, hopeless, cowards, beggars - yet she becomes what she has despised.
“You have no idea of the world, Ayllis, Hana. This, this life sitting here bowed down and broken by poverty, this is what war rescued me from. I chose to leave, to be strong.” Lidae’s beliefs are clear- if you’re not fighting, you’re weak.
Part 3: The Son starts with a 12 year time jump. Lidae has been a soldier again throughout this time and her children, once part of the baggage train, are now also soldiers. Where she made the choice to join as a young woman to survive, the boys perhaps know little of life outside it.
There becomes additional conflict between the mother and her children as they experience a different side of soldiering, the masculine side. Samei takes a slavewoman and Lidae is repulsed and disgusted by this. She longed for this life of soldiering for herself and yet resents that her son has fallen into these ways.
The book explores the hardened, battle-thirsty shell of a woman who’s conditioned herself to hate weakness, stripped of the survivor, the fighter. It follows her inner battle, struggling with an inability to communicate with her children, leading to feelings of frustration and judgement. The culmination of the events wasn’t what I was expecting but the ending of the narrative was as I thought it would be. The journey to get there is brutal.
This book is not about the fantastical. Yes there are brief mentions of dragons and mages in battle, but these take a backseat to elevate the important topic at hand. It explores the very real and raw emotions of motherhood and femininity. The fantasy setting assists in extrapolating and exposing those emotions, giving them a voice.
I have no children myself. I jokingly refer to them as crotch goblins, but given we’re talking about fantasy then the term is more suitable here than anywhere else. For the first part of the readalong, I was initially hesitant that I’d be unable to connect with Lidae and her experiences. But the struggles of her gender resonated deeply with me.
There will doubtless be readers who will struggle with the material because they simply cannot sympathise. The publishing of the work is commendable, a brave and bold move both to write and to print. Our very natures will divide the readership of the book. But those who persevere will be treated to an honest display unlike any other.
When she’s 16, Lidae’s family and her village are destroyed by soldiers. Everything she knows is gone. She recalls that her sister married a drunkard, her father swept shit from the street, and her mother washed pots in an inn. She knew the trajectory her life was on and she resented it. “War? The best bloody thing that ever happened to me.”
She joins the soldiers and becomes one of their ranks. Not only that, but she becomes good at what she does. She is praised by her comrades for how well she fights. She becomes renowned for her ability. She recalls compliments comrades gave her like,“Proper star you were, wasn’t she lads?”, “You’re a natural, Lidae. Like you were born to it.”, and “Poet of the sword” (which lends itself to the title).
She remains in the army for 10 years before she decides to create a home with Emmas, a fellow soldier in her crew. There, they live for 8 years until Emmas passes away. At this point, Lidae and Emmas had two boys; aged 4 (Samei) and 7 (Ryn).
The reader has a front-row seat to her recollections of the times before she left the army. She recounts them with fondness, a tone that she doesn’t use when speaking of her children. She doesn’t hold back when she refers to the children. She is open, brutal, raw, graphic, visceral. No holds barred. This is the reality.
She left soldiering because it was what was expected of her. She admits she didn’t love Emmas. Although they praise her ability to her face, she hears the whispers behind her back that a woman being a soldier is unnatural; it’s a man’s job. “These women soldiers, dirty and muscled, dressed like men, killing like men. War is men’s work for which women are unsuited. Leave war to the men. Women’s work is to bear children”
She has been pressured out of something she enjoyed, something she wasn’t ready to leave, and is dealing with the fallout. She doesn’t emotionally connect with her children. Emmas can continue doing more masculine tasks, leaving her as the primary carer of the children. It only worsens when he dies and everything is on her.
She sees herself as one of the women she has looked down upon; bereft of their homes, dragging their children with them, following the men and doing their will to survive. “Dead-eyed women, their bellies swollen with pregnancy, stumbling after the man they belonged to until they were so hollowed out that the man had no more interest in them.” In flashbacks she calls them stupid pitiful things, hopeless, cowards, beggars - yet she becomes what she has despised.
“You have no idea of the world, Ayllis, Hana. This, this life sitting here bowed down and broken by poverty, this is what war rescued me from. I chose to leave, to be strong.” Lidae’s beliefs are clear- if you’re not fighting, you’re weak.
Part 3: The Son starts with a 12 year time jump. Lidae has been a soldier again throughout this time and her children, once part of the baggage train, are now also soldiers. Where she made the choice to join as a young woman to survive, the boys perhaps know little of life outside it.
There becomes additional conflict between the mother and her children as they experience a different side of soldiering, the masculine side. Samei takes a slavewoman and Lidae is repulsed and disgusted by this. She longed for this life of soldiering for herself and yet resents that her son has fallen into these ways.
The book explores the hardened, battle-thirsty shell of a woman who’s conditioned herself to hate weakness, stripped of the survivor, the fighter. It follows her inner battle, struggling with an inability to communicate with her children, leading to feelings of frustration and judgement. The culmination of the events wasn’t what I was expecting but the ending of the narrative was as I thought it would be. The journey to get there is brutal.
This book is not about the fantastical. Yes there are brief mentions of dragons and mages in battle, but these take a backseat to elevate the important topic at hand. It explores the very real and raw emotions of motherhood and femininity. The fantasy setting assists in extrapolating and exposing those emotions, giving them a voice.
I have no children myself. I jokingly refer to them as crotch goblins, but given we’re talking about fantasy then the term is more suitable here than anywhere else. For the first part of the readalong, I was initially hesitant that I’d be unable to connect with Lidae and her experiences. But the struggles of her gender resonated deeply with me.
There will doubtless be readers who will struggle with the material because they simply cannot sympathise. The publishing of the work is commendable, a brave and bold move both to write and to print. Our very natures will divide the readership of the book. But those who persevere will be treated to an honest display unlike any other.
February 7, 2023
I will post a fuller review on the fantasy-hive in due course (and also an interview with the author! - Having just finished the book I am buzzing with questions).
However, three quick points to wet your appetites.
1) The Mother
At DublinCon in 2019 I remember attending one panel which asked a question to the effect of "Where are the crones?" The panel mused about speculative fiction's seeming preoccupation with either adolescent or young adult - or ancient wizened hags as female protagonists. One panelist (it may have been Anna Stephens?) expressed a desire to see a protagonist of mature but not decrepit years, one with a bit of life experience and the stretchmarks to prove it - in short to see the mother rather than the maiden or the crone.
In Lidae, Anna-Smith Spark has created just such a protagonist, skilled but not overpowered, fiercely protective of her two sons, and inducted into the soldiering way as a matter of necessity rather than choice.
2) The Little People
I have found myself with something of a narrative itch these days, a dissatisfaction with the way fantasy stories often focus on the rich and powerful - the war makers, and world shakers. For example, beautifully gentle as The Goblin Emperor is, the protagonist is still literally an emperor with access to wealth power and influence beyond the reach of normal people. Our stories like our view of history seem tilted towards studies of Monarchs, and generals, ministers and champions.
So it is refreshing to find Smith-Spark writing about ordinary folk, the foot-soldiers marching north and the south in pursuit of their leaders' obscure strategies, to fight unknown adversaries. Theirs not to reason why - theirs just to fight and die! We follow Lidae, the neighbours of her brief civilian life, and squad mates of her army days. The vague understanding and later revelations about what is going on only enhance the gritty descriptions of camp life and the compelling nature of Lidae's conflicts between career and motherhood, between trust and betrayal, between her eldest and her youngest child.
3) Stand-alone
Don't get me wrong. I like trilogies, I've read quite a few (even written one) - even gone as far as a quadrology! But there is a particular and rare pleasure in a standalone story, in knowing that it will lead you through a complete character arc, leaving you to muse on how the characters' lives progress after the last page, but that the author has no more to tell you and no sequels to burden your tottering TBR pile.
So all in all, a different but very satisfying fantasy reading experience.
However, three quick points to wet your appetites.
1) The Mother
At DublinCon in 2019 I remember attending one panel which asked a question to the effect of "Where are the crones?" The panel mused about speculative fiction's seeming preoccupation with either adolescent or young adult - or ancient wizened hags as female protagonists. One panelist (it may have been Anna Stephens?) expressed a desire to see a protagonist of mature but not decrepit years, one with a bit of life experience and the stretchmarks to prove it - in short to see the mother rather than the maiden or the crone.
In Lidae, Anna-Smith Spark has created just such a protagonist, skilled but not overpowered, fiercely protective of her two sons, and inducted into the soldiering way as a matter of necessity rather than choice.
2) The Little People
I have found myself with something of a narrative itch these days, a dissatisfaction with the way fantasy stories often focus on the rich and powerful - the war makers, and world shakers. For example, beautifully gentle as The Goblin Emperor is, the protagonist is still literally an emperor with access to wealth power and influence beyond the reach of normal people. Our stories like our view of history seem tilted towards studies of Monarchs, and generals, ministers and champions.
So it is refreshing to find Smith-Spark writing about ordinary folk, the foot-soldiers marching north and the south in pursuit of their leaders' obscure strategies, to fight unknown adversaries. Theirs not to reason why - theirs just to fight and die! We follow Lidae, the neighbours of her brief civilian life, and squad mates of her army days. The vague understanding and later revelations about what is going on only enhance the gritty descriptions of camp life and the compelling nature of Lidae's conflicts between career and motherhood, between trust and betrayal, between her eldest and her youngest child.
3) Stand-alone
Don't get me wrong. I like trilogies, I've read quite a few (even written one) - even gone as far as a quadrology! But there is a particular and rare pleasure in a standalone story, in knowing that it will lead you through a complete character arc, leaving you to muse on how the characters' lives progress after the last page, but that the author has no more to tell you and no sequels to burden your tottering TBR pile.
So all in all, a different but very satisfying fantasy reading experience.
January 25, 2025
2/10- I see a boring story with maybe one interesting character all dressed up and danced around by terrible long flashbacks and the same boring sayings over and over. The fights were lack luster and there was too much dead space in the book leaving people to guess at what had happened. I did not enjoy.
May 25, 2024
Grimdark for sure
A soldier that became a mother, and shouldn't have. That one sentence wraps up my feelings on the book. There's no character to like in this story, just the emotional trauma of a woman thrust in to a life of fighting wars at a very young age.
A soldier that became a mother, and shouldn't have. That one sentence wraps up my feelings on the book. There's no character to like in this story, just the emotional trauma of a woman thrust in to a life of fighting wars at a very young age.
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