rchl’s Reviews > Ascendant > Status Update

and she has flaws and is an actually developed character. i didn’t even think about her inclusion all that much until i went to write some of my thoughts down. classic fantasy is pretty devoid of well written women so that was a nice change to not even realize she was a boobie yk

but yea it’s still written by what i assume is an able bodied man because there’s at least one ableist slur used (presented as a bad thing to say) and the disability community is pretty critical of its use.

like i get the world is supposed to be full of dragons who cull their weak eggs and have a culture of hating weakness but it’s just not executed well. the tone is too hopeful even when it’s supposed to be sad and almost like a 2012 YA. when it tries to be sad it reads as cringe because of the stupid ass monologues and written to be inspiring dialogue

but yea the themes are just like… lame? what you’re supposed to get out of the story so far feels so much like it’s ok to be disabled as long as you are a new type of all powerful being that will actually save the world. and any time the author gets even close to exploring ideas around disability and class privilege (having powerful family or connection will save your life) it just is like oh the reason they hate him is because he’s a cook (generational, low caste) and became a dragon rider but he gets his shit saved by the literal princess of the kingdom. and then doesn’t touch anything to do with what disability looks like as a poor person (or dragon- but they don’t have wealth like humans)

idk it just feels like the guy was like i like dragons and what would make my story different? blindness. and it’s not actually taken as anything but a plot device.

and i can write a lot of that off or still come out to a 4-4.5 star but it’s just not well written enough imo to be enjoyable and so these issues feel glaring

i would be shocked that any blind people consulted on this book just to explain what their experience is navigating the world

yea anyway the disability and class themes just feel very 2005-2010. just super surface level

oh yea and these bugs have to be inspired by zerg im calling it

this is a ratatouille-like

LOL