Excellent

The entire Tuyo trilogy is well worth the investment of time and money. While there are a few unimportant typos in this 3rd book they are unimportant. It was impossible for me not to fully engage in the author’s portrayal of this world and the two major cultures, as well as the consistent depiction of the other species indigenous to this world. Her prose is noble and strangely touching. Well done and looking forward to the two planned sequels. ( )

This is a direct sequel to Tuyo, again narrated by Ryo. I loved it (and have had a surprisingly difficult time trying to articulate everything I liked to my satisfaction).

Ryo is still a “tuyo”, given to Lord Aras as an indication of the cessation of war between their peoples. Ryo’s people discover that the Tarashana, on the other side of the mountains, have disappeared and request Aras’ assistance in investigating. What follows is a journey into the unknown, full of difficulties and danger in that way that good fantasy quests so often are. Very tense!

I was impressed with the way this story explores the challenges of justly judging people who have committed a serious transgression, of balancing mercy with customary punishments (and with an understanding the reasons for, and the limitations of, such customs). Each time, the way both Ryo and Aras are involved is different, and the stakes are increasingly personal for Ryo. This means Ryo gains a more nuanced and multifaceted perspective, but also gives the events of the novel thematic cohesion.

“I have been thinking many hard things of you because you would not agree with me about your law and your duty to your king and what you should do regarding that problem. Now that there is this problem and the matter is one of Ugaro custom, I see that your decision is more difficult than I understood. I was wrong, and I apologize.”
He answered quietly, “I’ll accept your apology if you wish, but I don’t agree you have anything to apologize for, Ryo. You weren’t actually wrong. Sometimes there’s nothing right to do.”

There are times when Ryo chooses to do what he believes is right even though he expects to face serious consequences for it. I liked how these moments reveal Ryo’s character -- his thoughtfulness, his compassion, and his awareness that having a fair and supportive family is a privilege not everyone has.

The Ugaro remind me somewhat of the Aiel from The Wheel of Time. It’s common for fantasy cultures in one book to somewhat resemble those in another book, but it’s very unusual that anything reminds me of the Aiel. There are enough significant differences that the similarities don’t seem derivative (and the scope and tone of this story is different from The Wheel of Time’s epic prophesied chosen-one narrative, too). But I wanted to read more about the Aiel, and I’m really pleased to discover other stories exploring a somewhat-similar culture. ( )