DNF at 7% 

I started this one back in October last year, but no matter how many times I have tried to read it, I couldn't get into it at all. I read other books, thinking that if I will give it more time then I will be able to get into it. Not even a chance. Ultimately, considering the fact that I was able to listen some audiobooks in the last maybe half year or so, I decided to try the audio while doing my daily sketchbook drawing. Oh boy... VERY bad decision! The voice of the male character was ok, but the female one?! 😫 Cringe! Almost no intonation, something like a robotic voice, and I was kind of forced to listen at 1.5 speed because she was speaking so damn slow! It's really a shame, because I was so interested in reading this book, and when I got approved for it on NetGalley I almost screamed in excitement!

In a land where poisonous storms are overtaking crops and making livable areas unbearable, politician Djola is frustrated by the many years his recommendations of moderation and conversation have been ignored. Too late for these methods and desperate for a solution, his king banishes Djola from the kingdom, telling him he's not allowed to return until he tracks down a powerful magical spell that can drive the poison from the land. Meanwhile, Awa, a young farm girl, has been sold to a group of nomadic magicians, where she begins learning to be a powerful griot and speaker for the people and the land. Over the course of several years, Awa and Djola's paths become intertwined, as both hope to solve the ills of the land by ending the corrupting magic of the upper class.

This richly told story weaves African folklore into a creative new world, all the while offering some refreshing insights on power, corruption, the environment, and the role of everyday people in all of the above.

I'm about a quarter way through the book and unfortunately, find my attention wandering. This could easily be an issue of me, not the book, as I've had a lot of trouble tracking and getting into new epic fantasy series lately. I think my focus is off, and has been for a while now. So don't let this put you off from reading the book if you're interested in the premise! It just didn't work for me as there wasn't anything in the story that kept me riveted enough to continue.

I really tried this book. I really did. I got around 40% in to it, but it just confused me again and again. I had some problems with keeping up with all the characters and the nick names for them. I really really wanted to love this, cause' the premise sounded awesome and something that I would enjoy. But I'm sorry, it got over my head. DNF.

This book had an amazing world that I absolutely loved to read about! There are a variety of characters and locations, and it created a wonderful element for the story to live in! It was an exciting story that kept me wondering what was going to happen next. I think there were times where I became less interested in what was happening, but the story always came back around. Overall, it was a good story that fantasy readers will enjoy!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Tentative Star Rating Of 3.0/5.0 Stars, (required by NetGalley), which may change after I have reread the book.

MASTERS OF POISONS is a DNF for me at the fifty-six percent mark in the eBook. I purchased and listened to the Audiobook, hoping to get past the midway point, but as of yet, I haven't. 

I love the story and worldbuilding in this book to the point I not only want but need to know how it ends. 

I need to know how Awa and Djola’s lives connect. Is Awa key to what Djola is searching for? 

I am definitely rereading this book!

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing, for loaning me an eGalley of MASTER OF POISONS in exchange for an honest review.

Interviewed the author at https://skiffyandfanty.com/podcasts/392andreahairston/ about this epic and lyrical fantasy that weaves story, imagery, and rhythm together in a way unseen in traditional western fantasy. Cannot recommend highly enough.

There is so much to love about Master of Poisons that, although I am DNF’ing it for now, I hope to come back to it one day when I’m able to give this novel the attention it deserves. The world-building in Master of Poisons is so complex and beautifully rendered. Plus I love the parallels with global warming. And, although I haven’t quite been able to fully figure it out, the magical system is so intriguing. Plus the diversity is absolutely incredible! 

However, this is a dense book with very descriptive and lyrical writing. All of that combines to make this very much a slow burn fantasy. And, although I like the characters, I haven’t quite been able to connect with them and have been struggling to get through this book. I constantly feel like I’m missing pieces of the story but am not quite sure how I missed them. 

I do fully believe that this is a case of “it’s me, not the book” so if Master of Poisons sounds good to you, I would still recommend giving this one a chance!

I feel sad about this but this is going to be my first DNF. I've been pushing myself to read it, I kind of like the characters, the diversity, the non binary ones, but I can't get involved.
Maybe it's the writing, maybe a bad moment, but I decided not to push myself anymore.

A dense, rich adventure which puts its characters on very different, satisfying journeys

Master of Poisons took me approximately forever to read. Very little of that is the book's fault: while Andrea Hairston's writing style does require more attention than some, packing a great deal of worldbuilding and information into deceptively simple but poetic prose, its certainly no more than I would expect to give to an author of this calibre. It's not like Master of Poisons doesn't open with some super intriguing stuff: right off the bat, we've got poison deserts, scheming advisors, a deceptively confident first protagonist and a plucky young second one all conspiring to draw me in. It's even got an opening paragraph ("We are more likely to deny truth than admit grave error and change our minds...") that feels like an shoe-in for the pantheon of great literary opening statements about human nature. Unfortunately, 2020 being 2020, with all its effects on my confidence, reading ability and attention span, the experience of reading Master of Poisons turned in my mind from "will be awesome, just need to focus" to "insurmountable reading challenge". This is a book that I wanted to give my full attention to, and that meant leaving it on my bedside table for far longer than I wanted to. But! We would not be here if I had not Successfully Read the Book, and I'm here to tell you that this is a book that you, too, can and should read!

Master of Poisons centres around two characters on very different journeys, within a multiethnic African-inspired land dominated by the Arkhysian Empire. Djola is the Master of Poisons in that empire, a northerner who has risen to a senior position and won the trust of the empire within a set of scheming advisors. When we're introduced to him, he feels utterly comfortable in his position: middle-aged, married with children, happy with the political game he's playing and willing to take a risk or two to see his plans through. However, with the empire's attention taken by a poison desert which threatens to overtake the land on which the empire is built, Djola's plan to harness forbidden magic backfires on him, and he finds himself exiled, pushed to the margins of his home and separated from his wife and children until he returns with a solution. Djola's exile takes him out to sea, where he spends a considerable amount of time with slave-taking pirate captain Pezarrat and his awful crew, trying to figure out his own direction and what his empire needs from him. It's a journey that tears him down before we see any progress in his goals, and watching him grapple with his failures and try to uncover and harness magic that the empire he serves has driven to the margins is hard to watch, even as his initial overconfidence makes it a fitting arc.

The other main character is also embedded in magics outlawed by the empire. Awa is a "green sprite", 12 years old at the start of the book, who is being brought up among a group of Lahesh conjurers. Having been sold by her father after being exposed to the Smokelands, a supernatural realm which her mother has taught her to access, Awa has a traumatic entry into her new world, but her anger at her father and brothers for their actions is tempered by her flourishing in the Green Elders camp, where she learns to navigate the smokelands and begins training as a griot. Unfortunately, Awa's early sections were home to the language choice I just couldn't get on board with in Master of Poisons: the italicisation of the neopronoun "vie" for those who identify as veson, neither man nor woman. The empire doesn't recognise veson (are you starting to see a pattern here), meaning they are largely associated with marginalised supernatural groups; along with other italicisation choices, the italicisation of "vie" seems to be to show how the veson are an "othered" cultural element to the empire. However, when applied specifically to a neopronoun (which doesn't change with case, so he/him/his translates to vie/vie/vie) it's an uncomfortable choice, to say the least. That said, without familiarity with the cultures Master of Poisons is drawing on, I may be missing crucial context here, and apart from the italicisation I appreciated the book's portrayal of a range of queer and nonbinary characters. 

The world of Master of Poisons is richly drawn, its different cultures intriguing and distinct even as the book portrays their erosion by a homogenising empire. After the initial set-up, both Djola and Awa take their time in their respective situations: Awa spends that time growing into her power and learning about what she can achieve in the Smokelands and in the waking world, while Djola, as mentioned, is sad and frustrated on a pirate ship. This initial period spans years, and its not until the midpoint when things suddenly take a sharp left turn, with Djola reclaiming agency over his mission and Awa being subjected to significant external forces that change her destiny and separate her from her found family, forcing her to draw on hidden resources (and make new friends) to survive as a captive in the empire's grasp. Things in the second half move significantly faster than the first, but the themes remain consistent: this is a book with lots to say about trust and survival in hostile circumstances. If there's a criticism to be had in this second half, its that some of these relationships don't land as effectively without the space to breathe of the slower first half.

While it's a great read throughout, Master of Poisons really sparkles from the point at which Djola and Awa's stories intersect. The two bring an initial scepticism to each other's missions that soon evolves into respect and then into genuine care, a chemistry that draws the reader in against the backdrop of an evocative supernatural journey. Their relationship re-energises the book's focus: which is, after all, about saving an empire from what is technically a poison desert but is actually about its own complacency and greed. That ending, when it comes, is fast paced but ultimately satisfying, a culmination of a serious journey of a book that left me very happy with the whole experience, despite how long it ultimately took me.

The minute I opened Master of Poisons, I knew I was in for a journey unlike anything I’ve experienced before.

Sprawling over many years, Master of Poisons is bone-achingly beautiful, intensely emotional & brutally poetic. Pirates & poisonous storms & warhorses & floating cities & assassins & protective bees & lost souls & A Very Good Dog™. I was completely swept away by Hairston’s delivery of this highly intoxicating world! With timely themes of climate change, racism, politics & survival, Master of Poisons is a deeply powerful story. Mind-blowing worldbuilding, rich folklore, a uniquely compelling magic system & gloriously vibrant characterizations.

It is so stunning, in part because of just how wonderfully queer it is. In fact, few cis straight individuals populate this landscape. Rather, there are an assortment of queer relationships & nonbinary characters, known as the Anawanama word “veson” with “vie” their preferred pronoun.
I couldn’t help but fall in love with this magical world!

“You all are my heart beating.”

Master of Poisons felt like it cracked my heart open, while a swarm of bees burst out of the open chest cavity. It’s one of the most breathtaking stories that I’ve read in recent years & I’ll be thinking about it for quite some time to come.

Master of Poisons is a gorgeously-written fantasy novel. Hairston gorgeously builds a world that teeters on the brink of its own end. And yet, there is an undeniable call to hope by the people within— some hope in magic, in religion, in leaders, in themselves. 

Like some other reviews mentioned, this book does have a slower pace. It has a more poetic, or storytelling, feel to it. I actually did something I do very rarely, and restarted reading after I’d read about 25% of it. (I was personally distracted from most things when I began this book, and I could tell I would better enjoy Master of Poisons, if I allowed it this extra attention.) I’m glad I did so.) I understand it can be a little weird to get into a different storytelling style in a book, but I highly encourage you to commit to giving this a proper try.

I received an e-ARC of this title via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I have been trying to pick this book up multiple times and just can't get into it. The plot kept losing me and everything seemed too complex, scattered.

DNF

I finally DNFed this after struggling with it for weeks. Master of Poisons has some excellent aspects - an African-inspired setting with eco-fantasy elements, lots of queer representation, and some beautiful language - but I think ultimately it is too long and the reader just gets bogged down by the heavy language and slow-moving, confusing plot. There were stylistic choices made that I kept wondering if I struggled with because I am white and what to me read as distracting language decisions may have been intentional - for instance, routinely not using articles before nouns. So that is an important dimension to note. I just wish more had happened in this book. I kept waiting for something to click and it never did.

TW: Graphic depiction of death, violence, physical abuse, past trauma, implied rape

Set in a high fantasy world inspired by African culture and folklore, Master of Poisons boasts a lush setting that comes to life with the haunting writing style. The cast is as diverse as the world with characters from multiple cultures. There is also extensive queer rep in the book with multiple non-binary characters who are called "vesons" in this world and use vie/vie's pronouns. The fact that most of the major characters were not cishet was a breath of fresh air in the high fantasy genre. This is not a world without prejudice though and the author shows how vesons suffer at the hands of the Empire for being different and it seems as though Hairston has masterfully drawn parallels between the book and the real world issues.

“The Empire stole our stories and turned us into savage, barbarian, citizen; they turned Iyalawos and Babalawos into witch women and witchdoctors.”

It’s really interesting to learn about the cultures of the author’s fantasy world as they are incredibly detailed with their own histories and traditions. For me, this was the strongest element of the book.

When it comes to the writing, it is unique and like nothing I’d read before. It has a storytelling quality that can pull readers into a dreamlike state while reading. The descriptions are the kind that would paint wonderful imagery in the readers’ eyes, but also let their imagination add to it. The descriptions were wonderful and atmospheric and while at time the writing slowed down too much for my liking, I couldn’t help but want to read more.

Since the writing was consistently atmospheric, I found that in some serious scenes when one should have been at the edge of the seat, I wasn’t. The tone of the story felt the same throughout, regardless of what was happening in the story. This was wonderful for keeping the immersive storytelling quality of the narration. but also took away from the enormity of some scenes. Overall, despite my little issues with the writing style, I couldn’t put down the book at any point.

None of the characters were devoid of blame in this book; they can hardly be faulted though, considering their circumstances. All the characters at some point made selfish decisions that hurt others and yet readers would feel for them because it’s realistic. That said, I wish I could have felt more connection to the characters. I was invested in the story but not particularly in the characters. While the story is character driven, I failed to get emotionally invested in most of the characters. Despite that, I can appreciate how three dimensional and multifaceted all the characters were.

“Elders always thought Sprites would make the same mistakes they had. She’d make her own mistakes”

The plot is a well-written slow burn that takes its sweet time and merges two different plot arcs into one plotline. If you like slow paced high fantasy with lots of internal monologue and journeys across the world, this book is perfect for you. I loved how the story arcs were so seamlessly connected as the story progressed. The plot was too slow for me at times and I wished something would happen soon, but I did enjoy the foreshadowing and hints that are dropped throughout the book that add to the plot in one way or the other.

Master of Poisons is an incredibly diverse tale of hope, survival, and loyalty. Whilst it is a slow paced high fantasy, it is highly character driven and has all the tropes one could ask for – friends to lovers, quests and adventures, found family, and sacrifice at the heart of it.

Wow, wow, wow. What a book! The concept was already amazing, but actually reading it was such a ride. Of course the author delved into topics such as racism, climate change, politics, survival, and how that all intersects. Loved this book so much.

This is a very beautifully written book. I thought the prose was gorgeous and the pacing was perfect. It felt like I was listening to a story teller that was weaving the story around me. The smoke lands made me feel like I was whisping around them with the characters. The world was very unique and something I had to try to wrap my head around at first because it was so new and creative. It was a very satisfying read.

The characters were each unique and had their own distinct points of view. Awa felt like she was a younger woman trying to find her way in the world (after she began her journey as a child). The pirate scenes weren't unnecessarily gorey but they were brutal enough to be what I would expect from that lifestyle. I also liked the lgbtq+ representation in this book and hope to see more of it in fantasy books to come.

The politics in this book were also well written. I always felt like there was something at stake and no character seemed to have plot armor. There was also a good balance between the politics and the magic in this book. It felt very real and made a really human connection with me as a reader.

I received a review copy of this book and am leaving a review voluntarily.

Andrea Hairston’s Master of Poisons is a wildly original and often wonderfully lyrical fantasy based in an African-like setting that faces a self-created environmental disaster, as poison deserts inexorably advance whilst equally destructive “void storms” crop up both regularly and randomly. It’s a fresh world and voice, but I didn’t think there was enough there to carry across an entire novel, especially one of this length.

The titular character is Djola, counselor to the current Arkhysian emperor, though early on his position is revoked and he is banished, though this is (mostly) a ploy by the emperor to keep his own tenuous position and to allow Djola the freedom to quest for a legendary spell that might be able to push back the environmental armageddon. It also wouldn’t hurt if people also heeded Djola’s long-running advice to stop living the way they have been (the whole reason for the environment gone wrong), but what are the odds of that?  Of course, any similarities to our own world are wholly coincidental (cough cough).  Djola's somewhat meandering (to say the least) quest takes up one strand of the novel’s two threads.

The other follows a young girl, Awa, who was sold by her father to the Green Elders, a group of gender-fluid mystics, magic-users, and storytellers (Griots).  There she meets a mentor, a best friend, and hones her ability to enter the Smokelands, a reflective world of spirits and (human-created) demons. 

Eventually, as one might expect, the two strands come together and Awa and Djola work together to defeat the chief (or at least most obvious) villain of the piece and attempt to repair or at least contain the environmental destruction.  Interspersed throughout the two main threads are a series of brief chapters from the point of view of several animals who interact with one or the other or both main characters. 

As noted, there’s a unique freshness to much of Hairston’s story, from the setting to the magic system to the language (filled with unfamiliar words).  Also as noted, though, that freshness wasn’t enough to carry me happily through several hundreds of pages.  Honestly, I had to fight my own desire to just stop reading through most of the book.  If Master of Poisons had been a novella, the immersive nature of the language and setting would have been enough.  But extended over novel length, the plot felt meandering, repetitive, and random, with many events feeling arbitrary. At one point, as Djola and Awa aim for a destination, Djola talks about the journey being a spiral and Awa thinks how tediously, annoyingly long it felt like it was taking, and I couldn’t help but think that was exactly how I was feeling. I liked portions of Master of Poisons, but I can’t say I enjoyed the novel as a whole.  That said, another reader’s patience may be greater than my own, so I’d suggest giving it a try and travel as far as your enjoyment carries you.

I'm sorry. This was a DNF for me. I tried to get into the book but I couldn't. I kept waiting and waiting for things to happen, but they didn't. I thought this would be a romance b-plot fantasy with both male and female protagonists in the blurb, but it was not and that disappointed me. The short chapters made the book feel choppy at times, while at other times, it felt overly long in descriptions that did not interest me. No matter how hard I tried, I just did not find it engaging. There is great diversity and representation of LGBT/non-binary elements, which I applaud, but in the end, this just wasn't for me.

Hello Gemmies! I have a new book review to share with you today. Please note: I received a digital ARC of this book (via NetGalley) from its publisher in exchange for an honest and fair review. 

Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston is a new adult epic fantasy. I really wanted to love this book. I enjoy reading epic tales and traveling to new worlds. Andrea Hairston has created a rich world full of magic, beauty, and violence. There are numerous names, places, events, and time jumps that made it hard for me to understand what was going on and when it was happening. The story is told from multiple points of view, mainly from the characters Djola and Awa. Master of Poisons has lots of beautiful writing but I never fully caught the "flow" of the story or found myself fully immersed in this world. I think this has to do with the book being broken into lots of short chapters. I normally like short chapters to keep the action flowing, but with so much going on, plus the constant time jumps, I think the shorter chapters made the story feel choppy. 

Now with that being said, I did think this book was well written and is inventive. the flow didn't work for me, but it might be for you! So please give it a try. If you are a fan of high fantasy, griots, pirates, betrayal, warriors, and animals with personality then go read this book! This gem published by Macmillion/Tor-Forge is available for purchase from all major booksellers. I give Master Of Poisons 3 out of 5 gems. Happy Reading!