I’m going to start by saying that the content of The Unbroken is incredibly rich and in-depth. The first half reads like a non-fictional account of the climate, politics, art, history, etc of Qazāl which is a plus for world building but a heavy weight to carry for pacing. Just when scenes seem to be taking off with dialogue and character interaction, the author breaks in with 3x as many details of, for example, the courtyard they are entering or fabrics that went into the making of their clothing. In the end, I think most of us read fiction for characters or action and that is lacking in the first half. The second half is better.

There are battles, intrigue, magic, the story moves faster from one point to the next. I’m not saying it is lightening quick, just explaining that it picks up.

Now here’s the part that frustrated me the most, I did not like the two main characters very much. Balladairan Princess Luca Ancier is young and hopes to take her place at the throne very soon. Her uncle believes that sending her to Qazāl, a nation that they hold under subjugation, will give her the necessary experience to rule or maybe kill her off which would make him the king. She’s an okay character but I wanted so much more, not just the fact that she uses crutches due to her permanent injuries. There’s a person there and I wanted to know her but that’s what happens when we get so much architectural information rather than character defining scenes. Finally, Touraine, who I so badly wanted to hero worship because one look at the cover and I was won over. She is a Lieutenant with the slave soldiers who were stolen as children from Qazāl and raised to be fighters for Balladaire. Of course, it’s a bitter homecoming. They’re viewed as traitors by the locals and yet are slaves to the Balladairians. It’s a powder keg that’s due to set off, not only because of the “Sand’s” return but also because revolution is in the air. Back to Touraine. She’s confused, not the brightest, oftentimes weak, and worst of all, cannot make up her mind which causes much turmoil. Not the stuff of heroes but maybe that is the author’s aim. Luca and Touraine have an interesting dynamic together which is still hazy at this stage but I’m looking forward to see how their relationship evolves. Interestingly, I found many of the secondary characters to be much more impactful even though their appearances are brief.

Let me end by saying the writing is top notch and the author’s turn of phrase is magical. I intend to keep reading this series because it’s worth it and I still recommend because the author unabashedly went all out to create something special. There are shortcomings but I have no doubt, they will be straightened out and there will be amazing works in the future.

The author interviews continue! This week, I’m talking to CL Clark, author of the new fantasy novel The Unbroken, which follows a soldier called Touraine and a princess called Luca and their complicated relationships with empire and with each other. We chatted about Arabic dialects, how the book changed in the editing process, and whether it’s possible to hold power ethically. You can listen to the podcast in the embedded player below, or download it directly to take with you on the go!

Episode 144

Things We Discussed

The Battle of Algiers (movie)
Ici on noie les Algeriens (movie)

Cherae talks a bit about different dialects of Arabic, so to break down what they’re saying a little bit: Darija is Moroccan Arabic; Masri is Egyptian Arabic; Shami or Sami is Levantine Arabic (Syrian, as well as Lebanese). The question I ask about saying the G is because the Arabic letter J (?) is pronounced as a G in Egyptian Arabic. The thing Cherae says about negative sh is about the consonant construction “sh” that’s used to negate a statement.

The Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan
Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie
Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card
The Thousand Names, Django Wexler
Powder Mage series, Brian McClellan (first one is Promise of Blood)
Broken Empire trilogy, Mark Lawrence (first one is Prince of Thorns)
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
What Remains of Edith Finch
Machinarium
Shadow of Mordor
Stardew Valley
Winter’s Orbit, Everina Maxwell
The Monster Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine

You can find Cherae on their Twitter or subscribe to their newsletter here. The book again is The Unbroken, which you can get wherever books are sold!

You can get at me on Twitter, email the podcast, and friend me (Gin Jenny) and Whiskey Jenny on Goodreads. As a brand new feature, you can also follow me (Gin Jenny) and Whiskey Jenny on Storygraph! If you like what we do, support us on Patreon. Or if you wish, you can find us on iTunes (and if you enjoy the podcast, give us a good rating! We appreciate it very very much).

Credits
Producer: Captain Hammer
Photo credit: The Illustrious Annalee
Theme song by: Jessie Barbour

Transcript

Gin Jenny: Welcome to the Reading the End Bookcast with the Demographically Similar Jennys. I’m Gin Jenny, and I’m here with author CL Clark, author of the new fantasy novel The Unbroken. Cherae, great to have you on the show.

CL Clark: Hi, thanks so much for having me.

GJ: I wanted to start by— Could you tell us a little bit about the book and about yourself?

CLC: Sure! I’m CL Clark, you guys can call me Cherae. I am a writer from Kansas City, Kansas, though I haven’t lived there in quite some time. I’ve been on the road for the last several years. I am the author of The Unbroken, which is a novel about Touraine, who is a conscripted soldier for the Balladairan Empire. And she’s very loyal to it, at least when we start the book. And it’s also about Luca, who is the Balladairan Empire’s princess, and her main goal is to get her throne back from her uncle. And so when they both end up in Qazal, all of their best laid plans get turned upside down.

GJ: Awesome. That’s a great description. Let me ask you a question that’s not about this book. When people say they’re from Kansas City, Kansas, versus when they say they’re from Kansas City, Missouri, can you explain what that distinction is? I know it’s a city in two states, but I don’t understand that specific thing.

CLC: Okay, so to be fair, usually—I don’t even know why I made that distinguishment now, but I usually just say Kansas City, because for me, they’re the same city. But there are distinct law differences. Like you can’t buy alcohol on Sunday in Kansas City, Kansas, but you can in Missouri, and so my friends would exploit that quite a lot. But they’re one greater metro area, really. And when I became like, a young adult with my own apartment, I technically lived just a block over the state line. And so I was technically in Kansas City, Missouri. And so, you know, it’s for me, it’s one large sort of super-city, I guess.

GJ: Okay, awesome. That is so enlightening. Thank you so much. The last thing is fascinating. Okay, so returning to The Unbroken, which I loved. What was the germ of the idea for this book? You’ve been calling it Touraine’s Arms on social media, which I feel like distills it down to its most fundamental assets. But where did you start with it? Was with the characters, the relationships, the setting?

CLC: Actually, when you mentioned Touraine’s arms with it, though, I did not literally think of her physical arms, one of the things I really wanted to do and explore was when female characters in fantasy are allowed to be violent. And so it really is about her arms, her weaponry, like how she gets to physically hurt people. And yeah, so I guess that’s not— I mean, there are a lot of things to say about that. But, um, so it was like, when women get to be violent, and how they’re allowed to feel about it, like, do they have to feel remorse? Must it always be in service of saving a child or themselves? Because so often it was, and if it wasn’t, then they were a bad guy. You didn’t see the same thing with the guy characters. So there was that, and there was also, I was also in this class, a couple classes, studying postcolonial literary theory, and reading books by colonial, postcolonial authors. And so it all just kind of slammed together into one book, specifically one scene, which was the soldier who had to execute people who were her own people. That was the beginning.

GJ: Yeah, that scene is, yeah, remarkably impactful. So what changed from your first idea that— As you’re writing, is there anything that really significantly changed as you were going through? Or is it pretty true to your original vision for it?

CLC: The book itself is pretty true to that original vision. But there is one major, major change that happened in the last draft in between my like despair at never getting an agent to finally getting an agent selling the book. And that is a character, there was one character who—I’m not going to say any names, but if you’ve read the book already, you can probably guess—there’s one character who was Touraine’s brother, and I changed that character. They are not her brother anymore. They are someone else. But I didn’t change anything else, the rivalry and the hatred and the anger, even the like, fistfights, they all stay the same. And it changed the book so dramatically. And I just fell in love with this character. And yeah, so that was the biggest change.

GJ: That’s really cool. Why did you make that decision?

CLC: I cannot tell you because that would tell you who this character is now. And I don’t want to do that on air. Okay. But I’m happy if somebody wants to, like, do it off books, and I will answer that question for people.

GJ: All right, that makes sense. So you talked about some of the ideas from the book, arising from you studying postcolonial literature. What can you tell me about your research? I’m always so fascinated by what authors do to prepare for writing, especially, fantasy novels, where of course, the research can go in a lot of different directions, because ultimately, you’re making it all up.

CLC: I did, I did make up a lot of things. But before I did that, I really wanted to better understand how colonialism has worked in practice in the real world. And since my area of study was French, French language, and French literature, it was my first real inroad into this, because at first I was, you know, I was, like many Americans, I was in love with France and in love with Europe. And that love led me to digging deeper into the language and the culture. But that also meant I was digging deeper into the history, which means you’re seeing the underbelly of everything that made this perfect nation. And so actually one of the things I did was start learning Arabic as well, because I wanted to have access to some primary source documents from the colonial era. And even after, so I could see what people were talking about in their own language, not just North African writers writing in French. I watched, as well as reading books, I watched films by French and North African French artists, like Battle of Algiers is one pretty famous one, but also Ici on noie les Algériens, which is Here We Drown Algerians, and yeah, it’s a— So yeah, it was not really light reading by any means.

GJ: Yeah, no, sure. So I took a little Arabic in high school. My teacher was Tunisians so I have a Tunisian accent. What kind of Arabic are you learning?

CLC: So I had to learn Moroccan standard when I was studying, but they also taught it to us with one colloquial and tandem and but I had different teachers each time. So one teacher was Moroccan, but he taught me Egyptian because that was what the department said everybody had to do. But we had, we had like, Darija club. And so I would speak Darija with him outside of class. But then I had another teacher who would speak I we only really had Egyptian, we have Masri or Shami, so Syrian, dialects to choose from an actual class. And so we did Syrian dialect, Leventine dialect, in another class. And so it was back and forth. And actually, I, my partner and I, sometimes we speak Arabic, but she makes fun of me because I have a in general I have a Moroccan or Egyptian accent.

GJ: And you say the G?

CLC: Mmmm… Sometimes! Sometimes, okay, but I still I have my kafs from hanging out with my Moroccan professor a lot. And oh, gosh, what else? I keep all of my negative shushes. And they do not.

GJ: So yeah, I remember when I was taking Arabic because my mom studied Arabic as well. But she and she lived in Egypt for a year. So I would be pronouncing things the way I was pronouncing them. And she’d be like, No, no, no, it’s this way, the Egyptian way. So how did you decide what to put in the book from history and what to ditch? Like one thing that I found really interesting is that Balladaire, which is clearly inspired in part by France, is an atheist state rather than being Catholic as France was. So how did you make that kind of decision?

CLC: Well,one thing that I didn’t want to do was to make just straight analogs of these nations. I wanted on one hand, just to be able to write, you know, a fantasy world with different magic and stuff like that. And so if I were going to distinctly create a Catholicism and Islam or whatever, I’m not actually really writing fantasy, I’m just writing historical fiction. And that wasn’t where I wanted to go. But also, I’m not a historian, and I’m not North African. And so that’s not really, I don’t think, for that, really for me. Not unless I’m doing a substantial amount more research than I have done. And I’ve done research in general, but also specifically, and I just don’t, I would never call myself expert enough to write like a straight historical fiction about France and any North African country.

GJ: Oh, that makes total sense. Do you have any—are there books that you thought were particularly good? Like, if people were interested in learning more about the actual French colonization of North Africa? Are there books that you thought were particularly superb?

CLC: The films would be a good start.

GJ: Okay, awesome. Yeah. I’ll include those names in the show notes so people can look for them. So how did you come to the fantasy genre? Have you always been a fantasy reader? What are some books you started with?

CLC: Have I always been in the fantasy genre? Definitely, almost to the exclusion of science fiction for a very long time. Yeah. But I can’t remember what my first young fantasy book would have been. But the one that really changed the game for me was when I first read The Wheel of Time, the first Wheel of Time books, and because I had like a kids’ edition—

GJ: Oh my God, that’s adorable.

CLC: Yeah, it was like, I mean, I don’t know if it was intended to be for kids. But it came in like my school’s little book catalog. And it was like divided into two, so it was like, small hand size, smaller hands, I don’t know. And so that was kind of the beginning of the end. And then like, my parents noticed me or family members noticed me—like I was always a bookworm, but they started seeing that I was interested in this fantasy. And I will never forget, I had a family member, a couple aunts of mine who really loved Lord of the Rings. And basically, they found out I liked fantasy. The night that I was hanging out with them at their house, and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers had just come out. And so they kind of looked at me, and then they looked at each other. And they said, Okay, we’re going to the movies tonight. And they sat me in front of Lord of the Rings number one, bought us tickets for Lord of the Rings number two later that night. And then I got about like halfway to like Gandalf fighting the Balrog, and then they just sort of picked me up and whisked me away to the movie theater. And that was the end, and then like for Christmas that year, I got Lord of the Rings book, I got Lord of the Rings soundtracks. I got all the movies up to that point. It was—yeah, that was it.

GJ: That sounds like a near perfect movie viewing experience. It’s actually so validating to hear someone else say they saw the movies first. My sister was a big fan. My older sister was a big fan of the books. And I tried to read them numerous times before the movies came out. And I just couldn’t get past—like I know, everyone says Tom Bombadil, and I did struggle to get past Tom Bombadil. And then I really couldn’t get past the Council of Elrond. When Fellowship of the Ring came out, I just saw the movie. And then I skipped and read The Two Towers first, which worked really well.

CLC: Yeah, I don’t know if I would have made it if it hadn’t been for seeing the movies first. And then I mean, the third movie didn’t come out for so long that I had nothing else to do. I was, you know, I was a kid. So I just read through it, I guess.

GJ: And you said to the exclusion of science fiction— Are you reading more science fiction nowadays?

CLC: Yes, yes, I am. I’m, I’m sure I had like some bad experiences reading like classical science fiction. And at this point, I don’t blame myself. I’m like, Well, of course you did. But now things are a bit different. And so I think I think the first one that kind of really got me into science fiction— And so now I’ve gone back and been reading through things, but I think Ancillary Justice was, I don’t know, my science fiction gateway drug, maybe?

GJ: I read Ender’s Game when I was in middle school, and I really liked it. So as you can imagine, that’s been a whole journey since then, given that its author is just an absolutely terrible person.

CLC: Yeah, I did read Ender’s Game. And that was the only one

GJ: Yeah, it was the only one for me to– I’m not really sure why, I’m not really sure what bounced me out of reading more SF. And then for military fantasy, is that a subgenre that you’ve read a lot of? Because I have read a moderate amount.

CLC: I feel like I’ve read a lot. But part of that for me, it was just that I feel like so much of fantasy has been military fantasy. It’s always about somebody going off to fight this war and that war. But I do think that the subgenre is getting more specific. And I remember stumbling upon Django Wexler’s The Thousand Names. And it was, as I was rolling this seed of an idea, that scene of Touraine having to execute some people, and in my head at the time, it was her with a rifle. And she was part of a firing squad. And I couldn’t quite reconcile the idea of, you know, jumping forward in technology like that, in fantasy. And so seeing The Thousand Names was like, this light bulb going off, like, oh, it is fantasy. You can, you can do whatever you want.

GJ: Whatever you want. It’s great.

CLC: Yeah. And that proved that there was a market for it, as well as Brian McClellan’s Powder Mage series. And so I just sort of ran with it. I didn’t really look back, didn’t ask any questions, though, I probably will, I will go back and probably write something that’s just like, swords because I like them. But sorry, to go back to your actual question. I’m—the other sort of scholarly interest I have, it’s related to postcolonial stuff, but it’s also war literature, and war narratives, and how we talk about war, how we engage in it, how we memorialize and how we fantasize about it. And so, I probably still have some more military fantasy coming out in the future.

GJ: That’s awesome. Am I right— Did I read that you have a background as a personal trainer?

CLC: Yes.

GJ: Was that useful to you in writing a character like Touraine, whose living depends on her being in really good physical shape?

CLC: I don’t know that I use that, per se. I mean, like, I have a pretty solid idea of what humans are capable of training to do. And not just like what they could do in a fantasy book. But I didn’t—I don’t think I really used it so much. But it did impact how I conceived of her and how I conceived of characters’ physicality in general.

GJ: Yeah, for sure. So what is the best workout routine to attain arms like Touraine’s like if you were going to do something that didn’t require you to be taken from your home and raised by a punishingly racist imperial system of warfare,

CLC: I mean, I am primarily a body weight training emphasis. And so my go-to would always be different varieties of push-ups and pull-ups. But if you’ve got some dumbbells laying around your house, by all means, pop up some curls and stuff and load them up.

GJ: All right, this is great to know, I have very weak noodle arms.

CLC: I would definitely start with the push-ups then.

GJ: Okay, all right, noted. I definitely can’t do a push-up, but I guess I can work up to it. Um, so Luca and Touraine’s relationship is obviously really complicated. Luca’s trying to prove herself as a ruler so that she’ll have access to her rightful throne. And I’m curious about the writing process when you’re writing about a character who, who personally is sympathetic, but who structurally as part of the ruling class of this empire is capable of doing and is doing a great deal of damage,

CLC: It was a very interrogatory kind of process. Like, I would not even say that I made her all that sympathetic. Like, I think that there’s, there are some people who will see more, and some people who will see less, put it that way. But I really just wanted to show that she had these conflicting desires, and like many of us do, and that sometimes we don’t always want the good thing, more than we want the thing that is for us. Yeah. And sometimes, you know, the good thing is what helps people and what is for me, is just for me.

GJ: One thing that I thought was interesting about Luca is that she really hasn’t asked herself about the ethics of holding power at all. She’s thinking exclusively in terms of, well, I think I would be better than, say, my uncle. So she’s not really thinking about the fundamental ethics of running an empire. Do you think there’s an ethical way to hold power in a monarchy? You know, the easy questions on Wednesday evening.

CLC: Well, I’ll put it this way. I do not think there is an ethical way to have an empire at all.

GJ: Yeah, agreed. I think it’s inherently violent.

CLC: But I do like my little fantasy books where we can just, you know, la la la la la, princess is cute, kiss. But that’s also not what I’m writing here either.

GJ: Yeah. I mean, the relationship is at all stages very fraught. Are you—if I understand book schedules correctly, you must be at least well into writing Book Two.

CLC: Yes, I have, as of now, given a draft to my editor, and am thinking revision thoughts about it, as well as trying to figure out how we’re going to wrap this whole thing up.

GJ: Sure. Is there anything you can tell us about what’s ahead?

CLC: Well, we’re going to have a few different points of view, a few new characters coming in. I’m not entirely sure how many of them will make it, at least their point of views will make it into the actual final second book, but they are all characters you’ve met before, or at least heard about. And so I am excited to let people get to know these characters a bit more

GJ: Awesome. And how was the process of writing the second book, as compared to writing the first one,

CLC: It was very fast.

Gin Jenny 20:51

It seems incredibly hard.

CLC: In between my very, very first draft of The Unbroken, and this draft, I became an outliner. And so that was very, very helpful. And so I actually was able to outline and write through it for the first draft of book two—We have some titles, we just need to get them approved. I can’t wait. But I think it also just invited its own new challenges, you know, because I’m, like, like many authors say, when they’re writing their book twos, especially when they’re writing them on like genre schedule publishing, like a year later, and a year later, you start seeing people’s reactions. And sometimes, you know, that’s getting into your head and impacting things you thought you wanted, but don’t want and, and so on. So it’s definitely an exercise in finding your core desire for the story and being able to block out the noise and other people’s opinions for what story they want you to write. So in that way, it’s actually quite difficult.

GJ: Yeah, I’m sure. So you said you became an outliner? How did you become an outliner? What were you before?

CLC: Like a very just faint sketch of an outline, like, here’s some vague ideas. This is the beginning. And this is the end. And this is probably how they get there. Because you know, they need this scene and this scene. And so I went kind of like that, and that was not the worst idea. I think someone’s described, basically, what I did is like the headlights method, you can see as far as your car’s headlights, and it was fine. But I also had to do a lot of revision. And so like nine years later, here we are. And yeah, very different from the outline and the year.

GJ: Yeah, no, I’m sure. The headlight method, that’s really good. I haven’t heard that before. But that’s an extremely good analogy. Another thing I always like to hear about is the cover design process. Were you involved much in that and what was that process like on your end?

CLC: It was exhilarating. Because I found out very early on that I was going to get Tommy Arnold who I’ve been in love with his work for forever. Even before I knew it was him, like, he stopped the show for everybody with the Gideon covers. So when I found out the same guy was going to do the art for Touraine, I just lost my mind. But before that, I was talking with Brit, my editor, and she really understood the kind of story I was telling and the kind of writer I am and the kind of person I am, honestly. And she said that she wanted to take the idea of the man in the center of the cover on a throne or in his pile of bones chair whatever. Like think of The Prince of Thorns and King of Thorns and like that series, those covers, or think of The Powder Campaign, the Bryan McClellan books, think of those covers. And she’s like, I want to keep those elements but I want it to be a woman, and I was like, that’s exactly it. That’s what I want. And so we have Touraine, and we’ve got power, we’ve got biceps, destruction in the background, all those things that are usually guy things are now hers.

GJ: Yeah, it’s a beautiful cover. I think it’s really great. We’ve been in quarantine for a year now. Have you discovered any new quarantine skills? Or is there anything that’s gotten you through quarantine?

CLC: Um, do I have any new skills? No. But I wouldn’t have minded—I thought a lot that I wish I had my instruments. I play the cello, but my cello has been at my mom’s in Kansas City for the last few years while I travel. Well, you know, so I guess I could say I picked up running a couple years ago, but started doing it more, racking up my mileage this year, training on and off for races that are not happening, but still, you know, pretending. What else helped me get through? The Assassin’s Creed games. I spent the first half of quarantine playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. And now a year later, I started playing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. So that’s where I’m at with my quarantine life.

GJ: Those seem like amazing things. I just started gaming for the first time ever in quarantine.

CLC: Oh, welcome, welcome.

GJ: Thank you. Thank you. People are very welcoming. Overall, I feel like everyone’s like, Oh, good for you. It’s a good time to be a gamer.

CLC: What are you playing?

GJ: I like walking simulators. They’re not stressful, and I’m a very stressy gamer.

CLC: Oh, like what?

GJ: Oh, like, um, okay, what if I haven’t played that many games yet? So bear with me. Um, I think the first one I played was What Remains of Edith Finch.

CLC: Oh, okay.

GJ: And then what else have I done? Oh, like, Machinarium, and then there’s another one from—maybe, that’s maybe that’s not a walking simulator, in which case I apologize for forgetting the terminology. But yeah, Machinarium. And then I played a couple other games from that company, because they’re, they’re cute and not stressful.

CLC: I’m partial to—I mean, I don’t really know terminology either; like, I know basic stuff. But I just know, I like games that have stealth modes assassination. So the Assassin’s Creed games, obviously, are a go. And also the Shadow of Mordor, Shadow of War series have a similar play style. I can either stab in the dark or range weapon, or melee, I have the option of deciding who I want to be that day. And either being a sneaky killer or just laying waste, and then it just depends on my mood. But I also, I don’t know, real gamers may not care for these things. But I like the settlement aspect of Valhalla right now. You get to kind of build your own settlement. It’s a little bit Age of Empires. It’s kind of funny, because my partner is also playing Stardew Valley at the same time. And so there are all these little parallels, like they go fishing, and I just have a fishing rod now so I can go fishing. And I have to go and collect these little iron pieces, and they have to go collect these little iron pieces. I do a lot more murder.

GJ: So there’s more that unites us than divides us. And then before I let you go, just wondering what you are reading right now?

CLC: What I am trying to read would probably be more accurate, because I’m actually just sort of surfing gently between books that I’m really excited about, but my brain space just, I’m struggling to sit down sometimes and just read. But I’ve got Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell. I have very high hopes. I am very excited for something nice and warm, especially given that my other read is The Monster Baru Cormorant. I’m rereading that.

GJ: Oh, yeah, I’ve heard it. I’ve heard it’s brutal.

CLC: Yeah, I love it. And then I also just got my copy of A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine, so some really good stuff on deck.

GJ: So Winter’s Orbit came out of fanfiction, sort of. Are you a fanfiction reader at all?

CLC: I have been, but I haven’t lately. I think actually, honestly, part of it was, and I’m sure other fanfiction readers will describe their adventures into it the same way. But, you know, I was a young queer reader, and I couldn’t find anything. I mean, there were some books but not like the plethora there is now. And now that there is just so much more, I’ve found myself reading these outside books instead. Now that I’ve been talking about it more with people, I’m thinking about, you know, finding some good stuff. So if people have recs, by all means, please, I’m ready. I actually found myself wishing— So this is a call maybe to your listeners for some good Eivor/Randvi fic, like, the gay one. Which is from Valhalla, the video game? So if anybody’s got any of that, I want it.

GJ: Oh, okay. I’m gonna ask my video gaming friends. This is all a mystery to me, but I’ll ask them. What did you read fanfiction in when you were younger?

CLC: It was not a specific property, but just like original fics that people were writing. Though I did used to belong to a writing role playing forum for the Wheel of Time series, which was my gateway drug.

GJ: Alright, awesome. Well, hopefully we’ll be able to get you some fantastic recs. It has been a nice solace during the pandemic to have fanfiction to return to I’m relatively new to it. I’ve only been reading it for, I don’t know, five or six years. It’s been really nice during the pandemic when my brain just doesn’t have room for anything else.

CLC: Yeah, I bet.

GJ: Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast It’s been really great. Where can people find you online if they want to say hey, or learn more about the book?

CLC: My Twitter is at C_L_Clark. And you can sign up for my newsletter at clclark.substack.com. And I think my website is attached to both of those things.

GJ: Okay. Perfect. And the book is The Unbroken and it’s out now and everyone should read it. It’s really great. I couldn’t put it down. I was really so excited to find out what was going to happen next. And I can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy.

CLC: Thank you so much.

GJ: This has been the Reading the End Bookcast with the Demographically Similar Jennys. You can visit the blog at readingtheend.com; you can follow us on Twitter @readingtheend. We are both on Goodreads as Whiskey Jenny and Gin Jenny, and you can email us—we love it when you do—at readingtheend@gmail.com. If you like what we do, you can become a podcast patron at Patreon.com/ReadingtheEnd. And if you’re listening to us on iTunes, please leave us a review. It helps other people find the podcast.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

THE UNBROKEN was a veritable masterpiece to me. i've never seen a book so clearly capture the morally grey areas of politics, rebellion, and war. the fact that it cannot be concretely said that either touraine or luca is a hero is stunning to me; their faults are so heartbreakingly human and, frankly, relatable. i supremely enjoyed this read and was sad to see the book end at all.

I am almost finished with this book and I've got to say that I absolutely love everything about this. Never have I felt that strong female characters were completely fleshed out but this has hit every single checkmark I've ever had for liking female characters. As a woman I am floored by them. Touraine and her arms are what I'm living for right now.
As I reach the end I have my fingers crossed that this is open-ended enough to be a series cause I 110 percent need it.

This is a military/political fantasy and as I am a HUGE fan of that I can for certain recommend it for those that need more of that in their lives. It leans extremely Chaotic Bisexual. And I'm FOR IT.

Among all this ranting and raving I do have more to add on a serious note. It does cover rather well, I think, some issues involving colonization that are quite dark. It doesn't embellish on them too much but it implies very well. The world feels fleshed out and I wouldn't be surprised if the author has vast notes on the world building that would continue if this is a series. (fingers crossed)

If the lovely author of this sees this please continue. Thx <3

HO BOY. I do not even know where to start with this one. There's so much here, and it's all so GOOD.

This is a smart, brutal book invested in the concept of empire and colonization. It struggles heavily with complicity, and it's not shy or evasive when it comes down to it. It shares some thematic resonance with Kacen Callender's Queen of the Conquered and Matt Wallace's Savage Legion, though the plot and setting are entirely novel. And some elements remind me quite a bit of Emily Skrutskie's Bonds of Brass — though this book succeeds in all of the places where that novel fell flat, for me, as it manages to actually meaningfully grapple with the concept of empire.

The Unbroken follows two women at opposite poles of an empire whose lives crash together. One, Touraine, is a lieutenant in a colonial brigade of the empire that conquered her home country. The other, Luca, is the embattled heir to that country.

Touraine's military superiors have failed her again and again, and early in the story, they strip her of her rank and condemn her to death. Luca decides to save her so that she can use the former lieutenant to infiltrate a rebel cell that's trying to destabilize colonial rule. Meanwhile, she's also trying to find proof that rumors of magic are true, and use that magic to heal a plague.

What follows is... a lot. Touraine struggles with indoctrination/inculcation that has convinced her to remain loyal to the empire that separated her from her family and continues to abuse her and use her comrades as canon-fodder. Yet, she excels among her soldiers, gets promoted, feels success and pleasure at the small nibbles of validation that the army metes out. Even after getting sentenced to death, she's still loyal.

But things start to change as she interacts with the rebel forces. She has family among them, and they... don't get along. But her connection to Luca continues to draw her back in to the life she's learned to love, and the rules that she's been promised will reward her if she follows them.

Meanwhile, Luca's scrabbling for power, desperate to push Touraine to find any kind of advantage that can end the rebel insurgence. She wants to take a different approach to rule than others in the empire, is a scholar seeking the secrets of magic and peace, and she sees herself as better than the rest. Maybe she is, but she's still cruel, self-centered, and short-sighted in many ways.

Everyone makes terrible, terrible choices in this book. Things go horribly, progressively wrong. Each time something gets slightly better, something else goes wrong (usually because Touraine or Luca made a disastrous decision). There's no easy romance here — there's a lot of tension, and betrayal, and fury. But their connection is undeniable and fascinating. As they fight on and their allegiances change, their relationship still propels the book.

I loved this one overall. It's smart and mean and cathartic in a way that really, really works, and is compulsively readable to boot. Highly recommend — and you still have a few days to preorder.

The Unbroken begins with Lieutenant Tourraine arriving in her homeland (El-Wast) with her comrades to quell a rebellion. Stolen as a baby and raised as a soldier, Tourraine seldom questions her loyalty to the Balladairan army and empire. However, during a hanging in which she’s the executioner, a man recognizes her. And even after his death, his words still haunt her. But that might as well be the least of her worries. She’s kidnapped by rebels and then, after being rescued, framed for the murder of one of the army’s generals — a crime punishable by death.

Meanwhile, Princess Luca seeks an assistant willing to switch sides. She aims to usurp the throne that her uncle currently claims. Tourraine has saved her from an assassination attempt, and so when the army condemns Tourraine for the murder, Luca takes the chance to save her from death. As the two grow romantically closer, the desire for power and freedom becomes more complicated than they expected.

The story alternates between Tourraine and Luca’s (third person) perspectives, providing insight into the politics and social dynamics of this world. At the same time, Clark keeps up with the tension and high stakes. Political intrigue fills the pages of this riveting novel. The world, queer normative, is immersive and vivid. Clark sets enough details to paint a full image of the setting and how the characters move in their environment. Women are in positions of power and referred to as sir. Princess Luca is physically disabled (uses a cane). The chemistry between Luca and Tourraine simmers then crackles.

Clark has crafted a riveting story about realizing where our loyalties lie and the consequences of defection and complicity.

The Unbroken (book link) by C.L. Clark is available from Orbit Books. You can read an excerpt here.

My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Thank you Orbit Books for providing me with an early copy

Let me start by saying that I absolutely loved the diversity in this story. Overall I really enjoyed both Luca and Touraine as MCs and while the book was dark, the character arcs and their development were fascinating. The magic, history and overall creation of the world was fascinating and the politics were so well done and intriguing.

That being said, this is a very bleak book, and I say that as someone who read and loved The Poppy War. I appreciated the severity and seriousness of the overall plot and topics being addressed, but I do feel that the book could've benefitted from some more lighthearted moments.

The Unbroken kicked off with a bang and I found the first 130 pages easy to devour. After that, however, things were pretty slow going until 60%. I can usually read any book in under 3 days but this one took me weeks to finish because I could only read a bit of it at a time.

Yes, I know this review is coming late on publication day. However I finished The Unbroken literally at midnight last night and have spent all day shirking my responsibilities while wondering how on earth I was going to write this review.
I primarily wanted to read The Unbroken for two reasons. Firstly, it’s an anti-colonial fantasy novel drawing from the history of French occupied North Africa. Secondly, look at Touraine’s arms on the cover. I thank publishing for giving us buff queer women with great arms in fantasy covers and beg for this design trend to continue. (Does two books make a trend? Publishers, please make it so.)
The Unbroken is a complicated, messy book that unflinchingly looks at the brutality of colonialism. Often fantasy books that draw inspiration from history are centered on the history of the British empire. Very rarely do I see fiction in English that covers France’s colonial history despite its horrors and impact. (If you have book recs, please hit me with them in the comments below!)
Reader, this book is brutal. Clark does an amazing job with the setting, history, and characters. Touraine is fighting for her family, only she doesn’t know exactly who that is anymore. Luca is trying to hold onto power, and is willing to make sacrifices she didn’t think she could in order to maintain order. The relationship between Touraine and Luca is the core of the book. Princess and soldier, colonizer and colonized, master and servant. The romantic and sexual tension between them is delicious as they each struggle with their roles within Balladairan society.
What I really like though is that Clark embraces how messy this relationship is. Touraine owes Luca her life. Luca needs Touraine to accomplish her goals and see her on the throne as queen. Touraine breaks Luca’s faith to try and save the people who are important to her. Luca fails to truly understand the impact of her power and actions, both on Touraine and the Qazāli, causing death and bloodshed she didn’t expect. This is not a ‘love solves all’ relationship. Despite everything though, Touraine and Luca are constantly drawn together and then pushed apart due to the power dynamic between them.
The Unbroken is a smart and complex book that is also entertaining. There’s a couple pacing elements that could have been tightened up a bit, but that didn’t detract from my love of the story and the characters. I’m very much looking forward to the sequel.

I received an advanced copy of The Unbroken from Orbit Books so I could share my review with you! I’ve also created a costume design inspired by the story, so come back tomorrow to check out my rendition of Touraine!

Content Warning- The Unbroken contains scenes and discussions of rape (threats and past attempts), torture, violence, colonialism, and war.

Touraine is a soldier, stolen away from her homeland as a child to serve in the Balladarian army. Her loyalties lie with her fellow conscripts and with Balladaire, the nation she has fought her entire life to protect, but when her unit is reassigned to her former homeland, Touraine begins to question everything she thought she knew. Tasked with quelling a rebellion amongst her own people, Touraine realizes that there are no winners with blood and loyalty conflict.
Luca, the heir to the Balladarian empire, has left her homeland to prove herself capable of ruling by easing turmoil in one of the colonies. When she arrives, however, Luca is met with a ruthless ruling-class presence and unrest amongst the masses. She finds herself in need of a negotiator, an assistant to pave the way towards peace. When Luca crosses paths with Touraine, their fates become intertwined in a desperate bid for harmony between nations.

You can get your copy of The Unbroken today from Orbit Books!

After reading the synopsis for The Unbroken, I knew instantly that this book would be one of my favorite reads of the year, as I am a sucker for queer fantasy novels. Even with these high expectations, I was still blown away by the depth and quality of this story. The Unbroken speaks to the dark truths of colonialism in a fantasy setting, making a powerful statement about the inequities and violences of coloniality in the past and present world. Additionally, the world of The Unbroken is queernormative, so there is a lot of casual and prominent LGBTQ representation. Beyond these vital larger themes, The Unbroken has amazing character development, making it an incredibly immersive read. I am eagerly anticipating the sequel, which is slated to be released sometime in the future (hopefully not too long)!

My Recommendation-
If you love complex fantasy worlds with important statements about reality, you absolutely must read The Unbroken! This book would be a great read for fans of fantasy novels like Bone Shard Daughter and The Black Sun!

I often struggle with military fantasies because of the amount of fight scenes, which is usually my least favorite part to read about, but this book had just the right amount. It focused more on politics, strategy and the discussion on the effects of colonization. I liked how normalized queerness was in this world. The characters were interesting and complex but where this book fell short for me was relationships. Whether it was comradeship, romantic, parent-child or any other relationship, most of them were underdeveloped. Which in turn, made some of the decisions the characters made look out of place? The relationships presented on the page didn't match the "feelings" the characters supposedly had towards each other. Other than that, it was a great read and I'm looking forward to book 2.

Thank you to Orbit for providing an advanced reading copy!

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark is a powerful anti-colonial military fantasy that is sapphic to boot. Though its length is about par for books in its genre (i.e., long), I read this in just over 24 hours. The stakes are high. The characters are round, personable, interesting, and fiercely lovable. The romance greatly disappointed me, but that was my only complaint. The string of events that sets off the plot hooked me; with each new development, the barb sunk in deeper. I needed to know what would happen to these people, to this nation, to the two women at the centre of the storm. I've heard this described as slow, but for me, just as Touraine herself walked a knife's edge, so did The Unbroken (and the book pulls it off rather better than the character—sorry, Touraine): it had the depth of a slow, character-driven book while maintaining the intensity of a plot-driven fantasy page-turner.
I'm surprised at how invested Clark had me in every strategic decision. There weren't many of them, but each hit the sweet spot of surprising but inevitable. I understood the motivations of every group, including the walls they felt backed into and the desperate decisions they made to try to escape those tight corners. Impressively, Clark gave us both a bird's eye and on-the-ground view of the conflict.
And, most importantly, The Unbroken reveals a powerful point under all of the blood and rubble: not every hard choice is the right choice. More often than not, the wrong choices are more difficult emotionally but easier logistically; the right choice is more work, but you will recognize the feeling it gives you: it is liberating.
Thank you for the ARC!

Thank you Netgalley and Orbit books for this eARC! This book has it all: an incredible cover, compelling and complex characters, and a fully-developed world that takes a loosely historical setting and weaves in a thread of magic.

The Unbroken takes place in a fantasy-adjacent version of North Africa during the period of French colonial rule – so think the Maghreb during the 1800s or first half of the 1900s, a region with a rich culture shaped by various African and Eurasian influences. Balladaire (based on imperial France) has several “southern colonies” in the region. Tensions are on the rise in their foremost colony, Qazāl, where rebel groups seek to agitate the general population against Balladairan rule.

The story begins with a bang: as the princess of Balladaire descends to the docks of El-Wast, a Qazāli coastal city, rebels use the chaos to make an attempt on her life. Their attempt is thwarted by a Qazāli-born colonial soldier, setting events into motion that will transform Qazāl and Balladaire.

*****

The Unbroken alternates between two narrators. Touraine, a Lieutenant of the Balladairan Colonial Brigade, offers a unique point of view as both insider and outsider on each side of the conflict. Co-opted into the Balladairan military as a child, stripped of her family and birth-name, she nonetheless dreams of proving herself and moving up through the ranks, despite being viewed as a second-class subject by her Balladair-born superiors. She is Qazāli by birth, but the people of El-Wast alternately consider her a traitor, a wolf in sheep’s clothing, or a lost child who might help the rebellion but does not fully belong. Touraine’s loyalties are strained in every direction and there are no simple choices, but what she wants most is to protect her fellow conscripts, who are little more than pawns.

Luca, princess of Balladaire, provides an interesting counterpoint, as she’s privileged in some major ways but an outsider in others. A childhood injury left her with permanent damage to her legs, and while this limits her ability to prove her physical worth in a society that values military power, she has honed her intelligence to a knife-point. Luca arrives in Qazāl with a clear goal in mind: quell a rebellion, restore the status quo, and return to Balladaire having proven herself worthy to take her rightful place on the throne from her regent uncle. Luca is… complicated. She wants to excel, wants to be a good queen, but so much of her idea of being a good ruler is couched in colonial terms, where success means keeping Qazāl subservient to Balladaire’s benefit. She is sympathetic and alienating in turns.

*****

This is the first fictional story I’ve read that blends post-colonial and anti-imperialist theory together with fantasy and queer elements in this way, and the result is phenomenal. Clark approaches every level of politics with nuance, from the personal to the highest echelons of military and empire, and no two characters feel the same way about any given issue – not just to be contrary or prove a point, but to show that there are no easy answers, no universal experiences. While there’s nuance, however, Clark cuts through the bullshit of colonial rhetoric to tackle the myths of dependency, “civilizing” an uncivilized land, and others.

That said, there’s a lot of slow-paced political maneuvering, especially in the first half of the book. Personal struggle is as – if not more – important as the broader conflict; we learn as much about a character from their logic in a game of chess, or the truths that come out of them in the heat of an argument, as we do in the middle of battle. That’s not to say there’s no action! This is the first novel in a planned series, though, and The Unbroken devotes a lot of time to building a solid understanding of its world and all the moving parts through these scenes of negotiation, so that the reader grasps the broader picture and what’s at stake without the need for heavy infodumping.

*****

If you were drawn in by the promise of sapphic romance, Touraine and Luca have chemistry, mutual attraction, and a few moments of genuine tenderness behind closed doors – but this is not a “love conquers all differences” sort of story, or one that I’d classify as romance. The Unbroken reckons with the inherent power imbalance between Touraine and Luca and all of the uncomfortable truths that come with it, which I loved, because there’s so much that needs to be taken apart before these characters can truly come together in a satisfying way, if they ever do. A romance that handwaves these issues wouldn’t have fit the tone of the story. As it stands, Touraine and Luca walk a thin line between enemies and lovers, each forcing the other to question everything they think they know, and I’m excited to see how their relationship develops.

Luca and Touraine aren’t the only queer rep – this is a queernorm world with queer primary, supporting, and background characters. Touraine also has a complicated relationship with a fellow conscript, Pruett; two of my favourite supporting characters are wives; there’s a trans side character who will have a bigger role as the series progresses; there are several other examples of relationships between Balladairans and Qazālis and a few of them are queer as well.

*****

The Unbroken is a complex, fascinating work of political fantasy and the opener for what promises to be a compelling series. I can’t wait to see what C.L. Clark has in store for the sequel.

The Unbroken takes elements of a military fantasy and adds in deeply complicated characters with plenty of political intrigue. This is a gritty read that never shies away from the brutal realities of colonialism and imperialism. It vividly highlights the extent people are willing to go to fight for their freedom, identity and sovereignty – even when the odds are stacked against them.

The story begins as a ship with a military contingent from Balladaire approaches the shores of its fractious colony Qazāl. On board is a colonial regiment comprised of men and women who were kidnapped throughout the colonies as children and conscripted to be troops for the Balladairan army. They are always the first to be thrown into front lines but despite years of difficult service they are still looked down upon by their Balladairan peers. Even the regiment’s nickname, the “Sands”, is used disparagingly by their superiors.

One of these conscript soldiers is a main character Touraine. She was stolen from Qazāl itself as a child, but she’s reticent to feeling any particular tie to her homeland. Touraine has no doubt that the deployment of the Sands to help deal with a rebellious uprising in the Qazāli city of El-Wast is as much a test of their loyalties to the Balladairan empire as it is a measure to ramp up military might over their colonial holdings.

Touraine is considered a “model” conscript who believes if she proves her unwavering allegiance to Balladaire, she and the other Sands will finally be rewarded as they deserve. She adhered to their every rule to discard any cultural influence from her homeland right up to the Shalan language used in Qazāl. Everything from her education and martial training to her Balladairan name was instilled in her with the purpose of “civilizing” her in their service. With her finally returning to her homeland for the first time in over twenty years, Touraine’s priority is to protect her fellow Sands and ensure none of her troops are punished for sympathizing with the resisting Qazāli. She’s seen firsthand just how fatal Balladairan punishments for disloyalty and defection can be.

The conscript soldiers are also accompanied by the Balladairan princess and heir apparent, Luca. She is the other main character and has a more calculating agenda of her own. She does not intent to let her uncle be the regent over the empire forever. Despite his assurances that he’s eager to let Luca rule once she’s prepared, she knows what he’s really waiting for is the chance to attack her competency and take the throne for himself.

Luca’s decided that the situation in Qazāl will be her chance to demonstrate her ability, and she does not intend to let her disability or sneering Balladairan aristocrats get in her way. She is well-educated, speaks Shalan fluently, and believes that she can right some of the many wrongs that have been done to the Qazāli people. In her mind, if she could just find a way to negotiate with the rebels and rectify some of the greater grievances in Qazāl, then all will be pacified and nothing will come to bloodshed. She also intends to focus on her secret goal – to investigate any traces of magic that would be taboo back in Balladaire.

Touraine and Luca soon find themselves thrown together through an assassination attempt and a set-up until eventually Touraine ends up as Luca’s liaison to the rebels. But things only get more difficult from there as they both learn that their goals aren’t simple as they wish them to be.

Story wise, there were times the pacing the plot could be rather slow. I wouldn’t have minded it as much if didn’t feel the narrative build up towards key events were missing some key details or moments that would have made the climax more impactful. But this is something I can overlook as the major themes apparent throughout the story were always engaging and dealt with in a thoughtful manner.

There just really are so many elements to this book that are hard-hitting. Touraine in particular has a truly fascinating character arc as she struggles with her faltering allegiance to Balladaire and lack of sense of belonging. She is never accepted as Balladairan but feels alienated from her own culture as well. The only place she feels she belongs is with the Sands, and her desperation to try to protect them from hostility from both sides often leads her to make terrible choices. Touraine can be frustrating but it’s relieving to watch her slowly realize that entire system that keeps her chained as a conscript has always been built as a method of enduring subjugation. Watching her interactions with those who challenge her beliefs – most powerfully from a long-lost relative – are some of the most powerful moments.

Then there’s also the incredulity of watching negotiations that are meant to be in “good faith” and questioning how that can possibly take place with the severe power disparity between the conquered and the conquerors. It would just highlight more of my frustrations with Luca’s mindset whenever her initial intentions to try to improve conditions for the Qazāli would always fall back into embracing the system and brute force whenever she felt cornered.

I do have to touch a bit on the romantic subplot. I’m not much sold on the romance yet for a few reasons. The first is that there’s such an obvious power imbalance and that Luca rarely shies from lording her station when things aren’t going her way. I also can’t quite pinpoint any concrete romantic development between them that explains their sudden strong feelings for one another besides their physical attraction to each other. With this and the fact that their relationship tended to fade into the background when compared to the other events of the plot, I couldn’t get invested in the romance. But I’m interested to see how it will develop in future books.

The relationship that absolutely did sell me, however, was the relationship between Touraine and Jaghotai. It was messy. It was complex. At one point it was like a punch to the gut. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mother-daughter relationship like this in fantasy and I’m on board to see so much more of it.

I’ll be looking forward to what the future installments will bring for these characters.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing the free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Orbit books for the earc review copy of the Unbroken by C.L. Clark.

I give The Unbroken by C.L. Clark 5/5 stars. This book follows the journey of Touraine who was stolen from her homeland as a child and raised to fight for her homeland’s enemy. The book follows Touraine as she returns home as an enemy soldier occupying her hold homeland. Touraine is a complex and well written character and it feels like you’re feeling all of her emotions with her as you read. The other main character in this book is the crown Princess of the people who took Touraine as a child. This dynamic forms a complicated and complex relationship between the two woman that enthralled me. These two women and their dynamic made the book impossible to put down, because their relationship is like a game of chess where you never know what the next move will be. The world building and plot was beautifully written and what I loved most about the world building was it felt like a natural part of the story rather than an info dump. I would recommend the Unbroken by C.L. Clark to fans of The Poppy War and the Fifth Season. C.L. Clark weaves together amazing writing, complex female characters, stellar world building, and political intrigue to make the perfect start of an action packed series. I can’t wait for the sequel!

Shout out to Netgalley and Orbit for the e-ARC of this book!

This was unique military fantasy book with strong themes of colonialism, identity, and found family vs. blood family, with the slightest sprinkling of a romance in there. I might be in the minority here when I say that I enjoyed the first 50% of this book more than the last 50%. Most of the other reviews I’ve read have had the opposite opinion. The first 50% felt full of political intrigue and world-building and learning the characters…the last 50% felt too full of action. My biggest gripe with the latter half of the book is the constant changing of sides and changing of opinions by characters who were portrayed as committed to their cause. It got to the point where I wasn’t sure what each character believed and I didn’t care to know anyway, after they changed so much with little on-page thoughts about it.

In terms of characters, I liked Luca a lot more than Touraine, mainly because Touraine’s characterization was not consistent to me. She is portrayed as a great soldier and leader, but she is constantly making impulsive decisions that seemingly work against her ultimate goal. Luca also made a lot of bad decisions, but her logic was clear, at the least. I am also just more partial to politically based POV characters so I found her chapters more interesting. Overall, I found both Touraine and Luca to be more tell than show, which made them difficult to connect with, both individually and together.

On the note of POVs and chapters…I am unsure how the physical copy is formatted but there were changes in POVs mid-chapter and I sometimes had a hard time telling because of the formatting, made worse by some time jumps that weren’t clearly illustrated either.

I also really did not like the magic system. It felt very mystical and unexplained to a frustrating degree. When some aspects were explained, it was done so in a confusing way that did not invest me in the magic at all. All of this is compounded by the mixture of religious aspects into one particular type of magic…without revealing spoilers, having someone suddenly believe in a religion they’ve been around for such a short time, at a very convenient time for the climax of the book….it just rubbed me the wrong way.

Overall, I liked the book, more so in the first half than the last, but I am on the fence about if I will continue the series. This first book felt jammed packed with half-developed aspects, which did not help this particular book, but presents opportunities for expansion in the sequel.

The Unbroken, the stunning debut novel from C.L. Clark, follows two women on opposite sides of a long-simmering conflict as they navigate the colonized city of El-Wast. Touraine is a soldier, conscripted as a child by the empire of Balladaire after it conquered her homeland of Qazāl. She barely remembers its capital, El-Wast; doesn’t even remember her mother tongue. And yet the longer she stays, the deeper her connection. Will she fight for Balladaire, or a revolution that might set the city free?

Matters are complicated by Luca, would-be queen of Balladaire, whose uncle currently sits the throne until she is deemed fit to rule. She knows he will find any excuse to keep the throne from her. She wants to be a good queen, a queen for the people. But she also knows that if she doesn’t bring this revolution to heel, she will never get to the chance to rule. When Luca and Touraine cross paths, sparks fly – in more ways than one. They might each be just what the other needs – or they might send El-Wast spiraling into violence.

Touraine and Luca are complicated figures. Both have been compromised by colonialism, a system of oppression in which the colonizer attempts to simultaneously erase and absorb the Other, to eradicate the autonomy of the colonized while commodifying their culture. To the colonizer, this is all perfectly natural, and to the colonized, this can often be made to appear natural. In the beginning, Touraine, despite having been stolen from her family as a child, hangs Qazāli. She pulls the lever. She swings the sword.

Luca is an avatar of the colonial forces that seek to occupy El-Wast and subjugate its people. She believes she is good, that she can help them find a place in Balladairan society. She believes she can make peace with the protesters, can settle with the revolutionaries, while maintaining Balladaire’s hold on the city. Both Luca and Touraine believe they can chart a new path without sacrificing the beliefs they hold dearest.

The Unbroken is a book about fighting back against colonialism, but it’s also a book about complicated, tragically messy individuals doing what they believe is the right thing and seeing it blow up in their faces over and over again. Touraine and Luca are smart, stubborn, and totally at odds. The tender feelings that bloom between them can hardly compete with the huge ideological gulf that separates them. Every interaction is charged with what’s left unsaid, with what can’t be said without cracking the very foundations of empire.

If your reading experience is anything like mine, you will frequently find yourself yelling at these characters for their latest terrible decisions (especially Luca, good grief). They are the very definition of “disaster protagonist.” This can be frustrating, in the wrong hands, but every choice feels absolutely inevitable – a consequence of what Touraine and Luca believe, where they’re coming from, what they’re trying to achieve. In other words, Clark never once lapses into what I call “outline writing” – where characters do things just because the outline said they should. The choices are terrible, and motivated.

Another key strength of The Unbroken is El-Wast itself. The city is vividly realized, and the various factions that comprise its difficult, tenuous political situation are similarly well-drawn. Other characters, including and especially key members of the resistance, are strikingly memorable (including the prickly, violent Jackal, whose exact nature I won’t spoil – but trust me, she’s great). And the twisty plot never sits still long enough to bore.

I was hugely impressed by The Unbroken. I have my quibbles, but once I had acclimated to its richly-textured world, I was hooked. This is a grim book, with only rare moments of levity, but it’s also one that dares to hope for the power of revolution, for the strength to fight oppression. Oh, and best of all: It has an ending! Yes, there is absolutely room for more. There are threads left dangling. But the conclusion is far from a cliffhanger.

I really can’t recommend this one enough, and I can’t wait for the sequel.

One must first feast their eyes on the cover. If this glorious cover doesn't besotten you, then perhaps this synopsis clip will: "Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren't for sale."

I believe this is C.L. Clark's debut novel and she is going to be one to watch for. My first impression was, "C.L. Clark knows how to write." I took a look at her bio and was highly impressed. Oh yes, she's a writer alright!

A powerful, gripping story of shady politicians, militants, magic and some serious arm candy going on. Imagine being torn from your homeland and raised to be a solider to fight for an empire that stole you. Then when you are grown you are sent back to the country of your birth to fight the people of your blood. This story had some wonderfully, intense moments. C.L. Clark has a way with reaching down deep and grabbing the soul.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book, so I could give an honest review.

This book is all about messy, complicated relationships, and how they're even messier and more complicated by colonialism and power dynamics. It's also about the messed-up choices people make in pursuit of their ideals and goals, the lies they tell themselves and others, and the how vulnerable they become when they start telling the truth. The interpersonal dynamics of both the major and minor characters in The Unbroken are what take a good story and make it great.

This ARC’s a little hard to for me to review because I was so looking forward to it and I loved the cover so much and the things I didn’t like about it are so subjective. But hey, we know that there are some things I don’t like that a lot of you really love and vice versa, so this isn’t at all a blanket condemnation.

First off, it’s a military fantasy take on a colonized North African-inspired realm and is exactly as grim as that sounds. It’s harsh and violent and I spent the whole time just too tense and anxious to really enjoy it. And that’s the first point where we may differ, you could have a much higher tolerance for literally just this specific genre and tone.

I was also just conflicted about the second POV character. The first is our main character, Touraine, taken as a child and now conscripted into the empire’s army, part of the regiment made up of colonized subjects who’ll never get the opportunities or rewards the other soldiers do. Touraine’s hoping to change that and of course it’s never that easy or simple but a naturally rootable character, right. But the other POV is the actual princess of the empire. I have to say, I felt fully conflicted about how I was supposed to feel about her parts, considering the sympathy she inherited from getting such a large perspective was offset by who she was.

It was hard to root for the romance, and I wasn’t sure why they liked each other or if we were even supposed to want them to be together. There’s such an imbalance, not simply in the obvious uneven dynamic, but because the narrative places one of the characters so much more in the wrong. I would have actually been okay with no romance over this, I think, which says a lot.

On the plus side, it’s an interesting and well-drawn world, one we rarely see in genre fiction, and the prose is good, it kept me drawn in (obviously putting aside the subject matter). It does take talent to keep you emotionally invested enough to get nervous and angry, which, I was, a lot. Touraine, the main, is so often the victim of other people’s actions and bad luck, but is almost illogically blamed for things that just aren’t her fault. I know realistically people are like that, just denying reality, but this went beyond that for me, where it was more about who the narrative placed in which position, and people who were on the “good” (overall wronged) side could be as horrible as they wanted on an individual basis. It was tough to take, when someone would hurt her and she would apologize. But as I said, it takes skill to make you care and continue to that point.

Ultimately, y'all very often like things I don't, so I would say to try it. It does take a while to set up, really mostly gets going more than halfway though, but I can’t deny that I raced through that last half. And if you can compartmentalize better than I can, you may even like the romance. The Unbroken comes out on March 23rd, tomorrow.

4.5 stars.

My first ever ARC and it did not disappoint!

Unbroken follows two main character POVs. One is Touraine, who was stolen as a child from Qazāl (a Balladairian colony) and raised as a "Sand" (basically enslaved soldiers) in the Balladairian army. As she is stationed back in Qazāl for the first time in her adult life, her fate intersects with Luca, the Balladairian princess looking to prove herself by getting the local Qazāli rebellion under control.

Obviously, the story overall is a critique of colonialism. I might be misinterpreting, but I believe the specific setting was inspired by French colonization in North Africa. Don't quote me on that. What you may expect is a heroic rebellion with epic battle scenes and in-your-face lessons about social justice. That's not the case. We actually get a very raw and gritty story that accurately displays the imperfection of rebellion and peace. This was most notably definied in the characters.

I'll start with Touraine. First of all... move over Michelle Obama, Touraine's arms on the cover are goals. I absolutely loved Touraine. She's not witty or charismatic. She's stern, reserved, and resilient. And she is very flawed. We see her development as she considers all of her loyalties-- the empire, her native people, and her fellow Sands who get always caught in the bloody middle. Touraine's confusion between these conflicting loyalties results in many calculations of what price she is willing to pay. It never feels like the right decision, which struck my heart over and over again as I felt her pain of trying to please and protect.

And then Luca. I didn't like Luca as much, which I think is to be expected. She's a "villain" to some. What I appreciated was how Clark did not fully demonize Luca for the side she represented. Like Touraine, she made just as many horrible decisions. We saw how she really believed her choices would bring the best results in the long term...how being in the privileged position deludes you into thinking you know what is best for the oppressed. Wow, it was heavy.

Because we focus so heavily on the characters and their choices, the book ended up being much more political than I expected. It was less military strategy and more back-alley negotiations. The first half of the book was a lot of political maneuvering in an effort to try and come to "peace", which of course was defined differently by all sides. Eventually, we freefall into intense action and the book became SO hard to put down.

I did have a few minor grievances with the story. We see a few too many "small world" conveniences, such as Touraine quickly coming into contact with people from her past almost immediately upon arriving in Qazāl. I didn't get a sense of how big the city was, but it was just a bit too unbelievable at points. Also, while I enjoyed the dynamic between the two main characters, the intended romance felt a bit clunky. The relationship served its purpose in the story, but I would have rather it have been more platonic or more fleshed out. It was a bit lukewarm for me. Also, the magic system was intriguing, but I hope to see it more developed in future books.

Overall, this was a fantastic first novel in the series and I've already purchased a copy for my shelf. I'd highly recommend it to all fantasy lovers, especially those who are looking for a brutally honest and thoughtful story.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.