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<p>Review copy provided by the publisher.</p>
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<p>This is very much a secondary world fantasy, with the tropes that are, while not universal, common to that subgenre. It is a large book with many points of view, some of which only get one chapter when they're needed. It features not just the relationships of people but of several cultures and nations. It has a lot of moving pieces, and this first volume is just the beginning. Some people do not like this kind of book, and it absolutely is a kind of book, it is pretty squarely in the middle of its genre.</p>
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<p>That's my main caveat, because this book is hitting all the beats of that genre really well, and then adding a few more things it's doing well. Brooks is really good at not giving any one culture a monopoly on sympathy--there is no Land of the Progressives surrounded by Realms of the Backwards. In some sections of the book, more genders than are used in English are indicated by accent marks. I don't envy Brooks's copyeditor the job of checking all the pronouns for the correct inflection, but on the other hand they became intuitive very quickly and added realistic dimension to the cultural differences of the characters.</p>
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<p>The fight scenes are strong enough to satisfy the most martial high fantasy fan--possibly stronger--and the magics (and the conflicting attitudes about them!) are interesting though so far well within genre tropes, but for me the strongest part of <em>The Black Coast</em>, and the reason why I would recommend it, is the relationships between characters with strikingly different worldviews, especially the ones who are trying, against all odds, to make a go of peace.</p>
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This book was pretty good, however I do think it could have been a bit shorter! Not that I don’t like long book, cause I do, I just think there were parts of the story that could have been left out. I did really like the world building and thought the writing was great. I had a love hate relationship with some of the characters but overall it was a decent read!

Alright, buckle up; this is gonna be a long review. For lovers of Priory of the Orange Tree, Brian Sanderson, Game of Thrones, and all things high fantasy, this is the next thing you want on your shelf. I am almost a little sad I discovered this series so early because now I have to wait for the rest instead of devouring them whole.

I'll be honest, I didn't think I was going to like this book at first. I don't have anything against POV shifts each chapter, but each group of people uses distinct grammar, making it a bit hard to keep up at first. Naridans, for instance, don't have reflexive pronouns and only refer to themselves relative to whomever they're speaking to. It confused the hell out of me in the beginning, but I grew to absolutely love it because it allowed Brooks to subtly show character development, growth, and more. Referring to oneself as "this man" vs. "this lord" have very different connotations, and getting the hang of the nuances of the Naridan language was, in short, delightful.

Alaban's language is by far the most interesting and I cannot wait to see how it plays out in future books. There are six distinct genders, separated by accent marks that can confuse the reader if they do not read closely enough. Genders are broken into high & low masculine, high & low feminine, agender, and gender-neutral. For instance, hé is high masculine; masculine vs. feminine rules seem to play out largely the same as they do in our world, with high masculine men being far more "tough guys" vs. tomboys, who are low feminine. While still a restrictive (and some may say unnecessary and simplifying) gender division, it nevertheless feeds richly into the world building.

And speaking of world building, Brooks knows what he is doing. I wish the map had been a bit easier to read in the Advanced Readers Copy, but that is precisely why I need a physical copy in my hands ASAP. This world is believable and rich, with the tropes of high epic fantasies without relying on the archaic stereotypes that so many include. There are societies where queer relationships are normal and encouraged, where misgendering someone is a serious breach of custom, and where women and men hold equal power and respect. The societies and characters feel real and fleshed out, pulling you in to make you care about them more and more with every passing chapter.

We spend the most time in this first installation at Black Keep, ruled by Lord Blackcreek and his two sons, one adopted. One of the furthest civilizations south in Narida, Black Keep largely does not have contact with the rest of Narida and has a small population due to a plague that ripped through its town years ago, killing many, including Lady Blackcreek. Being on the coast (roll title card) means that they are susceptible to raiding from the Tjakorshans, people who live on a single island divided into different clans, each led by a chief and whom co-exist fairly peacefully. However, the Tjakorshan clan Brown Eagle sails away from Tjakorsha for good, escaping the clutches of an unkillable demon taking over the island and forcing clan chiefs to swear fealty or die. Saana, the chief of Brown Eagle, sails to Black Keep not in the hopes of raiding the village and taking the castle, but to settle peacefully among the Naridans. Daimon Blackcreek, the Lord of Black Keep's adopted son, will likely be an instant favorite; his desire for peace and willingness to try new things, even at the cost of his own honor, touch on archetypes that Brooks twists into something more fleshed out and real.

We also follow an Alban street rat that happens to live in the same city as the Splinter-King, a group of descendants that claim that one day their god (Nari) will be reborn in their line, claim his power, and ascend to the Naridan throne once more. Opposite this, Tila, the current God-King's sister, travels to Alban undercover to assassinate this family and stop the splinter group from threatening her brother, who is often far too concerned with sleeping with the men around the capital than with running Naridan.

Simply put, this book is rich. You will be on the edge of your seat at the end, clamoring for more. These characters and this world will stick with you long after you've put down the page, which is the true test of an incredible book. I cannot wait for the next installments and to add a hefty physical copy to my bookshelf one day. The Black Coast is a long book, clocking in at just under 700 pages on my ARC, but you don't feel the length when you're engrossed in finding out what happens next, just before the POV switches to halfway down the coast. I was hesitant at first about delving into a long high fantasy that would end up difficult to read, but I was instead treated to a gorgeous world overflowing with life that flies off the page. The Black Coast will be a classic some day; one can only hope it is soon.

The Black Coast is the first book in a series and it shows. We are introduced to a variety of characters and given a basic introduction to the world. This book did not engage me until about three fourths of the way through and even then it wasn't gripping. I feel no stirring desire to read the next book in the series, though I might revisit it once all of the books are out.

A compelling book that would benefit from a table of characters/cities/relationships in order to keep track of all the hopping from one location to another (it was very Game of Thrones in that way). So many interesting characters, with some that seemed get significantly less time on the page than their story would seem to merit - introduced early on, then disappearing for most of the rest of the very long (but very good book), I am left wondering whether there is going to be a sequel to tie up all the loose ends. I would definitely read it, but again, it would be very helpful to give an aid for the reader to keep track of who is who.

The Black Coast, by Mike Brooks, is the hardest type of book to read and review. There are a variety of different aspects of this fantasy story that I like greatly, but many of them are hampered by noticeable problems with the writing. The book was compelling enough that I absolutely wanted to finish it, but not engaging enough that it was smooth sailing. I found myself sitting down repeatedly for short twenty-page sessions when I got burned out due to frustrations with the text. But, I kept coming back because I wanted to find out what happened. It’s got some great messages that I agree with, but it delivers them in a hamfisted method that is about as subtle as a brick to the face. The Black Coast, the first book of The God-King Chronicles, is all over the place.

The premise of The Black Coast, at least, is promising and remains captivating from start to finish. What we have here is a good old-fashioned culture clash, with some new twists. The story takes place in a coastal empire that is often plagued by raiders from pirate-infested islands in the sea. These pirates have always been an unorganized pile of backstabbing marauders, but when an undead drauger starts to unite them by force under its banner, one of the pirate clans decides they’re uninterested in slavery with extra steps. They flee their island homeland and head to the only place they can imagine is safe – the shores of their longtime enemies and raiding targets. The reception they receive is anything but warm, but seeing as the raiders’ alternative is to go back and be enslaved – and the coastals (which is what I am referring to the people from the mainland empire going forward) choices are ‘get along or die by raiders’ – they are determined to find a way to make it work. And that IS what this book is primarily about, two long-standing peoples who hate one another committed to working together. The pirate horde led by an undying battle champion is very obviously shelved on a very high ledge with foreshadowingly pointy edges for the second book, and we are left to watch a sort of slice of life fantasy where Vikings and coastal British must find a way to coexist.

There are clear positive and negative elements of this culture clash. Positive: the cultures of the two people are set up in an interesting and dynamic way that feels like it fosters natural animosity that doesn’t paint either as the good or evil party. And the cultures themselves are pretty fascinating. They have some complex ideas about things like honor and purpose that are fun to discover. The entire story is painted in broad streaks of grey and it manages to often be clever in how it kaleidoscopically shifts between who could be right or wrong at any given moment – but not always. Negative: sometimes the groups have awkward issues that feel way too heavy-handed. For example, one of the two nations is extremely sexist and the other is extremely homophobic. It doesn’t even feel slightly nuanced and it functions as a very lazy fulcrum by which to elevate the idea that ‘all people have problems, and if we just sat down and talked we could fix everything’. The Black Coast is performing best when it is coming up with savvy ways to connect cultural differences. Sweeping these lazy boulder-sized problems just get swept under the rug with minimal effort is problematic to the immersion.

Similarly, the characters are a mixed bag. The leads are all fun and complex enough to keep me interested. Daimon, head of the coastals, is struggling with the fact that he betrayed his adoptive family. When the raiders arrived, he took control of the situation and kept everyone from getting killed. He provides a refreshing perspective from an adoptive child with a great internal struggle, and I enjoyed his practicality and clear-headed thinking greatly. Saana, head of the raiders, is struggling with the fact that her people just want to… well, raid, and she seems to be the only one who can tell that that is not a good long-term strategy. She feels like the only student who did the homework in an unruly class who is trying to keep everyone out of trouble. I didn’t know “Viking Mom” was going to be a trope that I loved, but I am here for it.

However, there are additional POVs that caused a dissonance while reading and didn’t feel as enmeshed in the themes I’ve mentioned. These narratives are told by the sister to a king and a poor thief. The sister’s story feels wildly disconnected from what is happening with the culture clash, and the thief’s story falls off a cliff and isn’t heard from again two-thirds of the way through the book. On top of this, some of the supporting cast, like Saana’s close friends in the clan and Daimon’s brother, are well developed, but others are looking to set records in lack of character depth. Daimon’s father is a fairly pivotal character to the story and has a number of scenes with dialogue. Yet in all of them, all of them, he only says one thing, “my adoptive son has no honor and needs to die.” It is exhausting and really starts to drag on you after a while. Many of these characters simply exist to push the narrative in the direction Brooks needed it to go and it is easy to see the author’s agenda behind the choices thanks to his heavy hand. It absolutely shatters the immersion of a book for me when you can see the author forcing the story to go in certain directions.

The best thing I can say about The Black Coast is that it is different and original enough that it kept me interested from start to finish. The premise is interesting, and the execution is reasonably well done. Yet, the book is held back due to the heavy hand the author has in pushing the story along and would have benefited from a much lighter touch. I still recommend you check it out if the premise appeals to you, but know that you will have to take the good with the bad.

Rating: The Black Coast – 6.5/10
-Andrew

This was a well balanced fantasy tale where the author the only fault I could find might be with the pacing in places. The story opens with a clan of raiders [aka vikings] fleeing the subjugation of a growing [malevolent] power back home and landing at a coastal backwater outpost of a large and powerful [and somewhat decadent Holy Romanesque] empire. After narrowly avoiding potentially genocidal conflict on the beach with a well timed betrayal, we get to the main plot ... can two disparate groups learn to get along to face the coming dangers together ... and they are huge. The demon leader of the clans has sent his minions in pursuit of the raiders and the Imperial Marshall is just as likely to wipe out this little social experiment once he hears about it.

The author does an awesome job manufacturing little points of conflict by exploring social differences and norms with the obvious solution being the new hybrid community needs to take the best of both worlds (from the author's POV). I found the flash-points to be very relatable and the resolutions to be believable (mostly) and that certainly helped move the plot along driven primarily by two main POV (the leader of the raiders and the leader of the town). While a fair amount of the plot might be predicable, I generally always felt that the author COULD have gone different ways in several situations, and it was fun to try and guess which way the story would go (no real big surprises through if you like those).

The other POV seem to be there for world building and setting the stage for the big finish at the end of the series (fortunately we do see a conclusion to the main plot of this book ... so the story stands on its own should you not wish to continue). If you don't enjoy the world building, the story may drag a bit with these other POVs, but I was so intrigue by the movement of all of the chessmen here that I really liked it ... I am looking forward to reading the sequel.

I was given this free advance reader copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
#TheBlackCoast #NetGalley

Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

While this was a decent debut and had lots of things I loved, there were also things that majorly irked me.  I am torn about this novel.  So here be me thoughts:

Pros

Dragons: erm . . . dinosaurs!  There were different kinds and I loved them.

Characters: there be some excellent people in this one.  Particular fave was Saana who was fierce, awesome, a woman, and the mother of a grown daughter.  There were many excellent women in this.  And quite a few men too!

LGBTQ+: Same-sex relationships, 5 genders, etc. Awesome.

Negotiation: While tempers flared at times, a lot of problems were solved by talking and not fighting.  Cool.

The Sea: I loved all the sections dealing with ships.  Arrr!

Cons

Characters: Though I had a couple of favorites, many of them didn't grab me at all or feel realistic.  This be unusual for fantasy.

POVs/Plotlines:  There was a side plotline about a thief that I wasn't crazy about.  It felt too YA in her chapters even if she is young.  Also there were some unnecessary viewpoints and sections that could have been removed with no real change to the story.

Pace: I had trouble being excited about this throughout.  It was uneven and there were times I struggled to keep going.

Bad Guys: The bad guys were very one-dimensional.  As were their motivations.

Realism:  I know it be fantasy but there were lots of times the plot felt too easy or unrealistic given how the world was set up.  The entire ending in the Blackcreek especially.

While I am conflicted about this novel, dragons and Saana may have me picking up the next in the series.  Arrr!

I am actually rating this 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.

I genuinely enjoyed reading this adult fantasy adventure. The plot was captivating, the friendships were entertaining, and I was delighted by the political intrigue within the southern parts of Narida.

The summary of this book is was attracted me to want to read it in the first place. When fearsome raiders choose to ask for peace in a town they’ve previously attacked, who knows how people on both sides of the spectrum are going to feel.

I enjoyed the multiple perspectives. However, I must admit that in the beginning, it was hard to remember who every single character was, making it a tad confusing and overwhelming when a new character perspective was thrown in. I must say I loved practically every character. Daimon Blackcreek, Saana Sattistutar, Zhanna, and Evram were among my favorite because all were very strong characters fighting to do what they felt was best for their community. I am also curious to learn more about Tila and Jeya in the future because I feel as though their characters aren’t fully developed yet.

One thing that made this story feel beautifully unique in its own way was the language and its connection to territory development. Black Keep is a diverse setting with differing ways of life just like our current society. The way that Brooks took each town and made them stand out with their own dialect and prose is something that truly captivated me. A town with five genders? Yes! Where there are also war dragons and not-so-aggressive dragons? Double yes!

The one thing that fell flat for me was Rikkut. I felt like his character was lacking in so many underdeveloped ways where I didn’t quite enjoy getting to his chapters. Because of this, the end section featuring him garnered no emotion from me.

Finally, do I hope to continue with the series? The answer is yes. We’ve seen Daimon and Saana for most of the time in this first book, but now I think it’s time for other characters to shine. I’m ready for Tila, Jeya, and Darel to have their moment!

VIKINGS BABY! Well, sort of. The Black Coast is largely focused on the Black Coast area, which is often attacked by raiders that cross the sea (a viking-esque people). Recently however, they’ve undergone some nasty political upheaval (a creepy draugr overlord) and one of the clans has decided to find themselves a new home. The clan leader Saana decided to risk parlaying with the Naridans in hopes they will allow her people to settle and begin a new life. The Naridans of the Black Keep are horrified to see a massive host of Iwernian ships sailing toward their shores. And then a white flag is raised.

On the flip side, there’s lots of interesting stuff going on elsewhere in the world. Tila, the sister to the God King is set on assassinating a splinter group of their family line that lives across the sea. This splinter group lives in secrecy and no one knows what they look like or what alias they are living under. The main POV in this area is a pickpocket named Jeya who ends up befriending the son of the splinter king. There are sooo many POVs within this story that I won’t attempt to touch on all of them because we’d be here all day. The Naridans at the Black Keep, Saana’s clan, the agent of the Golden (the draugr overlord), Tila, and Jeya all have their chapters. It really does help to flesh out the world quickly and pretty thoroughly as you read along. It also lends an epic scope to the story that would have been difficult if focusing solely on any one of the characters.

This is an action packed, fascinating world that I think has something for everyone. Political intrigue, assassination attempts, dragons, a criminal underworld, and even some sexual tension. I won’t call it romance, as it’s uh… a bit of a weird love triangle that might be kind of one sided(won’t spoil that one further). There is SO MUCH going on in this book but it’s deftly executed and trust me, not all of the characters are likable and especially not good. On many occasions, they choose what they think is the lesser of two evils and those choices don’t make everyone happy. 

Simply said, I loved this book. It was the perfect mix of action and political intrigue with cool countries and cultures that I can’t wait to see in further detail.

4.8 / 5 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2021/02/14/the-black-coast-by-mike-brooks-review/

The Black Coast is the first in the brand new fantasy epic series, the God-King Chronicles. Instead of a novel of war or chaos, or another GoT-esque fantasy, Black Coast details the coming together of two very different cultures—enemies, even—as they try to live together in peace. It’s more of a… controlled chaos.

Saana, Chief of the Tjakorsha, has left home for the last time. Fleeing the Golden, an immortal draugr heralding the prophesied end of the world, the Brown Eagle clan arrives on Naridan shores seeking a new home—one that they will find one way or another. Daimon Blackcreek is the adopted son of the Lord of Black Keep, and when the raiders draw up on shore he fears the worst. But when the clan lays out their plea for peace he sees but two options. Either the Blackcreek’s can accept the raiders into their home and attempt to live as one, or the Brown Eagle may rebuild their home in the ashes of Daimon’s own. But his father has different ideas—and will never surrender to such savages. Leaving Daimon with one choice.

A choice that will guide him throughout the story.

Elsewhere a silent war rages between the two descendants of Nari—the God become flesh. While Tila’s brother, Natan, rules in Idramar, the Splinter King inhabits the east, living like a sideshow amongst the City of Islands. While at the moment the Splinter King offers little dissent, Tila knows that should anything happen to her brother before he produces an heir, the Splinter King will take center stage. And so she sets off on her own expedition to find this would-be King. And end him.

The characters Brooks has created have always been strong; as readers of his Keiko series will know. The characters of Black Coast exemplify this, with a few exceptions. The Lord Daimon Blackcreek is an honorable-enough man, doing everything he can to protect his people. He’s also a bit of a self-obsessed asshole, and a young and naïve one to boot. Chief Saana is the brave and innovative leader of the Tjakorsha, as such leading her people from their ancestral home to settle on the shores of their age old foes. A passionate leader, she remains quick to anger while still preaching the importance of peace. Jeya seems your prototypical urchin. Thief, ragamuffin, waif—she didn’t make a great impression at first, but upon digging into the text, the reader will learn that just like most other humans, she will fight just as hard as anyone else when the cause appeals to her. Rikkut’s a bit insane, but in a human way. Tila was the biggest letdown of the main cast. Sister to the God-King, Tila leads a double life, but nothing approaches the love that she holds for her brother. While I didn’t find her character weak, exactly, it was just hard to buy the disassociation between her two personalities.

My largest issue with this read comes very late in the book, so this makes it quite difficult to explain while still avoiding spoilers. Sufficient to say that it’s Saana, who up to this point has been a caring, doting mother, sometimes even going above and beyond the cultural norms her own tribe allows to keep her daughter, Zhanna, out of danger. While there are a number of events that prevent her from doing so throughout the book, when it’s up to Saana she will not risk the already tenuous relationship she enjoys with her daughter. That’s what makes this event so out of character; it’s the complete opposite of anything she’s done to this point—and it’s so blatant I found it a bit insulting to her character.

As for the plot, I was pretty much entranced from the beginning. Brooks has built a good one here: the blending of very different cultures clashing in obvious and unseen ways alike, several cultures with many and often fluid gender options while some are just the rigid two, a believable fantasy epic about peoples avoiding war instead of running flat into it. The main cultures and their interaction steals the show, as two particular ones take center stage—the Tjakorsha and the Naridans of Black Keep. While the Splinter King sub-plot and Jeya’s role in the City of Isles kept me more than entertained enough, the interactions between the two former enemies just wowed. I really have no notes or complaints: this was an INCREDIBLE story!

The world was large and well-built, with peoples and dragons (did I mention the DRAGONS???—multiple species of different and sometimes ridable dragons) and rumors and legends of more lurking at the map’s edges. Not only can I not wait to see more of the story, but I can’t wait to see what lies beyond the edges of the world that we’ve explored thus far.

TL;DR

The Black Coast is the fantastic high fantasy debut for Keiko author Mike Brooks. Telling an enthralling, action-packed, and ofttimes difficult story full of unique and human characters in a vivid, highly-detailed world. While each character had their flaws, they also had their own sets of motivations and experiences—some of which clashed over the course of the tale. For the most part each character impressed throughout, though there were a few hiccups over the course of this 700-page epic. The story of Black Coast was amazing, but its people and cultures stole the show—particularly their beliefs and interactions that swung wildly between peace and war throughout, sometimes at the drop of a hat. All in all, for a story that included dragons, witches, krakens, samurai, assassins, intrigue, plot-twists and more—the Black Coast is one book you need to make time for this year!

The Black Coast is the first book in The God-King Series. As the first book in and epic fantasy series, there is a lot of world building and setting up the characters. This makes for a strong series while furthering the plot set in this book. The premise is that two nations who have historically been at war, now have to seek a truce and save themselves from a rise of evil. The story is set well and entertaining. I didn't realize that it was LGBT+ when I picked it up and there is a lot of emphasis put on the different genders etc. Thank you #NetGalley for allowing me to voluntarily give my honest review on #TheBlackCoast.

HIGHLIGHTS
~dragons with FEATHERS
~what flavour of gender do you prefer, we have SIX
~vikings
~gay??? lesbian??? sorry we don’t have words for those we just call them PEOPLE
~krakens
~don’t wear the brooch unless you mean it
~vote stabby princess for queen 2021!!!

The very first thing I wrote down in my notes when I finished Black Coast was: AHHHHH I LOVED THIS SO MUCH!

This is going to make very little sense, but I’m going to say it anyway: Black Coast felt like a luxury to me, like every chapter I read was a decadent gift to myself. What other people might feel during a spa day full of pampering, I felt reading this book; like I was being catered to and indulged and spoiled absolutely rotten, because Black Coast is just jam-packed full of all the things I love.

The opening of the book is a pretty good example: the ‘prologue’ of sorts is an excerpt from a fictional book, in which a Naridan is writing about another country, a series of islands called Alaba. The writer is scandilised because Alabans recognise five or six genders ‘depending on how they are counted’.

Now, from the original blurb I saw, I was under the impression that the whole of the story was going to take place in Narida. So not only was I confused as to why we were hearing about another land entirely (I really should have cottoned on!) but I was wistfully disappointed. Why did he set the story in Narida? I want to visit Alaba! were pretty much my exact thoughts.

So you can imagine my delight when I found out that Black Coast does take the reader to Alaba! The story is definitely focussed on Narida, but fear not; we spend a fair bit of time in Alaba with all its genders (which I’ll talk about in a bit).

See? My every wish, instantly granted!

The story itself is actually pretty easy to summarise: as the blurb says, a clan of Tjakorshans (you can think of them as Vikings, more or less) has appeared on the Black Coast, not to kill and steal and raid as they always have before, but to beg sanctuary and permission to settle. The adopted son of the local lord is the one who gives that permission, and is then responsible for trying to get his people to accept the arrangement, which has him working side-by-side with Sanna, the Tjakorshan clan-chief. Meanwhile, the sister of the Naridan God-King is working to hunt down and have killed a threat to her brother’s throne, a mission which almost has her crossing paths with an Alaban street-urchin who will prove very important to the outcome of that mission…

But that description really doesn’t do Black Coast any justice at all.

Firstly, Brooks’ prose is lovely; not the dreamy poetry of Catherynne Valente and her ilk, but not the blunt hammer of…authors we won’t name, either. Brooks’ prose flows like water, with just the right balance of description and action to appeal to just about everyone, with a pacing that fits the story incredibly well. Aside from the battles, I wouldn’t call Black Coast fast-paced, but it’s not overly slow either; it feels like…like the pace of life. Which works beautifully, because a great deal of this book focuses on the day-to-day life of the characters. This is far from dull, because everyone we encounter is having an unusual time, but the pacing and focus does help to make this story feel intimate, even as we’re seeing the events of an epic fantasy.

Part of this is achieved by the multiple perspectives Brooks chooses. Daimon, the adopted lord’s son mentioned earlier, and Sanna, the clan-chief, probably get the most page-time, but we also spend time with Sanna’s daughter Zhanna; a witch of her clan; some of the villagers; Daimon’s adopted brother, Darel; several Tjakorshans from other clans, who are hunting down Sanna’s clan; Tila, the princess of Narida, sister to the God-King; and Jeya, an Alaban street-urchin and pickpocket. That might sound like too many PoV characters, but it works here, especially because Brooks is careful to balance them all in just the right proportions to the rest. It makes the epic seem real; translates the grand scope of everything going on into something human, something the reader can really feel along with the characters. It’s the difference between an epic poem and a written account from someone who was there for the adventure, and I approve immensely.

And then there’s the careful mixing of cultures and the baby dragon runt that needs saving and this thread of surprising mischief and humour woven throughout, and I could probably go on forever, okay?

But folx. FOLX. I have to talk about the worldbuilding!!!


Because Brooks is a freaking master. Like all the best worldbuilders, he’s introduced one or two seemingly small things and then followed the ripple effects those things would have on the cultures they’re in. Naridan, for example, is a language without words for ‘I’ or ‘me’; every time you refer to yourself is different depending on the social status of the person you’re talking to, and your relationship with them! I just want to SHRIEK with how cool this is! But don’t panic; Brooks hasn’t introduced hundreds of fantasy words for ‘I’ that you have to remember. It’s all written as if the reader were a native speaker – thank goodness! – so, for example, Daimon usually refers to himself as ‘this lord’ where an English speaker would say ‘I’, or ‘this lord’s’ when he’s talking about something that belongs to him. If that sounds strange, don’t worry; it’s actually very easy to read, and you get the hang of it very quickly.

What stands out with Alaba also revolves around linguisitics. The Alabans recognise multiple genders, but again, Brooks has hit on a brilliant way to keep things simple for his readers. I’m agender with half a dozen nonbinary friends, and I still have trouble keeping track of some of the nonbinary pronouns English is experimenting with, so it’s a huge relief to me that the Alabans denote gender…through diacritics!!!

Diatrics are the little symbols various languages use to indicate pronunciation of a letter. If you’ve ever studied French or German, you’ve run into diatrics like à and ü. Brooks uses them to indicate Alaban gender. So, basically, the different genders are

Hè/hìm – high masculine
Hê/hîm – low masculine
Shē/hēr – high feminine
Shé/hér – low feminine
Thëy/thëm – agender, genderless
They/them – gender-neutral formal

EXCUSE ME WHILE I SHRIEK MY WORLDBUILDING-ADDICT HEART OUT

Again, this is a system that looks intimidatingly complicated at a glance, but in practice, it’s so clear and easy! I will admit that I wasn’t sure how to pronounce everything while I was reading, but as a reader, it’s so easy to keep the different genders straight because the signifiers are visual while you read! Folx, this is so freaking clever! You don’t need to memorise entirely new words, pronouns that are unfamiliar to you; you just need to keep track of the diatrics on she/he/they, and that’s so much easier than you might think. After a few paragraphs of Alaban PoV, I had a handle on it just fine.

The whole thing makes me just want to swoon. This is the kind of worldbuilding I live for! And this is without getting into the freaking DRAGONS, or how Naridan culture doesn’t have words for being gay, lesbian, or bisexual, because those things are just considered normal. This is without writing an ESSAY on the differences between Alaban and Naridan religion – and Tjakorshan, for that matter.

And the thing is, absolutely none of this is info-dumped on the reader. Brooks doesn’t drown you under a ton of strange new information at once. It’s all introduced naturally, and switching between PoVs helps because we get to be in the head of a character who is encountering the New Thing for the first time, just as the reader is. So you’re never left feeling stupid or confused or overwhelmed. It’s all done so deftly that you almost don’t notice that you’re learning something new about this world Brooks has created.

So we’ve established that, if you’re looking for great worldbuilding, Black Coast has it in spades. But it also has a fabulous cast, all of whom just feel so human, even when they’re coming from a culture very different to the reader’s. Daimon is shy but determined to do what he thinks is right, even when everything he’s grown up with demands he do otherwise; Sanna is driven to protect her people, but she’s also a mother who worries about her daughter; Tila is a princess with so many knives. They’re all trying to survive, to take care of what’s theirs and safeguard the future, and even the ostensible villains are compelling as hell.

Brooks also lays the foundations for even bigger challenges to come, dropping hints that click together in your head to form eye-widening theories. Bits of history and mythology from the different cultures seem interconnected, and there’s both magical and political unrest gathering not-quite out of sight, but it’s hard to consider that properly when the immediate stakes are so damned high!

TL; DR: This is a fabulous novel that opens what promises to be an extremely epic series, and if you haven’t pre-ordered it already, you need to.


It’s out on Tuesday, so there’s still time!

Now, if you don’t mind, I’m just going to lie here and pine for book two for a bit.

READ THIS BOOK SO I HAVE PEOPLE TO YELL ABOUT IT WITH, OKAY???

This was described as an adventure, an invasion force met but found not to be invading but running from a greater foe. Unfortunately no mention of gratuitous sexual encounters or gender fluidity or profanity were mentioned in the description. Since the first few pages consist of all of these things I chose not to read this book.
I would not have chosen this book if the description had even hinted at this .

Rating: Somewhere between “Solid Book” and “Really Enjoyed” - translates to 3.5 stars!

This book was a very different fantasy story to read as the heart of it is a peace-keeping story rather than the war that usually fills the pages, but I ultimately ended up enjoying it once I got used to some of the more jarring pieces of it.

This is the first book in the God-King Chronicles. There are many POVs throughout the book, but the main ones focus on a land called Narida where sars ride war-dragons and experience periodic invasions by the people across the ocean called the Raiders. We follow a young lord of Blackcreek in Narida, the sister of the Naridan God-King, the chief of the Brown Eagle tribe that has come across the ocean to find a new place to settle, a young girl living on the streets of Alaban, and multiple other POVs thrown in throughout the story. The Brown Eagle clan needs to make peace and find a way for their culture to coexist beside that of the people of Blackcreek.

What I Liked:
- The world-building was really quite fantastic! I really enjoyed learning about the different cultures that we encountered around the world and seeing more of the practices of all the different peoples.
- Dragons! This world has dragons without flight that are both wild and used to hunt and as war-mounts, which was pretty cool. They don’t have a ton of distinct personalities, but it was still fun to see this different take on dragons. I almost imagined them more as dinosaurs.
- The diversity! There is LGBTQ+ representation, non-binary, trans, disability rep, and so much more, which is always really fantastic to see in the fantasy worlds where the norm still is to see cisgender heterosexuality ideals extremely entrenched. There was also a pretty interesting flip where the Raiders from the South who were looked upon as “barbarians” were basically Swedish with (from the best of my understanding) the rest of the world being POC. Although only the Raiders’ skin tone was really discussed in depth, and the Naridans still read like white Europeans. But it was still an interesting flip.
- The peace-building thing was pretty interesting and not something that I am used to reading about, so it made a nice change.

What I Didn’t Like:
- So with all the different representation and cultures, a lot of them had very specific ways of speaking that really threw me off. One culture refers to themself with high and low masculine and feminine as well as a gender neutral language. That was fine and pretty interesting. However, the Naridans did this weird third person thing where they refer to themselves in third person by their station, so “this man thinks” or “this servant requests” or “your wife hopes,” and I kept thinking I would get used to it….and I did, but not until 75% of the way through.
- Something suuuuuper personal, but I never grabbed onto a character or the character relationships. They started to get decently well developed, but I just never connected with any of them, so I didn’t get as immersed in this book as I usually would have or as I usually like.
- The fight scenes really frustrated me. I am working on figuring out what it is that makes me like or dislike fight scenes, but so far I cannot really pinpoint it other than I just didn’t like them. They were long and drawn out, and I usually just ended up skimming to get the main points of who was wounded or died and who made it out.

Overall, I am quite glad I read this. I don’t think I felt very invested until we got closer to the end because I couldn’t really see where the overall plot was going, but once things started to come together, it was somewhat predictable but fun.

I will be looking to pick up the sequel when it comes out just to see what happens.

Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for the e-arc! This did not in any way influence my feelings on the book or this review. The Black Coast releases February 16, 2021.

Possible Triggers:
There is a lot of violence and gore. This is a high fantasy with people (previously/currently) at war, raiders, and assassins. Expect death and maiming.

Characters:
So this story was fantastic in that it followed more than just a few points of views. Instead it hopped around to various points of views within the same geographical areas. There <i>were</i> dominant POV’s, but sprinkled throughout were the views of others that were only there for 1 or 2 visits. An alternate view of a situation in the same geographical location. I loved the relationships that a lot of the main characters had with their family members.

A couple of my personal faves:
Saana (Captain of the ‘Krayk’s Teeth’- Leader of the Brown Eagle Clan): A leader protecting her clan, a mother protecting her daughter; struggling with the consequences of every action and trying to hold back possible damning reactions. Saana is SO FREAKING COOL. I wanna be like her when i grow up. I appreciate her struggle to connect with a culture that is so alien to her own. I also really liked that she’s not profoundly good at anything and is willing to ask for help or lean on people that are better at things than she is when she needs advice.

Zhanna (Daughter of Saana): This creature. I love her spirit and fire! I even like her tantrums. Most of all I really liked her interactions with her mother - it was neat to see two strong characters clashing all the freaking time but still so very much because of love.

Rikkut Fireheart: He had some really awesome fight scenes and for some odd reason I felt the most emotionally charged when I was reading this character's chapters. So much passion!

Evram: He isn’t a main character, but I thought a lot of the things he did were crazy brave. He absolutely grew on me the further into the book I got.

Positives:
+ Witches, God-Kings, Dragons, Sea Raiders, could there be any more awesome things to check off in one single fantasy story? Well there is, because that's just what you get in the first few opening chapters of this book. I was the tiniest bit worried when I read the blurb on the back of the book that there were just TOO MANY aspects for the author to give all of them enough attention. I WAS VERY WRONG.
+ I LOVE the critters in this book. The dragons are interesting and varied; nice and different from usual stereotypical dragons that immediately pop into your head. The sea critters are epic. Really this is just another one of those books that has you begging for a bestiary with detailed images. I am super keen to see if there are going to be more of the awesome dragon species talked about in the next book because there was talk of many other types that weren’t really explained at all.
+ Super loved all the representations of various types of love - familial, romantic, platonic, same sex, opposite sex, found families. Especially interesting was when the cultures that were interacting together had different views on the matter and then BOTH sides discussed why or why not they stood behind those views. Seeing the “why” of each side was fascinating. I enjoy a good solid reasoning to things that extends beyond “just because”.
+ The characters actually recognize and then apologize when they have done/been wrong. Oh my giddy aunt… where have you been all my life.

Negatives:
- I struggled a lot trying to understand the LANGUAGE(?) used in PLACE to tell the readers what gender the characters identified as. I think if this was explained a bit (maybe at the back of the book, like where you generally see people of importance by location or perhaps lists of locations (glossary?)) it would add to a more profound understanding of why it’s so very important to that particular culture. Especially what the differences between “high” and “low” are specifically. The nuances are so important to the characters - I want to understand more fully.
- Character, location, and cultural names in this book are a bit of a struggle for me to pronounce (or even think of pronouncing). How the names are pronounced or what sounds the accent marks make over letters would have been a fantastic addition to the end of the book (another glossary perhaps? Really at this point it just looks like I'm asking for the book to be longer). This doesn't at all diminish the story in any way, it's just a personal nitpick as I will probably ALWAYS misspell every single name of a city, character, or place because i made it into some random other word in my head to make pronouncing it easier.

Final Thoughts:
I NEED a physical copy of this book on my shelves STAT! And maybe a very vague “expect a book two” so my nerdy little heart will have more to look forward to coming from this awesome world. This book had all the things i love: compelling characters with great relationships, creepy as heck (but also awesome baddies). FASCINATING fauna that makes me want to ask the author a million questions so I can try and sketch them out, rich and varied cultures. I am anxiously awaiting the announcement of “coming in…” and another sexy cover reveal. 10/10 will be reading again! I need to go back through so I can get lovely physical descriptions of all the dragon types again as a sketch subject.

One of the books that was highly anticipated for the coming year and it has not lived up to the hype completely for this reader. It isn't a great book but a good book and I was expecting great. The writing and story itself are decent. The characters I didn't like or dislike particularly as well. The war dragons seemed cool but then I started thinking of them as dinosaurs which they seemed to resemble more than the typical fantasy dragon. The entire gender and identity system was slightly interesting at first but got tired of it as it carried on throughout the whole book. Overall a nice read that some people will greatly enjoy while others may feel a little disappointed.

TL;DR

The Black Coast by Mike Brooks is an excellent addition to the epic fantasy genre. Brooks has created a deep world with interesting politics and excellent writing. The world building is superb. Highly recommended to fantasy fans.

Review: The Black Coast

Epic fantasy often revolves around epic wars. War, one of the harshest realities of our humanity, makes for interesting stories while letting our character shine through. Rarely, do fantasy readers get to see what happens after the war. The aftermath is sort of waved off like they all lived happily ever after. But peace is a process, not a destination. And really what would happen if instead of war, two differing societies chose peaceful coexistence? In The Black Coast, Mike Brooks’ has an answer. Tjakorshan raiders turn up outside the walls of the Black Keep in Narida. Instead of fighting, the Naridans take in these refugees in order to avoid being slaughtered. If the leaders can keep the peace, they may just survive.

The main storyline for the The Black Coast focuses on two civilizations integrating. It felt a bit like the Vikings encounter feudal Japan, and I loved it. Tjakorshan raiders land outside the Black Keep in Narida. In the past, these raiders brought violence to Naridan shores, but this time, they bring the white flag of peace. The Tjakorsha raiders are seeking a new home, one far from the violent warlord back home. Oh and the warlord is a draug, incapable of being killed. The Black Coast asks whether these two cultures can meld into a working society. This storyline features the Tjakorshan chief, Saana, and the new Naridan lord, Daimon, navigating the best way to keep their two societies together. Daimon worries that as word gets out to the next up in the hierarchy, he and the whole village will be wiped out for housing raiders. It’s refreshing that the focus is societal integration rather than societal clashes. Peace can seem boring, but in reality it requires a lot of hard work to stay boring. Brooks does a good job of keeping the peace without losing the tension. There’s a million ways for their delicate experiment in unification to go wrong. Daimon and Saana maintain that peace against attempts on their lives, their constituents' lives, and from ambitious assholes who seek to undermine them as opportunity to gain favor.

Additional storylines feature the sister of the God-King doing everything in her power to protect the throne, even if that means a little assassination. In Middle-Eastern adjacent Alaba, a street urchin picks the wrong pocket and winds up involved in schemes much greater than she could believe. The additional storylines set up a lot more action for the coming books. I liked what I saw here, but I wanted more. I wanted more from the urchin storyline, and I liked how the God-King’s sister has a secret life while trying to run the country for her brother. I don’t know how many books there will be in this series, but this world gives Brooks plenty to explore.

Excellent World Building

The Black Coast doesn’t roam too much around its world, but that doesn’t mean it lacks depth. The book focuses mainly on the Naridan locale of Black Keep. But we do get to Tjakorsha and other tribes there. We see clan fighting and how Tjakorshan society is being restructured. We get bits about their seafaring prowess. We get to see Alaba from its fighting pits to its religious ceremonies to the rich neighborhood and even the old palace. There is depth to each society, and I look forward to learning more about these places in future installments.

The Black Keep is a good choice to start this series off at. It becomes more than just a feudal Japanese-adjacent society. The reader learns about the farmers and the mountain folk that come down to trade. We learn about family structures, political structures, and gender norms. Daimon and Saana are two very different leaders. Daimon has transgressed important traditions to save his village. Saana risked her people on the hope of peace. Yet some traditions are too deeply ingrained for them to notice without being called out by the other. These two make a good pair to introduce us to the world of the God-King Chronicles.

Language Differentiates Societies

Fantasy has come a long way in representation, but often people from different societies sound the same. In The Black Coast, how a person talks often indicates to which society they belong. The Naridans are very rank oriented and refer to themselves in relation to the other person’s rank. The Tjakorshans are looser, and rank has little meaning. A Tjakorshan is as likely to cuss out the tribal chief as anyone. So when the Tjakorshans speak Naridan, the little signs of a non-native speaker show up. I really liked this because even though the whole book is written in English, these small touches indicated people speaking different languages.

But the coolest language is that of the Alabans. They have either five or six genders, and the genders are differentiated by the tonal inflection. Brooks represents this with diacritical marks to indicate the different representations. It took a while to adjust to it, but these markings give a lot of depth to the Alaban society. The reader gets to see a little of how Naridan culture clashes with this use of language. It’s yet another reminder that Brooks has taken time to build realistic, three dimensional societies, not just the good people versus the bad ones.

Learning from Each Other

As the Tjakorshan and Naridan societies seek a peace among each other, they begin to rub off on one another. The Naridans do not stigmatize homosexuality but the Tjakorsha do; the Tjakorsha treat men and women equally while women are subservient and barred from certain professions in Narida. The rulers of the two people come together to protect certain values that require compromising on others. I think this happened a little too easily, but it possible in the future there might be trouble. However, I liked that each ruler stood firm on their values. It reinforced the idea that cultures can and should learn from each other. Blending cultures does benefit societies.

Refugees and Immigrants

While reading, I couldn’t help but think of the anti-immigrant sentiment among a certain population of the U.K. (Mr. Brooks lives in the U.K. I live in the U.S., and part of our population fears immigrants so much they even fear made up caravans of them.) Brooks has written a book showing that refugees from a violent warlord can not only add to society but improve it as well. Now, the way I said it makes it seem like a didactic book, but Brooks is much more subtle than I. A book that is not about endless warring and killing of the other is a breath of fresh air in the genre. Not that he makes cultural integration look easy. There are pitfalls, and it takes work on the part of both sides. But I like to think that work will be worth it in the end, and from reading this book, I think Mr. Brooks believes that, too.

Conclusion

Mike Brooks’ The Black Coast introduces the reader to the world of the God-King. This epic fantasy brings raiders, dragons, a draug, and societal change. I loved it. Brooks has created a world full of nuanced politics and cool dragons. The best part is that this book’s only the introduction. Someone, please, bring me book two of the God-King Chronicles.

The Black Coast by Mike Brooks is available from Rebellion Publishing on February 16th, 2021.

8.5 out of 10!

DNF at 60%. There was something about this adult fantasy novel that I just could not fully commit to - maybe it was a disconnect with the characters or just a lack of pot-interest? Considering the length of this book, I feel like 60% was definitely a fair shot! This book will find its fans in those who are desiring an adventurous, fast-paced read with all of the trappings of classic epic fantasy. I'm not going to rate this book lowly because it's not that I thought it was bad by any means, I was just getting a bit bored and didn't want to continue when there are so many other things on my shelf.

Where to start with this....

I honestly did not have any expectations one way or another when I started reading this. The prologue did not really draw me in, set the stage, or induce any excitement to read more so I was feeling a little leery at that point. The first few chapters jumped around to a few different POVs, which I usually don't care for that much, and it took quite a ways into the book to begin to get oriented to the "lay of the land". I was curious, but not really invested at that point.

I can't quite put my finger on when it happened, but the story turned a corner and I couldn't put it down. I read close to 6 hours straight at one point. Sure, there were several little things that could have been done better but at its core it had become a compelling story.

It might take a little patience in the beginning, but it is worth it. I will be keeping my eyes open for a sequel to see where it goes next.