No gods were caged in the telling of this story

A common idea in fantasy is that a sorcerer is a person who has a continuing relationship with a magical spirit of some kind, and the spirit is the thing that actually does magic for the sorcerer. Good examples are the Penric and Desdemona series, or the Bartimaeus series. Elizabeth May's To Cage a God has sorcerers of this type. The sorcerers are called alureans and the spirit things are called zmei -- they are the "gods" referred to in the title. A zmeya is imprisoned within each alurean (thus the title To Cage a God) and can be called on to do magical things for that person. As you might expect, zmei differ in their capabilities and in their willingness to cooperate, so we have less and more powerful alureans. Most of the alureans are people of noble ancestry -- the rulers. The most powerful of these is Empress Isidora, who is the brutal oppressor of her people.

No gods were caged in the telling of this story. That surprised me a bit. Although the title To Cage a God doesn't actually promise that the caging of gods will occur in the course of the action, I made that assumption. It turned out to be mistaken. All caged gods in this book were caged before the story begins.

Most of the caged gods are inside alurean nobles. It is a little vague how they got there -- apparently the children of alureans themselves become cages for gods of their own, though the mechanisms through which that occurs were entirely unclear to me. In addition, two of the heroes of the story, sisters Galina and Sera, acquired their gods through biotechnological (my word) manipulations some twenty years previous. (I have no hesitation in telling you this, because it's in the publisher's blurb.) Galina and Sera are leaders of the resistance, who have a plot to overthrow the Empress and establish something that looks more like a democracy.

Aside from palace intrigue, the plot consists mostly of two romances (also mentioned in the blurb). One is a lesbian Cinderella story. That one was rather charming. The second is a trope I hate, in which an admirable hero has the hots for a total jerk who lacks judgment or moral compass. And of course whenever they get together they are thrown into transports of sexual arousal and bad judgment, which we get to read about in sometimes rather explicit detail. So, yeah, it's the "Good Girl and irresistibly hot Bad Boy" cliché. Eww... Yuck.

In summary, it does what it says on the tin. It's a competent Young Adult/New Adult fantasy. It's readable but never surprises.

Thanks to NetGalley and DAW for an advance reader copy. This review expresses my honest opinions. Release date 23-Jan-2024.

DNF @ 25%

It truly, truly pains me to give this book a bad review, because I was SO excited for it - in the midst of a glut of Slavic-inspired fantasy that gets misty-eyed about the beauty of Imperial Russia, finally a book from the perspective of the revolutionaries! And on the face of it, there's a lot to recommend this: the premise is fascinating, the character relationships as set up are compelling, and the mythology is fresh and interesting. Unfortunately, all of this is overshadowed by a problem that all the interesting concepts and characters in the world can't overcome: bad prose.

I mean really bad prose. "How did this get past an editor" prose. "Verging on incoherent" prose. Take, for instance, this sentence:

"A haze of smoky prayer herbs hung in the air, sweet and pungent, descending from thousands of braziers with incense in the snow."

What incense? What snow? I genuinely cannot make heads or tails of what's being described here. And that's one of the precious few instances where something IS actually being described, because what May does far more often is tell us what emotion the characters are feeling in bland, blunt language without doing anything to make it feel tangible. Observe:

"Leaning in, he exuded a presence that seemed to swallow the air whole."

How? What does "swallow the air whole" mean to Sera, our POV character? What about his manner gives this impression?

"The suite was a display of wealth and opulence, yet it left her cold. The glittering baubles and gilded decor held no interest. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with books and writing materials that were untouched and forgotten, gathering a fine layer of dust."

How is the room a display of wealth and opulence? What are the glittering baubles? What gilded decor? I can't picture any of this.

And here's how May depicts (or tries to) her characters' feelings:

"Galina's gut twisted as Ekaterina's grim words hung in the air. She couldn't help but feel responsible for the other woman's burden, and the debt Galina owed her could never be repaid."

Why can't she help but feel responsible? Why does she think the debt can't be repaid?

"But Galina's steps faltered, fear rising like bile in her throat. A chasm of terror opened beneath her feet, threatening to swallow her whole."

What does this chasm of terror feel like? What about the fear? What physical sensations accompany it? Is she nauseous, light-headed, feeling cold? How can the reader immerse themselves in the story when the prose skims over every emotional beat that might engage them?

A lot of this comes down to what I call "YA house style," which makes a certain amount of sense: May's background is in YA, after all. And despite the fact that this is advertised as an adult book, the only real "adult" thing about it is that one of our leads swears a lot and talks about fucking. It's a child's idea of what adulthood is like. There's nothing sophisticated about the prose (the vocabulary level is also pretty low - on a purely textual level, a clever twelve-year-old could probably read it with no comprehension issues) and while the ideas presented are thorny - the struggle between revolutionaries who want to blow up the world with no care for what comes after and those who want to hold back out of concern for what will happen to those caught in the crossfire - the prose resists actual engagement at every turn. I spent every page of this book that I read trying desperately to find SOMETHING I could connect to, and I kept coming up empty-handed. I have no idea what May's writing is like outside of this book - I never read her other titles - and so I don't know if a firm editorial hand and/or a second draft would have produced a better result. But I do know that the ideas being put forth here are utterly failed by their delivery, and it's a real shame.

Join the rebellion to burn down a cruel tyrant in this heartracing new adult fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone and The Wolf and the Woodsman.

This was a fun ride and I can't wait for book 2.

To Cage a God is a fantasy that has everything you'll ever need, magic, twists, dragons and complex, dynamic relationships. I loved every part of this book the romance is incredibly and the worldbuilding sucks you right in. I think this is going to be a big hit for fantasy lovers and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Really enjoyed this book. A page turner - dragons, complex family dynamics, queer characters and complex relationships. What’s not to like? Magic and mayhem - looking forward to a sequel! Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

I wasn't able to enjoy this book as I found it very generic and unoriginal in its plotting, perhaps it'll fare better with a younger audience and people not that familiar with the history this draws inspiration from.

The caging a god concept is very cool and this author can certainly write—but combined with so much complex political intrigue, I felt there was too much going on to follow comfortably.

If you're looking for your next book hangover, look no further! Because Elizabeth May seriously brings it in To Cage a God. I can't say too much but gahhh this book is everything! I could NOT put it down once I started it! Mark your calendars because you are not going to want to miss this!

Who stayed up until 2am reading, got up at 8am for work, and proceeded to read during every break? This girl! To Cage a God by Elizabeth May was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait for everyone else to get to experience it in February! Fans of Fourth Wing (as it has been all the rage recently) will definitely enjoy it and I plan to sell it to every romantasy fan that comes into the store!

To Cage a God has five POV characters (iirc) and usually I end up with a favorite, begrudgingly reading the other POVs, but I truly loved every single character in this book!

We get not one, but TWO romances in this book, and Elizabeth May delivers beautifully! Sera left her lover Vitaly four years prior when she fled with her sister Galina. Sera and Vitaly work so well together and it’s hilarious that Vitaly’s love language is essentially murder. Galina infiltrates the palace to take the empire down from within, and in the process falls for the reclusive Princess Vasilisa. (Yes, we get a sapphic romance too!) I loved the disability rep from Vasilisa and watching them fall for each other made me swoon.

Elizabeth May does a great job of mixing the sweet and spicy without losing any plot or worldbuilding. The plot is tight and fast paced while the world is expansive and deep. The world may be Russian inspired, but expect more revolution than Anastasia vibes (which I loved)! This new take on dragons, gods, and magic was exciting and had me entranced until the final page! I will be eagerly awaiting book two in the duology!