Magic, murderous nuns, and mayhem in the ice-age kingdom! An excellent novel and great beginning to a new series.

Dark, powerful, and brilliant. Formidable storytelling from an absolute master.

Review:

I’m not sure if i should be immensely grateful to Mark Lawrence or curse him soundly? This has been book 7 for 2017 for me, and i’m not sure i want to be in a position of thinking I’ve just read what is highly likely to be the best book i will read this year. But that’s the case, any other author is going to have to smack the ball way way out of the park to top this read.

I admit i’m a fan of Mark Lawrence’s writing, and I’ve given him high praise before, but even with my love of the wonderfully sarcastic Jalan and the brutally efficient Snorri, i could very quickly see them eclipsed by the characters of this new series. Who would have imagined that the antics of a bunch of young girls training to be warrior Nuns would be so well imagined? The world building in this book is phenomenal, Marks style as always is so subtle, the world emerges around you as you read, there is no conscious information drop, you see it and it develops through the eyes of the characters, with different view points and perceptions. The magic in the book is subtle and wonderful, a little bit shown then a bit more, each piece branching and dovetailing neatly into the next to weave a complex set of abilities and society of magic amidst a failing world. There are ever progressing tantalizing glimpses of where these people came from, making the book borderline Sci-Fi (careful there mark…. i don’t like Sci-Fi 😉  ) I feel this series has so much more to come, so many layers to the story and the characters that no matter the genre you read it can and will totally capture your attention and take you on an amazing journey.

I find myself wanting the use the phrase character growth, yet it seems redundant, we are following the early years of training and growing up of these girls, so there has to be character growth. yet it is carried out in a very real fashion, all the little interplay’s of friendship, politics, fun and pain are there, all the little interplay’s that children have but in a more brutal word with a harder set of rules and training, an uncompromising life for an uncompromising world.

This book and its lead character Nona will literally explode into your life from the first page, demanding your attention, needing love and protection and your time and devotion, and giving you none of those in return, but instead delighting you with her growth and achievements, her prowess and her misdemeanors. Mark Lawrence seems have managed to make a book that emotionally is the equivalent of raising your own warrior child.

Book 2 cannot come soon enough.

I received an advanced copy of Red Sister from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to announce my gratitude to Mark Lawrence, Ace and Berkley Publishing Group for this opportunity.       

Throughout this narrative, we flaunt within the mind of and follow the actions of Nona. Our protagonist is a young girl who we are introduced to initially whilst she is awaiting execution via the gallows for killing a renowned pit-fighter. Luckily for Nona, it just so happens that Abbess Glass, who manages the Sweet Mercy Convent has taken such an interest in her hardships that she offers her the option of joining the nunnery as a Novice, thus escaping the impending death sentence. A large contingent of the interested parties are not particularly happy with this outcome. Perhaps the reason being that Nona did murder the son of one of the wealthiest and proudest men in the world. The repercussions of this singular act ripple throughout the tale.

Nona, a fiery but slightly damaged peasant with talents she doesn't truly understand then finds herself in the establishment where the Sisters of Sweet Mercy frequent. It is here where they train future nuns within certain art forms and most importantly, where all revere the Ancestor. Did I mention that these novices are trained to become some of the deadliest killers in the land for their Holy purposes?

"It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men"

The nunnery is reminiscent of the magic schools such as those created within The Kingkiller Chronicles and A Wizard of Earthsea. Claustrophobic atmospheres, close friendships, harsh teachers, bizarre traditions, bullies and the ultimate shaping of the raw talents shown by Nona, and others; into what their potential will allow. Nona reminded me of Sonea from the Magician's Trilogy. They are similar with their poor upbringing, attending establishments of special education against the wishes of many influential individuals and also, whispers that they are some kind of "chosen one". This is a lot darker than Trudi Canavan's trilogy. The vein here is more sinister, despondent and Nona's past seems extremely more tortuous than Sonea's did.

A large percent of Red Sister is set within the convent. The trials and tribulations here, in some aspects, are similar to youth experienced by all young girls such as making friends, dealing with bullies and disliking teachers amongst other dramas. What isn't similar to our world is that the novices become trained in extreme fighting (using fists, knives and throwing stars), taught about poisons and other skills that readers would describe as magical. The convent also has what is known as the Blade Path, which is a timed assault course like activity which would put army endurance tests to shame. In addition to the antics at the convent, the nuns and novices travel elsewhere in this world should their studies find it befitting, such as training with other youths at The Academy. The escapades elsewhere mainly lead them to the capital city of Verity, however; I will not say much about the storyline when the sisters are "unleashed" from their habitual establishment. A highly intriguing aspect of this book was the ingeniously placed flashback sections regarding Nona's youth prior to being found guilty of murder. Examples include juggling lessons and her being abandoned by her family. Each flashback adds an extra layer to Nona's already intricate, complex and perhaps even notorious character. 

In Lawrence's envisaged world, the moon is falling, there are two miles high fields of ice encompassing the majority of the globe leaving The Corridor where the action takes place and also, one of the finest "magic-systems" I have ever seen depicted in fantasy. 

The "magic-system" is labyrinthine in its complexity. I used quotation marks with that phrase as to describe it as being as simplistic as that statement is underwhelming for what has been created. For precision, complexity and potential - the magics are potentially on par with the Warrens used in Malazan and Allomancy in Mistborn. At the moment, as stated, I would say they are on par, however; we have no idea of the full possibilities. We were given glimmers throughout of the extra powers certain characters witnessed without understanding and which they could learn when older to manipulate to their will. It is exciting. There is a good mix of John Woo: Stranglehold like slowdown of time, thought control, mind sharing, walking "The Path" to obtain phenomenal destructive power, Witcher-like tracking senses amongst other talents. The skills they have acquired depend on which of the four legendary Abeth tribes these novices descended from. 

The fabrication of the abnormal powers seems confusing at first but I believe this is intentional. Nona is of course, in an educational environment and as she learns about the magic, possibilities, poisons and histories of the world, then we as readers learn it also. Our gaps in knowledge are filled as the tale progresses, with the necessary information as Nona learns herself; which equals heightened affinity to our protagonist because we are going through the same learning issues and symptoms. 

This book has scenes of macabre and harrowing happenings but it will then switch back to a pleasant scene in the Convent's dormitory where Nona, as a 9-year-old is gossiping about the happenings in the nunnery and also chatting to her fellow novices about families and friends as young children would. These scenes brought me metaphorically back down to Earth where I had to put the book down for a second and re-analyse that these girls were that young going through what would make many grown men weak at the bladder. It is a great juxtaposition and unifies Nona's relationship with important characters such as Ara, Hessa, Zole and Clera. 

The finale of this story was utterly breathtaking. Nona is one of my favourite characters in fiction. Lawrence has created one of the most engaging fantasy worlds that my mind has allowed me to visit. At the finale, the second book is set up exceptionally well. It hit me yesterday that because I have an advanced copy of this, that I have to wait even longer for the second book. That is quite upsetting. When it is released officially I will buy this as it deserves a prime of place on my literal favourite bookshelf in my library. This tale was so extraordinary in my mind that I am questioning my previous ratings of other similar stories in this genre. So, note to authors; if I take a star or two off your rating then it is Mark Lawrence's fault, not mine. 

James x

It’s important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size.
That’s the first line of RED SISTER, which has taken its rightful place as my favorite Mark Lawrence novel.
To be honest, it isn’t even close. I liked Lawrence’s previous efforts, but RED SISTER stands out in a way that makes me hope this is the book that introduces every new reader to his works moving forward. 
In the second half of RED SISTER, our protagonist Nona is warned that a book is a dangerous journey, and the person who closes a book may not be the same as the one who opened it. It’s an idea that I’ve seen before in other forms, but somehow that line stayed with me, even in a book that is just as quotable as Mark Lawrence’s previous efforts. Not because I changed from the first to last page of RED SISTER, but because this book seemed like a giant step forward for Lawrence, and I can’t help but feel that the author who penned RED SISTER is far more focused, engaging, and capable of reaching new, wider audiences than the man who told Jorg’s story in THE PRINCE OF THORNS.
Ever since THE PRINCE OF THORNS first hit bookshelves, Lawrence has drawn legions of fans with his violent antihero, Jorg, and followed that trilogy’s success with THE RED QUEEN’S WAR trilogy, featuring Jalan Kendeth, a simpering princeling whose laziness and lack of morals made for a very different sort of antihero. 
In RED SISTER, Lawrence’s new protagonist is an altogether different character, and not merely because she is female. While she clearly has a dark past, Nona is an easily likeable character, one whom a wider audience can enjoy without feeling guilty. I love the sheer balls of writing a character like Jorg, but writing about a violent, murderous 13-year-old inherently limits the audience your books can attract. Nona, on the other hand, is vulnerable in a way Jorg never was, and her naivety and fierce loyalty to her friends are endearing, even as she develops the skills to kill her enemies in a hundred different ways.
Simply put, I enjoyed Nona’s company far more than that of Jorg or Jalan, even as I appreciated the humor of their warped worldviews. 
RED SISTER is just as violent and caustic and humorous and twisted as its predecessors, but it also has more heart thanks to its protagonist. When readers first meet Nona, she is an accused murderer, set to hang in the gallows until a nun from the nearby convent rescues her. But this is no ordinary convent, as you or I would know it. Once at the convent, Nona is enrolled in courses – academics, blades, poisons, and studying the Path. 
Alongside her classmates, Nona is taught countless ways to kill in service to the Ancestor, and soon learns that like many of her peers, she is one of those blessed with an exceptional ability – in her case, superhuman quickness. Using these abilities, the novices are transformed into weapons, and challenged in a variety of ways.
For Nona, those challenges include the hatred the royal Tacsis family still holds for her after she escaped murder charges for nearly killing one of their own, and the announcement by one of the nuns that Nona is fated to be The Shield, defending the life of Arabella Jotsis, a fellow novice destined to become The Chosen One. Whether Nona or Arabella actually are fated to be special or were merely named as such to serve the nun’s own ends are never entirely clear.
In many ways, RED SISTER reminds me of Jay Kristoff’s NEVERNIGHT, which probably was my favorite new book of 2016. Like RED SISTER, NEVERNIGHT features a collection of young novices being trained in the arts of assassination, but NEVERNIGHT is actually a darker and more disturbing book than RED SISTER. I certainly look forward to seeing where both authors take their series, and the ways in which their plots diverge in the forthcoming chapters.
If you liked NEVERNIGHT or RED SISTER but haven’t read the other, you’re in for a treat. Their protagonists and worlds are just different enough to make for distinct tales, but they share such similar themes, exceptional worldbuilding, and clever, intelligent writing that I have a hard time imagining someone liking one but not the other.
I may give RED SISTER the edge because I think I enjoy Nona as a protagonist more than Mia Corvere, but the ever-present threat of death for all the characters in NEVERNIGHT constantly had me on the edge of my seat. 
Perhaps the advantage lies with Lawrence’s flash forward scenes, which provide us just enough clues to guess what life is like for Nona and her friends after they graduates from the nunnery. RED SISTER is a great beginning; judging by our glimpses into these characters’ future, it’s shaping up to be Lawrence’s masterwork.

I really enjoyed this book although I think the "warrior nun" concept is getting to much play in YA.

Disclaimers: A digital copy of this book was provided to us via NetGalley courtesy of the publisher (Ace, a division of the Berkley Publishing Group). This review may contain spoilers. You have been warned.

Why we chose it: We wanted viciousness.

Review: Can someone please tell us why we haven’t read a book by Mark Lawrence sooner because there is no logical answer that we can come up with. His writing is amazing! Red Sister was definitely a good book to start with because we got to meet Nona and the Sisters of Sweet Mercy. They’re nuns and they pray, but some of them might just slit your throat if they have to.

Being us, we found problems and we’ll start with how we weren’t entirely sure who the book was focusing on in the first few chapters. Was it Sister Thorn in the prologue or was it the girl mentioned in chapter one? We couldn’t tell and that confusion made keeping a decent grip on the story a little difficult for a while.

There are unexpected problems with having a wonderful prologue. A wonderful prologue lulls the reader into a feeling of literary ecstasy where they believe every single sentence will contain tension and magic and a heart thumping feeling that is just pure anticipation. When the story properly starts one can find themselves a bit disappointed. We know we did.

That disappointment can carry over to the world building too. In Epic Fantasy, there’s a lot to get right from the start. An author has to set up a cast of characters, develop their relationships and create a certain type of magic before even writing the first chapter. There was definitely a sense of avenues going unexplored for us, but then we realised something.

The way Mark chose to write this book, the way he chose to set up the timeline followed and everything else is quite similar to the direction Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them took. Both contain a satisfying story with a beginning, a middle and a worthwhile conclusion, but both need further instalments for the story to be truly complete.

Thanks heavens for us discovering there’s going to be two more books. Two more books that are already written!

We definitely enjoyed things from Nona’s world though. We liked how the planet she lives on, Abeth is a planet that is suffering from a dying Sun. Ice is taking over everything and the majority of the world’s population lives on a section of land called the Corridor. We thought that was interesting.

You know who we thought was really interesting? Nona Grey. A girl who’s got Hunska in her blood and demons in her heart. Nona hasn’t had a happy life or an easy life. Everything’s been hard, she’s had to fight to survive…she’s had to do more than fight and we love her. Vicious little people are always our favourite.

It’s important to note right now that Sister Kettle and Sister Apple are the best couple in existence and that leads us right back to the Convent of Sweet Mercy.

It’s a place for many girls to train in the way of the Ancestor, to worship the Ancestor because he is there god. From what we gathered as we read Red Sister, some girls are sent to the Convent to be educated, a bit like a private academy. Some are rescued by Abbess Glass and some end up in the Convent as a last resort.

We loved reading about the lessons and the different paths to the Ancestor that the girls may take if and when the graduate. Some girls become Red Sisters, others Grey. Some will become Sisters which are Holy and the remaining graduates become Mystic Sisters. That’s all we’re going to tell you about for now because there’s something else we must mention.

Time jumps exist in Red Sister and there are two types.

The first time jump is one of two years that happens quite early on in the novel so we don’t feel like it’s too much of a spoiler. Such a jump in time is common enough in books and while we were a little shocked and sad at all the possible information we missed out on.

The second is one where an unspecified amount of time is skipped and it ties into what we said earlier about the story needing more than one book be completed. It’s completely and utterly necessary to have sequels to Red Sister for some of the events to even make sense.

Whenever we come to the end of a review, we’re always left knowing that there’s so much story and character development left to cover. We want to tell you all more. Tell you everything that happened and our thoughts on it, but we can’t because books are a solitary adventure and maybe when you’ve all read Red Sister you’ll come back to us and we’ll have a chat.

So, in conclusion Red Sister by Mark Lawrence is a book we expected to like and ended up really, really liking even if it looks like we complained a lot here. It’s full of great characters and deceptive myths. There’s intrigue and bloodshed, but most importantly there’s sisterhood and friendship because sometimes the best books are built on the bonds of its cast.

Short summary: badass nuns.

Short reaction: wow!

Long version: Mark Lawrence opens the first book of a new series in a bleak, cold world that, under a dying sun, is livable only in a fifty mile wide swathe. The rest is howling wind and ice.

Life is just as bleak. Lawrence often jumps back and forth in time, and this book is no different: we begin with a frame, a sister alone, facing an army. Then we switch to two little girls, one summarily hanged, the other saved in the nick of time, and taken off to a nunnery to begin a new life. How she got there becomes an important thread through the entire story.

This first book follows Nona’s initial years among the girls; in this future world, with a ‘moon’ whose orbit is degrading above peoples who have evolved into several races with different magical traits, human nature is set in survival mode.

In this world, the difference between nuns (in various traditions, from Buddhism to Roman Catholicism, nuns lead a reclusive life dedicated to prayer and religious observation) and sisterhoods (sisters, which can be a term used by nuns, are dedicated to service in the community in some wise or other) has merged: these nuns are being trained to fight and kill.

I had to think for a couple of days about why I resist calling this book grimdark, though it is extremely violent. Many of the grimdark books I’ve tried and set aside feature not only a crapsack world I don’t want to live in through imagination, but characters I don’t care about, whose lives are meaningless and dark, scorning loyalty and justice, faith and mercy. Any fiction that makes me feel the same way I do after watching the news is not going to hold my interest long.

Lawrence managed to make me care deeply about Nona, Hessa (her disabled friend to whom she is psychically tied), Markus (seen briefly, but so memorable), the mercurial, Mercutio-like Clera, Ara the heroic, and so on. He imparts complexity and subtlety to the nuns in charge of the girls, and creates some villains you really, really want to see get what they deserve.

Lawrence writes with a masterful economy of style, conveying vivid, sometimes merciless imagery while never losing sight of empathy, even compassion, shafting insight deep within the human psyche in its struggle to survive, and not just to survive but to find purpose, dignity, meaning.

The magic system is fascinating, hinted at without ever overburdening the pacing, which speeds along at a relentless clip. The endgame was so tense that I’d meant to read just my usual chapter or two before turning out the light, but I ended up glued to my Ipad screen to the very end, though I knew the alarm would be going off a scant few hours later.

Altogether a bravura book on all levels—a smashing start to this new series.

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor)

by Mark Lawrence
    Publication date Apr 2017
    Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
    ImprintHarperVoyager
    Publication City/Country London, United Kingdom
    ISBN100008152306
    ISBN139780008152307

 

Wow where to start? I am kinda at a loss for words. That might be because it is 7:15 am and I was reading for the last 6 hours straight and I am exhausted. But I think it’s more likely that my brain just can’t contain all of the awesome that I read in that 6 hour stretch.

Well I guess I will start like I always do with the Tactile and visual parts of the review.  I love the cover It is a great visual description of the book without giving anything away. Plus it’s just some damn good art. It could have been improved a bit, but I went a head and fixed it.

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There were 5 or 6 Grammatical things I noticed. But all small things like bought her hand down instead of brought and in in instead of it in. I did have an ARC not the Final version of the book. I am just mentioning it so that in the unlikely event they haven’t been fixed already they will be before its published, I am not taking any points off.
“I have been too young to know, and I have been too old to care. It’s in that oh so narrow slice between that memories are made. So enjoy it.” – Sister Pan

I love Marks writing because on a almost subconscious level there is a meter or tempo to it. It’s not like a rhyming poem or anything, and it’s really hard to put a finger on what “it” is. I think “it” is the sentence structure its self. He writes like a great Orator speaks. The cadence of the words pulling you in to his stories  almost hypnotically. It has taken me reading 7 books by Mr. Lawrence to actually come to that conclusion.  I am probably wrong and its just a compulsion spell.. And while I am not accusing him of witchcraft or sorcery, per se. His prose has definitely cast its spell on me.

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You would not believe the amount of times that I have read a series by an author then read their new series, and it felt like…. well like the same books almost. At the very least, many authors fall in to old speech patterns using new mouths.  I have actually thought about this way too much in the past, and I came up with an explanation for it. The characters from the old books are in the FBI’s (Fictional Body Importation) Protagonist Protection Program.  (Rolls right off the tongue doesn’t it?) Their names have been changed for their own safety and they have been moved to a new world to start over. But just like Steve Martin in My Blue Heaven they soon get up to their old tricks again.
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In Mark’s first two trilogies he managed to make the protagonists so completely different from each other I was amazed. And Yes he did it again with Red Sister. I know I know, the protagonist in this book starts out as a 7 or 8 year old girl and yes it takes place on a completely different world. So it sounds like it would be easy to make them unique. But even the Narrative flow in Red Sister was different from the Broken Empire books. While still having the Orator’s Tempo I talked about before. It really did amaze me.
“But be warned, young Nona: a book is as dangerous as any journey you might take. The person who closes the back cover may not be the one that opened the front one.” – Sister Kettle

Ok Like I just mentioned, Red Sister takes place on a completely new world. New to us that is. Its actually so old it is dying, really in fact it is the Sun that is dying. Causing the slow formation of a Ice Planet like Hoth from  StarWars. The only glacier free area of the planet is a 50 mile wide strip that goes all the way around the planet. I Picture it just like Beggar’s Canyon back home.  Only wider obviously.

And the only Reason that 50 miles is still open is because of a moon…… “That’s no moon kid” That’s a focus lens! Every night it gathers the light from the dying sun focusing it in to a single beam that sweeps over the area with enough heat to keep the glacier from closing in on them. If that’s not bad enough, the “moon” is in a decaying orbit and will soon return to the planet and then the ice will close on the people like a giant trash compactor.. “C-3PO come in C-3PO where are you C-3PO OH where could he be?” Sorry can you tell I went and saw Rogue One again today?

Final Thoughts

It is not only a great story, but beautifully written as well. I loved the ending but at the same time I wish I hadn’t gotten to it yet. It was by no means a small book but I read it in three sittings, and that only made me want more.

Mark Lawrence has been the author of my choices for book of the year for the last 2 years in a row. Red Sister was the first book I finished this year but it is possible he might get my vote a third time. Red Sister gets a Outstanding recommendation from this goblin with 5 stars out of 5

P.S. if you’re a Mark Lawrence fan don’t forget to enter my free drawing to win a Broken Empire themed book cover! A $90.00 value for free! Just go to my blog post  here and make a comment and you will be entered.
https://thebloggoblin.com/2016/12/31/freecustombookcover/dscn4540/
https://thebloggoblin.com/2016/12/31/freecustombookcover/dscn4530/
https://thebloggoblin.com/2016/12/31/freecustombookcover/dscn4535/

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I think Mark Lawrence does an excellent job of world-building in this book. He creates an interesting society while leaving many questions unanswered about it's past and it's possible future (more to find out in future books!). However, I feel like the characters could have been developed more. I didn't care enough about what happened to them.