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Warning: Full spoilers for the book follow.
A couple of years ago I read Christopher Buehlman’s The Blacktongue Thief a few years ago and really loved it. Buehlman is one of those fantasy authors with a keen sense of character development, world building, and narrative that only comes along once in a great while. His books are on the grimdark side of things, but there’s hope in them, too, if you know where to look. I think it’s safe to say that this is one of my very favorite recent fantasy reads, and I can’t praise it highly enough.
When the novel begins Galva dom Braga is part of an elite unit of warrior women who’ve been dispatched to fight against the sinister goblins, creatures that are as utterly inhuman as it’s possible to be. The ongoing wars have been going on for so long that it’s now necessary for women to go to battle, no matter how much this might irk some members of the male aristocracy. As the novel goes on her fate intersects with some very important folks, including none other than the Queen In the end, she endures more than her fair share of tragedy and heartbreak but also, and perhaps more importantly, she knows what it is to taste true love .
Galva is, I think it’s safe to say, one of the most extraordinary female characters I’ve yet experienced in a fantasy novel. She is, in a word, badass. I mean, how else would you describe a woman who not only helps to train giant war ravens but also goes to war against goblins with only the faintest chance that she’s going to emerge out of this whole thing alive? For that matter, how else would you describe a woman who’s willing to leave her degenerate and cruel and sadistic brother behind to get devoured by those same goblins?
I have a real soft spot for those fantasy novels that manage to immerse you in their worlds while not shirking in the character development department. The Daughters’ War excels in both arenas, and while there were many times when I really did feel as if I was immersed in this world and encountering the horrors of war (and the beauties of love), I also enjoyed getting to spend so much time with a character like Galva. She’s the kind of person who takes a rather jaundiced view of the world but, given what she’s had to endure–including an eldest brother who’s a real jackass–one can see why she’d be a bit cynical about the world around her.
And, of course, there’s also the fact that she’s knee-deep in a war that is the very epitome of horror. Those goblins…man, they are just absolutely terrifying. I know Tolkien set the bar high when it comes to the convincing depiction of Orcs, but Buehlman takes this to a whole new level. It’s not just that goblins are the enemies of humans; they are so different from them as to be almost from another planet. They butcher humans and eat their flesh; they seem able to communicate through some variant of a hive-mind; they wear masks and create sails out of human skin; and so much more. These are creatures we are led to fear and to hate, and we can’t help but heave a sigh of relief when the war corvids prove remarkably effective at turning the tide of war.
Most of the novel is told from Galva’s point of view–presumably from some far point in the future–but at certain key points she shares with us the journals written by her younger brother Amiel, who has been assigned as an apprentice to a powerful wizard. Unlike his sister, who approaches the world through a rather grim mindset, he is a tried and true romantic, someone who sees the beauty in the world, even through all the ugliness. And yet, tragically, he loses his life during a siege and, to make matters even worse, we never really get closure as to what happened. It’s moments like this, though, that make The Daughters’ War rank up there with the very best war fiction, whether in fantasy or in more mainstream literature. The ugly truth about war, as in life in general, is that we all too often don’t get the resolution or the closure we might desire. Sometimes, we’re just left to pick up the pieces of our broken lives and hearts the best we can and go forth into an uncertain future.
This is not to say that it’s all doom and gloom. Galva’s wartime life and conflict with her eldest brother. She has a brief romantic interlude with none other than a queen, and these portions of the novel are really quite beautiful and evocative, reminding us that great tenderness can sometimes flourish even in the darkest of times. These passages hit all the harder given just how ugly the world outside continues to become. The love may be an ephemeral thing, but it clearly leaves an impression on our hero that will last the rest of her life, even after she has completely sworn her service and her soul to the goddess of death.
Suffice it to say that I loved this book. Despite the rather wry and cynical voice of its narrator, this is still a book all about big emotions and big ideas, about how triumph in war cannot be gained without tremendous sacrifice. There are some books that just get the visceral and brutal ugliness of war and the aching beauty of love, and how those two things can nestle in the heart of a single person. The Daughters’ War is one such book, and I think it will come to be regarded as a true classic of fantasy literature.
It’s really the ending, though, that made me weep. After having endured unspeakable horror, Galva returns at last to her family home, where she reunites with the old mare who’s been waiting for her all this time. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just the idea of this sweet horse being one of the last of her kind left alive, or maybe it’s just the sense of relief and release of knowing just how much she’s survived and managed to make it home at last. Something about this whole ending sequence, though, had me sobbing. It’s the perfect way to end this story, and it crystallizes why I found this to be one of my very favorite reads of recent memory.
So, if you haven’t yet, do read The Daughters’ War, if for no other reason than to read about giant war birds, wizards who give up their health to win a war, and badass women. It’s a story not for the faint of heart, but all the more worth reading because of that. Read it soon, and you can thank me later!
