Lives of Bitter Rain by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I would like to thank Head of Zeus for an advance copy of this novella in exchange for a far and honest review
Publisher – Head of Zeus
Published – Out Now
Price – £16.99 hardback £5.03 ebook
City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring 'Perfection' and 'Correctness' to an imperfect world. But before these ruthless Tyrant Philosophers send in their legions, they despatch Outreach - the rain before the storm.
Outreach is that part of the Pal machine responsible for diplomacy - converting enemies into friends, achieving through words what an army of five thousand could not, urging the oppressed to overthrow the bloody-handed priests, evil necromancers and greedy despots that subjugate them.
Angilly, twelve-years-old, a child of Pal soldiers stationed in occupied Jarokir, does not know it yet, but a sequence of accidents and questionable life choices will lead her to Outreach. As she travels from Jarrokir to Bracinta, Cazarkand, Lemas, The Holy Regalate of Stouk and finally, Usmai, she'll learn that the price of her nation's success is paid in compromise and lost chances, and that the falling rain will always be bitter.
NB – this can be read either before or after Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Interesting question – when does a character start? The easy answer is when they appear on the page in their novel but where does the character come from? The author’s imagination certainly but characters exist in a world and how does that create a character? We too are products of our world, and we always are making choices that allow us to live in it (apparently book reviewing has to come after paying the bills and I am still bitter about that) . How does that change us over time and what do those choices mean for our future? In Adrian Tchaikovsky’s new fantasy novella Lives of Bitter Rain follow a character from their childhood all the way to the start of the greatest challenge with fascinating results.
Angilly at 12 is stationed with her parents in the far-off land of Jarrokir part of the many lands increasingly falling under the control of the Pel Archipelago. A group so sworn to rationalism they do not feel too concerned about using the magic of their enemies to bring about their much-required state of Perfection. Angilly though soon finds the Pel are resented, and her parents are killed in a rebellion which she only escapes by luck. Soon sent to a Pel orphanage even with her family ties to higher office Angilly must work her way up. The area known as Outreach which welcomes new countries and uses the art (and treachery) of diplomacy starts to call her but to succeed how far do you go?
Now this is an interesting book. If you’ve read the third novel in the Tyrant Philosophers’ series Days of Shattered Faith, then this is the real origin story of Angilly the senior Pel diplomat who is a major character in the story. Knowing where she ends up in that tale, we may find some answers as how she got to those decisions she makes. If you’ve not yet read the story, then fear not there are no spoilers beyond the very first chapters of the story where her next story begins. Instead, what both groups will get is a fascinating look through how the Pel work not just for those it wishes to take over but also how they persuade its own inhabitants to d its work for them.
What I really liked is this story is not afraid to show that other countries and indeed other Pel all know that the Pel are not heroes. It is about power and survival, conquering and subverting but not just nations but its own inhabitants. Angilly is very much when we first meet her innocent of this and must slowly absorb the world. Her Aunt has no desire to offer sympathy and just sets expectations do well or prepare to be punished by working in the areas of the Archipelago that very few survive. I remind you she is twelve at this time.
Tchaikovsky then starts to flash through Angilly’s life and in the process, we see a lot more of how the Pel operate. They are yes staffed with military, they do have magicians, but they also like to use politics and spycraft. Angilly soon impresses her bosses with her skill for observation, tactics and knowing when to break the rules. Hence the mysterious department of Outreach becomes her new home.
If you are new to Angilly then what follows is the shaping of her character. One key aspect is how she starts to accept things just must be that way. There is a key relationship she has with a young man Lasaret a magician and becomes a close friend. But Laserat comes from a conquered territory. Like many Empires it shows people end up working in the system that controls them but we also see what happens when the Pel suspect a part of the Empire is a risk. Angilly is not a revolutionary, she just wants to keep her head above water and considering the lack of options she has and the consequences if she was out of line the grim truth is she is unlikely to have made any other choice. That’s the ugly power of the pel on display. It’s a system that is all about people making their own choices to control. Consciously we just watch Angilly separate her head from her heart and focus on her career. Tchaikovsky always makes her likeable, there is some morality here and as we enter the final chapters, and she arrives in the setting for Shattered Faith this suggests that inner tension is finally about to break. We sense her loneliness and her desire to help a friend. But she is now with her resources able to turn a government around too in the process and perhaps still making her bosses happy in the process and saving her own skin. The big question is can she control everything forever? Angilly becomes jaded, has a joke to hand and perhaps is hiding her thoughts (and her conscience) from herself far more than she ever realised.
If you’ve not yet tried the series, then Lives of Bitter Rain would be an interesting place to start. Fans of the series will enjoy this stepping back and exploration of what Pel life is like. It reminds us often the way empires exist is the people in them try to keep their heads down and survive the day which is possibly the most evil thing they can ever do. Highly recommended!
