I’m very excited that today is my stop on the blog tour for The Hand of the Sun King by J T Greathouse. Huge thanks to Will at Gollancz for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.
All my life, I have been torn between two legacies: that of my father, whose roots trace back to the right hand of the Emperor. That of my mother’s family, who reject the oppressive Empire and embrace the resistance.
I can choose between them – between protecting my family, or protecting my people – or I can search out a better path . . . a magical path, filled with secrets, unbound by Empire or resistance, which could shake my world to its very foundation.
But my search for freedom will entangle me in a war between the gods themselves
I knew I wouldn’t have time to read the book for a full review, so this is my first impressions.
First of all, I absolutely love the cover, so kudos to Patrick Knowles who designed and illustrated it. The illustration on the hand is stunning.
But on to the actual book! I’m 123 pages into it, and I’m really enjoying it. It’s first person point of view, and we first meet our protagonist, Wen Alder, when he is 8 years old. Alder’s conflicting loyalties can be seen right from the start – does he choose the path of his Sienese father, or that of his Nayeni grandmother, who rebels against Sienese rule? Well actually, Alder chooses to follow magic and he’ll take whichever path will lead him to greater understanding and control.
The characters are really well fleshed out. We don’t spend a lot of time with anyone other than Alder, but I still loved his grandmother and his tutor. Alder himself can be a bit annoying – he’s quite arrogant and he puts himself in danger in his determination to master magic properly, not in the restrained ways practised by his grandmother and the empire.
The worldbuilding is pretty good too. It’s obviously based on Asian history, and I’m sure someone more versed in it would be able to spot all the links, but “based on Asian history” is all I’ve got. As I’m not very far into the book I’m not sure how this is going to play out, but I like the two different magic systems, clearly accessing the same power in different ways. I also like what we’ve had so far about the internal conflicts felt by someone brought up under an oppressive, conquering regime with loyalties to both the oppressors and the oppressed.
So far then, The Hand of the Sun King is living up to expectations. I’m very much looking forward to getting to know Alder and the people surrounding him better as the book goes on, and to finding out if he can ever resolve his torn loyalties. It’s definitely worth picking up if you’re in the mood for a coming of age story filled with magic and conflict!
The Hand of the Sun King is out now from Gollancz
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