 it's the ducks again. Go away. Hello! Humans and non-humans all are welcome here on this weird channel about books. My name is Kim and this is a spoiler-free review of The Waking Land by Cali Bates. It comes out June 27th. This book was handed to me after a particularly excellent panel at Yal West 2017 and I just... that panel was so great, okay? It was Cassandra Clare, Daniel Older, Zor... I'm gonna say this wrong. Zoreida, Zoreida Cordova and Megan Wayland Turner and they were talking about fantasy in the new Surreality of 2017 which I thought was a particularly salient title but they were talking about how fantasy is influenced by politics and about how what you read can influence the way you see the world around you and also like how things are getting a little bit worse every day. And Daniel Older kept swearing and he wasn't supposed to be swearing and Megan Wayland Turner kind of like put a cap on that by instead of swearing while she was talking she went hot dog. Anyway this was exactly the right panel to hand this book out after. Trigger warnings. There is violence, lots of violence, there is kidnapping, there is violence against children, there is gaslighting and bullying and you know the overthrow of an oppressive state. Does that mean a trigger warning? Okay when Alana was five she was kidnapped at gunpoint by King Antoine in order to prevent her father from mounting a rebellion and putting a different king on the throne. Alana was then held hostage in the palace for the next 14 years, learning their ways, trying to blend in which was difficult because she can literally grow flowers out of seeds held in the palm of her hand. And magic is outlawed pretty much everywhere. So she's suppressing her plant magic and okay this girl just wants to be a botanist. Just let the girl be a fucking botanist. No someone has to go murder King Antoine and frame Alana for it which was remarkably easy because she's the daughter of a rebellious duke and she studies poisonous mushrooms for fun. Not the smartest move but I digress. She narrowly escapes the palace guard and then makes a series of terrible decisions that I'll let you figure out for yourself but it comes down to this. Regardless of her parentage she feels that King Antoine was kind to her and all the things she has been taught indicate that he is a benevolent and just ruler. Alana is a loyalist, the rest of her rebellion that has been brewing for decades. I taste earth in my mouth, a woman's voice screams I'm screaming but I am not a woman. My throat is wood and water and sap. I am green and bruised and rocky and I am angry. So angry. The writing in this book is so intriguing. A highly scientific mind possesses a deeply rooted mystical connection to the most intrinsic of all magic the earth itself and she doesn't understand how it works. It has been 200 years since anyone understood how it works. A highly scientific mind suddenly being asked to wield this literally earth-shaking power and all she has for research materials are some folk songs and a poem. Honestly if she didn't have a rebellion to deal with I'm pretty sure she'd be tearing her hair out. You the reader get to trip and stumble along with Alana as she discovers her magic and the truth and her history and herself. It's visceral it's no punches pulled and it's incredibly fast-paced. But enough about Elle. She may be the main character but she is not the only character so there's oh god. Now that I'm saying leaves out loud I have to figure out how to pronounce them. There's Victoire who has been Elle's best friend since she first came to the palace when she was five years old. And then there's Jahan who's a young man who keeps your secrets as well as his own. Finn who has only ever known duty. Rhea an absolutely terrifying young woman born of the mountain lords. Sophie the ward Alana's parents took in not long after she was kidnapped. Ouch. Alastair the conniving leader of a group of guerrilla warriors called the Hounds. Then there's Princess Lois who is a bitch. Very few redeeming qualities on that one except possibly her stupidity. Her cohort and Denis Felclenier. He's an entitled asshole but at least he has canache. And finally Lord Gilbert also known as the butcher an enforcer under King Antoine set to do his dirty work. I have my suspicions with regard to storyline and later books. That's not a spoiler. He's shifty. So I've covered all of the non-spoilery bits of the plot already but I do want to talk about one thing. The trope where the chosen one does something capital I impossible and everybody looks at her like she's terrified. That doesn't happen in this book. When Alana does something capital I impossible the Kyrie scenes look at her like she's incredible. Alana is the one who's terrified. She doesn't understand what's happening. There's no scientific method here. There's no hypotheses and carefully noted results and she has almost no control. Welcome to The Waking Lands. Overall I give this book four and a half stars. It's got a political revolution, kingmaking, magic and some really awesome complicated ladies. If that sounds up your alley check out The Waking Land. It comes out June 27th and it's got some things that I really want to talk to people about and nobody else has read this book yet. When you read it let me know that you did. Please, aviento.