The world was torn apart by the war – Shifters and humans
fought, civilisation was destroyed and, in the aftermath of the bombs that
finally won the war, new dark forces have been unleashed driving people to hide
in well lit cities
Despite the war being 100 years ago, Tiger is a product
of that conflict – a designed supersoldier, a déchet, created to fight for
humanity. Most of her kind has been destroyed and is in hiding – but she cannot
abandon a child in need and one charitable act of rescue quickly pulls her out
of hiding and directly in a dangerous fight with the sinister forces that rule
the night.
What I’ve always liked with this author’s books is the
world settings – and this is no exception
A dystopian future following a devastating war between
shifters and humans that left the world devastated and at the mercy of sinister
and unknown monsters from beyond the void – as well as the vampires that have
always been in the shadows – but in a newly devastated world are so much more
of a threat.
That is an epic and fascinating world to begin with, but
there’s also fun additional elements and details – like the nature of vampires as
almost mindless monsters which is very refreshing in a genre which has so many
very very sex vampires. Or little things like the reliance on light to protect
the populace safe from vampires and shades has led to generations who have lost
the ability to see in the dark. There’s a lot of excellent detail in creating
this world
And then there’s Tiger, a déchet, a hybrid being created
to be a warrior for the humans before most of her kind were annihilated. There’s
a lot about her that comes close to being very tropey yet continually moves
back
She has special woo-woo powers (and is one of the few of
her kind left alive so they’re unique woo-woo powers), but while they give her
advantages they don’t make her uber powerful and book breaking. But while they
make her useful they don’t make her a weak object in possession of other
people. And, yes, inevitably she has the special woo-woo of sexy-times since
she was made to be a “lure” but even that has not gone the predictable route of
her tripping into bed with the designated love interest (though I will lays
odds that they are definitely headed towards sexy times). But even the way she
uses her sex as a weapon she does so in a way that is very different from what I’ve
seen in most other books with the woo-woo sexiness (even if it actually makes
far more sense).
She also has an angsty past – but it’s not an
overwhelming source of pathos and mourning for weak character development, but
rather an integral part of her character that reasonably drives her
motivations. It’s not just thrown in, it’s developed as part of her.
There’s a lot of interactions with ancient hatreds due to
the war and atrocities on both sides, but, again, this is well done. There’s no direct appropriation of real world
atrocities nor an attempt to invoke any kind of oppression (and Tiger openly
admits to atrocities on her side – on both sides – and that many of her fellow
déchat were created to be dangerous monsters).
Her motivation and interaction with the other characters
due to this history of hatred and revulsion and secrecy is also interestingly
complicated. From her trying to find connection with Sal her fellow déchat, to
the old hatreds with Nuri’s team. Under that is her conflict over whether to
protect herself and her ghostly charges – or whether to try and find the missing
children. She’s driven to find the kids – but how much danger does she tolerate
from her supposed allies? And I really like the answer to that.
Tiger is, as I’ve said, a nicely nuanced female character
and a dangerously sexy one who manages to be more than the avatar of sexiness
and her story is far more complex than just being the sexy one. The leader of
the faction she’s working with is a woman, Nuri, an immensely powerful, scary,
definitely in charge, ruthless – and mysterious. I look forward to seeing more
of her.
Alas there are no memorable minorities in this book. No
characters I remember as POC, no LGBT characters, no disabled characters. There’s
a fair number of characters here – certainly enough for the erasure to be noticeable.
Even more so since I’ve read a few series by this author and this is a definite
pattern
Yet I picked up this book with decent hopes – and am glad
to say in terms of story, setting and characterisation my hopes were not only
met, but far exceeded. This world setting is intriguing, Tiger is a character I
am a huge fan of and definitely want to follow her story and get behind her and
see her triumph – and the plot kept me engaged throughout. It’s the first book
of a new series and I’m already eager for more.
