Sidewinders
by Robert V.S. Redick
House of Cadmus was sent Sidewinders by Talos Press for review. All opinions are my own.
The worst of rivals, the closest of friends, the two most wanted men in a war-torn world: Kandri and Mektu Hinjuman have cheated death so often it’s begun to feel like a way of life. But nothing has prepared them for the danger and enchantment of the Ravenous Lands. This sprawling, lethal desert is the brothers’ last hope, for they have killed the favorite son of Her Radiance the Prophet, and her death-priests and magical servants are hunting them day and night.
But there are dangers even within their caravan. Some of their fellow travelers worship the Prophet in secret. Others, including Mektu, have become obsessed with a bejeweled dagger that seems to afflict its owners with madness or death.
At stake is far more than the lives of two runaway soldiers. Kandri is carrying an encoded cure for the World Plague, a disease that has raged for centuries—while far from the desert, certain criminals have learned just how lucrative a plague can be. Are they using the Prophet, or being used by her? Who, in this game of shadows, can Kandri trust?
He knows one thing, however: they must reach Kasralys, great and beautiful fortress-city of the east. Only there can the precious cure be deciphered. Only there can Kandri seek word of the lover who vanished one night without a trace. But Kasralys, never conquered in 3,000 years, is about to face its greatest siege in history.
Book one in the The Fire Sacraments Series, Master Assassins, began the story of the Hinjuman Brothers; a sprawling tale that explores desert cultures, a Prophet’s madness, and complexities of familial relationships while chronicling the mad escape of brothers caught up in the mania of a world-changing scheme much bigger than themselves, all with an apparent ease that speaks to the author’s remarkable talent and skill.
Sidewinders continues the story of the Hinjuman brothers, reintroducing readers to the world of Urrath with a prologue marked by prose that struck a chord within me immediately as the inciting incident of Master Assassins is recounted. Had the writing been this good in Master Assassins? I asked myself. A silly question, considering I had just finished Master Assassins the day before and already knew Redick to be a skilled writer. Still, the prose of Sidewinders stuck out as particularly well done from the outset and continued to impress throughout the entirety of the novel. As mentioned in my Master Assassins review, The Fire Sacraments is incredibly intelligent fantasy; the writing reflects this. It’s impactful and nuanced, capturing Kandri and Mektu’s seemingly endless trek across the desert with engaging prose that brings an environment that could so easily be bland and monotonous to life. Descriptions are rich and evocative, placing readers right alongside the caravan in the swelling dunes of the Urrathi desert beneath the relentless sun. The world building is fantastic; the exploration and expression of different cultures nuanced and crisp. While The Fire Sacraments is fantasy, there’s a subtlety to the elements that characterize it as such. There’s an overarching sort of mysticism that has propelled the story since the outset of Master Assassins; the belief in the Prophet, a world full of demons and ghouls, the knowledge that something bigger is unfolding in the Time of Madness. It’s a fascinating, compelling world and one that surprised me with how much I enjoyed it.
Related: Master Assassins Review
The focus on complex relationships seen within Master Assassins is only delved into further within Sidewinders. It was an aspect of the first novel that I appreciated, the attention to incredibly complex relationships and the careful exploration and development of them. The characters—and the focus on their unique histories, the ties they share and the differences that grate between them—form the heart of this story. A plot that is entertaining and full of intrigue is made something far more compelling by the complex characters. From main characters, Kandri and Mektu, to secondary characters such as Talupéké and Jód, each character is so well crafted, so real. Their motivations, histories, secrets, relationships—each thread is woven so flawlessly within the narration, making for a story with real depth. I will note that I was sad to see certain things happen with one of the female characters, Eshett. I enjoyed that Master Assassins avoided some of my earliest assumptions about how certain female characters were going to play a role in the story, but was disappointed to see that Sidewinders ultimately did diminish Eshett’s role to how she impacted the Hinjuman brothers’ relationship. I would’ve liked her to have had a bigger impact on the plot unrelated to them.
Sidewinders picks up where Master Assassins left off, throwing readers right back into the chaos of Kandri and Mektu’s flight across the desert. While the Hinjumans’ portion of the novel doesn’t differ greatly when compared in the most general terms to Master Assassins, Sidewinders expands the scope of the plot immensely. The overall plot was engaging, laced with moments of action and strengthened by constantly building intrigue within the overall expanding plot and within the happenings of the caravan. Something I enjoyed greatly was the way in which so many things—even certain characters’ eccentricities—were thrown into question and cast in a new light within Sidewinders. Tensions, secrets, betrayals, and certain illuminating interludes provided interest to what could’ve easily become a monotonous journey for readers. While I think it was balanced well and that everything unfolded well, I will say there were still moments when I felt that the main narrative (Kandri’s POV) had settled into a pattern of journeying across the desert with the occasional bit of action to break it up that I wasn’t sure would make a true impact on the big-picture plot. In the end, I was entertained and intrigued by the plot, but it’s worth noting moments of waned interest.
Stepping further into this world was such a pleasure. By far, my favorite aspect of this novel was the broadening of the scope of the plot to encompass the unfolding narrative of an entire continent’s history, politics, and shifting tides. Foundations that had been laid in Master Assassins were built upon in Sidewinders, the culture and history of Urrath expanded upon and made part of the unfolding plot by the inclusion of points-of-view from within those cultures/nations. The world building within this series is fantastically real and rich; getting to read firsthand accounts of happenings within Shôlupur and Kasralys was fantastic—some of my favorite moments of the entire novel. It allowed for a more intimate knowledge of these cultures and for a firsthand understanding of the shifting powers and politics that affected the plot. These portions of the novel were particularly impressive in terms of Redick’s fantastic writing, showcasing just how adept he is at making readers feel familiar with characters, and even entire cultures or nations, almost immediately through fantastic characterization and impactful moments. These glimpses were infrequent and short but so compelling, adding incredible depth and scope to the plot.
Sidewinders was a thoroughly enjoyable novel. It’s a rich, detailed, reading experience with complex and compelling characters and a fantastically interesting world. I would certainly recommend Sidewinders to all fantasy readers, and I look forward to reading more of Redick’s work.