Days of Shattered Faith
Geopolitical and magical intrigue entangle in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s intricate fantasy novel Days of Shattered Faith.
As a new aide to Gil, Pallesand’s diplomat in Usmai, Loret seconds her superior in a duel with Lor’s diplomat. Amid convoluted machinations, this duel is retribution for Lor’s defeat in war against Pallesand and corresponds to Pallesand-backed Dekamran, the second-eldest royal son, becoming heir to Usmai’s throne after his older brother’s banishment. Meanwhile, the current ruler nears death.
The book’s sweeping perspective shifts cross social strata, revealing people’s conflicting motives: An orphaned courier yearns to be more than just a “boy” to the cruel ruler, who mourns his lost wife. Enticing suspicions engulf Pallesand’s mismatched diplomatic duo: The blind, murderous rage that erupts from Loret’s fearful timidity is perplexing to snarky, cynical Gil, who’s a master of diplomatic tradecraft (“one hand over the table to sign the documents and one under the table to hold the knife”). And Gil shares a forbidden intimacy with Dekamran, whose soft straightforwardness is a conspicuous rarity.
Usmai, a stratified place, is fleshed out in sophisticated terms: Among waterfalls and rainbows, the aristocratic rich inhabit the upper layers of the cliffside metropolis. Little trickles down to the impoverished sea-level community with its clandestine, duplicitous operators. Alluring spectacles of magic and religion are brandished throughout Usmai, leaving newcomer Loret aghast at their violation of Pallesand’s doctrinal “perfection” (efficiency, uniformity, and secularism). Elsewhere, the Waygrove monks are one among many mysterious religious sects and alienated outsiders who seek a tenuous alliance with Usmai.
Marked by dynamic, violent maneuvers for political power in the inner courts and across national borders, the elaborate fantasy novel Days of Shattered Faith focuses on schemes for international supremacy that twist with manifold personal desires.
Reviewed by
Isabella Zhou
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