by A.K. Larkwood
Series: The Serpent Gates #1
Published on February 11, 2020 by Tor
ISBN: 9781250238900
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 464
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
What if you knew how and when you will die?
Csorwe does — she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice.
But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard's loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power.
But Csorwe will soon learn – gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.
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The Unspoken Name is one of those books that I really enjoyed, only partially understood at times, but definitely need more of. After being initially turned off by the slow build of the first 25%, I soon found myself engaged in a world of invisible gods and magic and treachery and intrigue.
Csorwe is an orc priestess meant to be sacrificed to her people’s god as a teen until circumstances and perhaps fate intervened. At first I didn’t really care one way or the other about Csorwe. Her origins are interesting, but the wizard who “saves” her, Belthandros Sethennai, is infinitely more interesting. And so I struggled to get through the first part because I wasn’t invested in Csorwe’s struggles.
Then there was this change. For all its expansive world-building and constantly shifting plot, The Unspoken Name is ultimately a character-driven story. Everything revolves around one decision after the next and how they play out not just for the character, but the rest of the world. This is especially true for Csorwe because her entire arc examines what freedom can look like vs what it really is.
But Csorwe isn’t the only character here. I’d consider her the protagonist but we also meet: Shuthmili who was a perfect foil to Csorwe’s bluntness and rough edges (and honestly their whole relationship was just such a beautiful build I can’t even); Tal, whose entire personality and antagonistic relationship with Csorwe was oddly perfect in the way that rivals to maybe friends should be; Oranna who I loved and that is how you write an antagonist who isn’t necessarily a villain thank you; and then Sethennai who intrigued me from the start and turned out to be even more interesting by the end (and that’s all I can say without spoilers). There are other characters but I would say this is the core of the cast and each was so multi-faceted and reflective of humanity. Csorwe unfortunately wasn’t my favorite by the end but the other characters made up for that.
The world-building started out as a big of a slog but I tore through the rest of The Unspoken Name in record time thanks to the cast. Which, speaking of the rest of it, the world could be a bit dense but ultimately I was very into the show of different places and cultures. Enough that I wanted a bit more time in each than we got. Csorwe and Sethennai spend a bit of time in a small town preparing for their big takeover at the beginning, and we really get a sense of the place, but the rest of the book is hopping from one location to another. I didn’t want a postcard from each destination, showing a glimpse of the world. I wanted to be there and that’s something I’m hoping the sequel explores a bit more.
All that said, I would absolutely recommend The Unspoken Name and personally already plan on pre-ordering the sequel because it’s definitely not the sort of book you want to miss out on!
About Austine
I'm a 20-something research proposal developer with a background in the life sciences and education. Reviewer of books since 2011, amateur photographer by day, and aspiring author by night. I believe animals (and books) are better than people.
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