A. K. Larkwood

A. K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about an orc priestess turned wizard's assassin. 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. “In the vein of Le Guin's magnificent Tombs of Atuan—if Arha the Eaten One got to grow up to be a swordswoman mercenary in thrall to her dubious wizard mentor. I love this book so much."—Arkady Martine, author of A Memory Called Empire “Hooked me in from the first page and never let go. Fabulous, in every meaning of the word."—Jenn Lyons, author of Ruin of Kings

The Unspoken Name

Sophia 

What she couldn't spell out, and didn't want to admit anyway, was that the place was enticing. However cold and dark and bewildering, there was a terrible rightness about its angles. She had been born for places like this. There was something familiar, like a long-healed injury, about returning to the domain of an old god. 

After finishing this book, I feel like I just read four. It was so full of plot points and adventure, every part felt like a complete story, or that it could have been its own book. I loved the world so much, one of my favorite things about fantasy as a genre is getting to see the full extent of writers' creativity. It was such a rich and expansive universe, this author uses 100% of her brain. Every time I thought that a particular plot point was the main one, it would get wrapped up and a new one would arise, it felt like the story kept unravelling, and because I was having a blast, it felt like a gift each time. I can see how some people would be bored or have issues with the pacing, but I certainly didn't have any such issues.

I liked the characters, they were a really eccentric cast to follow and I wasn't bored for a moment because of them. A moody gay orc, a sassy even gayer elf, TWO evil bisexual villains that were both so fun you couldn't even hate them, and a repressed mage who's just happy to be experiencing the world for the first time. All of them felt really real and fleshed out. I even liked the side characters, the author didn't write them to be flat, everyone felt important.

I thought the writing was really good, some people wouldn't like the humor, but I did. I liked the juxtaposition between this serious fantasy atmosphere with very high stakes, and just the most unserious bits of dialogue or one liners. It helped diffuse the tension and made it a more fun read. Some might call it cringe, I call it fun.

Overall, great book. I'm not exactly sure what to expect in the second, the ending of this book felt mostly complete, aside from a few questions, but I'm excited to find out anyway, the author has already shown me that she can create high stakes situations when I least expect it.

bel 

After finishing this book, I feel like I just read four. It was so full of plot points and adventure, every part felt like a complete story, or that it could have been its own book. I loved the world so much, one of my favorite things about fantasy as a genre is getting to see the full extent of writers' creativity. It was such a rich and expansive universe, this author uses 100% of her brain. Every time I thought that a particular plot point was the main one, it would get wrapped up and a new one would arise, it felt like the story kept unravelling, and because I was having a blast, it felt like a gift each time. I can see how some people would be bored or have issues with the pacing, but I certainly didn't have any such issues.

I liked the characters, they were a really eccentric cast to follow and I wasn't bored for a moment because of them. A moody gay orc, a sassy even gayer elf, TWO evil bisexual villains that were both so fun you couldn't even hate them, and a repressed mage who's just happy to be experiencing the world for the first time. All of them felt really real and fleshed out. I even liked the side characters, the author didn't write them to be flat, everyone felt important.

I thought the writing was really good, some people wouldn't like the humor, but I did. I liked the juxtaposition between this serious fantasy atmosphere with very high stakes, and just the most unserious bits of dialogue or one liners. It helped diffuse the tension and made it a more fun read. Some might call it cringe, I call it fun.

Overall, great book. I'm not exactly sure what to expect in the second, the ending of this book felt mostly complete, aside from a few questions, but I'm excited to find out anyway, the author has already shown me that she can create high stakes situations when I least expect it.

This was a pretty fun read. Dark and humorous narration style. Reminiscent of Sam Sykes’ writing, in a way. There were a hundred different plot points that could’ve each been an entire fantasy novel all in one - but that was the fun part of this book. There was SO much happening, and you just have to stay along for the ride. This book reads like a collection of TV show episodes. Brief, a bit simple, action-packed. It’s no epic fantasy; it’s more of a Star Wars adventure. 

this was so much fun, just really put the joy into reading for me. all of the characters were developed so well, the dialogue was witty, the worldbuilding was insane, the chemistry of the main couple ?!?! and it was sapphic... god this was good! 

claire

kelsey

probably more like a *3.5 it lost me a bit in the middle then picked up for sure during the last section

A. K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about a young priestess sentenced to die, who at the last minute escapes her fate; only to become an assassin for the wizard who saved her. 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. “In the vein of Le Guin's magnificent Tombs of Atuan—if Arha the Eaten One got to grow up to be a swordswoman mercenary in thrall to her dubious wizard mentor. I love this book so much."—Arkady Martine, author of A Memory Called Empire "I cannot recommend it enough." -- Tamsyn Muir, author of Gideon the Ninth At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

2 stars for it being gay and the world building only

Jasper

A. K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about a young priestess sentenced to die, who at the last minute escapes her fate; only to become an assassin for the wizard who saved her. 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. “In the vein of Le Guin's magnificent Tombs of Atuan—if Arha the Eaten One got to grow up to be a swordswoman mercenary in thrall to her dubious wizard mentor. I love this book so much."—Arkady Martine, author of A Memory Called Empire "I cannot recommend it enough." -- Tamsyn Muir, author of Gideon the Ninth

Cloudface

As much as I wanted to love this book, the main character was so boring I found it hard to finish the book. She just does what everyone else tells her to do, and even though she learns to stand up for herself by the end it took so long to get to that payoff that it didn’t feel worth it. And she doesn’t have any actual stakes in the story until 3/4 of the way through, because she’s literally following someone else’s orders and her only motive is that she owes them for saving her life.

Savannah Winchell

MAGICAL LESBIAN SPACE PIRATES FIGHTING GODS AND FINDING TREASURE LITERALLY WHY R PPL NOT I NTO IT???

Elinor

im out of my reading slump i think
ok so if i hadnt read TLT this would be a 5 star but that series i think has broken me so i cant get too much into anything else because i have such high standards. BUT this was still a fun book!!! fun relationships and characters that you were like "wait you were evil? oh ok so youre not evil now ok oh no wait now youre just ok what ok" like morally gray then i guess? idk it was fun
tal is also such a pathetic fun man like hes so funny sometimes and sometimes he just happens to be in funny situations, i wish we would have gotten more from him. i just wish also that this book was with more concrete perspectives like one chapter for each perspective and more balanced out but also i get that this csoway is the main character. but yeah it was good, would have been 5 stars if not for TLT but thats how it is. i recommend to everyone who likes gay people and fantasy!

Fraser Simons

Different enough from a standard fantasy affair that I was always interested in finding out what happened next and hungry for details about how the world works. There’s a wonderful sense of dread from the start that loosens and tightens as it goes, centering on the tension between Csorwe and her mentor. 

The least interesting aspect was between her and the people that vie for the mentors attentions, but it made sense for the character arc. It certainly feels like a first novel in a series but also ties up plot threads enough that it’s not just bait. 

The world and magic were the most largest draws for me; characters being secondary to that pull. But it’s certainly welcome after going through a lot of standard fantasy lately that just didn’t resonate at all. And other fantasy novels are almost tombs in comparison. Will pick up the next book in this series for sure, I think.

Mia Kern

"I understand the desire for a quiet life as well as anyone. But I feel I should warn you that you won't find one. You already carry the mark of one divinity. That tends to draw attention." p. 458


Gosh some people, man. Share some creativity with the rest of us, it's not fair! This was such a fun adventure; every time I thought I knew where it was going, Larkwood threw another curveball at me. The characters were all incredibly fun, with interesting motivations and amusing interactions. There was so much worldbuilding and action packed into this thing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it as I went along.

I do wish, however, that the pace had slowed down just a little bit in some areas. I would've liked to spend more time with Csorwe as she was training to be a rogue (er, sorry, this isn't dnd), as she was training to be an elite fighter, rather than just being told that she was one after a time jump. And there were very crucial bits of worldbuilding that were presented very quickly with little space to digest the new information. But overall, I'm really glad that I picked this one up (thanks, Karley!) and will be diving into the sequel asap.

Alice Hyman

Nothing in this world has earned the power to frighten you, Csorwe,” he said. “You have looked your foretold death in the face and turned from it in defiance. Nothing in this world or any other deserves your fear.”
🐋
This book really crept up on me. I bought it on a whim after seeing it on my explore page, and wow am I glad I did. This book does not gently introduce you to a world and explain the rules of how its run. You are dropped face first into a vibrant magical place and experience so much of what would have been so mundane if it was laid out and explained.
🐋
I loved that for once the main character was an Orc type being - specifically Osarru. It was so different from the usual humans and elves you encounter in most fantasy books. Also this books is like fantasy science fiction - think Lord of the Rings crossed with Firefly. But better - and also Sapphic - also did I mention the necromancy, god magic, and sky oceans.

It is quite slow burn and slow paced, though events and plot twists can happen thick and fast - the main storyline/ quest is quite slow paced.
🐋
I love Csorwe ( yeah alot of the names in this are, interesting, but I actually thought they were really well done - and the pronunciation guide helped a ton ) - her banter with Tal is amazing and I loved how introverted and quite her general character was. It really fit with her upbringing and how she could act so ruthlessly and unstoppable when doing her “job”. I also loved her slow self realisation and what caused it.
🐋
I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, or introduce all the amazing characters because I assure you I will not do them justice. But we have; a morally grey bi sorcerer, a family disappointment with daddy issues and a sword, a sorcerer genius whose still figuring everything out, a literal giant serpent who is learned and can speak, the list just goes on and on.

Naty Corbett

** spoiler alert **
           Genres: A nice blend of sci fi and fantasy.

The book starts out in a religious order worshipping the god with the Unspoken Name. The protagonist, Csorwe (rhymes with doorway), is nearing 14, the age when she will be sacrificed to her god when a mysterious man from another world walks in to ask her god a question through her...

The story follows Csorwe throughout the next years of her life, spoiler she lived, where she grows and learns to hone her craft and trade towards the benefit of her benefactor. During her adventures, she meets a lady in whom she sees a little of herself and also develops a bit of a crush.

Romance is a very small part of this book and focuses more on personal growth, self self-worth, confidence, and weighing your conscience versus duty.

This is the first in a series, the second is expected to be published sometime next year.

Overall I really enjoyed the book and found it difficult to put down. The story is well paced, the characters are believable and not offputting, and the universe it takes place in is so intriguing I found myself wishing I could see it developed into a movie or tv show so I could have see a visual representation of what was being described.

Madalyn Walters

This was definitely a fun book. I genuinely enjoyed the characters & even laughed at some of the remarks they made. However, this book is EXTREMELY plot-driven and fast-paced to the point of feeling rushed. Personally, that’s just not my style (for context my favorite book is The Night Circus where there is literally next to no plot). The book rushed through events and I felt like it should have been multiple books, because it reads like an abridged version of a longer series. It’s cute though, just not my style 

Sahi K

It’s a 3.5 star with the half star being exclusively for the last few amazing chapters. That really was a great ending. 

As mostly a reader of YA fantasy, I don’t follow a lot of news about adult fantasy releases but I kept seeing this book everywhere, and ended up requesting the ARC because I found to be an interesting premise. And after having finished it, I’m still not sure how I feel about it, so I’ll probably be processing my feelings through this review. Be prepared for an incoherent mess below.

And this is where I don’t know what to say. As it’s a debut, I’m usually very generous and the writing style is not something that is very high up on my scale while rating a book for it’s enjoyment. But right from the beginning, the writing in this book kept me hooked enough that I wanted to know what was going to happen next; but, I also never felt emotionally invested in it. The plot just meanders from one point to another and I frankly wasn’t sure what the ultimate goal was. There are also many time jumps which I felt prevented me from getting to know the characters better, particularly because I thought the character growth happened during the time jumps which we never got to see. The pacing is also pretty slow throughout with only a couple of intense scenes in between, but I really loved the way it became action packed towards the end. The last few chapters really were what redeemed the book for me. 

This book is essentially a portal fantasy where the characters can travel from one world to another using the Maze and mailships and I thought that was a cool idea. There are also multiple kingdoms with their own gods, cultures and beliefs and I think the author did a good job differentiating between them all. Even the landscape and climate of the different places visited are described very well so we are able to keep track of them. I won’t say I completely understood the method used by the mages to channel the power of the gods, but there was enough information to follow the story and not feel confused. And the best part was that characters here used no labels and it was a very queernormative world.

Csorwe is a very sympathetic character in the beginning when we realize what her destiny is, but all that quickly changes when time passes by. We never get to see her train and become the fearsome right hand of a powerful mage she is supposed to be and that was disappointing. There was this sense that she wanted more from her life but she was too passive to ask for it. She was also mostly impulsive in her actions, just making in the moment decisions and not thinking through long term consequences. I wanted her to feel better and be more confident about her desires, but I truly wasn’t so emotionally attached to her that it would have upset me if she didn’t get a good ending. 

Sethennai is the very powerful mage/wizard who has an air of mystery about him and he seems very detached, so that’s exactly how we feel about him too. We never get to know him or feel connected to him, but I also couldn’t see why Csorwe and the others were just so drawn to him and wanted to please him all the time. Tal is the youngest son of a prominent family who hasn’t done much with his life and just wants to feel loved and does all kinds of impulsive for the attention. But he was definitely one character who brought some laughs to the proceedings with his caustic dialogue and rivalry with Csorwe. 

Shuthmili is a young powerful mage who has been brought up in almost a cult like environment and her realizing that there’s a whole other world outside, that she can make her own choices and her budding relationship with Csorwe are some of the best parts of the book. Oranna and Zhiyouri are quite compelling in parts but I wasn’t always sure what they wanted. 

To conclude, I think this debut has a lot of potential and I did go in with some expectations, so I was a bit disappointed because I couldn’t connect to it. There’s a very detached feeling to the whole story and characterization, so even when something bad happened, I didn’t feel much. I’m a bit unsure whom I would recommend this to but if you enjoy portal fantasies, maybe you can give it a try. If you enjoy very character focused stories, then this might not be the right choice. I also think the author did a good job tying up a lot of threads towards the end, so I am feeling pretty satisfied, and not very compelled about picking up the sequel but we shall see.

Sunyi Dean

A really intriguing epic sapphic fantasy. The pacing accelerates in the second half, as does the scope and the stakes. That surprised me in a good way.

Tal, though a dick, was my favorite character.

Jennifer

This is a pretty solid debut which built upon an interesting premise and an intriguing magical system. 
Speaking of the magic system, I really liked how it draws upon different cultures and assigns different abilities for different deities. And also the concept that magic is a form of sacrifice which lead me to think about the danger of having power.

The book also comes with a diverse cast of characters ranging from magicians, priestesses, assassins, etc. I found the relationships between the characters pretty well done e.g. it portrayed the nature of LGBT+ relationships & attachments rather smoothly. I personally found the ups and downs of revolving around the main protagonist interesting.

While I enjoyed the diversity and the magical system, a few things let me down in the books. For example the worldbuilding feels a bit incomplete as I didn't often get to wrap my head around what goes behind the magic system. It's clear that the magic system has a lot of potentials but a few places felt inconsistent & out of place (I often wonder whether I missed a thing or two) due to the lack of coherent explnations of the fictional world. I think this is one of the reasons why it was initially challenging to fully engage in the characters. Another thing I don't think worked really well was the pacing. I understand that there's certainly an artistic intention to balance between the tension and introspection but I feel like the lack of complete worldbuilding caused the moments of introspection to feel disengaging at times. 

Last but not least, this novel contains large amount of graphical content which includes but are not limited to: gore, violence, and death. A few of these are my main triggers so it took me some time to get past the graphical content and engage in the more enjoyable aspects of the novel.

Nevertheless, I think this adult fantasy debut has a pretty promising cast of characters and a very solid magic system so I'm definitely hoping to read the sequel. Hopefully the deficiencies in the worldbuilding would be rectified to fully flesh out the potentials of the characters & the concept.

(3.5 stars out of 5)

Kayla Smith

I received a copy of this novel on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a strong debut. I absolutely adored this book. I felt like we were immediately thrown into the story, yet the author also did such a great job of developing the world at the same time. I was definitely confused at first, but I didn’t feel that way for very long. If you don’t mind just pushing through a story until you “get it”, I’d highly recommend picking this one up. There’s also a glossary of names in the front that I did reference right when I started reading which helped me figure out who was who a lot faster than I would have otherwise.

Csorwe, our main character, was so much fun to follow. She’s definitely not perfect and I questioned her decision-making process more than once, but I honestly didn’t mind as the ride she took us on was a whole lot of fun. There were so many different cultures and worlds to explore within this novel and I feel like A.K. Larkwood is only scratching the surface on what we have yet to explore. That’s one of my biggest compliments to this book is the world the author developed. It didn’t feel underdeveloped at all. There are so many different gods who are at the forefront and development of these worlds, some of which are even dying out, which the author took the time to explain as well. I also enjoyed Csorwe’s counterpart Shuthmili. The growth we see from her throughout the novel was admirable and it made me want to root for her the entirety of the story once she was introduced. I’d have to say she was my favorite character and my heart was constantly breaking for her due to the trials and tribulations she had to go through.

I initially requested this on NetGalley because I’d heard there would be a sapphic relationship at the forefront of the novel, which there was. There were also a few side characters who were queer. We love to see it! Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the chemistry between Csorwe and Shuthmili. All of a sudden it seems like Csorwe starts to see Shuthmili in a different light, and to me, it sort of came out of nowhere. Because I didn’t feel the chemistry, it was hard to understand the motivations behind Csorwe doing what she did throughout the story to help Shuthmili. Fortunately, I could look past that as I was completely entranced by the world but it was why I knocked this down a star.

This looks to be a series from the way it’s set up on Goodreads and I’m excited to see what we’ll get from this author next! My biggest disappointment is that I can’t read more from her immediately. I’d definitely recommend picking this up if you’re a fan of fantasy novels. This hit the mark.

Nathalie Matsuda

So, hmmm...
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it... I just... felt nothing? It wasn't a chore or struggle to finish it, but in the end I just sat there like "Well, ok then". It's so blah. 
The world building leaves much to be desired, the magic system feels arbitrary, character development fell flat and the plot and storytelling is so messy with no climax or any kind of revelation or plot twist that made me feel anything

As always, reviews feel impossible to write when I really loved something. I'll try another time when more time has passed!

Samantha Bass

You can view this review and other reviews on my blog wewriteatdawnblog.wordpress.com

Csorwe, pronounced like doorway, is a human sacrifice who decides to live. Yeah, the premise got me really excited for this book. I wanted it to the be a five star read, I really did - but it's not.

Let's start off with the writing/chapters. The writing is good! But very descriptive and she explains a lot and generally kinda slow. While I liked the way she gives us everything that is going on, I felt like it was dragging a bit. And the chapters were incredibly long. Usually 20+ pages long. I don't mind long chapters so long as the book progresses quickly and there's a lot to push us forward, but it made this book feel extra slow.

Then we have the worlds. Though she tried to explain it well, the worlds still felt a bit unfamiliar and hard to imagine. It's clear we travel through teleportation, I think, into different ports. Those ports equals different worlds in the same universe? See, I'm honestly not even sure how this whole thing works. It wasn't very clear to me how the world(s) are set up nor how exactly they traveled, but that's less important. What is important is getting there and knowing that these worlds can die.

Run on the power of gods, if those gods are forgotten/parish, well then the world will go too. Which is really cool! We get some awesome moments in those dying worlds and it leads us towards the somewhat scary reality of what they're trying to prevent.

Next, the characters. OMG the banter between Csorwe and Tal was A+ witty sibling banter, even though they are not siblings. Not only is there lots of insults and cussing, but the genuine distaste and distrust is hilarious. There were several moments where Tal had me DYING from laughter due to his comments/his actions. While Tal is hilarious, he does undergo and complex and needed change. It was refreshing to see him grow and become a character that I really liked.

Sethennai, Csorwe's savior, is an interesting character though. He comes across fun and adventurous in the beginning of the book, then switches to a more emotionless, calm character. Not sure why the shift happened, but I noticed that change in his personality. I'm not sure I necessarily like his character, but I thought he was a great motivator for Csorwe and becomes an obstacle in his own right for her.

Then we have our main character, Csorwe. She's a complex person and I thought her backstory, her journey, and her self realizations were great development for her. She's witty, smart, and wants to live life to the fullest. Which makes it difficult when you're the human sacrifice.

Then we have Shuthmili, who was also super cute and a great character. Her innocence was a great contrast to Csorwe's brutal experiences. The soft romance that blossoms between them is also really cute. I loved her kindness and desire to learn while also being an incredibly powerful mage. Her powers are unlike anyone has seen and the hoops she has to jump through to live and survive are immense.

Since the author is gay, and our main characters are all queer, I am not going to remark on the romance other than to say, Csorwe and Shuthmili are adorable and Tal deserves better (thank goodness he realized that too!).

So, writing was long and a bit slow, plot was interesting if not confusing, the characters were awesome, and the romances are cute.

It was honestly hard to rate this book, but I think a 4 // 5 stars is a fine rating. It wasn't bad because I did enjoy the story, but there were a lot of things (mostly pace and lengthy chapters) that dragged the plot along. So I think this is a fair rating.

The Unspoken Name is an extraordinary epic fantasy. When a priestess is rescued from a death cult by a sorcerer, she becomes his personal assassin. But would you do anything for the person who saved your life?

Jessica Heidemann

I did not even end up finishing this book. I had a very difficult time keeping up with what was happening as the book tends to skip around to the next scene without explaining the current one. I really tried as I love fantasy and assassins, and I believe this is a Sapphic book which I enjoy even more. But I had a very difficult time following along. 

Heather

It jumped so fast timeline wise and the characters (personalities and physical features) were so poorly described that when I realized that the majority had horns attached to their face I was shook and couldn’t figure out where the horns grew from.

The Unspoken Name

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