Emily's Reviews > The Towers of the Sunset

Reading this book was like filling a grocery cart with my favorite foods, then launching it off a bridge into a river and watching it sink.

“The Towers of the Sunset” is a good story. Magically bonded lovers, all-women warrior tribes, cross country skiing, storm magic, and an arc straight from Animal Crossing where we’re building an island kingdom from scratch. I unironically love this crap. I even love Chosen Ones.

So, where did it go wrong? Quickly and often. First, the fighting: “Blades caress, for Creslin knows he can do no more than slide the other’s blade.”

Then the romance: “He’s not my boyfriend!’ The words hiss through Megaera’s teeth and rattle in her mind. ‘Damn you, sister...’ But the tears roll from the corners of her eyes.”

Then the magic. I’ll spare you quotes, but imagine villains who we only hear about as they sit around gossiping about how strong and mighty the chosen one is. All supporting characters in the book exist only to confirm, out loud, how strong and skilled our hero is at everything.

This is just the beginning. It gets worse. The ruined love story in particular is worth a documentary of its own—powerful themes of free will, fate, communication, and sacrifice get tossed aside in favor of a “difficult woman” narrative. By the end, she assumes her rightful place in the bedroom and kitchen and abdicates political power to her (much weaker and busier) husband. And these could have been interesting character choices! But it wasn’t like that. It was pastiche.

I wouldn’t have been so bummed out by this book if I hadn’t, in some way, loved it. Maybe a better writer can take a whack someday.