Flawed, unusual, great. There are elements of the things I loved about Guy Gavriel Kay about this - the strength of the setting (a strongly evoked northern Italy of Machiavelli) and the romantic brutality of character choices and consequences - but though Harte's style is equally poetic, it is sparse and pared back (sometimes cut too far, too close to the bone to give the necessary weight to the big moment that just went whizzing past). The characters are strong, floundering, human, drawn in virulent and sizzling strokes - and though I have seen comments on it being YA, I had to actually think hard about it to remember that the heroine is 16 for much of the story. (Not that she's not believably 16, she's just living in a city where innocence dies young.)

And the broad strokes of the story and worldbuilding had so much stuff that delighted me. The martial art of Rasenna is inherently ridiculous, and so magnificently delivered that I wish it could be real. The differences from the real world are threefold and not necessarily related, but thematically they're woven together tightly, and with a depth of exploration that I found genuinely interesting. I found myself with a great deal of trust in the author (for all this is his first book) and a genuine interest in how he was going to explore further, and this enabled me to keep my enthusiasm through some slightly bumpy bits in the finale sequence.

It felt fresh but measured. It felt artistic but grounded. And I really enjoyed it. ( )

The map says that the water levels are higher, the opening says that Jesus didn't survive the Herodian massacre and that Mary was the bringer of the message and in this during the medieval period there is a town, Rasenna, where warfare lives, several different factions fight between themselves instead of against their common enemy, Concordia, who almost drowned the city 20 years before with a great wave that blasted through the middle of the town.

Giovanni is a Concordian engineer sent to build a bridge; Sofia Scaligeri is coming of age and when she does she will be the Contessa of Rasenna. Their two lives will intertwine and they will be pivotal to the future of Rasenna and possibly Concord.

I'm sure if I knew a bit more about historical Italy I would have got more out of this read but I was underwhelmed for most of it. I honestly didn't care if most of the characters lived, but the end, oh the end was heartbreaking and just so right.

Overall it didn't induce me to read the next book in the series, but wasn't overall a bad read. It's just about Fantasy, more historical fiction with a small thread of fantasy entwined through it, almost like Wuxia set in Italy with more italian martial arts. ( )

The question was asked “what would have happened if Jesus Christ had died as an infant?” Which made me think the author was going try for an alternate history, a big game of “what if?”. Well this is a fantasy based alternate history, it has plenty of ‘magic’ in it (not sorcerers and witches casting spells, much more subtle but it’s there). So the mention of the Christ Child being slaughtered in a purge, is not the meat of the story.

The year is 1347. Rome is no more and Concord is the current power in the region. The ruling class are called the Engineers and at their head are the Apprentices. The engineers were formed by Bernoulli, and he cast down the church and replaced the nobility. A couple decades earlier, the Engineers used a terrible weapon against Rasenna and broke the town.

Sofia Scaligeri is the last of her line, and she is the heir to Rasenna. Her family ruled before the wave and she will inherit when she turns 17, less than a year away. After the Concordian’s attacked the with the Wave, killing a large swath of Rasenna, the city was never the same. The river divided the town in more ways than one.

Giovanni is an Engineer who is sent to Rasenna to build a bridge across the river before the 12th legion comes in the fall. Spanning the river with iron and stone won’t be his only challenge. Getting the citizens on both sides of the river to cooperate on the project will be an even harder. Stone and iron are easy to manipulate into the shape you want, stubborn people are much more difficult. The clock is ticking, and Concord isn’t very forgiving for those who hinder it’s goals.

As I said, it took me a little bit to get into this book, mostly because I misunderstood what kind of book it was. However, once I did get into it, I found it to be very interesting and I had a hard time putting it down. Lots going on, lots of plots within plots and I think I will be keeping my eye out of the next book in the series. ( )

4.5 stars

Review Posted on Tenacious Reader

I love when a book that wasn’t on my radar comes my way and takes me by surprise. This is exactly what happened with Irenicon by Aidan Harte. I had heard of the book, recognized the cover, but honestly didn’t know much about it. When I took a closer look and realized that the main protagonist was actually female and the storyline sounded exactly like something I would normally enjoy, I had to give it a chance.

This book reminds me a bit of K. J. Parker in the level of politics and strategizing that is going on behind the scenes. It has a younger feel to it than I got when reading The Folding Knife, and much more in the way of fantastical elements, but I appreciate the world building, the inter-feuding and strategizing that Harte set up.

A river of unnatural water that was unleashed upon Rasenna by rivals divides the city. The river rules the city and keeps the residents in fear because beneath the surface lies unnatural creatures that will carry anyone who ventures too close to their death. And just to keep the residents on their toes, keep them from feeling too safe away from the water, occasionally, one breaks free of the river and will walk the streets. They are kind like a water based zombie, drowning anyone who happens to cross its path.

The people here are raised to fight. They fight Concord, they fight each other (north side versus south side). The city has two predominant families that are in a constant power struggle. Enter out protagonist, Sofia. She is the last living heir to what has been the most powerful family in Rasenna. When she comes of age in the not so distant future, she is will become Contessa of Rasenna. A powerful position, and Sofia has a powerful personality to go with it. She is a very independent, strong willed character that will fight to find a way to accomplish what needs to be done, and do it. She’s not going to wait around to be saved, she is not going to hide behind a title, she’ll get her own hands dirty and take on problems herself. That’s the kind of female character I like to see and to see her as the central character? Even better. Ideally, I wouldn’t even mention gender, but really, there are not that many epic fantasies that have female characters like this. They exist for sure, but whenever I try to come up with examples, I am always a bit surprised to not find more.

The book is not without its faults. There are moments where amazing feats seem to be accomplished with too little effort/price (not everything is this way, but there are a couple of instances). But the faults pale in comparison to the strengths. There was also an unexpected twist at the end that I loved. I felt like I should have seen it coming, but I just didn’t, which was great. I definitely recommend this one, a real unexpected find for me that I really enjoyed. My main question at the end is when will the next book get a US release? Hopefully that is being planned and this won’t be another series where the US has to wait years to get the next one. ( )

The first time I ever heard about Aidan Harte was last year when he and his novel Irenicon was shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar award for best debut. Talk about an impressive series starter. The book's vaguely historical overtones set in a fantasy world with a subtle touch of magic put me in mind strongly of the works by Guy Gavriel Kay, and if Harte's prose lacks Kay's poetic quality then he more than makes up for it with its boldness and intensity.

I also learned the meaning behind a new word: Irenicon, from the Oxford Dictionary "a proposal made as a means of achieving peace." The book's title is a reference to the river which cuts through the middle of the city of Rasenna, ironically named for so many reasons, least of all its brutal history. Blasted into existence by the Concordian Empire using Wave technology developed by their brilliant engineers, the new river effectively divided Rasenna both geographically and socially, sparking wars between powerful families and ensuring that the city will never be able to rise up against Concord. But the Wave also brought other unexpected consequences -- such as the river becoming sentient. And it doesn't seem to like humanity very much.

Central to the conflict is Sofia Scaligeri, future Contessa of Rasenna, brought up and trained by her mentor the Doctor Bardini. Her life changes forever with the arrival of Giovanni, the engineer from Concord tasked to build a bridge across Irenicon as a display of strength for the empire. Their meeting results in discord among all parties; the feuding between all the factions in Rasenna have always been at a fever pitch and the presence of a Concordian in their midst have not helped matters. But while the friction and dissension may be at the forefront, maybe I'm just a romantic at heart, but what I also saw was a very twisty and poignant love story.

Sophia is a great protagonist. At first, I hadn't expected a teenage girl to be at the heart of this story; it just didn't seem to be that kind of novel. But I guess I should have taken a better look at the cover -- which is gorgeous and very dramatic, by the way -- which features a young woman warrior at the head of a mounted army. I bring attention to it because it's a very accurate depiction of the character's personality -- strong, stubborn perhaps but also very skilled, having been groomed to become the leader of a city on the verge of tearing itself apart. But despite her age, this is still a very adult novel, full of complexity and deeper themes. I also wouldn't exactly call it fast-paced, taking a rather measured approach to setting the stage, but in so doing we get really well-rounded portrayals of all the characters involved.

The unique setting also bears mentioning, I think. Very early on, we find out about this world's version of Christianity where baby Jesus never escaped the clutches of Herod's forces, and thus he never grew to adulthood to spread his words. The alternate history vibe is even stronger when we consider that while the universe of Irenicon is home to magic and all sorts of uncanny technologies, the names of the people and places still gave me a strong impression of Italy circa the medieval period. It's fascinating, and if anything I wish the setting could have been expanded upon. There were several instances of characters contemplating religion, but those thoughts never extended very far and I wouldn't have minded having more perceptions and world-building.

Nevertheless, Harte did an incredible job providing a vivid backdrop all the action and the emotion, deftly filling in the spaces with historical and cultural context. He has a very interesting bio and no doubt his experiences in writing, art, and the media have given him a unique perspective with which to approach writing this trilogy. This first book is full of unexpected surprises, and how cruel is the last line to leave me speculating. Distinctive and a little unconventional, I can understand the praises behind this debut but it's also really tough to pin down. Yet I look forward to seeing how the writing evolves, along with the consequences of the ending in the next book. ( )