Nobody likes an author who claps back like that on negative reviews. And apparently this book is riddled with misogyny. Besides, I genuinely tried getting into this book, but it's confusing as fuck and the writing reads very stilted. It's a DNF for me.

This feels very extensive and confusing. Unfortunately, by chapter 3 I had no idea who people where, and what was happening, so I had to start again. The world wasn't elaborated on. I feel it would have been easier to understand if there had been a small historical opener with details of the world, what things are, and who people were.

It was just really hard to follow and understand what people were talking about, however it did peak my interest.

DNFed at 15%. As per my review policy, I will not post my review as I did not finish the book. DNFed for various reasons, including poor writing and world-building, difficulty following the plot, and misandry.

DNF for me. Felt tone deaf and I found the writing/world building to be very confusing.

Sincere thanks to NetGalley and Rebellion for an advanced reader copy, in exchange for an honest review.

DNF’d at 10% - very information heavy first few pages, overwhelming worldbuilding and confusing premise. I tried to keep going but this one simply wasnt for me.

We will definitely be stocking this book!

ZR Ellis writing is compelling and beautiful. Right from the offset they provide a phonetic pronunciation guide which is the best when reading epic fantasy!

SILK FIRE is a book I thought I would have a different opinion to the many negative reviews out there for the first 150 pages. But then various new magics were introduced without sufficient explanation and I was utterly lost from then on.

I think my issue was that, without that sufficient explanation of exactly what a dragon could do (and what it could do to Koré) and what on earth the necromancer magic was (or how it worked) I couldn't follow the plot as so much hinged on understanding those abilities that just came out of nowhere. The world building wasn't integrated enough into the story to be able to follow.

It felt like the book changed between chapters. It certainly didn't help that that was the point I had to put the book down for the night. I picked it back up and was very very confused about the next chapter, as it felt like the plot was in a very different place to where I remembered as this was the chapter where the necromancy was introduced.

The introduction of new magics was probably supposed to raise the stakes but the tension of what was at stake also felt missing. I just had garbled accounts of Koré's experience to say that his father was a bad guy (garbled because he is hiding it and it comes out very slowly over the book in flashbacks.) There was no first hand "ah yes, he is actually awful and will be a bad politician because he's doing this thing that would be bad for people" examples. Instead, I had to just take Koré's word for it, which undermined his father as a villain.

SILK FIRE is supposedly set in a matriarchy, but that often felt forgotten (a lot of the characters Koré is up against are men who have found power.) Occassionally there are times when it feels like we're being "reminded" about the matriarchy with a few (rather clumsy) incidents that are "you are second class citizens), but the effect of that matriarchy didn't feel relevant and affecting the story or world beyond that.

Overall, after a promising start, it suddenly turned into a very confusing story I struggled to follow.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley, but will not be reviewing as the author's other book was not to my liking and the author's acts online are abhorrent.

At this time, I couldn't finish this book. I found it overly convoluted and lacking clear direction or the kind of worldbuilding needed. It has a fairly cool premise and lots of interesting concepts, but it didn't go through with them as well as I would have liked. Additionally, the "Orientalist" imagery that is rife throughout this book by a white person is not only worrisome but unacceptable and gross. Further thoughts will be added if any further progress is made in reading.

This book has problematic representation of East Asian cultural elements for "aesthetic" purposes. I am not a foremost authority on this because I am white but I did see several reviewers calling out orientalism - because the author is white and does not portray the cultural elements with the necessary nuance, particularly as he is attempting to comment on imperialism and the patriarchy (in this case reframed as a matriarchy but, again, not in a way that allows for any nuance). The author has also been very vocal against negative reviews, which is a definite turn-off and opens the way for making problematic statements.

I couldn't get through the book so I DNFed it very early on. I've also heard extremely discouraging things about the author which has put me off reading it

worst thing i've ever seen. thanks to netgalley for the arc but like also wow i wish i hadn't seen it.

DNF at 10%. I won't be posting my review on other sites as I didn't complete the book but suffice to say this didn't really work for me. Definitely some issues with representation / sexism, and very inconsistent dialogue.

I love the idea of this book, but it was a difficult read. The world building felt simultaneously dense and one dimensional. I would be interested in Ellor’s future works, but this one was not for me.

Overall I enjoyed this book but the writing style was a struggle for me to get into. I love the idea of the story and the characters but the writing made it hard to follow what was going on. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the book as much as I thought I would as I had really high hopes.

DNF.

Dense, impenetrable, and the author has been cruel to reviewers on social media. I cannot recommend this book, both from a craft level and a social level.

Age Recommendation: Adult 18+

Content Warnings:
Graphic: Sexual Content, Rape, Sexual Assault, Violence, Homophobia, Gendered Violence (on Men), Sexism, Gender Essentialism,
Mentioned: Forced Marriage (Male to Female)

Tags:
Planet City, Dinosaur Transport, Magic and Science, Factional Disputes, Sex Worker Protagonist, Queer Protagonist, Bisexual Protagonist, Everyone out for themselves, Trash Dads, Political SFF, Elections, It Doesn’t Matter How Pretty Or Powerful You Are Your Just a…, Protagonist with Self Loathing, Dragon Shifter, Necromancy, MMF Romance Subplot, Polyamory

--- Review ----

~ Received as an ARC from NetGalley and Rebellion, to be posted on 20th of June AEST ~

Zabé Ellor’s first foray into Adult SFF is an overly ambitious novel of revenge that doesn’t quite hit the mark. Characters often flip-flop between motivations, and his world overstuffed with elements. Silk Fire is a confusing read that doesn’t live up to the author’s ambitions.

Initially, I found Silk Fire’s world and main character fascinating. Especially when analysing its political structure and feeling as it is more a commentary on sexism in our world. However, no matter how earnestly I tried to engage with the content, overstuffed worldbuilding, quick changes to scenes, and flip-flopping of character motivations dragged down the experience.

Ellor’s world of Jadzia is stuffed full of elements, prophesied dragons, dinosaur driven carts, an oppressive matriarchy, hover ships, city planets, necromancy, etc. The thing is that Ellor doesn’t often cohesively join these elements together nor introduce them in a way that makes it easier for readers to understand the world he has built. In the early chapters, I often noticed that a piece of information would be introduced in one chapter and then elaborated on in later chapters. However, that elaboration often made more sense with that first piece of information rather than where it had been placed in the narrative.

Scenes would also quickly switch between subjects and location, often with not much forewarning or transition between them. And, I found myself constantly having to reread passages to understand the flow of information.

There’s a lot of information packed into the novel's first quarter alone. And often felt like we were still being introduced to the world rather than progressing the plot forward.

As for our main cast Koré, Riapáná (Ria), and Faziz, Koré initially started as a strong character and then became weaker as the novel progressed. Koré is a complex character who wants revenge against his father, Vashthke, but often struggles with wanting acceptance from his father and society as a whole. As a courtesan, he plays the part he needs to be the version of himself society and his clients will accept. But often struggles with self-loathing and doubt because of his work and trauma. He feels like he can’t truly be himself with anyone. He is a deeply flawed individual that often lets revenge and his need to protect himself from harm cloud his judgement, which leads him to make mistakes. However, despite this solid core for the character Koré never quite reaches his potential for me, especially when interacting with his love interests.

Koré interactions with Ria are one of instant trust and attraction, and though Koré eventually betrays Ria for his revenge, they very quickly make up. Koré exhibits approval-seeking behaviour throughout the novel in relation to women, whether that be his mother, aunt, or clients. But, often, his interactions with Ria and Faziz felt stilted and forced. Faziz in particular.

Faziz, the self-proclaimed lord of the Slate-Pile, has his motivations for joining Koré’s cause and wanting revenge against the dxaza Zegakadze and his mentor Vashthke for their evictions and murders of the citizens of Slate-Pile. However, especially in the book's last third, Faziz’s allegiances switch on a dime multiple times. And Koré and Faziz’s attraction is often stated and not shown through their actions. Faziz will undermine Koré’s ambitions, and in the next scene, they will have made up without proper reconciliation. It made for a jarring read.

Jadzia’s matriarchal system also seems to be more making a commentary on sexism in our world rather than on a fictional matriarch. Much of how sexism works in the world is just a role reversal. Men are supposed to be chaste homemakers while women go out to work and wage war. And will there are shallow aspects to this, catcalling, men are only supposed to wear this kind of garment and do this kind of work. There are often moments that speak deeply about how not only condescending but dangerous sexism is.

This is especially noticeable in Vashthke and Zegakadze, Koré’s former lover. Men like them will scramble for what little power and dominance they can get in a society that belittles them for their sex in the most humane ways. But uphold that system through their wealth, power, and scheming, often to the point of physical and sexual abuse on those men they deem lower than them. And men like Koré have to game the system to get what he wants—treading a delicate balance between society’s proprieties and his wants which are deemed abhorrent.

Now switch the gender of the characters in the previous paragraph and tell me that isn’t a commentary on our society. Where powerful women, especially white women, do the same.

Ultimately I wish Silk Fire had lived up to the author’s ambitions. It’s a world that has potential. However, the muddled world-building and even characters ultimately let it down and make it a difficult book to recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advance reader copy. I'll read this as soon as possible.

(0 stars but have to add a rating to post my review) - DNF'd at 17%, approx. 106 pages.
I tried so hard to get into this book, it sounded right up my street but I physically could not carry on reading it. There was absolutely no worldbuilding or explanation for anything, I could not picture anything that was happening. And the only thing I could tell you about the main character is that he hates himself and his family, there was no personality whatsoever.

I'm not certain what to aptly rate this novel, as I didn't get all the way through it.

I was deeply interested in the premise of Silk Fire. A planet sized city is such an entrancing idea but aspects of how the districts and streets, along with their respective gods simply did not work together in a way that was cohesive. I was expecting the use of a matriarchal society to comment upon gender and sex within society in a nuanced manner but it was not as I had hoped, instead the politics and economics of the world were convoluted and lacked focus.

Admittedly, one of the biggest reasons I had issues getting through the novel was its pacing. There were so many elements grappling with each other for attention and while I believe that there are ways to make many elements within one story work, I don't believe Silk Fire pulled that off.