Title: Red Sister
Author: Mark Lawrence
Series: Book of the Ancestor #1
Publication details: April 4th 2017 by Ace
Genre: Fantasy
At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.
But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.
Stolen from the shadow of the noose, Nona is sought by powerful enemies, and for good reason. Despite the security and isolation of the convent her secret and violent past will find her out. Beneath a dying sun that shines upon a crumbling empire, Nona Grey must come to terms with her demons and learn to become a deadly assassin if she is to survive...
But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.
Stolen from the shadow of the noose, Nona is sought by powerful enemies, and for good reason. Despite the security and isolation of the convent her secret and violent past will find her out. Beneath a dying sun that shines upon a crumbling empire, Nona Grey must come to terms with her demons and learn to become a deadly assassin if she is to survive...
I have heard about the Red Sister from some BookTubers in 2019. And since I have been in the fantasy kick for months now, I was intrigued and I had to read it. Thankfully I did, because it was definitely one of my good reads in 2019.
In the Red Sister, the first book in the Ancestor trilogy, we follow Nona as she trains to be a nun at the Convent of Sweet Mercy, navigating her way to an unknown world and slowly uncovering her identity to herself and to the people around her.
When I started reading, I had little idea of what the book is about. I only know that there's a girl, a school setting, and fantasy elements. And so it was an exciting experience for me to tread into an unknown world. The magic system is also interesting and is quite refreshing. I don't think I have ever read something like it before. Or at the very least, the way they are woven together make it a refreshing read.
At times, I felt that some scenes are dragging. And my interest dwindled a bit in some chapters. However, things picked up a few more chapters forward, as some plot threads are revealed. With these, my curiosity was slowly piqued and I found myself wanting to read more and know more.
I also thought it would have a predictable plot and plot twist, but I was wrong. I was surprised by the turn of events. And as mentioned, the pacing became faster and things got more appealing.
One of the things that put me off was it did not feel like the main character and her friends are children. I felt like their actions and thinking are for adults rather than for children. Hence, I had to frame my mind that they have different world, different culture, and harsher surroundings to account for their behaviour.
Other things that made it not an easier read for me are the lack of map and index. I am not sure if it is because I only had a mass market paper back edition, but the book only had an index of characters in the beginning. With this, I had a hard time following some events. But nevertheless, I don't think I missed out a lot. Perhaps, this will allow me to still have an enjoyable time when I re-read this book.
As mentioned, I find it quite odd that the children act like adults. But looking past that, the characters, while I don't find any of them relatable, are interesting to read. They are three-dimensional. And thankfully, none of them are annoying. I am excited to know more about Nona and how her character will develop further, as well as her future adventures.
Overall, Red Sister is an entertaining, unique fantasy read for me. I had some difficulty reading because of the technical terms, but nevertheless, I want to know more. I will definitely continue with the trilogy. And I will read more of the author's works.
