DISCLAIMER: This blog does not have any spoilers in it. I am discussing themes that are right there in the book's description.

There are many stories out there that have something meaningful to say about resisting colonialism. But the thing that stuck out to me about Cry, Voidbringer is that it approached the conversation from a question that I don't know that I regularly see asked. That question being: What effect has colonialism actually had on us?

It's a powerful question. And a dangerous one. Because the truth is, the suffering we have experience has had an impact on who we are. It effects the way we move through the world, the way we process truth, even the way we identify ourselves. And that change is relevant as we engage in conversations, and actions, meant to break our people free.

Cry, Voidbringer isn't solely about resistance. It is also about wrestling with what resistance is, what it is not, and what it could be.

It is no secret that the British Empire was built off of the destruction and colonization of pretty much the entire globe. Empires were broken to create space for their colonial land-grab, cultures were erased, nations were broken apart, histories forgotten. That is what colonialism does. It takes, it erases, and it steals. And while we--the people stolen and erased--remain, our fight to survive has come with a cost. Pieces of ourselves lost, or changed, forever.

This book assumes that the victims in its world have suffered in the very way that many of our own people have. That years prior to the start of this story, a great colonial power ravaged the world, breaking kingdoms, stealing land, erasing culture and history. And now, like our own world, time has passed and the iron-grip of that empire has waned. Though the effects and systems of its power have not. Nor has the pain of its victims.

If ever there is going to be change, it is now.

But what does that look like?

Cry, Voidbringer is set in the remnants of a formerly great nation who was brutalized by the largest colonizing force of their age. For generations, they have been resisting. Fighting back, trying to not only break free from their oppressors, but to reclaim everything that was lost. This war has waged for a long time, and in an effort to turn the tides, they grew desperate and began to take children from a neighboring nation to train as elite soldiers in their fight against the colonial empire. Our FMC is one of those soldiers. Now an adult, Hammer is a brutal weapon in the hands of an angry Kingdom, bent on reclaiming everything they lost.

As I said before, the questions being asked in this book are powerful and dangerous. Because what does liberation look like when the tools you fight with require the oppression of others? And is it actually freedom if the kingdom you are rebuilding doesn't want to be torn down again in the process? Is there even such a thing as a benevolent and righteous government?

Who actually suffers in the fight for freedom?

Often, these stories are told from the perspectives of scorned leaders. We see the jaded King fighting to rebuild his empire, or the ignored princess proving her worth, but we never see the pain their campaigns force on soldiers on the ground, or on mothers and fathers just trying to survive. We never ask what cost the citizens of their kingdoms pay to fund that "freedom". And that is not to say that pressing back against colonialism is ever the wrong call. It is only to ask what it means to press back and how we define oppression. Are the weapons of our abusers even capable of freeing us from them? And is it freedom to replace our abusers, instead of destroying the systems that allow them to rule us at all?

This was a concept that led me to fall in love with The Poppy War trilogy. Because Kuang did something I had never truly experienced before in fantasy. She allowed me to focus more clearly on the effect of war on every day people than on the outcome of the war itself. We saw people on the ground starving and suffering, being slaughtered and erased, while powerful people sat on thrones, fighting over kingdom's that didn't represent actual humans to them. That is what leaves readers horrified as they read that trilogy, and it is the primary question of this story.

That is why I call this an anarchist story. Because Elaine Ho does something truly brilliant in this book. She asks us to set aside our need for a cookie cutter answer and to instead wrestle with what colonialism and resistance actually mean. What does it look like when we begin to see the system itself as the enemy? And what do we do about it?

Cry, Voidbringer is the first book in a planned duology and I need you to know, you will not leave this book ok. It does not provide easy answers. It doesn't allow us to sit in the promise that everything will be ok. And it isn't afraid of being honest about the motivations and desires of our characters. Sometimes what they want is freedom, sometimes it is revenge, sometimes it is power. But at all times, it is honest.

There were so many moments in this story where I had to stop and ask myself how to reconcile choices that were being made, weapons that were used. Even relationships and alliances that existed. And often, I just couldn't. Not every decision is defensible and just. Because at the end of the day, the people at the bottom are the only actual victims, while the people we are conditioned to focus on are just fighting about who has the right to rule us.

If you haven't already pre-ordered your copy, I want to encourage you to do so right now: https://bookshop.org/a/87137/9781964721521

Pre-Orders make a difference in our early metrics, which will help us to push this book further and make sure it ends up in more hands. And if you want to help us build this community so that we can invest in even more projects like this, consider upgrading to a paid tier. Even just $5 a month makes a massive difference.

Thanks for being a part of this community and I CANNOT wait for this book to be in all of your hands!

If you want to read the first chapter, I will be releasing that for all of my paid subscribers in a few days. Along with some pretty in-depth commentary from Elaine herself. Feel free to upgrade if you'd like early access!