My Review: This is one of those books that really piqued my interest, but wasn't sure what to expect from this debut author, so I was really excited to be able to read it early. Unfortunately, I really struggled with this one, it took me nearly a month to read and I was struggling so much with the ebook that I decided to try the audio book, which helped some, especially with pronunciations. The world is quite vast and encompasses several world that are connected some way, maybe like a portal/wormhole like way, but not a lot is explained. I am still confused as to the mode of transportation as well, I can't tell if they are airship like or something else. The descriptions of the characters also leave a lot to be desired, I really struggled to be able to picture anything in my mind, possibly Csorwe is an orc like character but don't take my word for it. With that said, the character interactions are great, I loved the relationship that develops between Csorwe and Sethennai, the way it develops and changes throughout the story was really appreciated. Unfortunately, that couldn't save the full story for me. It was rather tedious to read and I really had to push myself to continue reading, hoping for a payoff. Some issues are resolved but clearly it leads to another book in a series but I find myself hesitant to take on another.


My Rating: I really struggled with this one, if we had gotten more scenes of the learning part of Csorwe's life, or had a little better world/character building I think I would have really enjoyed this one. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me and I give it a rating of Two Paws.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I'm reading a book there are so many times I think to myself, "this would be a good part to put in my review" or "I definitely have a strong feeling about how this went down"... But then when it finally comes time to actually write the review, my mind goes completely blank. I'm over here wondering who the main characters were again? And how did it end exactly? Even though I just finished it, my mind can't wrap around what exactly I was thinking would be so perfect to write about only days ago. So then I put it off and now here I am weeks later still not knowing exactly what I want to say. So bear with me a little bit, I'm going to do my best for this review.

I think the strongest feeling I have for this book is that it was a really slow and confusing read for most of the book. Looking back on my notes, it didn't actually start picking up until about the 75% mark. In fact, had it not been for the last 1/4 of the book, I don't think I would have given this even a three star rating. It felt like I was waiting for something big to happen or to feel connected with the characters in some way but it was all I could do just to follow along with the story. The large ten year gap in time between sections didn't help either. Csorwe, our main character, is apparently a badass sword wielding assassin after we see her again ten years later, but I think that skipping her journey to become this instead of the meek sacrifice to the Nameless One was a big mistake on the author's part. This gap in time only made me feel even less connected with the characters and I was just supposed to take it for what it was that she knew how to suddenly kick ass and kill expertly. 

Another note I had was that there was too much going on with the setting and plot. I couldn't decide if it was all fantasy, or if there was some science fiction thrown in there? At first it seemed like it was all fantasy elements but then there were flying ships which felt really sci-fi. There are characters with tusks, wizards, religious zealots. And the names! I got so lost trying to remember all these extremely difficult and hard to remember names! I had to write down most of them so I could keep who's who straight in my mind, as if I wasn't already reading at a slow enough pace. It came down to there being just too many different elements going on to try and wrap it all up neatly in a package of less than 500 pages. I can imagine if this was an epic fantasy that we slowly got to learn about each race and species of living creature and the planet system and how things work in the big picture, but when trying to be concise, we are left with a really confusing jumble of ideas that just aren't fleshed out enough to be convincing or relatable or even entertaining enough to want to know more about. Honestly, if it could have all flowed like the last 1/4 of the book, I would have easily given this five stars. It's like once we had a clear direction for the story to progress towards, it took off. Things started making sense. The characters became likable and hateable, respectively. I think that the last part of the book could be the only reason I would even consider picking up the second book when its published.

I don't want this to be a bash on the book at all. Like I said above, I actually really enjoyed the ending. Its so different from the rest of the book it almost feels like two different people wrote the book and switched half way through. Maybe at that point I was finally getting used to the writing style, and the character names and just the whole flow of it in general, but it really felt like a shift in the writing. I think that I won't write this book and its companions off just yet. It might be worth another read (skimming over the beginning a bit) but I might check out the second book and see if it is anything like the last part of this one and if it is, maybe that could save this series for me. I just know that there are a lot of other amazing books out there that I am looking forward to reading before I take this leap again. I hope that this book is perfect for someone else out there though and that its just the right amount of everything they love in one book.

I absolutely LOVED the premise of this book and was so excited to read.

The beginning had me hooked but unfortunately it fizzled out and despite trying to push through several attempts to finish I had to DNF at 45% because I was just skimming and not enjoying it at all.

My main qualm was that the world building felt quite shallow and I didn't fully comprehend how everything worked or even what races and magic systems there were. It wasn't until a bit later when we learnt about the serpent race that I was interested in them but everyone else no idea.

I also had no connection to the characters and feel like we were constantly told not shown who they were and what drives them. Csorwe is very distant to us emotionally and I was really hoping we'd see her full transformation from chosen bride to traitor assassin but suddenly there's a five year time jump and we don't really get to see the full extent of her training or any transformative events that could shape and change her so drastically. We are told her training is over but even at that stage she did not feel fully fleshed out.

The plot is relatively slow moving despite lots of time passing in the book. While this could be deemed a more realistic timeframe in line with reality it is quite boring to read about and I felt I needed more action and less dialogue to keep me hooked.

2.5☆

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. ARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.

DNF @ 82%

I am really sad about this. I was so goddamn excited to read this book. I figured the little pitch was so incredible enough that there was no way I couldn't NOT like this. Unfortunately this was a chore to read. I tried to read the ARC but the language/names were so damn hard to pronounce that I waited for the audiobook to come out so I could read along. This helped but I really was not into the story until about 35-40% through the book. That is a SIZABLE chunk of a book to be lost in the sauce and not caring. There were huge time jumps of years so we missed out on Csowre's training to become the "master swordwoman/assassin/spy" that she was stated to be. We didnt really get to see any of what made her so badass which was disappointing. I kept waiting for the plot to get engaging or for me to care about the characters and it never really happened. I thought I could push myself to the finish line since I was so close but it's really a chore for me to read this.

This story is magical with its original plot! I love fantasy and this let my mind jump to new worlds and experiences. I would recommend this to those that have a penchant for adventures. The characters were interesting and had depth. I felt like there were plenty of interesting characters to jump into and know more about. Definitely see this as a series. I would rate this a three out of five- only because the build up and investment of the storyline took time to build up anticipation. All thought and opinions are my own. This ARC was provided to me by Netgalley.

DNF @ 16%

I really tried to get into this one but it was just so boring. The world building is really weak and we barely get any idea of what the world is; I don’t want to know the whole world at the start but you’ve got to give us some kind of insight into the world to understand what’s going on.

The characters were very flat; they have almost no personality and there’s no explanation as to why the characters are acting in the way they are. There was just no development.

I just couldn’t convince myself to carry on with it...

The Unspoken Name is the first book in The Serpent Gates series. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable read and includes wonderful diverse characters. Though a predominantly high fantasy novel, there are elements of sci-fi and space opera, which I’ll touch on.

First a little on the series. We do not yet know how many books there will be, though we know there will at least be a sequel (I’m already excited!)—a user on Goodreads asked A. K. Larkwood how many books there would be and she responded with ‘There will be a sequel featuring Csorwe and the gang. After that, I don't know yet!’.

While this is the first time I have written Csorwe, it is a name that may confuse you when reading this review, so, in Larkwood’s words, this is how to pronounce it ‘Csorwe's name is pronounced "ksor-way" to rhyme with "doorway"’.

Before discussing the book, I want to touch on the cover. I saw the cover on NetGalley and thought ‘wow!’ I know people say don’t just a book by its cover, but the packaging is important. Whether we want to admit it or not, it does attract us. This cover is beautiful: excellent colours, main image, font and text. The tusk intrigued me, and I did wonder the significance of it. I imagined elephants, like the Mûmakil (Oliphaunts) in LotR or other mysterious beasts. It turns out that one of the races, orcs, in the book have tusks, which are often decorated.

Csorwe, a young orc who has lived at the House of Silence for most of her life, is known as the Chosen Bride, prophesied to be sacrificed to her God, The Unspoken One, at the age of 14. Shortly, before she is due to do her duty, and sacrifice herself, a powerful mage, Belthandros Sethennai, arrives to ask a boon of The Unspoken One. He asks whether the Reliquary of Pentravesse, a small box said to hold the knowledge of Pentravesse; knowledge that could unlock almost unimaginable power, is still intact. It is.

When Csorwe is to sacrifice herself, Sethennai instead offers her a choice, sacrifice herself or betray her duty and her God, and travel with him as he both searches for the Reliquary and a way to back his home, his city, Tlaanthothe.

The story is told in what I perceived to be four sections, each roughly 25% of the book, and therefore the pacing was very good. Though, I think the book would have benefited from a little more pace at sections. There are also two mage-on-mage fights in the first quarter of the book and I’d have like to have seen Larkwood take the opportunity to be a little more creative and descriptive in those—one especially. That said, the storytelling is sublime—this is a beautiful world and I really bought into most characters.

The world is, in fact, many worlds. All different. Some dead and deserted, others teeming with life, and they are wonderful to explore—I hope we visit more in the sequel. One example is Echentyr: a dead world which is home to the snake goddess Iriskavaal—yes, huge sentient snakes exist, so large in scale that Csorwe could fit in their eye socket of a smaller one. There is also a Precursor world which is barren and desolate but full of mystery. In contrast, there is Tlaanthothe, which is large, lavish and full of life and Grey Hook, a place somewhat unruly. There is also magic, including the dark art of necromancy, many races, a wide array of gods, whose presence is very much tangible, a multitude of cultures and religions (not all explored obviously) and much more. Larkwood has created something remarkable and wonderfully rich in creativity.

I mentioned earlier that there is a touch a sci-fi in this book and, for me, it’s down to travel. To travel between worlds, one must navigate the Mazes and Gate, which they do on ships that fly and can also navigate the water. The Gates are not gates in the style of TV show Stargate, where you dial a gate and go directly from one world to another, you must navigate gates and worlds to reach your destination. None of this feels out of place at all, Larkwood has done a brilliant job of blending genres.

Regarding characters, I wrote earlier that I bought into most. Tal was the one character it took me until almost the end of the book to like—I don’t mean like in the sense I’m fond of him; I mean like in the sense I liked reading his interactions—there are plenty of characters in books I don’t like but still enjoy their interactions (a recent example would be Andross Guile in the Lightbringer series). I can’t pinpoint why, and Tal isn’t a badly written character by any means, and I didn’t not enjoy him, but there was something missing. I usually like a roguish character and Tal has some fun sarcastic comments, but something wasn’t there for me and I’m not sure why. The best I can come up with was that I didn’t understand why he was like he was. There was a part much later in the book where I felt I knew him more, understood him and bought in.

As for all the other main characters Csorwe, Sethennai, Shuthmili and Oranna I thought they were wonderfully written (there are a variety of side-characters in the book too who play a vital and meaningful role). Sethennai and Oranna are both self-centred mages yet have their charms. I particularly liked Sethennai early in the book, he’s an interesting character who you will ask a lot of questions about. However, Csorwe and Shuthmili are my two favourite characters. Csorwe has always been alone but had no emotional attachments, other than a feeling of owing Sethennai something until she meets Shuthmili, herself a loner, destined to fulfil a particular duty within her society and an extremely powerful mage who is somewhat feared. It was enjoyable watching the growth of both characters. The question of choice is a topic explored in The Unspoken Name. It is in this where we see the growth of both Csorwe and Shuthmili, as they become independent, make their own decisions, challenge authority and live with said decisions.

Csorwe is an Oshaaru and her people worship the Unspoken One. Csorwe is a Chosen Bride, someone who will be sacrificed to the god on her 14th birthday. But on the day of the sacrifice, a stranger called Belthandros Sethennai makes her an offer that she can’t refuse and helps her to run away.

Sethennai is a wizard in exile and has his own reasons for helping Csorwe; she can help him to return to his land.

I have mixed feelings about this one. It had good things and then the not so good things. But it’s not a bad book by any means, especially for a debut.

I liked the world-building and it’s impressive but there is quite much to take in. The book is divided into several parts and I liked the first part most where it focuses on young Csorwe. But the transitions between parts were somewhat awkward with time-jumps. Fast forward a few years and suddenly she is all trained to fight. Then 5 years have passed, and she has worked with Tal for 5 years and they hate each other. We’re missing huge chunks of her life and I didn’t connect with her, or the others, because so much happens behind the scenes. It just made me detached from the characters.

It dragged a bit in the middle and I felt the book could have been shorter. And if I’m honest, the most boring thing was Csorwe’s love-interest Shuthmili. She’s a super talented wizard who must be kept safe. And who had a non-existing personality. I just couldn’t understand why her?

I realize that I’m making it sound worse than it was because it wasn’t bad. There were lots of good things in it. But I really wanted to like it more. And since this was a debut book, I’m interested to see where the author will go from here.

The book had a great start and I was invested but it just fell on tropes to become a romance-driven story. The world seemed very interesting and seemed to hold a lot of potential and it feels like that evaporated as the book went on.

I really enjoyed this book for it writing style and characters-- the world was lush and descriptive, and even though I was encountering fantasy tropes that I had not personally read before, like the gates an the Maze, I could really see how they fit into the world. Tal and Csorwe's interactions were dynamite, and I wanted more of them, along with more of Shuthmili, although I will say, she was really quick to trust Csorwe after being saved, and that felt a little like the plot was being rushed. Which leads me into my criticism-- the pacing of the whole book felt extremely off kilter. It felt like I was reading an entire trilogy compressed into one book, which is concerning when I know more books are to come. Everything felt disjointed, and plot points kept wrapping up way earlier than I expected, leading me to always wonder what was coming next. Even though everything was well written, I just never could sink myself into the plot when I didn't know where anything was going. Overall, I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to the continuation of the series-- I just hope the pacing comes together in future entries.

This story had a fantastic slow buildup and wonderfully developed characters. I really enjoyed the world and magic system and would be totally down with reading more by this author!

Not bad at all! "The Unspoken Name" doesn’t waste any time; it’s action-packed and full of plot twists: old gods, adventure, assassins... there's something for everyone.
The worldbuilding mixes elements of classic fantasy and sci-fi, creating a setting that is fresh and deviates from the usual patterns – although it’s a little vague in some parts, but there will be time in the next book(s?) to shed light on the loose ends.

The narrative tropes are engaging but not as original: the story is based on the search for a mysterious Reliquary, and the main themes are destiny, chosen ones, sacrifice… same old, same old.
However, the plot is still entertaining and well-constructed, and some of the ideas have great potential (the mythological system is especially fascinating – in this world gods like the Unspoken reveal themselves in unpredictable ways to say the least; I hope we’ll get to know more about them and their cults).

Most of all, I really appreciated the characters. Every single one of them has a distinct personality and their dynamics are the driving force of the story: the mystery surrounding Sethennai and his relationships carries the whole plot; the friendship/rivalry between Csorwe and Tal is a breath of fresh air; and the burgeoning f/f romance adds a touch of sweetness.

Except for some slow passages (maybe due to a temporal jump that was a bit sudden), the writing is quite fluent and the narrative structure manages to show the points of view of multiple characters while never losing focus on the protagonist. So all in all, very well done and it can only get better – looking forward to reading the next book!

The Unspoken Name is an amazing sci-fi fantasy book perfect for adult readers which is getting pretty rare.

It's a dark and fascinating story with old-world kind of gods, wizards blended with skyships that travel through sci-fi world inspired portals.

The characters and the world-building are fantastic, blending fantasy and sci-fi together naturally.

If you're looking for an engaging fantasy book with unique world-building and a thrilling story you should pick this one up.

"You think the gods give a shit what happens to us?"
•
This is quite a long book, so much longer than what I usually enjoy reading, but I found this quite a good read. The main premise is that Csorwe, the Chosen Bride of the Unspoken, has been living and training for her eventual sacrifice to appease a god of certain death. It was the way it was in her world, and she believed it was an honor and duty to die for her faith. Until an odd wizard came to her rescue on the day she's supposed to die and ~hires her to be his right-hand sword.

That is the first quarter of the book. That is also basically what was in the blurb, and it was enough to reel me in (plus the additional info that the heroine is gonna be queer) and made me request for the ARC. I'm glad I did bec I did enjoy it.
•
"There was always a chance, if you were prepared to wait and didn't have a lot of pride about surviving in the meantime, or leaping on that chance when it came along."
•
What are the parts I liked? The worldbuilding is complex, and I felt like the author more or less achieved balance in the narrative worldbuilding and plot. There are parts I found dragging, though, (bec really, I can't expect the complex settings to just make sense, esp since this is just the first book in a series, i think), but I wasn't too bored to DNF.

I also liked that the characters were well-rounded. From the heroine, Csorwe, to the ones she eventually crossed paths with, had believable drive and intentions, and had flaws and strengths that were true to their personalities. I liked that Csorwe blundered, and that she wasn't the most powerful, or most brave, or even the most morally-aware, but just a girl who has had to survive so much, and was surviving a lot still.

There are deaths of certain supporting characters too, so be aware of that, but it wasn't too jarring or gory for me (and I'm admittedly weak-willed) and I kinda liked that the book didn't shy away from killing off characters. There's a lot of crossing and double-crossing in this book, and I expected deaths to be part of this to raise the stakes.

What I didn't like was that it was too long. I appreciate that the 4 parts it had been divided into could possibly work like a separate book each (Parts 1 & 2, i definitely could see are able to stand on its own, but Parts 3 & 4, I don't really remember the distinction bec it was so intense I just breezed through the demarcation) but 400+ pages is just too much for me, personally. I also didn't feel like Csorwe was described enough as an orc girl, like the blurb clearly stated. In my mind she's just a girl with tusks, but not v orc-like. Sometimes I even forgot she had tusks and imagined her deadpan deliveries as Billie Eilish, but that's on me. LOL
•
"My suspicion is that I like you."
•
Because I am more of a romance than fantasy reader, I wanted so much more from the wlw romance parts between Csorwe and Shuthmili. But yeah, so many things were going on at the same time as their budding feelings for each other so I guess what we got here is fine. I appreciate the slow-burn realizations from both of them, as well as the ~mistake Csorwe did towards Shuthmili, bec it added a depth to the existing conflict, as well as a stronger drive for our bride-turned-assassin to overcome the shit they've been thrust into. And Shuthmili had to make her own decisions, and get past her own shortcomings too. That was great. :)

I hope to see more of them (being happy!) in the next book.
•
"Nothing in this world has earned the power to frighten you, Csorwe."
•
I enjoyed this book and will recommend to friends who like SFF with a lot of action and magic. The queer rep is also good; and the twists and resolutions for every character I cared about (cared about enough to love or hate, that is) was satisfying to me. Looking forward to the next book! *while also hoping ti wouldn't be as long. LOL.


*The eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review. It doesn't affect my opinion of the book. Thank you.

This was a really original and unexpected blend of science fiction and fantasy that I enjoyed very much. It tells the story of Csorwe, the chosen bride of the Unspoken One, who is destined to die for her god when she reaches 14. When magician Sethennai comes to her for a prophecy, he offers to take her away and train her as an apprentice instead.

The Positives: I thought the world building here was top notch and I loved the science fiction elements of that world, which I wasn't expecting at all. The opening part of the narrative feels very much like a fantasy book with elements that you would expect - chosen one, quest, magical training etc. Then, part 2 begins and the science fiction kicks in with a punch and the whole book suddenly becomes way more original and interesting. I really enjoyed following Csorwe and her development through the narrative and I particularly enjoyed the push and pull between her and Tal, who is snarky and fun. The plot was intriguing and the hints throughout to powerful beings were great.

The Negatives: The narrative can sometimes feel a little bit choppy, particularly in the first part, which jumps around a lot and covers a lot of time in a short space. This lead to each part having a little bit of an episodic feel, which took me a bit to get on board with and won't necessarily be for everyone.

Overall, I thought this was a fascinating and exciting read that I know I'll be thinking about for a long time to come and I will definitely pick up any more books in this world.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

It's hard to describe this book. It's hard to rate and review this book. Sometimes, it was hard to read this book, but I'm glad I did.

There was something undefinable but comforting about the sense of familiarity I felt reading this book. Whether that comes from playing and watching tons of fantasy video games and tv shows I'm not sure, but it was definitely more like those things than like any other fantasy novel I've read. Sometimes that made the book incredibly fresh and fun, and sometimes, like I said before, it was not an ideal reading experience.

The pacing and structure are not the traditional act structure. What feels like the main action climax comes at about the 75% mark, and the rest of the book felt like those video games that allow you to play more quests, just to stay in the world a little longer. It was...kind of great? It won't work for everyone, but it actually did for me.

What did not work for me was the multiple povs. I think there ended up being four non-main character povs. Which drove. Me. Up. The. Wall. They showed up unpredictably and weren't balanced. it was more like encountering a cut scene in a video game, but I found it incredibly hard to power through them in print form. More than two povs and povs from non-main characters are a pet peeve of mine, though, so ymmv.

All in all, despite a few rough patches in the writing, I really enjoyed this and I loved Csorwe, Shuthmili, and even Tal. I'll definitely give the sequel a try whenever it comes along, and I'd be interested to see what else this author has to write.

*A little note about m/m content: there is no m/m romance in this book. What there is is a storyline about the main character and a secondary character who has a few pov scenes extricating themselves from an emotionally abusive mentor.

This book was really hyped and I had some great expectations about it, and I think that this was the main problem with this one. Mind me, I enjoyed the reading, and I enjoyed it a lot but I was expecting something more captivating. And, even if it’s true that this is not a perfect book, and that I have some problems with it, it has a lot of good things in it and so I decided to try and do a bullet review for this one, hoping to make a little bit of sense of all of this!

The Good!

-The Worldbuilding. The author has done a great job with it. She creates a rich and very imaginative world, or a series of different worlds, really, because we have a lot of different worlds that you can reach with some sort of portals. It was fascinating and we get so see a lot because our characters are constantly on the move. They hop here and there and so we get to see a good chunk of the author’s creation. And people, let me tell you, that is good. Very good! The author shows us different things, places, and locations, she really shows them to us, and I had the impression to be there, with the characters. Fascinating.
-The writing. This was good too. Really, really good. It captured me from the start and hooked me up with ease. She is good with words and I enjoyed reading them.
-Csorwe. To be honest, she is not one of my favorite main characters ever, but she is coherent and well developed. You have the impression to be with a real person. And she is loyal to a fault, stubborn, and growing into a wonderful woman.
-Shutmili. I think she is the best character in the book. I loved her, she is strange, yes, but she has sass and she would surprise you!
-The rivalry between Csorwe and Tal. Sometimes it seemed a little bit too much, but I enjoyed it and, once or twice, it managed to make me laugh. And I cannot resist some banter!
-The growth. This is a coming of age story and all of the characters grown during the story, and it’s well done and I enjoyed it.

The mixed part

-Tal. I have thought about it for some time, but I don’t know if I like him or not. It’s not that I despise him, or don’t like him, and I enjoyed his banter and his rivalry with Csorwe. But… I like him? I dislike him? I simply don’t have an opinion.
-Oranna. Banter aside, because with her we don’t have it, I can copy paste what I have said about Tal. I don’t have an opinion on her. It’s not that we don’t see enough of them, it’s just that even if we see them around, and they are important for the story and all, they seem quite… I don’t know which word to use. I cannot say plain because they are not bidimensional, they have their own voice and the author did a good job, they aren’t just wallpaper for the MC but they lack something nonetheless.
-The time of the narration. Time flew by with this story. And I am not meaning our time while reading. I mean the time of the story. Years pass between a chapter and the next, especially in the first part of the book. And it’s not a bad thing, even if I would have liked to see more of Csorwe training, for example, I wasn’t too disappointed in it, and I appreciated that the author manages to pull it off without losing interest in the story.
-The choices. In more than a way, this book is a book about choices, about what would define us as persons, as individuals. And we are there with Csorwe for every choice she has to make, little or big. And we have a ton of them! And not just for Csorwe, but for Tal, Oranna, Shutmili, and even Sethennai. Choices are everywhere! But maybe it’s a tad too much. Because even if we have an interesting plot, with a lot of things happening, the focal point is the choices and it seems like all the things they have done, all the suffering, the hard choices, the growth are without a serious meaning (aside for personal growth, that is the best point to make choices, yes, but not maybe as the center of an adventurous book, if this makes sense at all for you).

The bad

-Sethennai. I had quite some problems with him because I didn’t like him. I may have liked him a bit at the beginning of the story, but I was always distrustful of him and the things didn’t get better with the continuing of the story. But personal taste aside, I think that this is the worst character in the book because he is not as well developed as the other. My problem was that we see how other people react to him, and everyone has a strong reaction, Csorwe is loyal and devoted to him, in a way that is almost pathological, Tal is a bit obsessed by him, and the same could be said for Oranna. And the other respect him, or fear him, but in strong ways. So he should be a charismatic person, I think, but even if we can deduce it from the way the others react to him, we don’t see it in him. We don’t see him being charismatic, or fascinating or whatever, and that for me was a big flaw.

As you can see the good and the mixed are way more than the bad parts, and I think that this is a good book. I enjoyed the reading and I was fascinated by it, but now that I have some time pass I think that is lacking something to make it really really good. I mean, I liked it and I would recommend it to you, but I don’t like it as much as I was expecting and even if I enjoyed the ride, now I am here wondering “and so, what?”. So much so, that I don’t think I am interested in continuing the series, even if this book has given me some pleasurable hours.

A great debut and a story I inhaled reading as fast as I could.
The author is talented storyteller and the story flow without any moment of bore. The characters and the world building are amazing.
I look forward to reading other stories by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Reviewed for the Alliterates: The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood.

tw: religious human sacrifice, suicidal thoughts, blood, death, neglectful parental guardian.

The three of them sat and watched, astronomers waiting for the falling stars that would waste the world.


We're introduced to a world where a civilization of snake people and their god is something of the past, where gods slumber and ask brides to sacrifice themselves, worlds die in ice and ash, enemies vie for knowledge, gay prideful wizards hire henchmen to acquire knowledge, STEM girls are powerful wizards used as weapons, and ships travel through portals to other worlds.

The Unspoken Name follows a cast of characters. Larkwood uses third person omniscient to tell the story of the characters and the world in which they live. The world is diverse and not based on the racism of our own. There are people with brown skin, like Sethennai, Tal and Shuthmili. The time frame of the novel spans about 7 years, with a time jump of 5 years. The story is in told in four parts. It starts with Csorwe, at 14 years old she is an orc priestess and bride to the Unspoken god of the Oshaar. Csorwe's a fucking orc so she’s got grey skin and tusks. An asshole wizard convinces her to be his henchman, assassinating and collecting an important object and whatnot.

Csorwe is insecure from her service in the Oshaar church. She attains and learns she's got this thing called a personality, separate from her past. Hired by Sethennai, Csorwe collects what he wants; whatever shit he's into. The author does not do assassins as you may expect. Her assassin is more of what I would call subtle than explicit. Csorwe, the assassin, is more tactful and plotting, sneaking into people’s private circles, hopefully unrecognized. Don’t expect the traditional swords and daggers type of assassin because you won’t get it. She’s more of a dry humor gay girl who finds talking an annoying thing people do and focuses on plotting for Sethennai and obsessing over swords.

Sethennai takes on another henchman, Talasseres (Tal) Charossa. At their meeting, he’s an adult. His relationship with Sethennai is different than Csorswe's. Where her relationship is toxic daddy/daughter dynamic, his relationship is gay dude has a crush on older fancy gentle-wizard.

Tal is like her asshole brother/co-worker. Just a really fucked up dynamic all around.

“Oh, sure, I should’ve remembered you’re a fucking joke,” said Csorwe. “You’re a joke,” said Tal, for form’s sake.



They literally act like brother and sister. Reminds me of my own relationship to my brother, but with less anger and no murderous shenanigans.

Tal is one of the most interesting characters in the book. If you’re going to read this book for anyone, it should be him. If you like complex and unlikeable but fascinating characters he’s it.

Tal’s favourite thing to do was pick a noisy, pointless fight at the worst possible moment.


Tal is a loveable asshole, sprinkled with more asshole than loveable. He’s prideful, arrogant, thinks up a good one liner beforehand, and always expects to win the game. He’s got a corny sense of humor, deliberately written to sound like he tries way too hard to be funny. All of that has to do with his intense insecurities and fear of failure.

“Thank fuck,” said Tal. “Count yourself lucky you didn’t have to sit through any more of her. The way she stares. And Sethennai’s spent the whole time buttering her up. Oh, tell me about your vineyards, tell me about your summerhouse. Makes me sick.”


Sethennai is asshole daddy to Csorwe. Like most toxic daddies, they're cold and ask the world of their children. Larkwood doesn’t shy away from the fact that Sethennai is not a good dude. Just a giant arrogant dick wizard.

He never lost his temper, which made it so easy to believe that he was being reasonable and you were a petulant child.


He’s not some lovable but misunderstood daddy. He’s complex in the way you would find an asshole side character interesting: dynamic, strange, enthralling, and raw. The author's talent is in her characterization and dialogue. That's what makes this book good.

Mages, or wizards, are tied to the gods and therefore to religion. Power is through the living gods who use people's bodies as vessels. Magic is different and based on the god and knowledge. The author uses a naturalistic and realistic approach to how magic works:

“Do you have any idea how much study, how much negotiation, how much prayer and sacrifice . . . I have dominion over the hungering dead, over the whole kingdom of death. I am an extremely accomplished necromancer. I cannot make you invisible.”


Everything about magic is sacrifice. Nothing is given without a price.

On a mission, Tal and Csorwe travel to a world called Qarsazh. Csorwe first meets Shuthmili, a powerful wizard and adept in service to her people’s religion. The author suggests there's a difference between Sethennai’s magic and Shuthmili’s magic.

Tal was used to Tlaanthothei magic. Sethennai’s magic. Clean, economical, controlled. Whatever they had seen last night, it had been none of those things.


Authorities of the church and their teachings ask young girls to sacrifice themselves for their god. The price of power is girls sacrificing their lives, personality, for their god. The author fuses ancient aesthetics with the modern to show us the way modern day people and their religions are not so different. Violence, brutality, the every day run of the mill mayhem of the world is not just in the past but in the present. Are we not just as violent as those in the past?
The church teaches these girls to be silent to authority. Are modern day girls silenced more or less in our own world? Does the fact that we have all this technology mean we’re more advanced or does it mean we have more power to silence people? Csorwe and complex female characters are all fighting on behalf or against these large authoritative systems of power.

She thought of the girls who had come here before her, and brought with them the offering of blood for the Unspoken One. If they were so chosen, so perfectly selected for this honour, perhaps they had known the same uncertainty, here in the silence of the halls under the hill.


Is this possibly referencing the way girls often experience sexual violence in religious spaces in our own world? I also suspect the author is saying something about f/f relationships and the history of churches suppressing gay relationships within nun convents. By the way, historians know nuns would write love letters to other nuns. Given Christian history's suppression and influence of gay people's relationships as sinful, I wonder if the author is doing something with how Csorwe is seen to be a corruption to Shuthmili.

There are a few things I’m concerned about. It mostly sums up to the Qarsazhi, the culture Shuthmili is from. Described as having brown skin tones, they seem representative of a South Asian culture or possibly an African culture, particularly a Muslim dominant culture. Their names, even Qarsazh, sounds like a language similar to that of Arabic. Csorwe says she’s only known the Qarsazh to be described as a place of cruelty and corruption. There’s also a line about Qarsazhi castrating people for religious reasons. Then there’s this line:

“Kidnap yourself a whole harem of Qarsazhi babes.”


I like what Larkwood says about religion but she wrote a representation of a marginalized culture and turned them into a stereotype, where that culture is painted more negatively than with a balance of positives and negatives. There are also some characters thinking about death and whether life is even worth it. Suicidal people should be careful reading this. I'm unsure if it's represented well. I am not myself suicidal so I cannot speak for those people.

Lastly, the pacing in this novel is very slow. There are many boring parts that could have used a lot more work. I found myself putting the book down many times because there are parts that are honestly boring and dull.

If you like incredibly raw characters, a diverse cast of characters, likeable and unlikeable, dick wizards and loveable gays, this is full of all that. Criticisms need to be acknowledged about this book. I wish it had been better but it's still an interesting read.

Thank you to Tor for an advanced reader's copy in exhange for an honest review. All quotes were checked against a published copy.

I want to thank NetGalley & Tor Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I feel really surprised that this is a debut book and I feel very happy to have read it before its release date. This is a very ambitious but very well executed fantasy that I think takes the genre to a new place and gives it a lot of originality, especially due to its subtle mix with sci-fi. That’s why I highly recommend it if you’re like me, a fan of fantasy, and feel that you have already read everything because this surely will give you a new perspective and you’ll feel you’re reading something completely different and new.


The Unspoken Name is the first book of what will be a series called The Serpent Gates, and it’s about Csorwe, a girl who has been raised to be offered as a sacrifice to a god. But near his death day, a powerful mage offers her the possibility of a new destiny to become the wizard’s loyal sword and help him recover his place in power. But Csorwe will soon learn – gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.

I think that one of the strongest and most remarkable aspects of the book is the way in which it contains SO many magical and whimsical aspects in such a harmonious way. There are many sources of information, you’ll meet many magical beings, gods and many strange things during the book, which will surely catch you. On the other hand, I think it’s a book that although fascinating in content, can be a slow-paced read, I think this is due to the way in which the book is built, with quite long chapters and a rare transition between a chapter and another, also the beginning was something difficult to follow. Even so, this shouldn’t be a major impediment to enjoying the story itself.

The characters are quite solid, but I think they still need some work in their development. I enjoyed very much the way in which the author has decided to execute their search for desires because it has always been very clear from the moment one and it’s not necessary this being explained to us countless times, but that you simply know about her goals in a very organic way and I loved that. Surely you’ll understand more about this once you read it, but I want to say that everything flows very well in accordance with the plot and the author hasn’t taken much time with each character. Personally, I enjoyed it, even if I think that a little more work on each character (especially in some of their personalities) would have liked me more, it’s super personal, thought.

And although the characters individually are fine, the relationships between them were the most interesting to follow especially Csorwe and Shuthmili & Csorwe and Tal, I don’t want to deepen much about each relationship because I think the fun is to discover it and see the growth, both are super different but both have enchanted me in their entirety, they give me all the feelings and made me suffer at the same time. The romance is very well created and managed so that it’s a natural complement and not something invasive that takes the whole plot, you know? I loved the sapphic relationship and how it’s managed, I think it felt so right and adorable, I just wanted to mention it. In summary, I think the relationships between the characters and the romance between them was a strong point, I enjoyed every dynamic

The world-building is very complex and well thought out, and although I can see its originality, it can also be somewhat complicated to understand, so I’ll not try or begin to explain it myself here lol. It’s very good that’s for sure and you can see all the work that’s put into this aspect, I enjoyed it and I’m excited to explore this aspect a little more so that I can get acquainted in the following books.

This is a book that I think also stands out a lot for the author’s writing style because it’s really very unique and it shows that it has something special that probably feels very original for you as it felt for me. I admire very much the way in which the author has managed to handle the transitions of the action scenes to the dialogue scenes or the magic scenes to the gore scenes, you know?. It’s a book with a LOT of content, as I mentioned before, and although everything is very original and incredible to read, you have to keep in mind that it can be sensitive content since it has violence, animal & human sacrifices, drug use, self-mutilation, and a lot of blood for everywhere. So be cautious if you decide to read it.

To summarize, I think that to be a debut book… is incredible, it has a very unique writing style as well as a very original plot and construction of the world. I still wish to have a little more character development as individuals in the next books, but the relationships from romantic to friends and enemies, are very well thought out and executed, as well as the diversity of them. The paced can be a problem as well as the transitions from one chapter to another, but I strongly emphasize the handling of the sci-fi elements in a fantasy plot and the action scenes with very good ones. I highly recommend this book if you want to read something different, diverse and entertaining. Plus: the ending is super solid and leaves you very satisfied, so don’t be afraid to go for it!