2 out of 4 stars
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Kiran: The Warriors Daughter follows the adventures of a military school student by the same name. The cadet’s schooling and illegal behaviors are interrupted when she finds herself pulled into international adventure by the people and traditions of her birth. Kiran refuses to accept this and we follow her journey to escape patriarchal Eeristan society.
The author Elena Zvezdnaya writes under the pseudonym Ellen Stellar. The book itself is translated from Russian by the publisher LITHUNTERS, a digital platform that endeavors to bring Russian science fiction to English audiences. The editing for the book is quite good. I only noticed one error of ‘wouldill’ instead of would on page 2532. I am therefore assuming the book was professionally edited, and the writing style is the authors own despite the translation step.
Please note this book is not stand alone. The story does not conclude at the end of the book. It simply stops abruptly.
I would strongly advise anyone who is not a fan of young adult fiction to give this a strong pass. I would also advise anyone who reads science fiction for their world building, to not read this book. Both readers will find themselves quite frustrated. Reading the book summary before reading the book is necessary as the book provides orienting information too slowly for the audience to immerse itself in the book. The characteristics of this world are mostly nebulous and stays so throughout. I still have no idea about the heights and ages of characters (only Kiran's age is specified). Are the planets heavily forested, do they have liquid water, what color is the sunset, are there multiple moons or suns? How is time assessed? Why are there so many references to current terms and phrases (eg. princess), but completely fictitious counterparts (eg. khassar)? The main character moves from one almost completely undefined planet to another. Details are only described if Kiran directly interacts with the object or character, and even so, inconsistently. The story only seems to pick up speed and detail to become somewhat engaging in the second half of the book. Even so, when I finished, I did not feel invested in any of the characters, and I felt no immediate interest in reading the next installment.
The story has its quirks, such as constantly referring to the main character by the nickname of ‘little panther’ even though no one else is given a universal nickname, and that nickname is utilized by characters who have not communicated with each other. It becomes even more incongruent when it is pointed out, in the book, that only prostitutes are given nicknames. When an actual large cat is seen, it is only identified as "a huge black cat".
The book was a light and quick read. Something I feel is to its benefit. This is the kind of book you reach for to mentally disengage. The story line is easy to follow, so you can set it aside then readily pick up where you left off. The language is simple, although there are some more robust words sprinkled throughout. For me, they highlighted an incongruency between the characters stated characteristics and their actual behavior and language. However, it was also used well to emphasize the patriarchal nature of the Eeristan society.
For the reasons stated above I would rate this book a 2 out of 4. I feel like the book was not for me, it is better suited to a teen aged audience.
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Kiran
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