Oh boy. I feel like I’m walking into a field of landmines today. When I normally write reviews, I often strive to avoid considering other reviewers’ thoughts on the book to prevent coloring my own expectations and analysis. But, sometimes you read a book like Blood Over Bright Haven, by M.L. Wang, and it is impossible to avoid the zeitgeist. This becomes even harder to review when you know the general perception of the book is that it is beloved. I had a thoughtful and pleasant time with Blood Over Bright Haven, but I didn’t find it as life-changing as many claim.
Sciona is a magical prodigy in a world where magic rules all. In a just system, she would be on top of the world, but she was born a woman. Tiran is an industrial utopia that caters to the every whim of its mages, but only if they are men. For a woman to join the upper ranks of the city guide and shape its future is unheard of. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome.
Sciona is going to be very busy either way, as her first major project is an expansion of the barrier. Tiran is a place of wonder and magic, but on the exact other side of its magical bubble shield is a horrifying magical plague that eats anything and everything. The space inside their protected bubble is shrinking. Can she be the one to be remembered for all of history by expanding the city of Tiran for the first time since its founding?
Credit where credit is due, Blood Over Bright Haven is an actual book. This might sound like a weird statement, but for me it is a huge step forward from the last Wang novel I read, The Sword of Kaigen. Kaigen, for the few unfamiliar, was an early self-published book by Wang that has become massively popular. When I read Kaigen, I was impressed with the character work and descriptives, but I would be hesitant to call it an actual story, as it read like the vision board for a sweeping saga. There were a ton of details and important pieces missing, and a lot of strange ideas thrown in for future plans that never materialized. Anyway, focusing back on the task, Blood Over Bright Haven has none of these issues. It’s a fully self-contained book with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It has fully realized themes, and the pacing is excellent. Off to an amazing start.
Circling back on Wang’s strengths: I think the character work is solid. Haven’s characters didn’t wow me the way Kaigen’s did, but they are perfectly serviceable. Sciona is a well-rounded and fully realized protagonist. Her motivations make sense, and she has a nice little character arc where she has to do some introspection. Her only issue is that she isn’t very interesting. Most of her themes involve doing very obviously morally correct things, capitalism/exploitation being bad, and some surface-level examination of intersectionality. She (and her supporting cast) read like a baby’s first gender/race crossroads–which isn’t a bad thing, but didn’t do a whole lot for me. In the end, I found her identity to feel oddly performative. Yet, on further reflection, I think this was more a stylistic hyperbole from Wang to ensure the pieces of her character were clearly conveyed.
The plot is extremely predictable, but the ending is also interesting. Wang is not going for subtlety here and there is a Chekov’s armory on display from page one. If you understand even basic plot structure, you should know immediately where this book is going. The one interesting fork in the road is which way Sciona is going to jump at the end. And I will hand it to Wang, she does in fact jump in a very interesting direction. This, however, leaves me in a difficult place when it comes to judging the value of the contents of the book. The only real meaningful takeaway I took from the narrative is in the last 10 percent of the story, and it could be summarized by a single sentence. I can’t help but feel that I want more from a book I spend hours with, but it could also be argued that that single sentence takeaway is so powerful from the meticulous setup that results in a powerful punch.
As has been the theme of this review, I found myself in another conundrum when looking at the themes of the narrative. At an abstract level, I like the themes and ideas of the book and agree with them entirely. However, they felt so surface-level and lacking any subtlety that I found myself bored when trying to engage with them. All of this ties together into a throughline of–I do not think this was a book written for me. I have read a ton of material that goes into great depth on the themes of Haven. Because of this, Haven appears generally shallow and difficult for me to get behind. I can’t think of a single thing the book does that I haven’t seen done better elsewhere. Its lack of subtlety is also very much not my style. I like to dig for my nuggets and have to work a little for my epiphanies. But, do I think Haven is a bad book? Absolutely not. There is always a need for on-ramps to these discussions. Given the current political climate, there is definitely a place for a book that shouts “Do the right thing” at the top of its lungs. It just doesn’t appeal to me personally that much.
Blood Over Bright Haven wasn’t my cup of tea, but there is an army of folks parched beyond belief that could use a pot of Wang’s brew. I struggled to connect with a number of elements in this story, but I can easily see why this book has made a huge impact on a number of today’s readers.
Rating: Blood Over Bright Haven – 8.0/10
-Andrew
