Like any normal book dragon with ADHD, my shelves are filled with highly recommended books that I bought a while ago but haven’t read yet. One such book, the one that has sat near the top of my to-read pile the longest, is The Unbroken by C.L. Clark, the first book in her Magic of the Lost trilogy. Every time I have seen someone list it as one of the best sapphic fantasy books, I have cringed at the fact that I hadn’t read it yet. Well now that I have, I have only one thing to say: WHY DID IT TAKE ME SO LONG TO READ THIS?!?!
Lieutenant Touraine was stolen as a child and raised to become a soldier in the colonial brigade of the Balladairan Empire. The colonial brigade, made up of children taken from colonized populations and forced to serve in the military, has always been looked down upon by all of Balladairan society. Touraine hopes to change that by climbing the ranks and showing everyone that the Sands (as they are called) are just as capable as any other soldiers. Her brigade’s next mission is to travel to Qazāl, her homeland, with the goal of putting down a rebellion. Accompanying this brigade is Princess Luca, a woman hellbent on reclaiming her throne from her uncle by showing her ability to keep the empire intact. When Luca decides that she needs an emissary to the rebels, someone who can walk the lines between loyalty and treason, she turns to Touraine. But nothing is as simple as it first appears to be, and these two women will be plunged into opposing sides of a brutal conflict that will decide the fate of a nation.
The world of The Unbroken is incredibly rich and vibrant while still maintaining a sense of familiarity. I loved the way Clark took the French colonial empire in North Africa and added her own fantastical elements to create a fantasy world that very easily serves as a mirror to our own past. In doing so, it makes it easy to see that the cruelty of the Balladairan Empire is not that different from the cruelty real empires have wrought upon the indigenous peoples they have subjugated. It makes for an easily accessible and incredibly strong commentary.
I also really like the magic system of The Unbroken, especially how it is both a central aspect of the world yet is not something that can be used by just anyone. The magic isn’t simple to wield nor can be used for any old task. It is something to be earned and comes at great cost, making for something truly meaningful. I love magic systems like this in fiction as they add such weight to the concept of the mystical. In the case of this book, having the magic explicitly tied to faith allowed for an interesting exploration of the nature of science, religion, and how the two interact when cultures clash.
Touraine and Luca, and to some extent some of the main supporting characters, are grounded and complex. Both women start with very clear motivations, perspectives on the world, and flaws borne out of their lived experiences. Every action they take, both good and bad, come directly from those places. Touraine loves her fellow Sands and believes that there can be a place for them in the empire as equals, which leads her to make some truly stupid, yet completely understandable, choices. Luca’s descent into cruelty, as much as I hated watching it happen, is based on her desire to help her people at all costs.
C.L. Clark does a great job in giving us an unflinching and multi-faceted story about colonialism and the fight against it. It is brutally honest in depicting the cruelty that colonizers will impose upon native “uncivilized” people as well as how immensely painful and costly it can be to fight back against these systems of oppression. It also insightfully shows the insidious effects that colonialism can have on colonized people who try to work within the system as well as the difficulty “well-meaning” colonizers have in fully letting go of the oppressive systems that benefit them. Luca and Touraine’s individual arcs as well as their romance drives all of these themes home perfectly. It’s a great example of taking large-scale ideas and bringing them down to the personal level.
Lastly, the writing in this book is phenomenal. The dialogue is so multilayered, with each utterance in each meaning so much more than what is on the surface. Each conversation reveals a little more about the characters involved, their motivations, and where they are on their individual arcs. The scenes between Luca and Touraine crackle with chemistry, even when they are on opposite sides of the fight. In fact, the arguments between them are some of the best scenes in the book, filled with “I hate you, I love you” energy and fantastic verbal sparring. The pacing is also expertly done. Clark does a great job ramping and releasing tension over and over again throughout the book until ramping it all the way up in a climax that blew my mind when I read it.
There’s so much more I could say about The Unbroken. Since putting it down, it has consumed my thoughts and led me to rant about its greatness to anyone and everyone who would listen (seriously, ask my wife or any of my friends). I am so excited to read the follow-up and the finale of the trilogy when it comes out in September. If you’re a fan of epic fantasy, powerful women, women with swords, and stories of the oppressed fighting back against their oppressors, then this book is for you.
