The Unbroken by C.L. Clark (Magic of the Lost #1)

---

The Unbroken is one of those titles that I have a hard time reviewing. Not because I hated it, but because it was so good. It was the sweeping epic I needed, and I found that reviewing it in a critical lens was somewhat beyond my capacity. So, I hope you all can be satisfied with this ramble-fest instead!

Review

There isn’t enough SFF that deals with colonialism, and I’m frankly happy that more and more SFF is starting to tackle this topic. While I very much appreciated the exciting world-building based on North Africa, I found myself appreciating this book’s take on Franco-African relations more. It was disturbing, it was poignant, and more importantly – it is eye opening to the more gray areas of colonisation.

Themes abound are people being taken from their home as children by an empire, with the intention of assimilating them into the empire’s culture. But that often doesn’t work out that way, does it? Ultimately they don’t fit in the empire’s culture (not to add the stress of being seen as a group less than human), and then they don’t fit in their home culture either – ending up with no real home. Mistreated by those who’d raised them (complete with the entire Stockholm syndrome package), and continuously derided for the fact that they’d shed their roots in favour of the empire. This struggle comes across in a poignant, heart-aching way.

Such is the life of Tourraine, a soldier conscripted to face the heaviest tolls in skirmishes (and more) by the empire of Balladaire with other children from other cultures like she had been from Qazāl. She faces racism throughout the book, regardless of the fact that she had gained a high-rank and the princess’s trust. It also does not matter that she had Balladairan education, had her birth name chucked out for a Balladairan one. The fact remains that the empire simply does not view her as someone belonging to the empire. Tourraine, along with her fellow conscript soldiers, have some degree of Stockholm syndrome; and a resignation to their fate.

Not even Tourraine’s return to her Qazāli roots served as a magic end-all-be-all cure for her deep-seated loss as she faces the fact that while she does not belong there, neither does she belong in her original culture. She’s left with a permanent sense of disconnect with the country that birthed her and the people fighting for its freedom (one of whom she turns out to have a personal connection to). There’s lots of trust issues, resentment, and estrangement to go around – all of which are mutual.

On the other side of the Empire, is Princess Luca – desperate to wrestle the throne from her uncle and foster peace to save her empire from a deadly fate. To do so, she has to establish herself as the empire’s “rightful” queen and heir by proving herself as a capable ruler.

The politics in The Unbroken are incredibly personal for both lead women; and when their paths cross, neither are truly aware of what they’d start when they work towards a different kind of peace than the Empire or the rebels think of. Both women may desire peace for different reasons, but they are in for a rude awakening when they have to grapple with the full implications of peace negotiations. Who sets the terms for peace, and what would it entail?

The Unbroken is a slow-burn book, and I do mean slow-burn. Clark takes a lot of her pages to set up the political and socio-economic grounds (based on real world influences and their implications) for this military fantasy, so that the stakes are both personal and imposing.

Tourraine, for one, keeps getting thrown into the best and the worst of circumstances — in which she discovers herself both as an individual with her own personal loyalties (her fellow conscripts, with whom she’d gone through thick and thin with); and a woman reconnecting with her roots to discover where her ideals lie. All her decisions and actions, for better and worse, form a gorgeously complex and emotionally-engaging character arc. She’s flawed, and she’s a mighty chaotic character. Her decisions also tend to lean towards terribly unwise with her already terrible luck as the cherry on top. Tourraine is the very personification of the saying “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

While Tourraine is mostly lead by her heart, Luca tends to follow her head with her shrewd cunning. When she crosses paths with Tourraine, it becomes increasingly clear that Luca is a little over her head and too idealistic in her pursuit for peace. It also doesn’t help her case that despite the crackling embers of their romance, Luca tends to be overshadowed by Tourraine in this book. She has a major potential to become a more active figure in the chessboard, and I hope the next book will see her truly in action.

Speaking of romance, I had fun reading Tourraine and Luca’s relationship progressing over time. It’s kind of quick but also kind of slow, it’s messy, and it’s deeply poignant. As the book goes on, Clark forces them in almost every interaction to confront their ideals and their reality. Doesn’t make for the sweetest, fluffy romance – but totally makes for one that constantly pushes each other to reflect and grow.

I also enjoyed reading the side characters. Tourraine’s fellow conscripts are fire-forged friends (with a dash of past romances here and there), the rebels have the wise and the prickly characters with backstories of their own, and there are definitely villains that you’d love to hate.

Concluding Thoughts

The Unbroken is not your typical military fantasy starter as it is a very slow-burn book; but where it slightly lacks in big action set pieces, it fully makes up for it with its deep, complex exploration of the personal marks from colonisation through the lens of a flawed protagonist. Clark sets up a lot of elements in her slow-burn, and its culmination in The Unbroken‘s violent climax proves a magnificent pay-off.

Ironically, The Unbroken has left me utterly broken and wracked with a lot of feelings, which I cannot do anything about other than clamouring for the sequel. It had been a book particularly bereft of triumphant moments, but there were constant embers of hope just waiting to be sparked in the Magic of the Lost following books.

Who is The Unbroken? It sure ain’t the reader!

The Unbroken is now available for pre-order, set for official release on 23rd March 2021 (US) and 25th March 2021 (UK).

Acknowledgements

Thank you Orbit and Little, Brown UK for giving me an advance review copy of The Unbroken! I am grateful to have been provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review.