Book of the Ancestor - Review
Link to the author's (M. Lawrence) personal website
Book 1: Red Sister
Book 2: Grey Sister
Book 3: Holy Sister
Blurb: (From Book 1) At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.
But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.
Stolen from the shadow of the noose, Nona is sought by powerful enemies, and for good reason. Despite the security and isolation of the convent her secret and violent past will find her out. Beneath a dying sun that shines upon a crumbling empire, Nona Grey must come to terms with her demons and learn to become a deadly assassin if she is to survive…
Review: The initial hook in the first book, 'Red Sister', is a genuine thing of beauty. With an opening like that it
becomes simply impossible to love the book. Aside from the hook though, the first book itself can stand up there with the greats without much give at all. It's a great origin story that balances character development and world building, all packaged together with some nice writing. Nona is my girl, and waiting for her to become the seemingly invincible Sister Cage is a solid cherry on top of an already amazing character.
There's an inevitable 'but' to this series though, which still hurts me a bit given the promise of the first book.... Books 2 and 3 aren't bad, they're simply not great, the biggest gripe is that they're comparatively terrible compared to the first book. This is obviously a bit unfair, and this happens to many series. For some unexplainable reason though, the drop-off in this series felt stronger. To try and put a finger on it, I think that it was the acceleration of the plot, less relatable character interactions, and a culminated ending that I didn't enjoy. I still recommend the series as a whole as all books are a clear recommend if I view them only through their individual merit. All in all, good series with a beauty of an opening.