Expanding the Essence of Fantasy: Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse

 

It took me a bit to get back into this story of Roanhorse's Beneath Earth and Sky series and to remember who’s who, but once I did, it was engaging and I still love this world as explored in this third and final (?) volume of the series. (See my thoughts on volume one here and volume two here).

Roanhorse continues a great exercise in "fantasy doesn't have to be based on European history and folklore." And I'm here for that 100%. I really love this fantasy inspired by the Americas. I love Tolkien, but fantasy can be so much more than "vaguely Tolkienesque," and Roanhorse is doing some of the best work in that direction.

It did take me some time to get back into the story. The cast of characters is wide, and it occasionally got a bit fuzzy for me aside from two or three of the major characters. It took me a good chunk of the first half of the book to find my bearings. I never quite thought of putting it down, just because I like the world building so much, but the story and the characters were a bit of a slog at times. Still, once things clicked back into place for me, I really loved it. And, without giving any spoilers, I found the ending satisfying.

Philosophically, I read this while I was teaching my unit on Mesoamerican philosophy in my intro class called Life, the Universe, and Everything. I thought a lot about the concept of embedded identity: that we can share essences with other people/animals/gods and that one person can have more than one essence. 

This makes sense of a lot of what the characters go through, obviously for the magically inclined characters, but even for those who just change over time. I particularly love what happens with Xiala and Serapio, my favorite characters by far (luckily also those we spend the most time with).

So all in all, this series is a must-read for lovers of fantasy outside the bounds of Tolkien and Europe, but also just people who enjoy fun stories about magic and political intrigue, and of course foul-mouthed pirates with hearts of gold who are more than meets the eye.

PS: Check out that awesome cover art!

See also my Goodreads review.