In this an enthralling Filipino-inspired epic fantasy, a nun concealing a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people's struggle against colonization. For fans of R.F. Kuang, Tasha Suri, and The Hurricane War .
Maria Lunurin has been living a double life for as long as she can remember. To the world, she is Sister Maria, dutiful nun and devoted servant of Aynila's Codician colonizers. But behind closed doors, she is a stormcaller, chosen daughter of the Aynilan goddess Anitun Tabu. In hiding not only from the Codicians and their witch hunts, but also from the vengeful eye of her slighted goddess, Lunurin does what she can to protect her fellow Aynilans and the small family she has created in the her lover Catalina, and Cat's younger sister Inez. Lunurin is determined to keep her head down - until one day she makes a devastating discovery, …
In this an enthralling Filipino-inspired epic fantasy, a nun concealing a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people's struggle against colonization. For fans of R.F. Kuang, Tasha Suri, and The Hurricane War .
Maria Lunurin has been living a double life for as long as she can remember. To the world, she is Sister Maria, dutiful nun and devoted servant of Aynila's Codician colonizers. But behind closed doors, she is a stormcaller, chosen daughter of the Aynilan goddess Anitun Tabu. In hiding not only from the Codicians and their witch hunts, but also from the vengeful eye of her slighted goddess, Lunurin does what she can to protect her fellow Aynilans and the small family she has created in the her lover Catalina, and Cat's younger sister Inez. Lunurin is determined to keep her head down - until one day she makes a devastating discovery, which threatens to tear her family apart.
In desperation, she turns for help to Alon Dakila, heir to Aynila's most powerful family and a gods-blessed healer who has been ardently in love with Lunurin for years. But this choice sets in motion a chain of events beyond her control, awakening Anitun Tabu's rage and putting everyone Lunurin loves in terrible danger. Torn between the call of Alon's magic and Catalina's jealousy, her duty to her family and to her people, Lunurin can no longer keep Anitun Tabu's fury at bay. For the goddess of storms demands vengeance. And she will sweep aside anyone who stands in her way.
Despite the overt themes of colonialism and religious imperialism, Saints of Storm and Sorrow feels primarily like a story about toxic relationships - Catalina's abusive partnership with Lunurin, Alon's self-destructive infatuation with Lunurin (and Lunurin's knowing, cynical usage of it), Alon's father's abusive treatment of Alon, even the goddess's relationship with Lunurin.
The hollywood ending feels good, but I have to wonder if any of these characters is undamaged enough to live Happily Ever After.
