My sixth book for the Sapphic Book Bingo challenge is Martis the Brazen, by Rien Gray. Well, I'm linking the Goodreads page for the book like I always do, but in this case it may be more appropriate to link the book's itch.io page.
This is the first book I've read for the challenge that is a novella rather than a full novel. The rules of the bingo say it still counts, but due to the short nature of the work, I also have a lot less to say about it than the other works I've been reading. So expect short posts for this one.
This is my spoiler-free review for anyone who's figuring out if they want to read it or not. The spoiler-full analysis will be in a different post.
Story Premise
Martis (the brazen) is a knight working for the kingdom of Afallenau. Martis takes comfort in her role, seeing it as a new life graciously provided to help her escape her past... which is why she's upset to receive a letter telling her that her sire, the dragon Thouros, is dying, and she's expected to be present on xyr deathbed. The letter is written in ad'condarc, the language of prophecy, so she has no choice but to be there.
On the way the prophecied meetup, though, Martis happens to encounter a group of cultists who have captured a woman, Amoret, and tied her to a pyre. The nature of the scene makes it clear to Martis that her own sire is responsible for it. Upon scattering the cultists and rescuing Amoret, Martis agrees to her request to travel together to the home of Thouros to confront xem about what has happened...
Novellas
What I learned from reading this is that I think I just have a preference for longer stories. I like complex characters and plotlines, and though I'm inclined to complain about the relative lack of those in this case, I don't think it's a fault of the writing, or of the capabilities of the author. I think it's just part of the nature of a story of this small size.
The Romance
I make the above point because Martis has a good character arc, but she's the only one that does. Her partner, Amoret, gets enough characterization that it's clear what her background and personality are like in a more general sense, but she doesn't have any personal trials to overcome, and this limits how much I, personally, am able to get invested in the romance.
I've already mentioned in other reviews that it's important to me to see two people in a relationship being of equal importance and help to each other. There's a bit of irony to it in this case because Martis and Amoret do help each other--Martis saves Amoret from a group of cultists, after all, and then Amoret helps Martis sort through some of her personal emotional issues. But because of Amoret's comparatively small amount of characterization, I couldn't help but initially view Amoret as a character inserted into the story purely to be a damsel, and then as a character inserted into the story purely to serve as a comfort Martis.
But again, this is a small story, and I think its intention was only ever to focus on Martis's story, not Amoret's. It's entirely believable that Amoret is fully fleshed out in Rien Gray's mind, there just wasn't time to get into it. And so it's hard for me to view this as a downside of the story, and instead just a difference in personal priorities.
Anyway. The end point of this is that this story is not a "romance" in the sense of being an examination of two characters' relationship to each other, this is a "romance" in the sense that there is a central protagonist and the story is about how she finds someone who can help take care of her. It leans very much into the "escapist fantasy by way of living vicariously through the protagonist" aspect of romances, and that's perfectly fine. It's just something that's not my personal preference, because I get self-conscious about that sort of fantasy.
The mystery/intrigue
There wasn't a lot of mystery here, again because the story is a small one. Even so, I feel like this story did actually succeed at having good mystery elements more than some of the other romances I've read so far.
Because there's always this lingering question of "What's going to happen?" as soon as Martis receives that initial message of prophecy. We know she feels bitter feelings towards her sire, but we don't know why. We know it's unusual that she has a dragon for a sire, but we're not aware of all the implications of that. Additional questions are raised regarding her other parent. And once she encounters Amoret and it's indicated that Thouros had something to do with her situation, this just raises even more questions about who Thouros is and what's going to happen when Martis meets up with xem.
These and other curiosities are all resolved over time, but what stands out to me is just how much of a difference it makes for the main characters to be driven by the question of "What's going to happen?" Yes, the other stories I've read have had questions that were potentially worth wondering about, but it makes so much of a difference for the characters themselves to be pondering those same questions, especially to the extent that it is the questioning itself that drives them to take action. (Right now I'm especially reminded of how Grace had a good mystery in No Rings Attached, but it was waylaid by the fact that she didn't actually seem to want the mystery answered.)
Other stuff
The only other major element I feel is worth pointing out is that, in addition to being a romance, this is also a story about a child learning how to deal with her parent. Yes, it's another "shitty parents" story, but this one takes a more nuanced approach to the subject than usual because it is a focus of the story. I have... complicated feelings about how it's handled, but I appreciate that it goes deeper into the complexities of that kind of relationship than the other stories I've read that happen to contain shitty parents and just leave it at that.
I can point out some other small stuff I appreciated about the story. I like that it's queer enough that neopronouns are a common thing. I like that the kingdom that Martis works for is portrayed more as a haven with a gentle ruler than as the more colonialist kind of force it would be in real life or a lot of other fantasy stories. I like the writing itself and how poetic some of the passages are.
Ultimately, though, it's all small stuff because it's a small story. I really do feel like I'm more cut out for longer stories with more stuff to think about than little things like this.
But I think it's good for what it is.