Author C. L. Clark knows that revolution is only the first act in a larger story of freedom won, senses of self and worth affirmed, hearts bruised and broken. What comes after the revolution has the potential to be just as, if not more, dramatic, engaging, and heart-rending; nowhere is this on finer display than in The Faithless, the sequel to Clark’s debut novel The Unbroken. Touraine and Luca are learning that is not enough to make a change. The true battle lies in the cementing of that change once the smoke of conflict has cleared.
Touraine, ex-soldier and citizen of Balladaire, managed to turn the tide against the Empire she once loved, freeing her country of Qazal, her estranged mother, and all the friends she had made for herself in turning her back on the empire. But in the months to follow, the hard work of uniting (and feeding) disparate cities has only made life harder, especially as she receives letter after letter from the Princess Luca, eager to reconnect and invite her to Balladaire to negotiate a future. Touraine has been burned too many times to trust Luca, but when her involvement means life or death for Qazal, Touraine will find herself back in the Princess’s orbit, one laden with dangers not found on the front lines of war but in the back alleys of empire as Luca’s Uncle, desperate stay on her throne, maneuvers to plunge them all into misery. As Touraine and the priestess Aranen sail to Balladaire, Luca plots and plans, not only hoping to maneuver her Uncle, the Duke Nicolas off the throne, but also to find the one bargaining chip she believes can turn the tide: access to the magic that Balladaire once had, before the renunciation of their gods.
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The Faithless
From the moment The Faithless begins, readers of The Unbroken will very quickly remember why they were salivating for its sequel. C. L. Clark has no sophomore slump, deftly bringing readers up to pace with all of the pieces on the sprawling board of their epic story. And it isn’t long before those pieces are moving, each with their own agenda and strategy. Clark employs an expert level of finesse in the machinations of each of these complicated, complex women as they move across a board either familiar or strange to them.
The echoes of book one live in the smoldering looks that Luca and Touraine gift one another across a room, the brush of a hands against one another in a hall. Each of them acts as the best of magnets, pushed and pulled by the desire they each feel, the fragile tenderness in their hearts, the ache of old wounds physical and emotional; watching Luca and Touraine negotiate their new status and space near one another are some of the best moments of this book. And hot. Did I mention this book is hot? It is, it’s got heat, and Clark is not afraid of dialing that temperature up in various ways as these two women have to fjord their feelings for one another, even as the world ignites in ways they cannot ignore. And we cannot forget the newest powderkeg, Marquis Sabine de Durfort—an accomplished swordswoman, part-time paramour and full-time friend to Luca, and relentless flirt—who introduces much needed humor and, how shall we say, friction, all to the readers’ benefit.
All the while, Clark successfully builds our understanding of Balladaire, Qazal, the gods, and magic slowly making its way back into the world. In a brilliant move, they do so through the perspective of two characters who get their own viewpoint chapters, one familiar, and one new. Our familiar face is Pruett, an old friend and ally of Touraine’s left in Qazal for a mission in a nearby city, sent with a mix of mercenaries and priests, to gain aid. The other is a young woodworker named Fili gifted with a mysterious source of power of great interest to Luca, who has fallen in with a group of anti-imperial freedom fighters, who wish for no one to be on any throne. Together, Clark paints a picture of what life is like in these two countries when there is very little power to be had and you’re asked to either keep your head down or put in the work for the greater good. No spoilers, but suffice to say, both Pruett and Fili are making their own major moves on the board that I can’t wait to see pay off in book three.
The Faithless continues to showcase why C. L. Clark was such an exciting new voice with The Unbroken, and I’m beyond excited to see what they’ll accomplish in the next book of this series.
The Faithless is published by Orbit.
Martin Cahill is a writer living in Queens who works as the Marketing and Publicity Manager for Erewhon Books. He has fiction work forthcoming in 2021 at Serial Box, as well as Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Fireside Fiction. Martin has also written book reviews and essays for Book Riot, Strange Horizons, and the Barnes and Noble SF&F Blog. Follow him online at @mcflycahill90 and his new Substack newsletter, Weathervane, for thoughts on books, gaming, and other wonderfully nerdy whatnots.
