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    Markswoman
    Markswoman
    Markswoman
    Audiobook11 hours

    Markswoman

    Written by Rati Mehrotra

    Narrated by Emily Woo Zeller

    3.5/5

    ()

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    About this audiobook

    Kyra is the youngest Markswoman in the Order of Kali, a highly trained sisterhood of elite warriors armed with telepathic blades. Guided by a strict code of conduct, Kyra and the other Orders are sworn to protect the people of Asiana. But to be a Markswoman, an acolyte must repudiate her former life completely. Kyra has pledged to do so, yet she secretly harbors a fierce desire to avenge her dead family.

    When Kyra's beloved mentor dies in mysterious circumstances, and Tamsyn, the powerful, dangerous Mistress of Mental Arts, assumes control of the Order, Kyra is forced on the run. Using one of the strange Transport Hubs that are remnants of Asiana's long-lost past, she finds herself in the unforgiving wilderness of desert that is home to the Order of Khur, the only Order composed of men. Among them is Rustan, a young, disillusioned Marksman whom she soon befriends.

    Kyra is certain that Tamsyn committed murder in a twisted bid for power, but she has no proof. And if she fails to find it, fails in her quest to keep her beloved Order from following Tamsyn down a dark path, it could spell the beginning of the end for Kyra-and for Asiana.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateJan 23, 2018
    ISBN9781684411290
    Author

    Rati Mehrotra

    Born and raised in India, Rati Mehrotra makes her home in Toronto, Canada, where she writes novels and short fiction and blogs at ratiwrites.com. Markswoman is her debut novel. Find her on Twitter @rati_mehrotra.

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    Reviews for Markswoman

    3.5/5

    49 ratings9 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I came very close to giving up on this book several times. The beginning drags and it is hard to get a grasp on the setting, what with the magical daggers, numerical teleportation rooms (or whatever those portals were), and magic words of power.

      Despite this, the last few chapters are engaging, and the cliff-hanger ending might be enough to lure me into someday reading a sequel.
    • 3/5
      Markswoman is a fast-paced YA Fantasy. The universe is rooted in Indian culture, so despite being a standard chosen-one tale, there is a refreshing element to the story which distinguishes it from the legions of European-based fantasy books. It's also references a prior, greater civilization, which may or may not have been technology-based. While our heroine is multi-faceted enough to have strengths and flaws, there wasn't much evidence of emotional growth in this book. I'm hoping to see a greater character arc over the course of the series.There is a romantic element. The romance doesn't kick in until mid-way, and it doesn't dominate the story. However, it does feel as though it might develop a stronger presence in the future. I hope I'm wrong about that, but doubtless that will be delightful for others.All in all, there was nothing new or surprising in this one. It was a fun read though.I received a complimentary copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway. Many thanks to all involved in providing me with this opportunity.
    • 3/5
      There were some good things about this book (mainly the worldbuilding) and I liked several aspects of it, but in the end it didn't really grab me. This is the author's first book, and I think she has promise, but I'm not sure I'll pick up the next book(s) in the series. Maybe at the library, but I don't think I'll be buying it. The worldbuilding, however, was very interesting, and the backstory of this world worked into the overall plot quite well. Perhaps this is Earth, perhaps not; we're eight hundred and fifty years past an apocalyptic event known as the Great War, which may or may not be a nuclear holocaust; and there are mysterious beings called "the Ones," who may or may not be aliens. (I suspect the former, due to the fact that they left behind a sentient, telepathic metal called kalishium which can be worked into knives--and guns--and bond with humans, and they were the apparent builders of the Transport Hubs. This is a bit of a MacGuffin that is accessible by the katari, or the magical daggers, and can magically move people great distances...and ahead in time as well, it seems.) If all of this sounds way too vague, well, it kind of is. But it provides a fascinating subtext to the story, and presumably some of these mysteries will be revealed in subsequent books. Where this book fell down for me is the uneven pacing and the characterizations. After a slam-bang first chapter, we meander almost halfway through the book before what I thought of as the real story began, and from there it's a breathless race to the cliffhanger ending. Some characters--Shirin Mam and Nineth, in particular--are much better written than others. Unfortunately, the "others" includes the protagonist, Kyra. I just couldn't connect very well with her. And the villain, Tamsyn, seemed cartoonishly over the top, despite a valiant attempt to humanize her in the last chapters. Also re the pacing, I couldn't believe the climactic final fight, the thing Kyra spent half the book training for and obsessing over, took place over the sum total of four pages. That definitely felt like a cheat. And the ending was so rushed I could hardly figure out what was going on.So this was okay, but I'm not jumping up and down and squeeing over it. Hopefully the author can get some of these issues corrected in the next book.
    • 4/5
      First in the Asiana series. Sisterhoods of highly trained elite warriors dispense justice in a post-apocalyptic world many years after an alien civilisation left behind technologies that are used by the survivors, but not fully understood. Strong female characters, a good read, but unsure if I would read the next.
    • 3/5
      I was with it right up until the climactic fight, which ended up being a little too conveniently resolved for complete believability. That being said, the world—with its Asian-inspired culture and most power being held by women—was interesting and the characters ones I would like to spend more time with, so I look forward to the next volume in the series.
    • 2/5
      I could not bring myself to finish the audiobook because of how forced the main character's anxiety felt to me. Everything is written such that it feels like she's about to have an emotional breakdown, and the narration stops to dwell on it. The character is an expression of impostor syndrome in her profession of assassin and of nerd kid worried about popular kids in everything else. Even after graduation she is frets about what the popular kids in the assassin high school think of her. Obviously, people like that exist and it may be cool to read about it for some people, but not for me.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book so much. Rati Mehrotra creates a captivating, magical world filled with harshness and beauty. I was immediately swept away. And the setting is just the beginning for this book. Kyra is a strong, yet vulnerable, protagonist who speaks her mind even when it puts her life in jeopardy. I immediately was on her side in this book and cheering her on as she fled from her Order but kept focused on trying to bring justice to the memory of her mentor.Perfectly juxtaposed with Kyra is Rustan from the Order of Khur. Even stronger physically than Kyra, Rustan is tasked with training her so she can reach the peak of her abilities.Markswoman has everything I look for in a fantasy series: complex characters, a compelling storyline, and action that doesn’t stop. I read this book far too fast and now I’m impatiently waiting for Book 2 in the series.
    • 3/5
      Markswoman is a debut fantasy novel with a bit of a science fiction twist to the world building. I was drawn to the premise involving an order of all female assassins. However, while it was an all right read, it ultimately didn’t live up to my hopes.Markswoman opens with Kyra being sent on her first assassination, necessary for her to be inducted into the ranks of Markswomen in the Order of Kali, an all female group who are tasked with keeping peace and seeing justice served. Then, Kyra’s mentor dies under mysterious circumstances, ones she suspects were arranged by Tamsyn, another Markswoman who has seized control of the Order of Kali. When Kyra flees, she finds refugee with an order of Marksmen. She will pin all her hopes of saving her order on a desperate, risky chance.The beginning starts slow. Everything described in the back blurb takes… maybe the first third of the book? And unfortunately, the story never really picks up. While yes, Kyra’s decision (possible spoiler – challenging Tamsyn to a duel) is risky, it didn’t make for much excitement building up to the event itself. Also, I sort of just assumed Kyra would succeed on the basis of being a protagonist in possession of plot armor. I even guessed how she’d do it. Overall, Markswoman‘s plotting lacked tension and stakes and felt predictable.If you can’t guess from the premise, Kyra finds a love interest in the all male order (note -the book as a whole is very heteronormative, and there’s not the least hint that queer people exist in this world). The romance was annoying and stunk of insta-love. I have a hard time believing that two characters who have hardly had a conversation are in love. And I have an even harder time believing that someone as devoted to her order as Kyra is would even consider giving up her life as a Markswoman to run away with a boy she’s known for less than a month.I did like how the world building of Markswoman brought in an element of science fiction to the backstory. From what I can tell, the planet of Asiana was settled by humanity sometime before the story, and most technology has been lost. What remains is the telekinetic material used to make the Markswomens daggers and a network of transportation portals. Also, it’s hinted that the Markswomen’s psychic abilities come from genetic tampering sometime in the past. While I’ve seen the general idea of “sci-fi world loses all advanced tech, now looks like fantasy world,” I thought Markswoman had a fairly good version of it.I was glad that Kyra had friends among her order, as I always like to see positive depictions of female friendship. It’s only unfortunate that she spent so much of the book away from them. I also thought I saw a pattern of the villains being beautiful women, which could play into a negative view of femininity.I don’t think Markswoman was bad exactly. It passed the time, and I never considered quitting. However, I’m not planning on reading the sequel.I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review. Review from The Illustrated Page.
    • 5/5
      I LOVED THIS BOOK. Post-apocalyptic magical knife-wielding female assassins FTW! I received a galley through the publisher (also my publisher), and was happy to supply a blurb:"Markswoman is a breathlessly-paced post-apocalyptic fantasy with a highly original setting and characters you can't help but love (and hate)."