Review of Weave the Lightning by Corry L. Lee
Corry L. Lee’s Weave the Lightning (Solaris, 2020) is a gorgeous beginning to a series about dangerous magic, totalitarian government, and finding love in spite of the odds. With many parallels to Russian and Eastern European countries and governments in the early twentieth century, the story feels like an alternate history-inspired fantasy world.
The main characters, with their stories told in parallel, are Celka, a tightrope performer, and Gerrit, a storm-mage in training. As Celka attempts to suppress her powerful storm affinity, Gerrit tries to harness his. But it is not until they encounter one another that they begin to understand the full scope of their power and the complicated political situation in which they find themselves tangled.
I had some difficulty with the many terms based on Russian and Czech (and other) words, not in understanding them or keeping them straight in my head, but in knowing how they might be pronounced. But once I at least gave myself quasi-pronunciations, I found them easier to read. And they were really the only sticking point for me with the prose–it is otherwise very easy to read. The characters are complex and interesting, and though I figured out a couple of the plot twists early in the book, it was still a delight to read and see if I was right or wrong!
Weave the Lightning is the first in the Bourshkanya trilogy. The second book, The Storm’s Betrayal, is also available, with the third book’s release date not yet determined.
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