Queer Culture
Pick a review—any review in any context—of this novel and if see how many words you have to get through before you finally run into the word “queer.” If there is one thing that can be sure most readers will know before they even pick up the book, it is that this is a novel that stands out in the fantasy by virtue of putting a thematic exploration of queer culture front and center. And, as many of those reviews have pointed out, the most revolutionary aspect of the portrayal of this theme is that the homosexuality and bisexuality behavior is presented not as something which makes the characters special, but rather as simply as another aspect of these characters who just so happen to be special.
Rise Against Oppression
This is an example of fantasy fiction and where there is fantasy fiction you can bet will be found a battle of good versus evil or, at the very last, something that approaches it. Since this fantasy novel takes place in the surprising setting of pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas, the conflict reflects that cultural appropriate by pitting a cult which worships a Sun Priest against another which worships a Crow god. Circumstances arise which introduces an unexpected bit of ambiguity into the whole notion of good versus bad being an easy case of absolutism, but even within this murky morality the book still fulfills the traditional fantasy novel narrative of being a rise against the machinery of oppressive authority.
Perspective
That murky ambiguous quality is not a gimmick, but integral to the thematic construction of the book which situates the concept of truth being perceptual rather than absolute. This theme is most strikingly and vividly illustrated by the point of view the author has chosen to tell her story. Or, rather, point of views, plural, because the narrative rolls over through four distinctive perspectives: those of Serapio, Xiala, Okoa, and Naranpa. While some readers will inevitably find this to be confusing or even possibly annoying, it serves a very concrete purpose in the overall texture which continues to hit hard on the idea the truth that there is no such thing as a single truth upon which all can agree.
