The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna
Publisher – Usborne Publishing
Published – Out Now
Price - £8.99 paperback £3.99 Kindle eBook
Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in Otera, a deeply patriarchal ancient kingdom, where a woman's worth is tied to her purity, and she must bleed to prove it. But when Deka bleeds gold - the colour of impurity, of a demon - she faces a consequence worse than death. She is saved by a mysterious woman who tells Deka of her true nature: she is an Alaki, a near-immortal with exceptional gifts. The stranger offers her a choice: fight for the Emperor, with others just like her, or be destroyed...
One of joys of reading is seeing how authors play with the conventions of a story. There are a lot more than seven plots out there but one of the best reading experiences is when you think oh this is that kind of story and then it surprises you and does it again and again. In Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones I was expecting the standard coming of age fantasy adventure instead I got an excellently crafted tale of adventure mixed with tackling feminism, racism combined with excellent storytelling and character development.
Deka lives in the north of the Oteran Empire with her widower father. Often viewed as an outcast already thanks to having her mother’s skin colour she has focused on a coming-of-age ceremony where all young women have their blood inspected for purity. At which pon she can don a mask like an adult woman and be ready for marriage like all other women who pass. But while waiting the immense dangerous creatures known as Deathshriekers alive tearing Villagers apart and only Deka manages to stop them in their tracks by shouting for them to stop. She is tested and her blood runs gold. They recognise her as an outcast – a demon known as an Alaki and she must be killed. But she then survives her wound and is this time killed by her father. Again, Deka returns to life with her head now back on her body.
Before much more can be done to her Deka is taken by the mysterious traveller she names White Hands to serve the Emperor back in the capital. Deka soon finds there are many Akali women all working in one army designed to bring about the Deathshriekers’ destruction. But as she grows in skills of fighting and finally makes friends with other women, she starts to find a web of secrets that challenge her understanding of the world, it’s monsters and her own heritage than can change the entire fate of the Empire.
I’m almost tempted just to tell you I started reading this an I ended up reading it pretty much in two sittings (thank you work) and it was the kind of read where I was shouting out No, YES and THAT’S AMAZING. I am almost tempted just to tell you that deka pulling her fellow Akali together to take on the enemy by shouting out “Are we Girls or Demons?” was such an emotional hook that then I knew I was reading something special. But I do have a reputation to tell you a little bit more about why you NEED this book.
In some ways you can say this could have been just a standard Chosen One adventure. Deka has a mysterious heritage but will leans the skills to save the world but Forna delivers so much more than that. For starters, the worldbuilding here is fascinatingly constructed. This is a patriarchal society – women have to be ‘pure to survive’ and that just means marriage and obeying male priests. For Deka that is the normal aim of life – that is what she initially wants. Society has made her see herself as not valuable in her own right. Once taken away to meet the other Alaki we see Deka change and start herself to question the males in charge leading her fellow soldiers to death; she realises she has her own skills and power and embraces these for herself and her newly found friends. This isn’t a society that just practises sexism we see immense cruelty – the Alaki upon recruitment to the emperor have their arms dipped in liquid gold (that will burn their ever regenerating skin) and hence the ‘Gilded Ones’ of the title; we hear various horror stories of how other Alaki upon discovery are attempted tp be murdered; sexually abused or hurt. This is not a pleasant environment and watching Deka start to realise that her own society is wrong was a fascinating piece of storytelling.
Deka is just one of a group of fascinating characters we encounter. As her fellow soldiers we get the funny, impish and able to poke Deka’s self-importance in the form of Britta but we also get the ever rebellious, angry and independent Belcalis. Each of whom Deka has to learn how to talk to and work together. It isn’t instant BFFs but a really well-planned friendship that feels organic than plotted. On top of this are the female cast of teachers the Alaki all have – each with skills in weapons, armour, tactics, and even martial arts. In some ways the traditional training montage but again for Deka this is a tale that says women are a lot more than just wives – the most interesting of these is the mysterious White Hands who appears to just be a recruiter for the army but has a special interest in developing Deka’s powers while also often just wanting to drink wine and smoke her pipe. Her backstory is absolutely fascinating to unpeel. The final character to note is Keita – effectively the soldier bodyguard paired to Deka and yes there is a chemistry that starts between the two but it’s not instalove – it’s people sharing jokes and experiences getting to know each other and what I really liked was Forna made us see Keita needed to get over his own societal programming to see Deka as an individual in her own right not a demon or a precious woman to be protected. More characters like this in YA tales please!
The main story is fascinating. We move from just the main story of battling Deathshriekers to understanding the history of the empire and even it’s ecology. By the end we have gone from extremely well written battle scenes to some truly epic fantasy as the secrets of the world are fully revealed and the main enemy actually feels a true challenge for Deka in terms of their skills and own cunning. I didn’t see several events coming and it gave the story a great deal of depth and emotional intensity that makes you care for this band of young women trying to save each other. It ends with the main story over but plenty of room for future adventures.
So short version – do yourself a favour and pick this up now. Longer version one of the most impressive YA adventures I’ve read in a while tackling some important issues and yet delivering a surprising story with a host of interesting characters. Fun, intelligent and well worth your time. I shall be watching this author for future books eagerly!!
