The Unbroken by C L Clark
I would like to thank Nazia from Orbit for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Orbit
Published – Out Now
Price – £8.99 paperback £4.99 Kindle eBook
EVERY EMPIRE DEMANDS REVOLUTION.
Touraine is a soldier. Stolen as a child and raised to kill and die for the empire, her only loyalty is to her fellow conscripts. But now, her company has been sent back to her homeland to stop a rebellion, and the ties of blood may be stronger than she thought.
Luca needs a turncoat. Someone desperate enough to tiptoe the bayonet's edge between treason and orders. Someone who can sway the rebels toward peace, while Luca focuses on what really matters: getting her uncle off her throne.
Through assassinations and massacres, in bedrooms and war rooms, Touraine and Luca will haggle over the price of a nation. But some things aren't for sale.
One of the things I love about fantasy is exploring what a character is capable of when everything is on the line. The fate of worlds and empires may depend on someone deciding to do the right thing or only think about themselves. What drives us to act – our upbringing, our culture, or our moral code? In C L Clark’s excellent novel The Unbroken we see issues of identity, conquest and the heart all war with each other with two amazing new characters taking centre stage.
The Balladairian empire is a European style empire stretching across the world and making profit from those they have conquered. One colony is Qazal in the desert and it is one that has still not yet fully accepted it cannot have independence. Luca the heir to the throne is visiting as part of her wider plan to prove her worthiness for the throne within seconds of arriving an attempt on her life is made by Qazali rebels. Fortunately for Luca the attack is averted thanks to Touraine a young Lieutenant in the Balladaire company known as the Sands – the children of the colonies taken away from their homes back to Balladaire to be trained to be loyal to the Empire and fight wherever required. Touraine is loyal to the idea of Balladaire and seeks advancement to help promote the cause of her Sands who are always viewed more as cannon fodder rather than an integral part of military in their own right. But for Touraine this soon gets her in trouble thanks to the revel’s ruthless leaders and Balladaire’s inability to believe even one of its best soldiers. Luca intervenes and sees Touraine’s intelligence and Qazali heritage as an opportunity to both attempt to reduce tensions in the country and get her hands on magical powers that may seal her move to be come Queen. Each woman needs to face decisions o what is the right thing to do versus their loyalty or affection for the other.
The Unbroken is the kind of chewy character focused fantasy that I love to read. People learning the Empire they’re a part of is not a great thing isn’t unusual but what Clark throws into the mix is the idea of what about those who get subsumed into the machinery of Empire after the war. At the heart of the story is Touraine she has no memory of her early childhood with her people (she can’t even read the native language of her people); we find she was brought up under a shrewd military commander who used a combination of violence and reward to instil the greatest loyalty to the troops and that is where Touraine’s initial loyalties are at the start of the book – but in particular the Sands who Clark instils as a mixture of personalities and cultures but is essentially Touraine’s found family. Touraine wants respect and freedom that Balladaire seems never to fully offer. Into this racism is shown a key part as the Sands are Black and Balladaire is a white imperial colony. We see people happily insult Touraine’s intelligence and capacity to learn as if she was an animal to be used rather than a citizen in her own right (all of which has many parallels with our own world’s treatment of colonies). The story very much sets Touraine up for a losing of her beliefs that the empire can change.
The catalyst for this is Luca who we initially see as introverted, studious and someone always looking for the next book – the kind of person readers tend to like! With her tightly bound hair, spectacles, and painful leg injury she is not your standard princess. Initially we see someone who thinks kindness and respect may be the way to quell tensions and that soon wins Touraine’s admiration. But whereas Luca is doing things for her fellow Sands we soon find that for Luca everything is about that throne her Uncle is currently regent for. Even the good things Luca does are not out of morality but a desire for power and as soon as Touraine starts to question this approach, we see Luca firmly try to force that she knows best. It is fascinating to have a character you may want to side with but very soon you’re shaking your heads at their quick dropping of their lofty aims if that means they would lose power and respect. Luca is a perfect embodiment of someone who says they’re politically liberal provided that doesn’t mean they lose their own power.
The interweaving of Luca’s and Touraine’s stories and their respective sides in the political intrigue that surrounds the kingdom is then really well explored. There are many turns in this relationship which moves from loyalty as a soldier, respect as a confidant, friendship, attraction and betrayals and hatred. This becomes a game of cat and mouse with both sides starting to scheme against the other to meet their needs. Torn loyalties lead to some truly gruesome scenes of rebellion and cruelty and we get involved with Rebellions, magical practises and various power blocs within the Balladaire that see change as something to firmly quell. No one feels safe and Clark as a great way of making us understand a vast range of supporting characters and care (or occasionally cheer) as things happen to them. In particular I loved how we can move from military fighting in the streets to tense showdowns over a game of chess between the two leads to moments of joy such as just dancing in a desert night always moving the story on and giving it a lot of tension and energy between the two leads that mean you are never sure what the final outcome will be as tides of revolution rise and fall against the powerful armies occupying the country.
The Unbroken will really appeal to those who enjoy epic fantasy with a mix of military and political intrigue combined with fully fleshed complex characters who you may both cheer and occasionally want to hit. Engrossing storytelling that suggests a bigger story yet to come and one I’m fully invested in. Clark is very much a writer to watch. Strongly urge you to pick this up for summer reading!
