Tagged: quitai
Tempt the Devil by Jill Braden
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
When the body of Former Governor Turyat is discovered in the Red Happiness, QuiTai is the prime suspect. Surprisingly, she seems almost eager to be taken into custody. If Kyam Zul is to keep her neck out of the noose, he must solve the crime without her help – while matching wits with not only the real killer but his scheming grandfather, his political rivals, and his own wife.
[Full disclosure: I was sent a free paperback copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.]
I loved The Devil’s Concubine. I adored the sequel, The Devil Incarnate. But this third book? There aren’t enough words to express the awesome-ness that is Tempt the Devil.
At first it starts off as your fairly standard murder mystery…except that QuiTai seems to have anticipated the murder in advance and demands to be arrested and taken to the fortress of Ponong. Kyam Zul, obviously puzzled, accepts when she dances circles around him with her wits yet again and then is devastated when he learns she’s being framed for the murder of Turyat. Of course, as with everything in Jill Braden’s stories, not everything is as it seems.
In many ways, you have to read Tempt the Devil a couple of times to really appreciate the depth of QuiTai’s plot but you can still get the gist of just how brilliant it was in the first read through. What makes the murder even more of a mystery is that we don’t actually see QuiTai’s point of view much until the end of the book when everything is revealed. Kyam has to struggle so hard to get caught up and his reaction when he thinks he’s too late is really revealing about his character and his feelings that he keeps deeply buried. I don’t want to give too much away, but the real murderer is someone so simple that it’s almost farcical. Still, the plot QuiTai cooks up around it is brilliant and will definitely set a precedent on Ponong for Kyam’s reign as Governor.
I would have liked to see more of QuiTai personally but of course that’s not the point of this particular chapter in the Devil of Ponong series. The point is that QuiTai is playing four dimensional chess and she’s playing to win but her opponent, Grandfather Zul is also playing a long and far-reaching game. It really ends up being an epic battle of wits between the two (by proxy of course) and it brings out some interesting new characters, like Kyam’s wife, a Thampurian woman unused to actually having anything resembling power or authority. Because of how this ended it will be very, very interesting to see how the social, political and economic situation in Ponong and other colonies of Thampur in the next book, The Devil’s Game.
When it comes to fantasy, you’ll be hard pressed to find any better world-building. In Jill Braden’s books there are actually things like politics, economics and social reform movements factored into the equation. They affect everyday people’s lives in tangible ways! Ponong is a very believable colony because it’s along a trade route and as such they are allowed certain liberties even as the iron hand of the Governor clamped down on the native population. Grandfather Zul’s interference in the colony to manipulate QuiTai certainly doesn’t help the separatist movement within Levapur either. It’s kind of hard to get a real hold on Jill Braden’s fantasy world but once you do it’s very easy to fall into and I appreciate the subtleties of it very much.
If you haven’t already picked up the Devil of Ponong series, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s not your typical fantasy book and even if it were, Jill Braden’s awesome writing and her characters would more than make up for it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
My Interview with Jill Braden
Jill Braden is the author of The Devil’s Concubine and its sequel, The Devil Incarnate. The Devil of Ponong is her first published series and takes place in Ponong, a tropical island under colonial rule in a fantasy world. Join us for our interview as we talk about her amazing fantasy world, NaNoWriMo and how writing can be compared to watching paint dry.
1. QuiTai is a truly incredible woman in many ways. Was there a woman either in your life or in history that inspired her character? Or was there something else?
I’m glad you like her. My main literary inspiration is Irene Adler from Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia. I don’t like modern versions of her much (and could go on forever about why) but the original is still wonderful. She was a former actress like QuiTai, and rather notorious, and she outsmarted Sherlock Holmes. I also love Amelia Peabody from Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody mysteries, Miss Celeste Temple from Glass Books of the Dream Eaters, Lisbeth Salandar from the Millennium trilogy, Mattie Ross from True Grit, Joan Wilder from Romancing the Stone, and Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. Each of them are wonderfully sensible in their own way, and they have the added attraction of being so well written that they just about leap off the page. Continue reading
The Devil Incarnate by Jill Braden
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
There’s no rest for the wicked… especially the Devil.
While QuiTai recovers from her last adventure, Levapur is turning into a police state. The Ponongese are pushed to the brink of rebellion against their colonial masters, the Thampurians – but who is behind it, and why? As the new Devil, QuiTai must wield her power and use her brilliant mind to outsmart her mysterious nemesis before a bloody uprising erupts.
[Full disclosure: After seeing that I loved The Devil’s Concubine so much after reviewing it for NetGalley, Jill Braden’s editor contacted me and sent me a free paperback copy of this second book in exchange for an honest review.]
After The Devil’s Concubine was so good, could The Devil Incarnate live up to my expectations? Or would it suffer from the dreaded Book 2 Syndrome?
Once again, Jill Braden blew away my expectations. I won’t say that the second book in the series was any better or worse than the first book, but it was certainly different. Different in a good way. In this second book, there was a much bigger focus on the world of QuiTai in regards to the geography as well as the history. We get to learn so much more about how Ponong was conquered by the Thampurians as well as QuiTai’s life before becoming the Devil’s concubine as we met her in the first book. The thing with this backstory is that it’s spread all throughout the book so I didn’t feel overwhelmed at any point in time.
Of course we have our old favourite character QuiTai and Kyam, who spend most of their time apart in this book. Consequently, we’re introduced to a lot of interesting new characters both directly and indirectly like Grandfather Zul (Kyam’s grandfather), Ma’am Thun and Lizzriat. Each of these new characters have very different personalities, motivations and backgrounds so they add to the overall plot rather than just existing so the main characters have someone to talk to.
The thing that constantly impresses me about The Devil of Ponong series is the beautiful imagery Jill Braden uses. When QuiTai roams the streets of Levapur, I feel like I’m there. I can feel the hot, humid air as she strolls among her people and Thampurians; I can taste the rice and see QuiTai stumbling along in her Thampurian disguise on her way to The Dragon Pearl. Since Jill Braden chose to write a fantasy set in a non-Eurocentric world, she really did need to convey the completely different atmosphere of tropical climates and cultures. She most definitely succeeded in that regard.
As always with her writing, I never saw her plot twists coming. Especially the huge one regarding poor Kyam at the end and QuiTai’s secret victory over her new nemesis. The plot was a little slower in this book than in the first one, but there’s no point where it really drags, even in the middle. Instead, Jill Braden chose to slowly ratchet up the tension and wrote from a few different points of view to give us a glimpse at the larger politics taking place on Ponong. It kept me up reading into the early morning hours, at any rate.
I’m constantly impressed with Jill Braden’s writing and still can’t believe that this is her first published series. Her third book, Tempt the Devil isn’t out yet but I can’t wait to see her writing improve even more. If you’re looking for non-traditional fantasy, this is definitely the series for you and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Discussion: Strong Female Characters
Yes, I usually reserve discussion posts for weekends, but why not start the weekend a little early this week?
Anyway, what I want to talk about this week is strong female characters, particularly in YA. Sometimes you encounter a genuinely strong female character that can fall in love and yet not depend on her man to solve all of her problems. Other times, not so much. You end up getting a Faux Action Girl who is always described as tough by the author and other characters but never actually does anything. Well, except get rescued by the male lead.
My latest favourite strong female character is QuiTai from The Devil of Ponong series by Jill Braden. She isn’t physically strong, but she uses her wits to help her conquered people and stay one step ahead of the Thampurians. I don’t want to spoil too much, but let’s just say that when it comes down to a choice between a man and the livelihoods of her people you aren’t in much doubt as to what she’s going to choose. QuiTai was awesome in the first book, The Devil’s Concubine and even better in the second book, The Devil Incarnate. She’s definitely taken a well-deserved place among my favourite heroines.
So my question for you guys this week is: What makes a strong female character? Who are your favourite heroines? Why?
As always, discussion posts are posts where you’re absolutely free to engage with myself and/or other commenters. My Commenting Policy still applies, but that just encompasses what I like to call “basic human decency”.
The Devil’s Concubine by Jill Braden
(Cover picture courtesy of Salacious Reads.)
QuiTai, ruthless concubine of Levapur’s mysterious crime lord, the Devil, receives an unexpected invitation to cocktails with disgraced Thampurian Kyam Zul. She doesn’t trust Kyam enough to drink anything he pours, and won’t help him no matter how hard he begs – or threatens. But when QuiTai’s ex-lover is murdered, Kyam is the only one who knows the name of the killer, and he won’t tell QuiTai unless she helps him first.
The torpid back alleyways of Levapur’s tropical colony hide more than lovers. There are things with claws, beings with venomous fangs, and spies lurking in the jungle.
Most of them want to keep their secrets.
One wants QuiTai dead.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I am seriously in awe of this book. Not only is it well written with amazing characters and a fast plot, but it also takes place in a fantasy world that’s not based on Medieval Europe! Instead, it’s based upon a tropical island culture with elements taken from both island and Asian cultures as well as some European ones.
QuiTai is now one of my favourite characters—ever. Considering how many books I read a year, that’s saying something. She is amazing! Sensual, manipulative, complex, intelligent, ruthless and at the same time, loyal to her conquered Ponongese people. Words can’t even do her justice. She’s such a strong woman but at the same time is seriously flawed when it comes to her lust for revenge and her distrust of people in general. Seeing her interact with the intelligent, snarky, disgraced Thampurian Kyam is fascinating especially when she becomes attracted to him. Trust me on this one though: she doesn’t fall in typical love and it certainly doesn’t blind her like it does other narrators.
I can’t get over Jill Braden’s fantasy world. It’s a little hard to get used to at first, but when you learn the backstory of Levapur you really appreciate how much detail she put into it. The Ponongese people, which seem to be almost human-snake hybrids have been conquered by the ‘sea dragons’, Thampurians. Thampurians can shape shift into a sort of fish, which I think is really cool. On top of being a colony to the ruthless Thampurians, every full moon the Devil’s werewolves lurk around threatening the populace even though QuiTai does her best to keep the island population safe from the werewolves. The dynamic between the Ponongese people and the Thampurians is ever-changing and full of tension and clearly demonstrates that Jill Braden actually understands politics.
Kyam and the Devil, much like QuiTai, are more complex than they actually seem. Each one has hidden motives that aren’t immediately apparent even to the suspicious QuiTai. The Devil seems to be your stereotypical crime lord who runs the island, but when we learn the real power behind him you can’t help but laugh. This real power also makes sense because of how the first book ends, but I can’t go into any more detail than that.
The plot is fast paced and Jill Braden constantly throws in plot twists to keep you on your toes. Even the characters themselves throw you off sometimes because just when you think you know their motives, their true motives are revealed. Especially when it comes to QuiTai as we slowly learn more of her backstory and how she came to be the Devil’s concubine. These plot twists are mostly unexpected, but they actually make sense within the story and are part of the greater politics of Levapur (especially when it comes to the island’s colony status). I guarantee you won’t see the ending coming; QuiTai has a revelation that will truly shock you.
The Devil’s Concubine was so good that I can’t wait to read The Devil Incarnate, the next book in The Devil of Ponong series. If you haven’t already read it, give The Devil’s Concubine a try. You’re pretty much guaranteed to love it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.