Red Sister: First Book of the Ancestor

This book sounded awesome: it’s all about assassin nuns. I’d heard so many people raving about how amazing it was, and if you look at other reviews you will notice that almost everyone loves this book. Naturally, I had no doubt I would enjoy it too.I was so very wrong.I really, really wanted to like this book, and I honestly thought I would, but I just could not become interested in the story. I probably should have given the book one star for how bored and disappointed I was the entire time, but I didn’t because I do still like the idea behind the story, and I think this is an in-depth world that Lawrence probably spent a lot of time crafting. I didn’t hate the book, but it just did not deliver for me.Everyone mentions in their reviews how the opening sentence/scene hooks you with epic action and the journey is only uphill from there, and even though the beginning was action-packed, I wasn’t pulled into the story yet. I kept reading. We follow Nona as a little girl when she was about to be hanged for a crime, and a nun comes to save her and take her to the Convent of Sweet Mercy. The first eighty or so pages were just Nona telling us her backstory—her entire life story in excruciating detail—and I was honestly so bored. The time jumps back and forth really disrupted the flow of the narrative. I could not keep all the characters straight, and Nona’s point of view felt very distant; I couldn’t connect with her, and in fact, I think she’s a very unrelatable character. Plus I didn’t care about her childhood drama at all.Finally, Nona arrives at the convent, so I thought the plot would pick up and start to be interesting because I would be learning about this magical world and the different classes of Sisters and what they do. But the story still dragged for me. I couldn’t keep straight the Red Sister vs. the Holy Sister vs. the Holy Witch, etc. or what they all do, or which bloodlines produce which traits, and it just made me confused and uncaring. I do not think this aspect is explained well. Luckily for me, there was a glossary in the beginning will all this information because I had to keep referencing it.Nona meets different girls at the Convent, some who tell her about the classes of Sisters in an unfortunately info-dumpy way that was difficult to keep straight, and she begins training. Much of this training is Nona sitting in a classroom learning different lessons. Long, slow lessons about the Path or something related to the Ancestor. Or she’s sparring with another sister in an uninteresting way. I just wanted something to happen! And we never learned what the whole point of the training was—what do these girls do after the convent? Who are they being trained to fight against? So much of this world felt left open and undeveloped, and I think Lawrence failed at telling what had the potential to be a great story.Instead of Red Sister being about magical assassin nuns like I thought it would be, it was instead about little girls who are told by nuns about “magic” (I use this term lightly) but never actually get to use it, and they hardly ever assassinate anybody. We are told that Nona killed someone in her past, but there was none of that during the actual story until the very end. Where was all this killing I was promised?The nuns are taught the Path, and they are supposed to one day touch the Path and walk the Path, but I honestly can’t even tell you what the Path is. Is it an intangible idea, the way of the Ancestor (who is only an idea but never fleshed out as an actual person; was the Ancestor even a real person?), or is it an obstacle course in the Convent? I actually have no clue what the Path is. And what does it mean to walk the Path? Why is this important? And what exactly is their religion? The whole concept of the story was cool, but it was entirely lost on me because nothing was explained well. For a story that takes place in a convent, there was very little explanation about the religion, which I found to be disappointing. I should not be asking these basic questions after reading 475 pages in this world.The writing style is also very distant. I don’t know what specifically makes it that way, but I could not connect with any of the characters. They all blended together and I couldn’t tell one Sister from another, nor one girl from another. Everyone had basically the same personality. I also didn’t particularly like the prose because it was very dry. After reading this book, I don’t want to read any more books by Mark Lawrence if this is how he normally writes.I honestly felt like my eyes were glazing over while I read. I could not even be made to care about any part of this book. At one point I reread an entire chapter and didn’t even realize it until the last page.Even during action scenes, it felt like there was no action and no suspense. I don’t even know what was happening because all of the sudden the scene would be over and I just felt let down.The whole story was so slow. I would sit down to read for an hour and realize I had read only ten pages. In an hour. I kept waiting and waiting for some excitement to occur, anything engaging to happen. But no matter how long I kept reading, this book never enraptured me like I had hoped so badly it would. I thought I would mark it as unfinished after fifty pages, but then I gave it until 100 pages, and then I gave it until 200 pages, and then eventually I struggled to the last page. I kept wanting to put it down but I also wanted so badly for it to get better, so I kept reading. But unfortunately, the story never did get any better.Here are a few things I liked, at least: there was very little swearing in the book, which I appreciated; there’s also no romance in the book, which was nice for a change; there’s a strong focus on female friendships and what it really means to be someone’s friend; and Nona is not a chosen one, thank goodness, or I might have enjoyed the book even less.I think my expectations were way too high because I ended up being extremely disappointed with Red Sister. I think it has the chance to be a good book for the right person, seeing as it has so many rave reviews, but I couldn’t tell you who the “right person” is because it was not for me. I never wanted to give up on the story so I kept pushing through, hoping it would get better, but it took me ages to finish. I kind of want to know what happens next, and I had planned on reading the whole trilogy, but I think I’m going to stop after this book because I don’t want to endure that much boredom for two more tomes. But if there’s ever a movie, I will definitely watch it because it would be loads more interesting and developed than the book is.“Be warned, young Nona: a book is as dangerous as any journey you might take. The person who closes the back cover may not be the same one that opened the front one.”

Spoiler AlertI like Mark Lawrence's books; I would consider myself a fan and have read virtually everything he has put out. Red Sister had the potential to be his best novel thus far - the world building is excellent, most of the character development is similarly well done, and this novel contains the unique perspective and flawed protagonist that has characterize Lawrence's previous books.But damn, it could have used another edit. Certain things just bugged me throughout the book - the main characters, generally female, are simply too young (ages 9-11, mostly) to make the narration believable. Make them teenagers and it would be easier to buy. The book is also pretty trope-y; it is basically Harry Potter in a convent, with Wolverine and ninjas thrown in for good measure. Dumbledore/Abbess Glass are cut from the same mold, for example. As much as I enjoyed Red Sister as a read, it was difficult not to notice the obvious parallels in story arc and characters to other novels in the genre.There were also a glaring number of too-easy get-out-of-jail free cards used in the book - one example: our protagonist group has rendered an adversary unconscious in essentially a cave, and must drag her out via a narrow passageway. They get her stuck. One of the novices, however, just happens to have a pot of grease in her pocket (with no real explanation as to why), which allows them to squeeze the body out. Irritating. And there are several other too-convenient situations like this.I am ranting about these silly things because otherwise this is a well written novel, and they detracted from an otherwise excellent and entertaining read. Lawrence, a male writer, even pulled off writing about prepubescent girls bathing together without sexualuzing the situation or coming across as creepy.Summation - well worth the read, but be prepared for the occasional howler.

Years ago I started reading the Broken Empire, for some reason it did not capture me, I put it down, and somehow never picked it up again. After that I have been uninterested in reading the other works by Mark Lawrence, now I find myself reconsidering that choice. Red sister is an excellent start to what I hope to be an excellent new series. Exciting, fast paced, interesting magic system, compelling characters, and an intreating world. Honestly, what more would you want? I started this book, and simply could not find it in myself to put it down. Nona is interesting, you want to know more about her. We do not get the entire story right away, but it does not feel artificial or dragged out. The same with the world, and the limitations of the magic system, we do not know all, but it is enough.. for now. We get pieces of the puzzle all the time, and I never get the feeling that there is no more, and that the author is just stalling until he can make it up to fit his needs, it just take us some time to get the entire tale. I will definitely continue this series, and because I liked it so much I'm willing to give broken empire another chance as well!

Red Sister follows Nona, a young girl from a tiny village, taken in my the sisters of Sweet Mercy Convent - which is no ordinary Earth-style convent, but one which trains girls as fighters and magic users, according to their abilities. Alongside Nona, we are plunged into a world of strange powers and nuanced intrigues.Where his previous two trilogies were set in the world of the Broken Empire, in Red Sister Lawrence has created a new world, and one which is magnificent in its originality and allure. It is a grim, difficult world to survive in, but also a beautiful one, featuring icy landscapes, glowing magic and strange architecture.The protagonist Nona is self-possessed if inexperienced. Her arc over the course of the story feels natural and intensely sympathetic. Her relationships with the other characters are nuanced, changing over time as she learns and matures.The plot is well-structured, giving a satisfying ending: it is a crafted, woven, elegant plot, with badass action and enticing subtleties.All of these little elements - the magic, the setting, the different characters' roles within the convent, Nona's skills and approaches - all come together to build something unstoppable and remarkable. 10/10.

I've long been quite a fan of Mark Lawrence so, in picking up Red Sister, I thought that I knew what to expect.Oh no! Mr Lawrence has found a whole new level of competence that lifts Red Sister even above the high standards that he's already set in previous work. This is the first in a trilogy and I have just one, massive, complaint; I've got to wait another year before getting my hands on the second in the series!The fantasy world created here will be fairly familiar to readers of previous ML works as, although a different world, it's still a sort of pseudo-medieval society that exists in a world that seems to be the Earth that we know but at some future date, when we have destroyed lots of it. As with other of his works, the world in Red Sister is not described in one, huge, lump of detail but, rather, the reader finds an impression forming throughout the entire book so, for instance, the reality of the 'Red Moon' and its 'Focus' is not immediately evident but becomes clear part way in.The main character here, Nona, is a young girl, but the gender of this character is irrelevant as the reader has no trouble at all latching on to this character. As always, all of the other characters are extremely well drawn, with a depth and clarity that draws the reader in. One thing that I would have appreciated is some sort of map of the convent, just to orientate the movements of the characters through this establishment in which so much of this story is set.Again as always, but this time even more poignantly, there are shifts in perception to deceive the reader. A story is, for example, told by one of the characters which the reader, understandably, accepts as fact and when, later, it is revealed that the narrator's view was flawed, parts of the story fall into place like tumblers in a lock.Mark Lawrence doesn't dwell, unnecessarily, on sexual matters and thank goodness for that as I'm tired of seeing other authors shoe-horn in a love interest or sex scene, clumsily, into the narrative just because someone thought that it's an essential art of every book. There's certainly no prudishness on the part of Mr Lawrence, it's just the story doesn't call for a red hot sex scene. Matters of lesbian relationships, love between women and menstruation are all covered here appropriately, so there's no dodging of issues; it's just placed into the story in a naturally proper way.The combat scenes in here are riveting and they're also very frequent, so if you've loved the gore in previous books, you won't be disappointed. Again, the gender thing is irrelevant as it isn't the gender of opponents that is a factor but simply size and strength pitted against speed and skill. Mr L never shies away from killing off significant characters and such is the case here. And, more than in previous books, heroes become villains and then, possibly, back to heroes again. One character, Yisht, kept me guessing right up until the end.Obviously, the scene is now set for the second in this trilogy; 'Grey Sister', and, for me, waiting is just agony!

Nona is an unwanted child of a small village in the middle of nowhere. She gets sold to a child catcher and taken to a fight ring. The book follows Nona's journey to the Red Sisters school of assassins.As with any school there are Clicks, betrayals, trials and pranks. Nona's rise through the school is sadly predictable and the book seems to follow a normal coming of age type theme of 'who do I trust?' and 'why do the teachers have it in for me?'It sounds like i'm not a fan of the book, which is a little harsh. Its a solid book with solid characters, but for me its just not that original. There are a few plot twists, which if your familiar with the style of book, you see coming from a mile away. I'm hoping this will improve as the series progresses but i'm not in a rush to read more.

This is the first book I have read by Mark Lawrence and I was totally intrigued by the subject matter and the great reviews that said it was like a gritty version of Hogwarts. Amazon had a special and this was 99p for the Kindle edition, so I purchased it.Red Sister follows Nona, a young girl from a tiny village sold into slavery by her own mother for reasons not quite clear. She is about to be hanged by a local constable for a heinous crime when she is rescued by the Abbess of the Sweet Mercy Convent. Sweet Mercy Convent is no ordinary Earth-style convent but one which trains girls as fighters and magic users, according to their abilities. We go with Nona on her journey and learning as we are plunged into a world of strange powers and nuanced intrigues. We learn that there are four bloodlines in this world from the original human inhabitants. Gerants are huge and strong, Hunsa are fast and dexterous, Marjal control shadowy and elemental magic and Quantal have the ability to walk the Path pulling on the subatomic strands of the universe's fabric to see the future, connect their minds to others' or even manipulate reality. We discover Nona’s background and bloodlines at the same time that she does through her lessons and learnings.I am not a huge reader of fantasy but I like to occasional story and this storyline sounded totally gripping to me but, unfortunately, it just didn’t grab me. I am finding it hard to know what I didn’t like about this book - the plot is well-structured, I liked the characters and enjoyed learning about their skills and talents. I also enjoyed the “real life” elements in the book - as with any school there are clicks, betrayals, trials and pranks and the book seems to follow a normal coming of age type theme of 'who do I trust?' and 'why do the teachers have it in for me?' but I found Nona's rise through the school predictable and a bit boring.I agree with another reviewer that said that the beginning and the end of the book are the best parts, they are strong, make an impact and leave you open to many questions but the middle of the book really dragged for me. There was the endless monotony of the school day, which is to be expected, but it did seem to go on for a while, it was also quite hard to believe that the school girls got away with so much right under the superpowered Nun’s noses.Overall, I am glad I read this book but it took me a long time and I nearly gave up several times. I think that if you are a fan of Mark Lawrence and this genre, you will enjoy this book but I won’t be reading the rest of the series, it just wasn’t for me.

I really loved Lawrence's Prince of Thorns series, but then merely enjoyed his follow-up Red Queen's War series. I was therefore looking forward to seeing what the first book in this new series was like. I had quite a few conflicting thoughts, but ultimately, after one book, I'd rate it somewhere between the other two series.First things first, where Red Queen's War was a spin-off from Prince of Thorns, this - despite the confusing use of the word "red" in the title, which makes it sound connected - is a totally different series set in a totally different world. Once again, it's an interesting blend of fantasy and sci-fi, where there are the surface trappings of a fairly standard medieval fantasy world, but with interesting hints at a long-ago past involving aliens, space travel and technology, and a present suffering the effects of some form of intense climate change. The worldbuilding was my favourite thing about the book. The world itself and its history and customs were well-developed, and I thought it was a masterclass in how to get readers to understand a complex new world without clunky exposition. This holds true at both the macro level and at the level of the invented religion and the day to day life at the convent.The main character was rather more conventional than Lawrence's two previous leads. Where the first was basically a villain and the second basically a debauched coward (to reduce two ultimately fairly nuanced characters to one line descriptions for the sake of ease), Nona had a bit of a dark past and a bit of an edge, but was basically a fairly straightforward heroine. She was also a pre-teen and eventually teen girl, which I suppose is quite unusual in mainstream adult fantasy, but which I'm quite used to as a regular reader of YA and female-orientated fantasy novels.Indeed, between the character's age, the school setting, and aspects of the plot, this often felt a bit like a YA fantasy to me, particularly as the dark, violent or horrifying moments that sometimes feel like this author's trademark, though present, were fewer in number and rather toned down. In particular, it reminded me a lot of  Grave Mercy: Book 1 of His Fair Assassin Series , which is also about the otherwise fairly niche topic of assassin nuns - who ironically, (considering it's nominally a romance aimed at teenage girls), probably do more on-page assassinations that the ones here.The plot ebbed and flowed, with some great set pieces nestled amongst slower-paced sections focused on showing the life of the novices at the convent, Nona's personal development, and the often complex relationships between characters. It caught my imagination and captured my attention, but I can see how people who like non-stop action and intrigue might struggle. There were times when I thought it was about to be very predictable or cliched, but whenever it was in danger of going in that direction, it generally through some sort of twist or something novel into the mix, and on balance, the Chosen One trope was handled well.There were some interesting and well-crafted characters, chief amongst them the Abbess, who was an interesting combination of being fairly definitely on the side of the angels while being very ruthless and developing schemes and manipulations that would put Littlefinger or Lord Vetinari to shame. The lesbian couple were well handled both as individuals and as a pair. And in contrast to some of the enjoyably morally ambiguous heroines, there were some gloriously despicable villains. But I struggled to keep track of all of the mid-level characters (particularly as several of them had a real name, a nun name and a teacher name!), and I thought some of them either needed to be developed more or to be allowed to drift into the background.Despite a couple of issues identified here, overall I really enjoyed this once I got into it and am looking forward to reading the sequel once it's released. Grave Mercy: Book 1 of His Fair Assassin Series