Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 384 pp.
Published September 11, 2018
The king is dying, his heir has just been murdered, and rebellion brews in the east. But the kingdom of Kolonya and the outer Reaches has one last option before it descends into leaderless chaos.
Or rather, three unexpected options.
Zofi has spent her entire life trekking through the outer Reaches with her band of Travelers. She would do anything to protect the band, her family. But no one can ever find out how far she's already gone.
Akeylah was raised in the Eastern Reach, surrounded by whispers of rebellion and abused by her father. Desperate to escape, she makes a decision that threatens the whole kingdom.
Ren grew up in Kolonya, serving as a lady's maid and scheming her way out of the servants' chambers. But one such plot could get her hung for treason if anyone ever discovers what she's done.
When the king summons the girls, they arrive expecting arrest or even execution. Instead they learn the truth: they are his illegitimate daughters, and one must become his new heir. But someone in Kolonya knows their secrets, and that someone will stop at nothing to keep the sisters from their destiny...to rule.
Rule had many of the elements of a great fantasy novel: diverse main characters, blood magic, political intrigue, and a mystery with high stakes. In execution, however, it stumbles through each of those elements unevenly. Because one's enjoyment may hinge on how important and compelling those individual components are, it seems appropriate to break down this debut novel into what worked, and what needed some work:
You may LOVE this if...you're looking for more diverse YA fantasy.
All three half-sisters are young women of color. In the capital city, they must each cope with prejudices unique to their appearance, heritage, and circumstances of birth. Zofi arguable suffers from them the most; her nomadic culture is viewed as lesser-than by the citizens of Kolonya, broadly labeled as thieves and murderers, yet Travelers have also mastered a unique magical talent. Even Ren must cope with the ambivalence of the upper class. Although she looks like them physically, the stigma of having lived most of her life as a lady's maid proves difficult to dispel.
One sister's plot line also features some positive WLW rep (because she isn't explicitly said not to feel attraction towards men—that I can remember—I don't want to label her further). Most importantly, rather than hand-wave frantically over it's diversity, Goodlett's story unfolds naturally and without fanfare. For those looking to explore beyond Eurocentric fantasy whose only romance is between knights and fair maidens, Rule makes a good option.
You may LIKE this if...you thrive on cliffhangers.
The Pretty Little Liars comparison is accurate—painfully accurate. Although Rule goes to great pains establishing the central mystery of treason and blackmail, it makes next to no progress in actually solving that riddle. Zofi, Akeylah, and Ren spend a lot of time collaborating, researching, and investigating, yet for most of the novel events happen to them. Those who enjoy the PLL format of a singular question unspooling over several seasons or novels should have no problem with the pacing. But for readers who value meaningful narrative progress, even in a series, the lack of answers and dramatic, baiting cliffhanger will likely be a turn-off.
You may NOT LIKE this if...you're a stickler for character development.
Even though each of the girls has a different secret, background, and general personality, I couldn't shake the feeling that all three were variations on a similar theme. The events in their point-of-view chapters were all unique, but the voices narrating those developments sounded eerily alike. It's a difficult problem to articulate, yet the best comparison would be Naomi Novik's Spinning Silver. She featured half a dozen POV characters, all without chapter headers to identify whose perspective was in play, yet it was clear from every opening line which thread she'd picked up. In Rule, if each girl's chapter began with her thinking about the same topic, it would be almost impossible to tell them apart. They just felt thin, and that makes it difficult to care about what happens to them next.
RATING:
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