A review by Nalini Haynes
Captain Damian Venturi is too young to be head of security in the palace, headquarters of the religious order worshipping the seven faceless saints. But nepotism bought him his place. Now he might lose it all, because he was at the market while the head of one religious faction was murdered.
This murder is the pivot on which the story turns. Whodunnit? Why?
But also… this is a class-based society, where class is not just the purview of the wealthy but magical ability determines wealth.
Representation of disability
Absence of magical ability, of affinity with one of the saints, is deemed to be a disability. Those who are thusly disabled, if they are men, are sent to the war front. A form of genocide. And yet even that… I predict in future installments of this story that the war will be more than it appears.
There are a few minor flaws in this representation. “Disabled” women are not sent to the front lines. In fact, they are allowed to breed. Surprising considering it’s not clear if they need more cannon fodder or a slave class. Lobb makes it clear that the magically inclined can create more in quality and quantity that contributes to the society’s economy and war effort than any disabled can.
What is even more surprising is that some magical women are married to nonmagical men. How? Why? In such a patriarchal controlled society, how did they meet and court and why were they allowed to marry? And for such a woman to then not work, despite her husband’s inability to produce much of worth in comparison.
It’s possible Lobb will enlarge on these issues in future installments. Likewise it’s possible that the parallels to racism, sexism and ableism did not occur to her. We shall see.
Irony
Damien is not magical but his betrothed – or his ex? – is magical and loathes her magic, her privilege. And her father is nonmagical although her mother has magic. When he went to war, he left her behind (hence we know the women didn’t go to war). After Damien’s departure, his fiance’s magic kicked in; she was a late bloomer. So Damien severed all ties with her, in a selfish self-deprecating move, despite knowing her family well.
It’s complicated
The Seven Faceless Saints is a whodunnit but it’s also so much more. Lobb explores society, the human condition, develops characters with backstories (even if they’re fairly minor characters), and builds a cornucopia of relationships.
The verdict
The Seven Faceless Saints is a kick-ass whodunnit and so much more. I love Lobb’s representation of the nonmagical as disabled despite it, in my opinion, needing a smidge more development. Politics, intrigue, romance, rebellion… this novel has it all.
I’m looking forward to the sequel/s where I expect she’ll expand to the international conflict. And I expect that to have more than a dram of parallel to the Israel/Gaza conflict*, the Irish Protestant/Catholic conflict and so many other generational conflicts and wars down through the centuries.
(*I wrote this review in 2023 and forgot to publish it while crumbling under the weight of life’s crap. Now I want to add “Israel’s conflict with the nations and peoples surrounding its occupied territory”.)
I had hoped to interview MK Lobb about Seven Faceless Saints but, sadly, it appears it’s not to be. It’s highly likely my request – directed to the US publisher without prior email engagement – ended up in a junk folder. Ah well, you win some you lose some. Perhaps someone else will interview her and explore her nonmagical-as-disabled characters.
Read this if you enjoyed Library of the Unwritten by AJ Hackwith and Nightbirds by Kate Armstrong.
