We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson

As an empire dies, three warriors will rise. They must ride the storm or drown in its blood.

The kingdom of Kisia is divided, held together only by the will of the god-emperor. When an act of betrayal shatters an alliance with the neighbouring land of Chiltae, all that has been won comes crashing down.

Now, as the fires of war spread, a warrior, an assassin and a princess must chase their ambitions, no matter the cost.

War built the Kisian Empire. And now war will tear it down.

To begin with, can I just say how happy I am to be reviewing this book? I first read and reviewed the self-published edition of We Ride the Storm two years ago, and I loved it. To see it being republished with a publishing house like Orbit? That feels pretty special.

And honestly, this is a pretty special book. I almost don’t know where to begin. I’ve praised this book so much and for so long that it feels like I’ve run out of ammunition.

Reading this book again, seeing all those little edits and additions that make it come into its own just that little bit more? Yeah, I loved this just as much as I did the first time. It’s still the kind of book that will have you out on the streets, throwing paperbacks at passersby like a darts player on acid.

To set the stage a little, We Ride the Storm focuses on three point-of-view characters with largely separate stories all trying to survive in a world that does not seem predisposed to letting them. We have Miko — adoptive daughter of one emperor, secret biological descendant of another — who struggles to grasp the political power that would have already been hers were she not a woman. We have Rah, an honorable-though-exiled leader of a group of horse warriors, forced into a foreign war. And we have Cassandra, a courtesan assassin who shares cerebral real-estate with another entity — one capable of taking over her body, as well as those of the dead.

For me, a mark of a truly great multiple-POV book is when none of the POV characters feel any weaker than the others. We Ride the Storm falls into that bracket. Each of the characters’ stories felt unique in their own way, different enough to hold my attention, but connected enough through the politics and chaos of the world that the narrative didn’t suffer. Devin Madson manages to paint a wider picture while still focusing on the individual struggles and conflicts that make her characters tick.

In terms of worldbuilding, We Ride the Storm leans more to the historical and political side, rather than focusing on the aesthetics. There are several nods to past events, and there is something of an East-Asian influence in how the Kisian empire is described, but the focus here is very much on present conflicts.

And those conflicts? They are brutal. So much death. So many beheadings. Storm has an oppressive tone that verges on grimdark, but I’m not sure that it ever fully crosses that line. The darkness is never glorified, it’s just accepted as a fact of life. (However, I do want to mention here that this book should come with a content warning for a thankfully-short scene involving gang rape.)

Given that I had already loved Storm, it’s hard for me to say whether the fresh edits and additional chapters have made this a noticeably stronger book, or if my reading was just strengthened by fond memories. I’m a bit too close to this story, and it’s hard for me to seperate my feelings from my enjoyment.

Either way, this is still a novel I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who feels like they could stomach the darker aspects. There’s just something about a darker book that makes the hope burn brighter and the victories (however small) taste sweeter.

We Ride the Storm was one of the best self-published books I’d ever read. It may not be self-published anymore, but it’s still one of my favourite books, ever. I’m so glad that more people will get the opportunity to read it.

We received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to Orbit Books for the review copy!