You Should Really Fucking Read The Essalieyan Series By Michelle West

Essalieyan Introduction

Michelle Sagara West has been writing the Essalieyan books for nearly 30 years. They started out very good for the time and have become simply incredible as West grew in skill.

For some reason, the series doesn’t seem to have a lot of visibility, despite fans adoring it. West’s editor kept the books publishing with DAW for years after they were deemed a risky financial investment. And when DAW announced they wouldn’t be publishing the final trilogy¹, fans rushed to support West on her Patreon, quickly giving her enough income to write the final books and publish them herself.

Not only is that incredible news given the state of the publishing industry, that’s FANTASTIC news for us as readers. Imagine a story combining the unforgettably epic nature of The Wheel of Time with the heartbreakingly lovable characters of Robin Hobb. In a slightly different world we’d all be firing up HBO to watch this week’s Essalieyan episode.

There’s also an excellent group readalong of the entire series taking place on /r/Fantasy!

So why should you read Essalieyan?

1. Classic Feel, Modern Execution

Stopping the rise of a Dark Lord may not be the most original conceit for a fantasy series, but it can sometimes be incredibly compelling. Just look at the criminally underrated Lord of the Rings or Wheel of Time series for proof. Essalieyan also has many of the “stereotypical” fantasy elements you’ve seen before: magic swords, names having power, the gods are banished, the Winter Court, etc.

Somehow, Essalieyan makes each and every one of these elements feels fresh and unique, while also offering some of the nostalgic appeal of well known fantasy classics.

2. It’s Looooong But Not Like In An Intimidating Way

The Essalieyan series is currently sitting at 16 published books, with the final trilogy currently releasing. It’s already somewhere between Malazan and Wheel of Time length and there’s at least 3 more books to go!

But! There are subseries that make this feel much easier to tackle. Robin Hobb fans will recognize a similar structure to the excellent Realms of the Elderlings series, though these follow a much more direct through-line². 16 books sounds like a huge commitment but 2 books here and 3 books there isn’t so bad… right?

3. Not Grimdark, Not Noblebright: Essalieyan Is Just Right

Essalieyan is neither of these things. Sometimes you’ll have what feels like an entire slice-of-life novella about building a found family. Other times characters might have to kill their only family for the sake of duty (and it’s about damn time, you’ll say to yourself, as you wipe tears from your eyes).

People were decent when it was easy to be decent, and when it was hard—well, that’s what guards were for.

Michelle West, The Uncrowned King

Grimdark is a fun way to spice up bland fantasy but it can often fall into misery porn for the sake of “realism.” I like to add some salt to my food for flavor but you won’t find me scarfing down handfuls of the stuff ³. Similarly, fantasy that’s overly optimistic often rings false for me.

4. The Gods Get It On

Gods in this universe have voluntarily left the mortal realm. But that doesn’t stop them from meeting mortals in the half-world between realms. An accurate summary of Essalieyan’s founding story could be: God of Wisdom Takes Booty Call, Ensures Justice For All. To be fair, they also give important advice and stuff.

The “godborn” children resulting from these unions have some degree of powers related to their parent’s abilities, and the gods can see everything that their children see in the mortal realm. For example, children of the God of Judgement could summon dead souls back from purgatory to question them about how they died.

5. Loveable Badasses Everywhere

Badassitude should never come at the expense of character investment. I’m a strong supporter of Rule of Cool but the characters make or break a series for me. Thankfully, the Essalieyan books have both.

Let’s meet some of the characters:

The Bard Assassin

A brutally effective killer, and an amazing singer. Some days he’s angry at the world and others he’s giving life changing advice or kicking it with immortals way above his power level.

The Time Traveling Seer

She lives her life out of time, constantly skipping around the centuries to the moments she’s needed most. Her story is part tragedy, part hopeful, and she’s arguably the biggest plot mover in the entire series.

The Immortal Warlord

The one dude you absolutely DO NOT want to fuck with. He outlived the god of war that gave him his power and has single handedly destroyed armies and stood his own against gods. But now he’s trying to find purpose outside of violence and would those pesky demons stop trying to kill him already? It doesn’t work.

The Devil’s Daughter

Despite most people thinking the Dark God is sterile (or, uh, fatally fertile), he has a daughter he’s hoping to make into a really overpowered servant. But she kind of doesn’t want to be evil, you know?

Snarky Gandalf

I mean he’s not actually Gandalf but he’s a mysterious wizard dude who smokes a pipe and that no one really knows that much about. He also doesn’t seem to age and knows way more than he should about magic, gods, and demons. He’s also great at pissing people off.

Jewel (But Call Her Jay)

I can’t NOT mention Jewel. She’s one of the best characters I’ve ever had the pleasure to read in any genre. Sure, she’s the first seer anyone’s seen in ages, but what truly makes her special is how much she cares about the world around her. She’s the center of the book’s best found family and constantly leaves Essalieyan’s most powerful players frustrated and speechless.

“People,” he added, letting his hand fall away, “will always be dying. And if you stop your life’s work because of them, what work will you ever do?”

Michelle West, The Hidden City

5. Chillin With The Villains – Baddie POVs

An honorable enemy, he thought, was the next best thing to an honorable friend.

Michelle West, The Broken Crown

I’m a sucker for villain POVs when they’re done well, and West does them very well. Sometimes it’s an interlude from a Big Bad that feels unsettling and raises mysteries in the plot and questions about the world. Or you may be introduced to a character thinking they’re one of the main heroes… only to have them break bad half a book later.

6. Essalieyan’s Like, Really Really Epic Y’all

Sometimes raving about a book’s characters can be code for “nothing cool happens in the plot.” But whoo boy is that not the case here.

You’ve got gods dueling gods while undead warriors have a dance off, the Wild Hunt comes unpredictably and fucks up everyone’s shit, there’s evil demons wearing people like ponchos, telepathic assassins working for the goddess of death, and so so so much more. There’s even a sky snake that controls thunderstorms at one point.

7. So Much Competence Porn You’ll Want To Delete Your Browser History

I love badassess competently doing badass things. And in this series, that can mean negotiating with gods, standing up to the Winter Queen, forging your soul into a magic sword, or carving your heart out to see the future. It’s not just hacky slashy stabstab competence! Plus, it prominently features one of my favorite tropes of all time: the newbie leader having to win the respect of their troops.

8. Squishy Magic – The Best Of Hard And Soft Systems

The magic of Essalieyan clearly has a set of defined rules, but we are never told them. Some we can figure out through context, but much is inherently unknowable with a hint of structure. Names have power, difficult spells have a deadly cost, and mages can see magic as colors that correspond to the type of spell being used.

Even when you have a good idea what magic is capable of, there are fun surprises scattered throughout that seem obvious immediately afterward. It isn’t really deus ex machina if the groundwork has been laid for a dozen books before, you know?

There’s also Talent-born, which follow clearer rules. Bards can force people to obey their commands or whisper a word to someone miles away. Healers can revive people from the brink of death at great cost to themselves and are practically unkillable. Seers can see the future. And then there’s the Makers, who make cool shit.

10. Brilliantly, Deeply Imagined Cultures

There are not enough good things to say about the various cultures Michelle West has created for the world of Essalieyan. Some cultures take a scientific approach to magic and are incredibly progressive, even by our modern standards. Others could easily be depicted as bigoted and backwards but everything just fits together so seamlessly that you inherently understand the nuances without trying.

As much as I love brilliant worldbuilding by writers like Sanderson, this world is many layers deeper than “men like spicy food and women like sweets.”

11. In Essalieyan, Songs Are A Big Deal

Fantasy songs have been near and dear to my heart since I read the Redwall books as a kid. Essalieyan may not throw quite the same number of songs at you, but the songs often take on new meaning over time and when different characters sing them. It could be tragic one moment, heartwarming the next, and make you pump your fist in excitement a few chapters later.

In Conclusion

You should really fucking read these books. Essalieyan in right up there in complexity with Malazan, has the epicness of Wheel of Time or Stormlight, and the heartbreakingly brilliant characters of Robin Hobb. The prose is accessible yet memorable and the world is one that will live rent free in your head until the End of Days.

1. Let’s pour one out to the many excellent series DAW happened to. (back)

2. I’m contractually obligated to tell you that skipping Liveships is a crime, or my co-blogger Sara will hunt me down. (back)

3. This analogy makes more sense if you consider I wrote this during my lunch break. I was hungry, okay? (back)