In Christopher Buhelman’s The Daughters’ War, Galva dom Braga, a knight from, tells the tale of her time in the third goblin war to who we can assume is her traveling companion, Kinch, from Buhelman’s previous book The Blacktongue Thief. That third war with the goblins, later called The Daughters’ War because the women had to go as there were too few men from the second war to send, is not the adventure Kinch and Galva had in the previous book. As a narrator, Galva does not have the wit and sharp tongue of a blacktongue thief like Kinch. There is a sadness, a tragedy, and just the slightest bit of hope permeating this book, and Galva’s dry and straightforward way of telling it fits the tone that Kinch’s wouldn’t quite work.

This isn’t a criticism but more of an opinion based on an observation: even though this is a prequel to The Blacktongue Thief, I would not recommend reading it before it. Galva was a character in that book who was easy to fall in love with, juxtaposed next to Kinch. His cunning next to her battle prowess and his clever tongue next to her blunt way of speaking are just some of the details you would miss if you read this first. It adds to the heaviness of why she, who isn’t even telling this story in her native tongue, would stop to tell Kinch this story. Plus, on top of all sorts of other details you’d miss out on, The Blacktongue Thief is a great book, so now, oh no, you’ve got two fantastic books to read; lucky you,

Galva’s storytelling isn’t so dry as to make it boring. She does not lie about the gory details when the violence begins nor exaggerate when the odds are against the army of the kynd, what they now call humankind. Though Galva is forthright, she is neither cruel nor unkind, often lending hope to the refugees of places the goblins have already attacked, even if there is very little hope to lend. She possesses tact for military hierarchy and commands even if she disagrees with them, and has a lot of love in her heart for her family, even if one of them doesn’t deserve it. Her way of narrating may not make you chuckle, and this is a story with very little to laugh about, but she will make you smile in the dark times. That is something all storytellers strive to do.

The goblins during peacetime in The Blacktongue Thief were already one of the more horrific depictions of the monster, like an alien species living one boat ride away that sees the kynd as nothing more than cattle to be slaughtered and eaten. In that book, their devastation was in the past. This book shows the horror of contact with the enemy; for Galva, it is the first time in battle. Overall, the world-building in this book is excellent, but the details surrounding the goblins are horrifically fascinating. The way some will gorge themselves on humans until they get fat and then bring themselves to other goblins to regurgitate human meat for them to eat is only one facet of the horrible act they do to humans. They see humans as a resource like food and pack animals for labor. At no point does Buehlman ask, well, what about the goblin’s feelings? The Daughters’ War is a war that is a matter of survival for the species.

You get the sense that The Daughters’ War is not a pleasant tale for Galva to tell. From the first page, she lays out all the tragedy that’ll befall her, from the first goblin she sees to the last battle she was supposed to die in. Therefore, when she speaks of her brothers, there is an air of foreboding to them, waiting for the tragedy to strike. Amiel, the youngest brother, is more of a poet than a soldier and thus is assigned to guard the wizard Fulvir Lightningbinder. You can feel his love and admiration for his older sister throughout, not so much for the oldest brother. Pol, the second oldest and a general in a high position in the army, feels like the lynchpin trying to hold the Braga family together during this war and guide Galva as best he can. The goblins may be the enemy, but from his first appearance, Migaéd, the oldest brother and heir to the Braga family, is the future antagonist in waiting. He is a gambling, alcoholic, insecure, lazy, and egotistical soldier who can’t handle that his younger brother is in a higher position, his younger sister is a better swordsman, and his youngest brother doesn’t respect him. None of this he takes lightly, nor that his younger sister loves her fellow Corvid Knights and the giant Corvids they lead more than him.

The First Lanza of His Majesty’s Corvid Knights and the War Corvids they lead bring levity to Galva’s story through camaraderie. It is with them, not her fa, that Galva becomes who she is in the previous book. On the march, they sleep together, bathe, face their fears, find faith, fight, and suffer tragedy together. Inocenta, her best friend, Bellu and Dalgatha, her war corvids, and Nouva, her commander, make for an entertaining supporting cast on a journey expected from the get-go to be quite dark. The Daughters’ War against the goblins is not a war without romance, as Galva becomes infatuated with and forms a romantic bond with someone on the march. If you’ve read The Blacktongue Thief, you already know who she is, but as it is one of the best parts of this book, I will not spoil it except to say it is well-written.

Writing this book through Galvva’s voice sounds daunting, but like Kinch, Buehlman has a mastery over his narrator in The Daughters’ War. Now that we know her past and where Galva has been, I’m keenly interested in where the author will take Kinch and her in the next installment.

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Joshua was provided an advance copy of the book by Tor Books.

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