Review + Rambles: The Descent of the Drowned by Ana Lal Din
She is bound to serve. He is meant to kill. Survival is their prison. Choice is their weapon.
As the sacred slave of a goddess, Roma is of a lower caste that serves patrons to sustain the balance between gods and men. What she wants is her freedom, but deserters are hunted and hanged, and Roma only knows how to survive in her village where women are vessels without a voice. When her younger brother is condemned to the same wretched fate as hers, Roma must choose between silence and rebellion.
Leviathan is the bastard son of an immortal tyrant. Raised in a military city where everyone knows of his blood relation to the persecuted clans, Leviathan is considered casteless. Lowest of the low. Graduating as one of the deadliest soldiers, he executes in his father's name, displaying his worth. When he faces judgement from his mother's people-the clans-Leviathan must confront his demons and forge his own path, if he ever hopes to reclaim his soul.
But in the struggle to protect the people they love and rebuild their identities, Roma's and Leviathan's destinies interlock as the tyrant hunts an ancient treasure that will doom humankind should it come into his possession-a living treasure to which Roma and Leviathan are the ultimate key.
Trigger + content warnings: physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, sodomization, self harm (mentioned), suicide, transphobia, bigotry, human trafficking, addiction, drug abuse, death, parent death, castration (mentioned).
Spoiler-free Review
Ana Lal Din is a writer !! She can write !! It physically hurts that she said "I'm not an exceptional writer" in the acknowledgements because the record is two for two for reading it in one sitting and being left speechless. It was such an immersive reading experience and all the elements were so well crafted, it's hard to believe this is a debut novel.
Often writing advice will say that your characters should be a product of their world, and tdotd should be used as an exemplar. Every decision the characters made was influenced by their environment, and in turn, seeing their lived experience in this harsh world strengthened the atmosphere and the themes as a commentary on our own world. While the novel deals with a lot of heavy topics, none were included for shock value to make the world seem darker - it seems natural that this is the state of their world and of course x would be present because y is. The parallels to our world were very clear and you could tell they were extensively researched to be depicted as accurately as possible.
Despite it all, these characters are uniquely human in a world without humanity. They are so complex but feel so vulnerable to me, despite them actually being very guarded in nature. Roma is so resilient and has such as big heart despite everything she has gone through, she doesn't let herself be defined by her dark experiences but instead strives for more.
It broke my heart to realise she refers to her body as her 'shell' because she doesn't feel ownership of it and has separated herself from it in her mind. This was just one of the instances where I was so impressed with the attention to detail, I look forward to the blubbering mess i'll become when she reclaims it for herself.
Levi is also a very interesting character because while Roma's struggles come predominantly from her environment, Levi's is an internal battle and we actually see him make quite a few mistakes. His intentions and execution are often at odds with each other and he has a long way to go, but these flaws are what make him such an appealing lead. I feel like everyone would love him if they knew of him because he's tall, has daddy issues and is morally grey with the combat prowess to back it up?? Everyone stop sleeping on Leviathan Blackburn !! I loved that the focus was always on their growth first, rather than romance or anything else, and that even the side characters felt very well-established within their limited page time.
I can see why some people had criticisms about the slow pace since the story is so character-driven and the action is focused heavily towards the last few chapters to set up the sequels. A lot of storylines are left unfinished and the ending is quite abrupt according to a traditional narrative arc. Personally, I didn't mind that much as I took it from a perspective that rather than having the overall plot be separated into thirds, it was the character arcs, and it seems like most holes will be returned to in the sequel, but it may be something to keep in mind if you prefer plot-driven books. I also definitely think it is better the second time around when you are better able to pick up on more of the throwaway details.
Spoiler-filled rambles
So much about the world's history and magic system is still vague so all of these are probably so far off but you are welcome to read and laugh at everything i say!
I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Ashar since he was such a refreshing character and Ana seems to really love writing him.
Junho and Malev are good supporting characters, kind of like the angel and devil on Levi's shoulders with Junho being so impulsive and hot-headed while Malev is more empathetic and easygoing, however he doesn't lean on them as much emotionally. On the other hand, all of Levi's thorny traits bounce right off Ashar, who challenges his perspective a lot more.
I've tried floating a couple ideas about Ashar's role in the sequel based on his abilities and as one of the Shunned. Levi mentions that the Shunned make up the Firawn's Assassins of al-Mawt and I briefly entertained the idea of ashar infiltrating them but I don't think this will happen because the resistance can't afford to risk one of their best assets like that, and there isn't much to gain from it. Perhaps if Roma was caught by the Firawn again or if someone was imprisoned in the Shadowhold, it would be useful but it would be too time-consuming for him to integrate.
Most of my ideas dried up similarly. At the moment, I don't think he has been set up for anything in tdotd and he will utilise abilities we are yet to see in tbotb. It will be interesting to see how Levi's ability to see the ghaib and Ashar's ability to communicate with them will compliment each other.
Trigger warning for mention of rape and drug addiction in this section!
Rawiya also intentionally told the story of the Qabilids and Habilids to Roma, knowing she was the nagin, and the sirens are going off in my head but I can't figure out why (story of my life). She hears "nirbaya" when Iblis is mentioned, which I believe translates into 'the fearless one'. This is very fitting for roma's personality but I also thought, and I might sprain myself with how hard i'm reaching, this might also be a reference to the 2012 Nirbhaya case in India, given Ana's strong political undercurrent. It was a landmark case that led to many reforms to criminalise gender-based violence and increase the severity of punishment for offenders, so may be a nod to the change Roma will bring around? But sometimes Emily, the blue curtains are just blue curtains.
“Their gods and goddesses all possessed half-human and half-animal traits, signifying the duality in their nature. The left side of Mother Lamia’s face belonged to her counterpart Aranyada—Dark Goddess of Chaos, Violence, and Vengeance—carved in the shape of a cobra’s face."This was foreshadowing for Roma's arc in the sequel. She has very little to lose at this point after (supposedly, i'm not convinced) losing Chirag, leaving behind all she knew, and dealing with the aftermath of imprisonment, including her cravings for phantom's breath. With her newfound power and freedom, I think the others will have to put a lot of effort into convincing her to work with them instead of going on a revenge trip.
Moving into more concrete things, it is evident that the sealed memories involve Jehangir since she wasn't able to visualise him as she did iblis. his assassination seemingly triggered the great drought and loss of magic, but i wonder if, instead, magic was hidden away. Rawiya describes "a realm forged by magic dwelling in the earth, concealed from the eyes of other dimensions," and since we know that magic is tied to Khansan soil... that's kinda suspicious. Could it be that the magic that once dwelled in the earth is being almost completely channelled into upholding this barrier? It was also mentioned that the Arcanes made magic seals which protected their domains from being entered by others, and that they were "one of the sources to Khansadun’s magic."
My secondary theory could be something related to time, trying to link it back to the answer to Jehangir's riddle of being death and time. That's as far as my brain has gone with that idea so let me know if you can think of basis for this!
I think they will discover Shamsuddin's volumes about creation, which will give us more insight into the Arcanes and the Ghaib. I also wonder how Roma's true identity will play into this since she isn't allowed to remember who she is or what she protects. With motherhood also being a massive theme (Mother Lamia, Levi's mother tying him to the clans, it was a mother who was responsible for the survival of the Khan's line), it will be interesting to see the role her birth mother may play.
