When Jackals Storm The Walls - Bradley P. Beaulieu

When Jackals Storm The Walls is the latest in Bradley Beaulieu’s Sharakai saga, and a story which expertly blends three-dimensional, thoroughly human characters, a vividly realised world, and a properly kick-arse plot into a delicious narrative gumbo. I’ve talked at length before about how much I enjoy this series, so it’ll be no surprise that the tl;dr for this one is: yes, it’s as good as the previous installments. Yes, if you enjoyed those, you should go and get hold of a copy immediately. And yes, if you haven’t read the previous installments, you should do that, too.

We’re back in Sharakai, and the city is as beautiful and terrible as ever, even if things have changed. The spires still soar into a desert sky. The Collegia is still filled with scrolls of ancient knowledge, the quiet riffle of parchment and the laughter of students still matched incongruously with blood magic and mysterious disappearances. The Silver Spears are still on the march for their rulers, keeping the streets safe - but the new Kings and Queens aren’t the same as the old. But still, the heart of the city beats in its people, and the city has a vibrance, an energy, which makes it a jewel at the heart of the desert. It’s filled with contradictions, of course, though I think the most interesting is a matter of identity. As new rulers replace the old, is Sharakai still itself, or something new? Will the old systems remain in place, or are new alliances being made, new deals cut. Will old prejudices outweigh common ground? Given that the story has a deep history, one which very much informs the decisions of the characters, this isn’t a casual question. The city, and the desert, are wracked by change, with different actors trying to move the identity being built to ward their own designs. Will the desert tribes come together? Who can say. They may storm Sharakai and topple those towers, or perhaps come together with those inside the walls to act against invaders from outside the desert sands. Or perhaps neither. This is a story which is looking at what makes people who they are, and also one where who people are is very much in flux, both individually, and on a larger scale.

Which is a long winded way of saying that the elaborate wonder of the city, and the stark, unflinching beauty of the desert are breathtaking in their own ways, and the story expertly brings both to life. If you’ve missed the purple skies of a desert sunset, or the text-shrouded gloom of the collegia, you’ll find everything you needed here.

The characters...well, they’re difficult to talk about, actually. Because this is a story, as I say, of change, of flux. Çeda is still our protagonist, but we see more viewpoints too, from those in her orbit, but also those without, including some we might have previously considered antagonists. I will say that each comes with their own life, their own goals, and you can see them reaching out for those, see the tragedy when they fail (or succeed), and the triumph too. There’s nobody here who feels like a caricature, because we’ve been with most of them for several books. We know their complex, multi-layered story. There are revelations here though, changes to relationships that will make you gasp, make you re-read a page just to make sure something is true. I, for one, have been emotionally invested in this lot for some time, and so I feel every betrayal, and cheer for every victory - because they’re people, right there on the page, and in their humanity, in their defeats, in their reversals, in their lies and truths and moments of hope, you can see their humanity, and feel for, and with them. The characterisation here is, as always with the series, marvellous.

And the story. Well. As ever, no spoilers, so this’ll be brief, because there’s a lot going on! So many things change here, in this book. Alliances collapse, or are formed between unlikely compatriots. Romances are realised, The final steps in the dance begin to be laid down, and no-one, no matter how beloved, is safe. There are some very well deserved, carefully built up, beautifully delivered narrative moments that gave me joy, and you can see the plans set in motion books and books ago finally coming to fruition. Essentially, this is a book where the final pieces are getting played out, where the truth is becoming clearer, where people decide which sides they’re on - and there are so many surprises, so many pitch perfect moments, I couldn’t list them all. This is a love letter to Sharakai and its people, and an absolutely fantastic read; if you’ve come this far with the series, you owe it to yourself to see where this book takes you. It’s a heck of a journey.