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The last couple days I sat down with Fury is Born by houseofwisdom.
TLDR; The best thing since Vinland Saga, Red Badge of Courage, Kingdom, and sliced bread.
When I started the story I had a really good feeling about it. The author wrote a historical fiction after years of study into the culture, religion, history, wars, and people from this era of time and the events associated with the story. I had taken a historical interest in Islam and the middle east and the jihads leading up to the crusades and the crusades some time ago, and the fact that this story centers on the political shift of the middle east in the rise of Islam just tickles my fancy. It also helps that my favorite manga are Vinland Saga and Kingdom, both of which are very dark and gritty historical fictions/anime, and this story beats to the same dark and gritty tune.
I went into it with high expectations.
Characterization: Smashing! - The characters are brilliantly written. You understand their motivations, their beliefs, their mindsets, their goals, their emotions, their relationships, their conflicts, and on such a level you cannot help but relate. When they fall in love, you fall in love. When they are terrified or wretching, you are in the pits with them. When they are angry, you are furious. It isn't every story that brings out emotions in me, and this story beats my heart to the beat of the character like a drum.
Side Characters: Understandably Confusing - There are a lot of side characters. In some ways it is good, and others it is acceptably bad. The culture is drastically different and the author uses side characters in world building brilliantly. There are a bunch of side characters due to the political nature, and you are constantly reminded of their roles and story, which is EXACTLY what the author needed to do, but you can't really escape the fact that you have a lot of people with names that are barely graspable for anyone in the western culture. And I find that when I can't grasp names enough to differintiate people, then they all blur together.
Grammar and word usage: Smashing! - The author grammared the hell out of this! I found no grammar issues, and if anything, it flows so well it is like a breath of fresh air. And the word usage! My god! His words are intelligent without taunting a dictionary over your head, but rather is very precise instead of using common words people tend to use. And the word usage is also carefully crafted when you understand that he is truly trying to get you to live and breath life through the eyes of an arab boy. They have different words, different vocabulary, different terms and culture, and the author goes out of his way to use these enriching world-building concepts while having a western culture writing style so we understand it.
World Building: SMASHING! - Which leads into the world building. My God. The author goes out of his way to give us reference sheets of words, culture, maps, and etc to help us understand, and then he uses the word usage, the side characters, the politics, and etc to brilliant effect combining into what I can only describe as a true indepth look of a foreign culture WITHOUT it being a documentary! The middle-east culture is completely foreign to westerners, and the author uses every bit of research he has, combined with flowing writing and easy to relate to characters, to bring you into the alien culture and barbaric time in a relatable way. I am trying but I cannot put into words how good the world building is! My words are not sufficent!
Plot: Smashing! - I love it. I love it. I love it! This story plays to the same tune as Vinland Saga and Red Badge of Courage as it is a growing up story of a young arab boy in a violent time, changing political/religious landscape, and a look into a new world that is apparing before your very eyes. It does not hold back from the violence. It does not hold back from murder. It does not hold back from blood and love and parties and innocence gained and innocence lost and betrayel and all the things that is life. The plot DOES lack a goal. The main character lacks that goal or dream for us to cheer him on to, that one thing to pull us into the next chapter as we expect the one ring to be thrown into mordor, but the plot, characterization, world building as he grows and learns and explores what youth is more than makes up for it. He does gain goals, completes them, and continues on, so in a short term he does have them.
Additionally: One thing I really liked is how the story unapologetically neither approves nor disapproves of cultural and religious practices. The characters approve of their own beliefs and practices and cultures, and so bring conflict. The story makes anything look neither bad nor good. It does not make out Muhammed to be a liar nor a true prophet outside of some characters approving or disapproving of him for their own personal reasons. You have cruel Jews and good ones, and it references Christians distantly. And everyone is emboiled in politics. This is history at its core. People believed things. It drove them to act. That is all.
I have only read half of it, as the story is long and I feel I had enough of a grasp to review this after 16 chapters and like 8 interludes.
I would rate this a full 5 smashing out of 5! The first one I have found worthy of such praise in all of Wattpad.
I went in with high expectations and was still blown away! I can find no flaw and can only think of positives as I still yearn to read more. Every single detail is carefully written, chosen, and flows. The characters are as real to me as my neighbors. I cannot think of a single thing to make the story better beyond the cover art. It just doesn't do the story justice, and my review is based on the story, not its art.
So raise your smashing and smash that vote for the story!
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Additionally: Now I have finished the story. My overall perspective remains the same, yet I find I have to reduce my rating from 5/5 to 4/5. The simple reason being that the story fails to establish a protagonist. The main character is well written, crafted, and grows over the story into what I can only describe as an avatar of death and rage, as is hinted by the story's name and prologue. Yet he is, for all of his strengths, still a reactionary character. He reacts. Events happen to him and he acts in accordance with choices made by other people. He makes no choices that push the story along. It is fair to say he has no influence to change history, as this is historical fiction and he is not a historical figure to have earned that place, but he has no influence over his own life either. There is no point where a clear goal is made, no choice is given and made. He is a stone adrift in a river enslaved to the will of that river, to the will of history and other forces. He is still good for all of that, as he struggles and fails against its power over and over, so it is not without its redeeming factor. Yet it is a struggle against life itself as one event after another, not a struggle where he says "I'm going to do this now" and then struggles to do it, only to fail.
Yet I still find myself hopeful. There is hints of a plot and now he has transformed into a new character through the struggles and history that he has been enslaved to the will of, so I hope he will become someone now who makes choices for himself and has goals to seek and go after.
If you are interested in learning to write, mastering the craft, want some really good reads, or just to chat and hang out with a mature group of adults, feel free to hit me up for a smashing discord book club that has lasted years.
