Wind: The TOR’OC TRILOGY

Aeon, also called The Leaf, is a member of a race imprisoned on an island for a thousand years. Over that time, they have abandoned their warlike ways and come to think of the island as their home, a place which has shaped them and taught them to be who they now are.

Then a fee – one of the many sentient peoples who populate the wider world – comes to Aeon and tells him that he is needed in the Out World, as his people call everything past their island. Despite his reservations, he decides it is his duty to go and see the world which his people were shut out from.

Wind is one of those fantasy novels I would have eagerly devoured in my youth. It’s deliciously ambitious in scope, and the worldbuilding is fascinating. Brown has shown remarkable inventiveness in the cultures and history he has created for this world, and in its mythology. Every chapter, it seemed, there was something new and thrilling to discover.

Unfortunately, worldbuilding can sometimes prove to be the downfall of an exciting book, which it did at times in this case. The plot seemed at first to be ready to rush along, but then it would slow to a meander, allowing Aeon and the reader to learn more about the world. At times it seemed to stop altogether for no discernable reason, or at least none that seemed stronger than the impetus Aeon had been given at the start, to be present at a meeting which would draw people in from across the world.

Part of the trouble is that, as the book goes on, Aeon feels less solid of a character and more like a viewpoint for the readers to experience a new world through. There are moments where he takes definitive action, moments where he seems like a fully realized person, but beyond those, it was hard for me to pin down any description I might give of him.

Wind is a complicated book for me to review. Usually I feel certain about whether or not I like a book by the end, even if my opinion has changed since the start of the book. With Wind, though, I kept going up and down. One moment I would feel as though I was slogging through it, the next I would enjoy a particular plot development or character trait or worldbuilding detail.

I do know that I want to see what Brown does next.