Book Review: "The Hurricane Wars"

Thea Guanzon's first novel is entertaining and compelling but struggles at times to balance its fantasy and romance elements.

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As is so often the case these days, I came upon Thea Guanzon’s The Hurricane Wars at the new release section of my local library. You know I’m always on the hunt for new fantastic to read and review and, with its story about two avowed enemies who turn into lovers as they seek to avoid a cataclysm, this seemed like it was poised to check all of the right boxes. If you know me, you know that I love a good romantasy. 

When I started this book I didn’t realize that it had begun life as a piece of Reylo fan-fiction but, the further I got into it, the more this became apparent. It’s there in the way that young Talasyn began her life as an orphan before discovering that she is actually the granddaughter of a queen, and it’s certainly there in the description and characterization of Alaric, the brooding antihero and love interest who goes from being the heir to the Night Empire to being the Night Emperor himself, while his sinister and withered father, Gaheris (a clear stand-in for either Snoke and/or Emperor Palpatine) recedes into an advisory capacity. 

This isn’t a problem, per se, but its origins in another fictional universe does sort of hamstring it in some key ways. Speaking from my experience as a writer of fantasy, it’s often easier to create a world and characters of your own, then let the story grow from there. Here, however, the shadow cast by Rey and Kylo sometimes threatens to obscure Talasyn and Alaric. Even though you know that these two characters and the world they inhabit isn’t Star Wars, that entire world and its intricate mythology is still lurking in the background. 

However, that aside, there is still much to enjoy about this novel, starting with the main character herself. From the first few pages I found myself drawn to Talasyn, who is the powerful, kickass heroine who is always welcome in the realm of fantasy. Like Rey, she is someone who has had to scrape and scrabble and claw her way to a position of relative security, and she’s not going to release it as easily as Alaric might like. For his part, Alaric is the sort of hero who has been treated roughly by his father, who sees him largely as an extension of himself and his own ambitions. Though he is given his own point-of-view segments, they tend to fall a bit flatter than Talasyn’s, and I’m hoping that future volumes in the trilogy give us more insight into his upbringing at the hands of the Night Emperor. 

For the most part the world that Guanzon has created is marvelously detailed, though it can sometimes be easy to lose track of some of the magic system, which remains frustratingly undefined in many ways (not to mention the very confusing names, which are far too easy to lose track of and get confused). I tend to agree with those reviewers who point out that the early part of the novel is a bit heavy with the exposition, as we learn about the state of this world and its various power players, but it really does it hit its stride once Talasyn ends up being taken in by the Nenaverene Dominion. Even there, though, I was yearning for some more detail, and I also found myself wishing that Guanzon was a bit more subtle about weaving details of this world into the story rather than relying so much on exposition. I do appreciate, though, the extent to which these two characters are products of their world, for the good and the bad.

What succeeds less well is, unfortunately, the romance, and for the same reasons that the  forced romance between Kylo and Rey didn’t really work in Rise of Skywalker. By the time that these two characters are thrust into an arranged marriage, Alaric has already committed unspeakable atrocities to the people that have taken Talasyn in and made her one of their own and, it’s worth pointing out, Talaysn has done the same. Now I realize that in romance there is always some give and take between the partners, and there are going to be things that a romantic protagonist has to overlook if she is going to be with the man she originally hated, but even so, this does seem like a bit of a stretch. Perhaps if the novel had done a better job of helping us understand the true origins of the Hurricane Wars this would have made more sense but, as it is, I’m rather left confused as to why either of these characters would ever be able to forgive one another, regardless of how strong their physical attraction might be. 

I’ve read some other reviews which suggest that one of the book’s glaring problems stems from the relationship between its plot and its characters. Rather than allowing the characters to drive the plot, this argument goes, it’s the other way around, which leads to some issues when it comes to characterization. I do think there is something to this particular critique, particularly since some of the characters behave in ways that defy actual logic (this is particularly true of Talaysn and her queenly grandmother). When characters act in certain ways just because the plot requires it, it can make for a very jarring reading experience. 

Overall, I wouldn’t say that I was blown away by The Hurricane Wars, which really never finds quite the right balance between its high fantasy and romantic elements. I love romantasy as a genre, and when it’s done well–that is to say, when the two generic threads work with rather than against one another. The Hurricane Wars never quite achieves this balance, but the appeal of the central characters often goes a long way toward making up for that deficiency. 

I’m confident that the next book in the series will build on its predecessor.