Siavahda's Reviews > Talio's Codex

*I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*

HIGHLIGHTS
~roads of running water…in the sky!
~very mysterious sentencing guidelines
~remember to wash your fingers

I don’t think it would be completely inaccurate to call Talio’s Codex something of a procedural drama set in a (low-magic) fantasy setting; we’re following the titular Talio as he rejoins the legal sphere after a decade away (and a serious disgrace). There is a case, then some more cases, and the forming of a small law firm; Talio and his business partner are also invited to join a committee that makes recommendations for potential new laws. But it seemed to me that the vast majority of the page-time went to Talio’s developing or renewed relationships, which is why I’d call it more drama than procedural. I found that disappointing, but it’s not an objectively good or bad thing, just a matter of personal taste. Other readers will probably be grateful not to be completely drowned in legal minutiae!

Alas, that’s kind of what I was here for – I wanted meticulous, detailed worldbuilding, and I very much wanted to see what another world’s legal system might look like. But the worldbuilding (with a few exceptions) is simplistic almost to the point of insult, and the only difference between the Western justice system and Talio’s is that Talio’s is too new – and too pre-Industrial – to have all the laws we do. (See the sub-plot wherein this society is only just starting to see the need for copyright and patents.)

Let’s start with the world: a queen – who seems to be the latest in a line of queens – rules over four cities. Each city is known for a different attribute; people from this city are more compassionate, from this city colder and more closed-off, etc. They are linked by the skyways, magical rivers in the sky along which special ships can sail (more or less). In fact, this society has a lot of water around, because they worship a water goddess who requires ritual handwashing when entering and leaving most buildings or private residences. There used to be mages, but what exactly the mages were or did is unclear; at some point, they all went mad or bad or something and were locked out of society by a magical barrier. This period of history was overseen by someone called, I kid you not, the Sleepy Queen.

This epithet is never explained.

Enter the Incarnites; a fringe religion that instead worships a fire god. Their very existence makes most people uneasy at best, not least because Incarnites cover their entire bodies with orange robes, meaning you can never see an Incarnite, or tell them apart. Incarnites aren’t quite persecuted, but they’re definitely oppressed and discriminated against in every way, every chance non-Incarnites get.

This discrimination is one of the biggest themes/focuses of the book, but I still don’t know what Incarnites actually believe, except that they can’t be romantically or sexually involved with non-Incarnites. I have no idea what the central tenets of their faith are, and I really don’t know how they practice, either, aside from wearing the robes. Vespers is involved, but what that term means in this setting is not explained; does that mean sessions of group prayer? No clue.

So worldbuilding wise, this didn’t please me.

How about characters? Talio…did not appeal to me in the beginning, and I liked him less and less as the book went on. I got so tired of him obsessing over the looks of every vaguely pretty man he saw, and I found it unbelievable how he only started asking questions about the system he lived in NOW, not ten years ago when he was ruined because he…lost a book. Specifically, his copy of the laws and punishments of the legal system he worked in. (This is also never really explained: even Talio questions WHY losing the book was such a big deal, eventually, and we never get an answer. Why does it matter? Okay, there’s a Big Secret in the books, kiiiiind of. But nobody knows that, so why does everyone shun him for risking its exposure? Insert shrug here.) He’s not a terrible person, and he even undergoes some growth, but absolutely nothing about him held my interest. That, combined with my not liking him as a person – he can’t wrap his head around nonbinary people, and he tricks Pazli into sleeping with him – didn’t make for a great reading experience.

‘The man of his dreams’, aka Pazli, was interesting but annoying. He was so prickly, and while yes, sometimes Talio really was being insulting without realising it…most of the time Pazli was snapping at genuine good-faith efforts to connect. We get it, you hate everyone who’s not an Incarnite! Enough already! Like Talio, he learns and evolves some over the course of the book, and honestly, it probably would have been a more interesting book if it had been written from HIS perspective – what with the tug-of-war he was going through between his religion and his desire for Talio, and his trying to make a space for himself within the legal system – the first Incarnite to ever do so.

The Big Conspiracy was a letdown, particularly in how it was handled handled – (view spoiler)[I would have been happier if the ‘experiment’ didn’t have a clear ‘winner’ and don’t really love what Cohen was implying re harsher punishments to broken laws being the answer (hide spoiler)] – it was all so obvious, and then THE MOST DRAMATIC climax ever, and I just could not.

Writing like this certainly didn’t help;

As he pulled out, it was as if he were taking Talio’s guts with him.

…If, after anal sex, it feels like your guts are being ripped out, that’s – not a good thing??? That sounds agonising, but in context it’s not meant to be, so – what???

Talio felt the end of the judicial season approaching like the spring thaw; they were running out of time.

The end of the judicial season is something Talio is dreading, but the spring thaw is generally considered something to look forward to, so what am I supposed to take away from this?

And please do not even get me STARTED on how all the magistrates and so on ‘rap their fingers’ on their tables and desks – not their knuckles, not gavels, their FINGERS. Which I can only assume means they’re…tapping their fingertips on the table??? With feeling??? But even so, using your fingers instead of your knuckles is going to make almost no sound, certainly not enough to quiet an excited courtroom. This was not a one-off; that phrase, rap/rapped/rapping their fingers, was used CONSTANTLY. It made no sense, I don’t know what Cohen was thinking, and I can’t believe none of the beta-readers brought it up. ???

All in all, this was a chore to read. Potentially interesting for anyone who likes stories about oppressed minorities in fantasy settings, I guess? But a fantastical legal thriller this is not, and I wasn’t impressed with what it is.