I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Race the Sands: A Novel by Sarah Beth DurstPublished by Harper Voyager on April 21, 2020
Genres: fantasy
Pages: 544
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Netgalley
Buy on Bookshop
In this epic standalone fantasy, the acclaimed author of the Queens of Renthia series introduces an imaginative new world in which a pair of strong and determined women risk their lives battling injustice, corruption, and deadly enemies in their quest to become monster racing champions.
Life, death, and rebirth -- in Becar, everyone knows that who you are in this life will determine what you are in your next life. The augurs can read your fate in your aura: hawk, heron, tortoise, jackal, human. Armed with that knowledge, you can change your destiny with the choices you make, both in this life and your next. But for the darkest individuals, there is no redemption: you come back as a kehok, a monster, and you will always be a kehok for the rest of time.
Unless you can win the Races.
As a professional trainer, Tamra was an elite kehok rider. Then a tragic accident on the track shattered her confidence, damaged her career, and left her nearly broke. Now Tamra needs the prize money to prevent the local temple from taking her daughter away from her, and that means she must once again find a winning kehok . . . and a rider willing to trust her.
Raia is desperate to get away from her domineering family and cruel fiancé. As a kehok rider, she could earn enough to buy her freedom. But she can't become good enough to compete without a first-rate trainer.
Impressed by the inexperienced young woman's determination, Tamra hires Raia and pairs her with a strange new kehok with the potential to win -- if he can be tamed.
But in this sport, if you forget you're riding on the back of a monster, you die. Tamra and Raia will work harder than they ever thought possible to win the deadly Becaran Races -- and in the process, discover what makes this particular kehok so special.
Now, I’m cheating a little because I technically haven’t finished reading this book yet. I had to put it down because it was trending toward being a little too exciting. See, my reading time these days normally happens when I’m winding down for sleep — and I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with sleep. So anything that might keep me up — like, say, a good book! — sometimes has to give way to the practicality of adult life. Right now, the practical thing is to avoid additional stress. There’s enough of it in the world right now.
Which is my long-winded way of saying that, while I haven’t finished this book yet, I didn’t want to wait to point this book out to you. It’s already available and you really don’t want to miss it. If you want to read a fantasy book about strong women smashing class barriers, then you want to pick this one up.
Now, I find the bits about reincarnation and a priest-caste that can assess your soul and tell you where you’re headed in the next life a bit odd. It seems to be an actual talent and not just a pay-us-and-we’ll-upgrade-you type of thing like one would normally expect in a world full of severe class differences. Does this book say anything significant about that? I’m not sure. Not yet, it hasn’t, but I’m barely halfway through the book.
If you pick up this book, I’d like to hear your opinion. Please be sure to come back and leave me a comment.
