Calligraphy Guild | Book Review

Hello, my inky friends!

Today I have for you a book review for what is probably my favorite book of the year: Calligraphy Guild!

I am so so so SO excited to finally be reviewing this. I have had the immense pleasure of being a critique partner on this book. I have gotten to see this book from the very first draft all the way to an advanced reader copy, and just about everything in-between. 

Because of this, some may think that this review will be biased. And well, yes, it probably will be. I think very few reviews really are unbiased, whether the reviewer is a friend of the author's and has been part of the book's process or not. 

However I would like to assure you that this is still going to be an honest review. I honestly love this book so much. Trying to think of cons for this review hasn't really worked because every time I thought of one, it was really just a matter of preference.

So yes, this is going to be a gush for the most part. But an honest gush.

On with the review:

This book is an experience

Calligraphy Guild is a fantasy unlike any I have read before.

The best way I can sum up this whole book would be with the words rich and real. This book is rich with good themes, rich with relationships, rich with community, rich with atmosphere, rich with creativity, rich with humanity, rich with simplicity. 

And it's so real. It is filled with these little paragraphs, these one-liners, these thoughts and interactions between characters that bring the book alive and make every aspect of it relatable in some way. Really this book feels like life. Which is quite impressive for a book about dragons and magic ink and time-changing. 

It feels somehow wrong to give a break down of this book, but I'll try to anyways:

Pacing

While being a slow-burn novel, Calligraphy Guild is not slow-paced. I'd say that this moved at a fair pace, not sprinting but also not doddling. It's more like a pleasant stroll.

Something is always happening at any time, often something small but engaging, which helps in both keeping the book interesting and letting the reader feel productive in their reading, and grounding the story in reality. 

I would say that the pacing is exactly what is appropriate for this story.

Plot

While this book has an interesting plot with genuine stakes and weight, the characters are so close to it that they very naturally lead the story. By no means is the plot forgotten or brushed to the side, as it often seems to be in character-led books, it's just that the characters are our focal point for it. Which, I believe, works very well for this story and causes it to seem that much more believable. Come to think of it, it may be best to say that the characters are the plot.

Characters

It seems fitting for this to come up after "plot," given the characters are such a crucial part to the story.

While Duyên is, undoubtedly, the main character, the others still carry so much depth, perspective, and uniqueness - and they're all so closely tied to the plot - that the book really would not be the same without them. 

I can't say that I loved all the characters, but I can say that I believed them all, and that while there were some perspectives I didn't enjoy as much as others I wouldn't want it without them, either.

Worldbuilding

You cannot, cannot, read a novel by R.M. Archer and not say something about the world building in a review. It is impossible. I say, as if this is not Archer's first published novel. 

The worldbuilding in this book is solid. It perfectly blends in with the more normal/realistic aspects of the setting, and I think that helps make it so convincing - it manages to be both familiar, and very unique. It also kept me curious about different aspects of it without distracting from the matter at hand. 

Themes

The themes in this book are incredible. I don't say that because they're especially unique or original or even complicated, but because they are so real. They're so personal and endearing and I think that anyone who reads this will find something that speaks to them.

Here's just some of the themes:

- Community

Very strong community themes. Community with the guild as well as the village and individual families and friends. I just love how much the community came together throughout this book. Especially because, thanks to the execution, it almost felt like I already knew everyone as well-acquainted neighbors.

- Relationships

Of every kind. There's so many different dynamics, it would take forever to go over each one even in summary. But every day relationships - which aren't always perfect or good, but often can be - is very much so present in here.

- Romanticized living

Is this really a "theme?" I don't know. But the whole book puts real life through such a beautiful lens. Though this book is based off of a different time and culture than my own, and takes place in an entierly different world, it showed me so much beauty about the simple things in real life. Even in the unpleasant things, like humidity (never would have anything could make me feel even mildly positively towards humidity). 

I've highlighted so many lines and paragraphs in my copy just so I can pick it up and reread some of these beautiful moments - though honestly, I wouldn't even need that. You can seriously just open the book at a random place and you'll probably find some sweet, funny, or beautiful line or scene. 

But what I find really wonderful about this theme Is that the prose is not flowery. I'm all for poetic lines and whatnot, but this book manages to convey all of that wonderfulness just be showing life. It's really very impressive, I think. And that same thing - it just being life - stretches into every aspect of this book. I think that's what makes Calligraphy Guild so amazing.

- DRAGONS 

But not just dragons! Wyverns, too! And drakes! And other things that I don't know how to spell! Basically lots of really cool and cute and awesome little lizard fellows! They are literally all over the place and they make me so happy. Especially Emiko.

They're kind of reminiscent of the dragons in Dragons' Bane by Melody Jackson, but with a bit of a different spin. 

- Religion, handled in a unique way

The majority of characters in Calligraphy Guild, including Duyên, believe in a polytheistic religion and often refer to their gods in realistic ways due to their culture. Then there are two characters who believe in a different religion, one representing Christianity. 

(If you're not a Christian and thus aren't concerned with how Christianity is or isn't represented, feel free to pass by this section. I'm mostly writing this for Christians who may have that concern. I'm sure you'll enjoy this book regardless of what your religious beliefs are.)

I didn't really feel the need to touch on this because it wasn't one of the things that especially stood out to me. However, I saw one reviewer saying that she liked that there were Christian aspects, but she would have preferred it if all the characters who believed in other gods has an arch that resulted in them turning to that world's equivalent of Christianity. 

However, I think that the way Archer presented these religions, and the brief discussions that were had in various ways, were handled very appropriately and realistically. The book isn't about conversion and I don't see how that would be included without totally changing the focus of the plot. And if the author were to attempt balancing two main plots like that, I imagine it would quickly turn the book into one of those "all moral no story" books that really don't do any good for anyone. 

Rather, this book handles the matter of religion in a very natural, believable, and good way. This book plants seeds, it doesn't harvest crops.  And I would say that this book does an even better job as-is than if it were to have a purely religious plot, because this portrays Christianity in a far more real way. We get to see a Christian who is in a world that is opposite her beliefs - there's only one person in her whole community who is like-minded in this area - and that is a important thing to portray. For it is a far more relatable and realistic situation than converting an entire guild of people. 

But that whole matter is its own discussion.

Suffice to say, religion is a theme, and I believe it was handled well. 

Conclusion

This book is undoubtedly 5 stars. I highly recommend it to any fantasy reader who maybe needs to slow down for a bit, to have a book that helps them relax. It could also be quite good if you're in a reading slump. It's also a perfect book to read in the summer time. Or just to read in general, really. I mean, I've read it probably four times and I'm good to go for a fifth, haha. 

I would say "if you like [book] you may like this" but I honestly can't think of any books to accurately compare this to. Maybe just give it a try, and see what you think of it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and if you have a few more minutes to spare, why not go order Calligraphy Guild? Or perhaps request it at your library? And if you've already read it, please do tell me what you think! I would love to discuss it with you.

Until next time!

- E.P.