So, in hindsight, it’s kind of a mystery to me why I never got into this series sooner. As the other author who writes “historical fiction, but in a different world” (though a century apart in inspiration, obviously), I probably should have picked up Creme de la Creme when it came out years ago as opposed to just last month. As it turns out, a whole series which centres so much around reputational politics, social engineering, and navigating complex and stratified societal expectations is my jam, and I picked up Honor Bound the day of release.
And oh boy, I had a blast.
Unsurprisingly, I love the setting, I love the worldbuilding. I love how Teran is both less stratified than Westerlin was, but also a lot more hypocritical in the way that it is stratified. I played a stiff-upper-lip “die for his country” type with with no sense of fear, but too much of a sense of duty to do anything but keep his mouth shut and click his heels when his superiors tell him to do something - and it worked for me. It might have worked a little too well, given that I had two-thirds of my base attributes at a place where I could expect to succeed in any challenge that tested them by the last act, but that didn’t stop me from having a good time.
Of course, one of the main strengths is the romance, which is something I’ve always had trouble writing and have always had trouble getting to land right - which is something this does so well. As for the spicy content - well, let’s just say that I’m reaching the point in my current project where I’m getting to work on that, and the sheer amount of options and depth (in more ways than one) on offer makes what I can manage seem comprehensively inadequate.
That being said, I do have to shoo the cat a bit here: there is one aspect that I feel does seem a bit lacking overall: the MC’s place as a professional military officer - and more generally, their place as a professional military officer in a country which is supposed to be heavily militarised (especially since the equivalent societies in our world were more heavily militarised in general).
I could go into detail if needed, but I don’t want it to detract from the fact that I loved this, had a great time with it, and am now contemplating a second run where I don’t find out how much the conscience of a Teranese officer goes for in peacetime.