Saints of Storm and Sorrow, Gabriella Buba
Saints of Storm and Sorrow, Gabriella Buba
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Saints of Storm and Sorrow

Author: Gabriella Buba

Narrator: Danice Cabanela, Dante Basco

Unabridged: 14 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/25/2024

Categories: Fiction, Fantasy, Epic, Lgbtq+


Synopsis

In this fiercely imaginative Filipino-inspired fantasy debut, a bisexual nun hiding a goddess-given gift is unwillingly transformed into a lightning rod for her people's struggle against colonization.
Perfect for fans of lush fantasy full of morally ambiguous characters, including The Poppy War and The Jasmine Throne.
Maria Lunurin has been living a double life for as long as she can remember. To the world, she is Sister Maria, dutiful nun and devoted servant of Aynila's Codicían colonizers. But behind closed doors, she is a stormcaller, chosen daughter of the Aynilan goddess Anitun Tabu. In hiding not only from the Codicíans and their witch hunts, but also from the vengeful eye of her slighted goddess, Lunurin does what she can to protect her fellow Aynilans and the small family she has created in the convent: her lover Catalina, and her younger sister Inez.
Lunurin is determined to keep her head down - until one day she makes a devastating discovery, which threatens to tear her family apart. In desperation, she turns for help to Alon Dakila, heir to Aynila's most powerful family, who has been ardently in love with Lunurin for years. But this choice sets in motion a chain of events beyond her control, awakening Anitun Tabu's rage and putting everyone Lunurin loves in terrible danger. Torn between the call of Alon’s magic and Catalina’s jealousy, her duty to her family and to her people, Lunurin can no longer keep Anitun Tabu’s fury at bay.
For the goddess of storms demands vengeance. And she will sweep aside anyone who stands in her way.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Zana

I applaud the author for doing the research and writing a story that feels really authentic. The author's note at the end is definitely a must-read if you're interested in religious syncretism and colonization's effects on Indigenous beliefs. Within the first few chapters, you can feel yourself immer......more

Goodreads review by y

I beta-d this before the author was agented. So I’m aware that there have been revisions with their agent and their editor. However… THAT VERSION WAS ALREADY SO GOOD AND HAD ME BY THE THROAT. LUNURIN IS SO UNHINGED IN THE BEST WAY AND I WOULD SO ANYTHING—ANYTHING—FOR HER. AND DO NOT GEG ME STARTED O......more

Goodreads review by Mike

This was an interesting book with a good setting and a good premise, but ultimately it didn’t work for me. The books are set in the Philippines in the 16th century, under Spanish colonial rule. (The author gives them different names, in the same kind of way Guy Gavriel Kay does, but I’m going to igno......more

I just finished this book and I am in shambles. (see content warnings at the end) This is an intense, dark, anti-colonization, queer fantasy set in a Filipino-inspired land during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines. Lunurin, storm bringer and lightning wielder, hides that she’s goddess bless......more