The Spear Cuts Through Water: A Novel

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A beguiling fantasy not to be missed.”—Evelyn Skye, New York Times bestselling author of The Crown’s Game

The Spear Cuts Through Water is many, many things. It’s a spellbinding tribute to oral storytelling and folklore. It’s a thoughtful exploration of identity and family. But more than anything, The Spear Cuts Through Water is a love story, and one unlike anything you’ve read before.” —Polygon “Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2022”

the storytelling is phenomenal, unlike any other, and inviting. it pulls you into the story and enchants you and you will not leave wanting after Jimenez has raised the bar for every fantasy writer working; wholly unique, dreamy yet grounded, triumphant and bittersweet, The Spear Cuts Through Water is a tremendous achievement from beginning to end.” —Martin Cahill, writer on Batman: The Blind Cut The Spear Cuts Through Water is written in a unique narrative style that mimics oral storytelling. This structure is executed beautifully and really elevates the story. Multiple perspectives and times are woven together to create an intricate tapestry of love, sacrifice, power, and godhood. I could write a thesis on the way Jimenez plays with storytelling, perspective, and time in this novel. But I fear that giving any more details would spoil some of the incredible reveals. Every single detail of this story is important and the twists are some of the most satisfying reveals I have ever read. The Spear Cuts Through Water really appealed to my love of The Fifth Season and Harrow the Ninth.

But the past hungers for them, and when it catches up, it threatens to tear this makeshift family apart. Gorgeously written, The Spear Cuts Through Water is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It is a fable, a dream world, a love story, and a meditation on the nature of humanity all wrapped into one. Simon Jimenez has written the rare kind of book that changes the way you see the world, that makes you pause and appreciate the beauty in every small moment of life and, even, death.” —Evelyn Skye, New York Times bestselling author of The Crown’s Game That is the most tormented man that I have ever known. I'm in love with this man. But he doesn't know that. I never told him, because he can never love anybody since he lost his hand and his girl." We’re hit with the quote above at a point in the story where the narrator’s grandmother tells it to him and it accurately pierces the core of the story. We not only have a compelling and violent love story between the two protagonists but also see how love drives people’s actions, good and bad, and serves as a ray of hope. It’s brilliant how most of the characters are motivated by their want or scorn for love and Jimenez’s mind portrays the consequences for both in a fabulous way. What I didn’t much appreciate about this were the long chapters, as mentioned. And the violence, I’m still thinking if they were all necessary but hmm maybe that opinion would vary with each reader.i truly think this is the most impressive book i have ever read. so many risky choices, so many leaps of faith, yet jimenez was able to pull everything together in a way that was able to break and heal my heart in two very different ways. this reading experience is truly unlike anything i've ever had, or even seen, before. But this really is one of the most beautiful, powerful, and just awe inspiring books i have ever had the honor of reading in my whole entire life. (and one i know i will carry with me for the rest of my story.) Also, if you want another glimpse into the author’s brilliant mind, read this post about the mapmaking of his book. this is extraordinary storytelling that breaks expectations and conventions to deliver us a fantasy story like it's rarely been told before. the spear cuts through water feels like a love letter to oral storytelling traditions passed down through generations. the narrative is like a performance in every sense - alongside the fact that the story is acted out as a play in a magical theatre, the writing style is raw, atmospheric, visceral, rhythmic. it absorbs you so easily into the magic and horror of this world that i feel like i've lived a lifetime with these characters in the old country. I am extremely happy to say that not only does the book live up to how beautiful the cover and those unique endpapers are, it actually exceeded my expectations. By a lot. Overall, I rate this book a 4.5/5. This is very much not a turn your brain off and read book. Jimenez really forces the reader to work for their story, to understand how all the pieces come together, but it is so so so rewarding. An absolute masterpiece in prose and character work.

Part epic folk tale, part meta-narrative exploration of family and identity, The Spear Cuts Through Water is a work of fiction so perfectly conceived and executed that I will be personally offended if it doesn’t swoop up all the awards next season. Jimenez creates a puzzle of intersecting storylines that fit together like Russian dolls, cleverly employing different perspectives, tenses, and settings to obfuscate his intentions before finally revealing his cards to the reader at the most climactic moment. Secondly, this style of storytelling breaks my immersion completely. At no stage am I not completely aware that this is a story being told to me because it's clearly the story of the performance of the story being told to me. Basically I want to give it 4 or 5 stars for literary cleverness and 1 star for actual enjoyment of the reading experience. And I hated almost every second of it. I had seen what happened to all of those sons I gave birth to. How they were molded by the world they had been given, for even the man who had started it all did not know why he made the choices he did. It is all a spiral that feeds into itself with the gathering weight at the center that we call Power.The beginning was unengaging, but then, beginnings often are, especially when I’m in no particular mood. I thought it’ll get easier and hook me eventually, but it never did. I was never particularly confused by what was going on, I’m used to confusing literary fantasy and going with the flow, but the main plot was incredibly boring until about 70% in and mediocre from there on, and the opaqueness of the style got in the way of even remotely connecting to the characters. The almost-grimdark level of graphic violence (though the book is, ultimately, in no way nihilistic) didn’t help my enjoyment either. This is a story with many layers. It’s a story of a goddess fallen from the sky trying to right the wrongs she caused. It is the mythical story of two young men and their quests. It is the story of the person invited to the Inverted Theater to witness and then forget it. It is ambitious and experimental and beautifully told, masterfully intertwining first, second, and third person POV. It attempts to touch on themes of of redemption and identity and imperialism and family. It should have been just up my alley.Content warnings: lots of extremely graphic gore, body horror, torture, ritual cannibalism, scenes of someone being eaten alive and so on and so forth there's a level of unhinged insanity here that i've missed reading in epic fantasy - the climax is heart-poundingly wild and the ending is so satisfying and emotional and beautiful, i could barely contain my feelings when i finished. The Spear Cuts Through Water is remarkably rich. . . . This novel is an astonishing feat, one that lovers of sophisticated story won’t want to miss.” —Chicago Review of Books The Spear Cuts Through Water balances 2.1 storylines. The first storyline is directed as a fictitious unnamed reader, an attendance of the Inverted Theater where the main storyline is told. We don’t learn much about this reader, the world they live in has a war, they have many brothers and a deadbeat father, and their lola, their grandmother, would tell them stories about the Old World, including the one being told today. The second storyline is more the main story, where two companions Jun and Keema meet by chance to escort a god across the lands to take down the tyrannical Moon Throne. The 0.1 comes from the short little interjections from the supporting cast, giving the reader an outside perspective on events as they happen in the second storyline.

How this book managed to slip under everyone’s radar despite being the best fantasy of the year is a mystery to me. This is definitely one of those books that require you to sit on it for a few days before deciding which rating you're going to give. The story alternates between first, second, and third person narration. In the second-person sections, the reader is cast as Araya's descendant and current keeper of the spear. [2] WINNER OF THE IAFA CRAWFORD AWARD • WINNER OF THE BRITISH FANTASY AWARD • SHORTLISTED FOR THE URSULA K. LE GUIN AWARD • SHORTLISTED FOR THE IGNYTE AWARDBut Jun? His Keema keeps him safe from the spear. In spite of everything they've seen, they've been to and for and against each other, Keema is the one whose patient offering of love never wavers even when it morphs. That's how you know it's the love Jun needs, and that's how Jun finally knows he is not Jun, but Keema's Jun. Okay, so this book is really hard to talk about, so bear with me. Nominally, this is a book about a pair of fugitive young men who are tasked with shepherding a dead god (who still talks) across a fantasy landscape filled with obstacles, and it is also a love story. But that very brief summary in no way conveys the actual *experience* of reading this one. The style it's written in, aside from the actual prose, is pretty experimental and a little hard to get ahold of at first. But once you do, it is so incredibly effective at playing on your emotions and telling the story in a way that makes your brain light up in pleasure. Jimenez structures his story like a matryoshka doll, nesting one story in another, in another. And the way he navigates between them is like this fluid little magical dance. I don't even know what that means, but it's what came out as I was typing this, and it seems right. The Spear Cuts Through Water was everything I wanted it to be in more. I went in knowing next to nothing about the plot and that is definitely the reading experience I recommend. I am in awe of this book and there is no way that I can accurately capture my feelings in a review but I will do my best.