Desulti: An Epic Fantasy by Ross Hightower and Deb Heim; Fascinating Feminist Fantasy Focuses on Fascism and Infighting.
By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: Sometimes when groups get together for a common purpose, it is assumed that they will be on the same page and work together. That isn't always the case. There might still be animosity because of where people come from, ethnicity, political beliefs, separate biases, socio-economic background, or any other reason. They often have to ask themselves if the cause or threat that brought them together were removed, would they still have any other common ground? Would they defend each other? Would they think about one another's circumstances? Would they even be friends and allies or sworn enemies?
That is the central conflict surrounding Ross Hightower and Deb Heim’s Epic Fantasy novel, Desulti.
Before I begin to summarize the novel, I would like to commend Hightower and Helm for their brilliant clever way of getting the Readers up to speed with the previous novel, Argren Blue. Because Desulti is a prequel to the authors’ Spirit Song trilogy and is itself the second volume in the prequel trilogy, Readers are bound to be lost. No matter, Hightower and Helm offer a very interesting twist on summarizing Argren Blue. In the Introduction, a monk tells his young protege the events of the previous volume as a story.
The monk gives an oral history lesson to the boy about how Tove, the main protagonist, fled the Inquisition that imprisoned and scarred her and met the Desulti, an organization of women who obtained power through wealth. The Desulti use that vast wealth and their team of warriors, the Murtair, to protect, shelter, and defend other women. After she is helped by a Desulti, Tove decides to seek sanctuary with the organization and possibly join.
This introduction shows how important oral history and storytelling often is in an agrarian Medieval-like Fantasy setting. When many forms of communication do not exist or are sparse, news, history, myth, and legend are often orally repeated. The opening prepares us for the society that we are going to encounter.
Desulti picks up where Argren Blue left off with Tove asking for sanctuary. She is given it and decides to join. Unfortunately, she is faced with a huge stumbling block. The Desulti are a presence within the Empire and Tove was part of the Oss’stera, a group of rebels against that same Empire. Most importantly, she is an Alle’oss or l’osse, the lower caste. Most Desulti are part of Volloch, the upper caste and look down on the Alle’oss. Despite this prejudice, Tove is accepted into the Desulti but does not receive a warm welcome by many. She is the butt of several pranks, given grunt work as an assignment, stereotyped, gossipped about, and is the focus of several rumors meant to undermine her reputation. Most seriously, she is despised by Lyssa, the Chief Executive of the Desulti and Nessa, the Murtair Leader. The pranks and prejudice increase particularly as Tove and her new allies discover a hidden conspiracy within the Desulti that could put the entire group in jeopardy.
Desulti is a fantasy novel with a theme that is all too real in our modern life: a theme of prejudice. People will use any means to put themselves and others into separate groups: race, politics, country of origin, religion, class, anything. It becomes us vs. them and anyone could be considered a “them.” As long as someone is different, an Other, someone else will find a means to hate them and express that hatred. That is what the focus is on in this book.
Tove is determined to prove herself within this group that she sought sanctuary from. She aspires to become a Murtair because she sees women defending themselves and achieving power. For someone who has faced arrest, torture, sexual assault, physical attacks that left her scarred, and emotional attacks that left her traumatized that objective is tantalizing. She is willing to face the most demeaning jobs and her judgemental colleagues if it means that she can excel within the Desulti.
Tove makes some powerful enemies, most notably Lyssa. Tove's arrival could not have come at a worse time for her. She has her own ambitions for what she wants to turn the Desulti into and won't let anyone stand in the way of that goal, especially a newcomer that represents a social caste that she has no loyalty towards.
Lyssa has the makings of a cult leader or Fascist dictator. She tramples on the Desulti’s values, particularly their goal to protect all women from sexual assault and marginalization. They aspire to be independently wealthy as warriors, priestesses, merchants, and tradeswomen. While they influence the Empire, they try to keep an unbiased approach that advises but doesn't allow the Emperor to seize power over them.
Lyssa however wants the Desulti to be a central Imperial power. She is willing to move operations to the Capitol City and become an official advisor to the Emperor. She has biases about who should join the Desulti and wants all members to be similar to herself, all Volloch, all uniform, all Imperial loyalists, and all devoted to Lyssa and her goals.
She wants to deprive the Desulti of the independence that they fought so hard for for her own personal gain. She doesn't like the Emperor but loves control more than she loves the Desulti. Since she can't get power for herself as a woman in a male dominated society, she wants to be the influence behind the throne and sway Imperial rule in her favor. As power hungry as the Emperor is, he wants to let her create a tyranny of conformity and prejudice.
Lyssa also connives and claws her way to authority within the Desulti. She manipulates by using member's vulnerabilities. She delights in degrading and humiliating Tove though pretends to be a detached leader. She resorts to kidnapping and emotional blackmail to gain allyship. She is someone who pays lip service to solidarity and loyalty but is completely self-centered. She breaks any law or vow to push herself up and forward.
Tove's presence upsets Lyssa’s ambitions by her mere presence. She gives a fresh outlook to the other Desulti where they recognize that an Alle’oss has a lot to offer coming from a different background, having a different perspective, and therefore carrying a different voice than the others. They recognize that Tove being there carries real value.
Tove makes some strong allies within the Desulti. Soifre, the Chief Financial Officer, has the same prejudices against the Alle’oss as Lyssa and many of their colleagues. However, she is pragmatic enough to see the advantages of recommending Tove for membership. She also has the foresight to see that opening their organization to Alle’oss means new members, more money, stronger voices, and more influence.
Cianna is appointed Tove’s counselor and often provides important information to Tove and other women. She also becomes an informant when she reveals what she knows about the conspiracy spearheaded by Lyssa.
Brie is a Desulti who lured Tove to them and becomes a staunch ally and friend of hers. Most importantly, her sister, Danu bonds with Tove to the point of becoming a love interest. Towards the end, Tove and Danu become committed lovers, practically a married couple. They are aware that Tove’s destiny could constantly put her in danger and Danu will constantly be anxious about her safety. However, they are willing to face this truth together.
One of the most powerful moments in the book is when Tove and other members of the Desulti confess that they come from different parts of the Empire, have their own reasons to join the Desulti, and had to deal with various struggles before signing up and great sacrifices that they have made since. They realize that despite the differences that they had before they arrived, they are now Desulti. They are brought together for a single purpose. The differences are miniscule because they have a common ground to work hard and gain independence and solidarity. It brings a tear to the eye when they all chant, “I am (Alle’oss etc.) and I am Desulti and I'm proud!”
Desulti is the type of book that gives Readers an Epic Fantasy setting but tells a story that resonates in real life. We all feel like outsiders for some reason. Sometimes we are oppressed because of those differences by people who can seem more powerful. The point is to organize and recognize those similar issues. To unite for not only a common purpose but to give voice to the individual experiences and concerns. To make sure that diverse voices are represented within the main purpose.
For example equal rights for women is a common purpose for Feminists and Women's Rights activists, but they must also look at individual struggles from all women including women of color, immigrants, working class women, women from different religions and politics, lesbians, and trans women. They have their own individual experiences and issues but they contribute to the main goal of receiving equality for women to earn their own money, receive equal pay, and have the right to make decisions about their own bodies.
It's important to belong to a group but just as important to be oneself within that group. That way true change can finally happen for everyone.
