We Rule the Night

Claire Bartlett uses a little-publicized fact of historySoviet women night flyers who bombed the Nazis in World War IIto create a riveting young adult fantasy novel. The Russian women pilots faced opposition from their own military as well as having to make do with outdated training planes for their missions. Those historical facts are incorporated into this story, which then does its own world-building. A war is on, and the side were in has its own oppressions and problems. Magic is readily used on both sides: people generate sparks from their hands, for acts as ordinary as lighting cigarettes and as vital as providing the energy needed to run engines and fly planes. Theres a thing called living metal we learn about in the first paragraphs, metal that reacts to human emotion. Another type of magic power, manipulating the Weave, has been forbidden. Yet this power allows one to pilot a plane and the Union is desperate for pilots.

Other reviewers have complained about loose ends, and there are some, but they are the sort to be expected in a novel like this, likely to have a sequel. The major plot lines are resolved. This is a tale of courageous, strong, talented women committed to their work and the war effort and, in the end, each other. No romance. All the male characters are secondary. These are young women learning to believe that they can do anything.

TLDR; We Rule the Night is a gorgeous, slow-build story full of magic, unique tech, alt history, and most importantly characters that you can truly invest in and celebrate.

We Rule the Night is a book that took me off guard. I read the premiseTwo girls use forbidden magic to fly and fightfor their country and for themselves and expected some high-action, alt-history, fantasy romp. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was really a slow-build character study.
Bartlett took her inspiration from the Night Witches, a group of Soviet women aviators who beleaguered German Nazis under the cover of darkness in old, should-be-retired biplanes during World War II. The story follows the general premise: that women are asked to step into unique roles to help the war efforts, but they must do so at great challenge and peril to themselves. Then Bartlett steps it up, throwing in magic, shape-shifting spies, and a fascistic state that controls everything but what happens in the girls own heads.
In this book, girls from all walks of Elda, the Soviet-esque culture Bartlett creates, are forced together with a single mission: learn to fly magic-fueled planes and contribute to the war. Under the tutelage of a woman with her own dubious reputation, the girls must fight against their own misgivings about using forbidden magic, against the limitations of inferior tech, and against the prejudices of their own fellow soldiers, the boys in the neighboring regiment. While the book could fall into tropes of girl-power, friendship overcoming all, and the underdogs saving the day, it resists, instead gravitating toward intimate looks into the characters internal journeys as they navigate their trying circumstances.
I dont want to get too into spoilers or the mechanics of the world-building, which are in themselves a reason to read this book (Seriously, yall: living metal, shape-shifting secret police, technology meets magic, and more.) The historical references are also legion, and a fun bonus to the story.
But the reason to read We Rule the Night is the characters. Bartlett builds her story around two incredible girls. The two main characters are Revna and Linne, teenage girls who unlikely and uneasy partners in a war only one of them signed up for. Revna is a traitors daughter, always looking over her shoulder for agents of the government to find out exactly how much she disloyalty she harbors in her own heart. Linne is the generals daughter, so determined to prove herself for her country that she signed up to fight as a boy. When the girls are forced to work together as the pilot and the gunner on an experimental project, they are forced to either reconcile their differences, or reckon with their own doubts about their identities, abilities, and loyalties.
And theyre not the only characters to fall in love with. The secondary and tertiary characters are all masterfully written. From Tamara Zima, the girls commanding officer and the infamous lover of the leader of the Elda forces; to Katya, the feminine and, at times, frivolous girl, who is still a warrior, through and through; each of the characters is carefully realized with her own voice, fears, desires, strengths, and weaknesses. As you go through training and eventually war with these girls, you come to love and care for each of them, and the loss of any of them is felt more than you would expect.
This book tackles serious themes of loyalty, power, gender, and war, and yet for all its feeling of being great and big, its the smallest moments that make it an enjoyable read. When Linne tackles doubts in the corner of an illicit on-base bar, or Revna spends sleepless nights wondering if she can do the job shes called to, thats when you truly feel for these girls and immerse yourself in their story.
I was left with a longing, though, when I got to the end. Im not sure if it was because I wasnt convinced their story was done, or that I wanted something to happen that just didnt (vague, I know, but trying to avoid spoilers). Its possible that longing is what contributes to my appreciation of the book. That it engendered such attachment to the characters that I wasnt ready to let them go. Or it may be that I was frustrated by unrealized potential. I am more than open to a sequel, but I think Im okay with living with that longing, too. It feels appropriate with this cold and unflinching novel.
Still, maybe there will be a sequel with Tamara Zima as the main character? A girl can dream.

Reading some of the early reviews and synopsis, I really wanted to like We Rule The Night. Girls fighting in war with magic? Sign me up. Lots of potential and has all of the ingredients for a great read. However, it falls short in almost every area with poor pacing, confusing world building and I didnt care for most of the characters, making for a very disappointing and slog of a read most of the way through.

This book has lots of world building, regarding the countries at war and several types of magic and the mention of gods, among other things. Its all really interesting, but it feels fractured and incomplete. Terminology is thrown left and right without much context. I felt lost with the magic system. While the elements are interesting, it isnt fleshed out or explained enough where I can get a coherent feel for it. And I still have a lot of questions regarding it even after reading the entire book. Same thing for the war; its not explained very much, its just there. Ive read that its supposed to get the feel that these girls are not heroes that were going to defeat the big bad and stop the war and theres nothing wrong with those narratives, in fact, I welcome more stories where the main characters are just side dishes to a bigger stage. But there needed to be just a little bit more than we got. Theres not a lot of sense of place in many parts of the book either, which had me lost in a lot of aspects.

As a warning, this is a very dark book, not a lot of humor and it doesnt let up, and I think it might have been part of the reason why it was such a hard read. Its loosely based on the Soviet Night Witches of WWII, but set in a fantasy world with magic. Bartlett attempts to tackle the issue of women in combat, and while its treated realistically, it felt like there was a lack of nuance regarding it. Almost all of the males were either bad or dead, femininity was put down more than once, and perspectives didnt change very much and stayed the same for most of the book. It felt repetitive.

The pacing was the worst part of the story; it was painfully slow for the first 2/3rds of the story, and I struggled to keep going. The long chapters didnt help either. The girls didnt start flying until the halfway point, which wouldnt have been so bad if the characters were more interesting. I honestly didnt care for most of the characters in this story, they were either flat or underdeveloped, and a majority of their interactions were infighting, instead of the female friendship bonding that I thought I was going to get. Linne had interesting potential, and I dont mind jerk characters, but she kept berating the female characters almost the whole way through with an Im not like other girls vibe. Revna was the only character I connected to, trying to keep her family safe and not treated as an inspirational disabled character (which I appreciate), and the fact that she has metal legs are not glossed over and treated realistically. I love her spirit, but wish she was fleshed out more.

In my opinion, this could have been much better as a novella, mostly containing the last 25% of the story, where the main action is. Much of the rest felt like slow moving padding that didnt contribute much of the overall storyline. It would have made the abrupt ending and lack of answers regarding the characters fates and background easier to swallow. But as is, I wasnt a fan. Great ideas, poor execution.

Wonderful book debut by Claire Bartlett! Well-written, compelling characters set in an intriguing world of magic and war. Female fantasy characters are so often brave, stand-alone, dont-need-anybody-except-maybe-a-love-interest types. This story finally fills that need for women working together forging great bonds of friendship and family. Great read!

Love Claires style!

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