A shady place
Years ago, when I was an undergrad, I took a relatively easy class called Fable & Fantasy. Our reading list included a few contemporary novels, not all of them direct fantasy, but all pretty impressive in story-telling abilities. This is one of them.
The great metropolis of Ombria suffers when its trusted prince dies and the old regent, Domina Pearl, effectively takes over. An unforgiving and ruthless old woman, she banishes the deceased prince's gentle mistress without a thought and drugs the young prince Kyel so he will be submissive to her. The mistress, a waitress named Lydea, returns to her old job but longs to see Kyel, as they have grown as close as siblings. Kyel's real relative, the bastard Ducon, is the only one in the castle who has Kyel's best interests at heart - which may be his undoing, as other nobles hatch a plot to kill the Black Pearl and Kyel. Everyone despairs that the Black Pearl has lived for so long, but only the sorceress Faey and her apprentice Mag know that they have been supplying the regent the spells and magic that keep her alive. However, when Mag gets on Domina Pearl's bad side, Faey decides that she must stop using her powers to keep the Black Pearl alive. Meanwhile, as Ducon and Mag search for their real parents, they find that their own paths are intertwined.
This book will strike you immediately with its intelligence and subtle allusions to fairy tales and fairy tale tropes, all of which are greatly subverted. This is a story that takes its readers' intelligence for granted, which I found rather refreshing. Amid all this, McKillip creates a story that is very character-based; the relationships and bonds between characters are nuanced and layered, allowing the simple message "love is all you need" to resonate in a deep way. More often than not, the characters' love or affection for another dictates a result of the story: Ducon stays in the palace to protect Kyel, Faey is roused to action when Mag appears to be in trouble, and Lydea ventures back to the palace to give Kyel some peace of mind. Many of the characters offer opportunities for comparison, especially Faey and Domina Pearl: both are powerful older women who are far older than humanly possible, and both use any amount of magic to sustain themselves.
The setting offers more food for thought, as it is revealed early on that the underside of Ombria - where people like Mag and Faey live - is its past, or "shadow" city, where ghosts and old memories dwell. A scene where Kyel's history-obsessed tutor is going crazy while interviewing ghosts, convinced that knowledge of the past is all the knowledge one needs, illustrates the trap presented by living in the past. As this can be connected to Domina Pearl's all-consuming need to stay alive way past her natural time of death, this is an example of a theme being subtly woven into an already engrossing narrative.
The one complaint I have is the seeming ambiguity of its ending, which comes across as more of a deus ex machina. Although it is hinted earlier in the story as part of the city's mythology, it ultimately doesn't seem to add much to the story. Part of my disappointment has to do with Faey, whose actions are what cause the ending; her sorcery is just too vague and not a compelling enough reason to believe in what takes place. It ends up creating questions as much as it provides answers, and if there was a sequel, this wouldn't bother me. But as it is, it's what keeps me from enjoying the book as a whole.
Still, I'd recommend it for any lover of fantasy. Rating: 4 sapphire dancing shoes out of 5.
This book will strike you immediately with its intelligence and subtle allusions to fairy tales and fairy tale tropes, all of which are greatly subverted. This is a story that takes its readers' intelligence for granted, which I found rather refreshing. Amid all this, McKillip creates a story that is very character-based; the relationships and bonds between characters are nuanced and layered, allowing the simple message "love is all you need" to resonate in a deep way. More often than not, the characters' love or affection for another dictates a result of the story: Ducon stays in the palace to protect Kyel, Faey is roused to action when Mag appears to be in trouble, and Lydea ventures back to the palace to give Kyel some peace of mind. Many of the characters offer opportunities for comparison, especially Faey and Domina Pearl: both are powerful older women who are far older than humanly possible, and both use any amount of magic to sustain themselves.
The setting offers more food for thought, as it is revealed early on that the underside of Ombria - where people like Mag and Faey live - is its past, or "shadow" city, where ghosts and old memories dwell. A scene where Kyel's history-obsessed tutor is going crazy while interviewing ghosts, convinced that knowledge of the past is all the knowledge one needs, illustrates the trap presented by living in the past. As this can be connected to Domina Pearl's all-consuming need to stay alive way past her natural time of death, this is an example of a theme being subtly woven into an already engrossing narrative.
The one complaint I have is the seeming ambiguity of its ending, which comes across as more of a deus ex machina. Although it is hinted earlier in the story as part of the city's mythology, it ultimately doesn't seem to add much to the story. Part of my disappointment has to do with Faey, whose actions are what cause the ending; her sorcery is just too vague and not a compelling enough reason to believe in what takes place. It ends up creating questions as much as it provides answers, and if there was a sequel, this wouldn't bother me. But as it is, it's what keeps me from enjoying the book as a whole.
Still, I'd recommend it for any lover of fantasy. Rating: 4 sapphire dancing shoes out of 5.
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