rating: 4 of 5 stars
I don’t love the Imriel books quiiiiite as much as I adore the Phedre books…but they are still pretty yummy. I do think Carey might have done a bit more with Sidonie’s feelings about having been tricked by Astegal. Sidonie isn’t that much of an ice queen. Also, I hope Carey follows up on some of her hints…maybe some Alais books, or even a Ghanim book? And where the heck are more Banewreaker books?!

Tags: fantasy, Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel, romance

I started this series on the third book by mistake, and before I was ten pages in I knew I had to read the first two. Daughter of the Forest is book 1, and it is magnificent. Marillier writes strong young heroines. Their stories are never as simple as the ones in fairy tales; they are put through heartbreaking trials, they can turn to no one, and often they must keep deep secrets. This book describes beautifully the love of a sister for her brothers, and how terrible it can be to have to choose between these, her first male contacts, and another who turns out to be the love of her life. Rape survivors take note, and I don’t mind the spoiler here: the main character is raped in fairly graphic detail, so if you’re avoiding triggers I’d skip this book and indeed the whole series.

Tags: fantasy, Juliet Marillier

“‘It’s our own fault,’ he wept….The oldest stories ever made, and look at them now. We let them rot, we abandoned them, long before this poisoning. We lost touch with our beginnings, with our roots, our Wellspring, our Source. Boring, we said, not in demand, surplus to requirements. And now, look, just look! No colour, no life, no nothing. Spoilt!”

How on earth could it be possible that the man who wrote these words has been condemned to death?! Granted, I haven’t read The Satanic Verses (although having had this first taste of Rushdie I definitely will). But Haroun is quite a nice little book, very suitable for young children, and with only a veiled taste of social commentary. Khomeini = dumbass. I’m gonna grab me some more Rushdie when I can, partly for meanness’ sake and partly because I genuinely enjoyed Haroun. It’s great for book and story lovers, especially if you love storytelling (I won’t even date a guy unless he’s a good storyteller).

Tags: children's, fantasy, Salman Rushdie

I loved Carey’s Kushiel series (I can’t wait for Imriel!), so I was really looking forward to reading The Sundering books. Banewreaker is the first book in that series. Once again Carey creates a rich pantheon of gods and demigods to populate a fictional version of an actual place–from the map at the beginning, it looks to be Australia this time. The “boss god,” if you will, gives birth to the Seven Shapers, each of which has a special Gift to bestow upon their creations: for example, Haomane, creator of the Ellylon (think Tolkienish Elves), bestows reason, Oronin brings death, and Satoris brings “the quickening of the flesh”–in other words, lust (did you expect anything else from the divine Ms. Carey? ^_^). Each Shaper offers his or her Gift to the other’s creation. Satoris’ Gift is necessary, because it brings the impetus to mate and therefore an incentive to continue each species. However, Haomane disdained this gift. There was a fight, Satoris was wounded with Godslayer (a dagger made from a shard of the Souma, a magical gem), he fled, and the world was Sundered.

This is where the story begins. Haomane has made a Prophecy that when, among other things, an Ellyl woman weds a mortal Man, Satoris will be defeated. An Ellyl/human couple attempts to wed, but Satoris’ commander Tanaros disrupts the wedding and captures Cerelinde, the Lady of the Ellylon. (Tanaros also has a deep and sad backstory that influences much of the plot.) The forces of “good,” or so they call themselves, dispatch a small force to retrieve Cerelinde. The catch is that it is Haomane who has sinned in his pride, so throughout the book, the reader sees the world through Satoris’ eyes and the eyes of his followers who seek to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled.

As I said, I love Carey’s writing. The story is very interesting, and her crafting of the Shapers is masterful. However, through much of the book I couldn’t help but feel that it was simply an upside-down Lord of the Rings. Satoris lives in the West, instead of the East. The fellowship sent to dispatch him includes a pair of people thought only to exist in legend, one of whom is a naive boy who carries a Burden and one of whom is a bit chubby (Frodo and Sam?), an Ellyl who is usually the voice of cold reason (Legolas?), a Man who is bitter about his heritage as distant kin of Tanaros (Boromir?), the wronged suitor who is a King-in-exile (Aragorn?), some supporting characters, and of course, a powerful wizard who falls into the depths of the earth, seemingly dead, and rises again as a White Rider (Gandalf!) The wizard is portrayed as a manipulative meddler who knows more than he lets on. Aracus Altorus, the “Aragorn” of our story, is a bit of a ruthless battlemonger who kills any “lesser” being that happens to be working for Satoris. There isn’t much attachment to the pair of innocents (although it is interesting how like Aborigines they are).

Even so, there is no way I wouldn’t recommend this to fantasy readers. If nothing else, you can see how a pantheon should look. Hooray for sibling rivalry!

Tags: fantasy, Jacqueline Carey