Book Review: Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier

I've decided to join in Angie's Retro Friday Reviews meme (hopefully I'll do it regularly).  From her site:

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time!

What I'll be doing for the most part, is reviewing books I've recently discovered that were published two or more years ago.  I know I read a LOT of new stuff, but I'd like to review some things from the past too.  I find it especially appropriate that I'm starting with a book from a series Angie originally got me hooked on.

Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Publication date: 2001
ISBN: 9780765343260
Source: Library

 

This sequel to Daughter of the Forest, follows the story of Sorcha's daughter, Liadan.  Liadan inherited much from her mother - her skill in healing, her strong spirit, her stubbornness.  But, when Liadan is taken from her family to care for a sick man in the company of mercenaries, she finds her future is changing before her eyes.  As she falls for one of those mercenaries - an enemy to her family - she must decide for herself where her future leads, despite influences both from her family and from otherworldly creatures. 

Things I Liked:
Once again, I am enthralled by the skill Marillier has as a story teller and as a creator of a world full of depth and history.  The story is complex and takes many twists and turns that are both expected and surprising.  I fell in love with Liadan as I did with Sorcha before her.  She was a strong and resilient woman, who ends up being the one who saves, rather than being saved.  I love a good, strong heroine.  Marillier has a skill with words and with folklore, weaving a gorgeous setting and brilliant characters that seem as real and flawed as any I know.  I find myself completely immersed in the drama that unfolds at Sevenwaters and beyond.  The flawless way she includes magic in the ancient historical background of Ireland is just a testament to her skill as a fantasy writer.  Oh, and the bitterness of this book just broke my heart.  It is not a happy tale like Daughter of the Forest is (for the most part).  It is filled with heartbreaking moments and broken lives and lies that tear families apart.  And yet, I'm looking forward to reading the next books just as much.  Some of my favorite parts:

I wove into this story as much wonder and magic and enchantment as I could.  But I did not forget the ordinary things, the things that are wonderful in themselves, without being in any way unusual. p 182

The question was not so much did they trust me, as did I trust them?  Bran had dismissed trust once as a concept without meaning.  But if you could not trust, you were indeed alone, for neither friendship nor partnership, neither family nor alliance could exist without it.  Without trust, we were scattered far and wide, at the mercy of the four winds with nothing to cling to. p 370

I do not seek to make these wounds vanish as if they had never been.  I know he will always bear the scars.  I cannot make his path grow broad and straight.  It will always twist and turn and offer new difficulties.  But I can take his hand and walk by his side. p 551

Things I Didn't Like:
Once again, the book is long and not for those with very short attention spans.  I had to return this book twice to the library before I finished it.  It takes time and patience, but you will be richly rewarded at the end for it.

Read-alikes:
Start with Daughter of the Forest by Marillier
I also love Marillier's Wildwood Dancing and Heart's Blood

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
perhaps a few

mrg-factor: XX
there are a few scenes, fairly tasteful, but descriptive nonetheless

v-factor: ->->->
there is fighting and some gruesome images, but not a lot of scenes

Overall rating: *****

Do you have a favorite fantasy author?  One you haven't yet been disappointed by?

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Book Review: Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Daughter of the Forest is the sweeping tale of Sorcha and her six brothers.  Growing up deep in the heart of their forest, the seven of them are as close as they can be to one another.  But, when a mysterious and powerful woman comes into their lives, everything changes and Sorcha finds she must perform an impossible task in order to save her brothers' lives.  But even she does not at first realize just how difficult that task will be.

Things I Liked:
I was blown away by this book!  (A huge thanks to Angie from Angieville for recommending it so highly.)  There is so much in it, that I couldn't possibly do it all justice in this review without going on forever.  I had a hard enough time trying to write a "summary" for it - it doesn't even scratch the surface.  The characters are so complex and believable and real that you start to feel things right along with them, particularly Sorcha and Red.  The plot is complex and has many twists and turns, but it is easy to see that Marillier knew exactly where she wanted it to go.  Everything seems to happen for a reason, even the most horrible things.  I was also really impressed that she didn't just wrap things up all nice at the end.  Everything does not end up perfectly and the characters have each changed so much that things don't go back the way they were in the beginning.  We would not want them to.  And can I just say, the love story was so beautiful.  So many books today, especially a lot of teen romances (not to disparage the genre, since you know I read a lot of it), the love stories are so incomplete - the people fall in love at first sight.  They can't be separated - they feel incomplete without one another, but we really don't see any reason for this.  Not so, with this book.  Just so gorgeous.  And heartbreaking.  And I'll stop raving so you can pick this one up. :)

We may be torn asunder, and it may seem as if there is no tomorrow for us.  We may travel  our own path, and we may fall and be broken and mend again.  But in the end, as surely as the sun and moon make their way across the arch of the heavens, the strenght of one is the strength of seven...Like pools in the same stream, we must meet and part and meet again.  We belong to the flow of the lake and to the deep beating heart of the forest. p 124

Real live is not quite as it is in stories.  In the old tales, bad things happen, and when the tale has unfolded and come to its triumphant conclusion, it is as if the bad things had never been.  Life is not as simple as that, not quite. p532-533

Things I Didn't Like:
It is not a simple, easy read.  It takes a long time for the action to start and there are a lot of details and side stories and pages to get through.  Those of you who don't like high fantasy will not want to bother.  But, you will miss out.  Take plenty of time and don't rush.  I think you'll fall in love too.

Read-alikes:
I kept remembering Hush: an Irish Princess' Tale by Donna Jo Napoli
And very like Marillier's other books, especially Heart's Blood

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
a few

mrg-factor: XX
mostly it is implied or skimmed over, but one rather disturbing scene

v-factor: ->->->
plenty of fighting and injury and the above-mentioned scene

Overall rating: *****

Got a latest blown-away-by-this book?

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