DISSONANCE OF BIRD SONG

In Beaumont’s fantasy novel, a woman in ancient Cornwall braves the world outside her settlement to save her twin sister.

Like everyone in her clifftop village, Eseld needs the Mystcran birds to survive. These birds breathe out the Myst that villagers inhale, which they can use to create fire for heating their homes. People have their own Mystcran, like Moredhen, the bird belonging to Eseld and her twin, Nessa. If your bird dies, you lose access to Myst—those without it, according to the village druid, will “frenzy” and steal others’ Myst. When Moredhen gets the same sickness that’s killed other birds, the druid is ready to send the sisters where all the frenzied go: the dreaded Picking Pits mine. Eseld flees, but she has a plan; she’ll find a cure for the Mystcran and save Moredhen and, by extension, Nessa. For that to happen, she’ll have to rely on her former lover, Perran, whose time in the Pits may have “twisted” him, and Queen Pyskroghen, the sea-monarch with the power to charm others. Beaumont’s novel features an appealing hero. Most of the daring things Eseld does are for others—Nessa, her village, and another individual she grows close to. She also doesn’t easily give up on Perran, despite his tactless and even dangerous moves. Myst is akin to magic, one of several elements that nudge the story into supernatural territory; even more compelling is the author’s superlative prose: “Three figures with veins like climbing ivy creeping across their faces strode toward me. Their eyes were as dark as the Picking Pits, their fingers clutching claw-like into the carved staffs they held themselves up with.” The open ending is the kind that will reverberate for days, leaving seemingly endless avenues for a sequel to take.

A lyrical tale of magic, valor, and unbreakable bonds.