An unusual take on Dark Ages drama which may well command a following.
First in a trilogy set in sixth-century Celtic Britain, starring the sister of the man who will be Merlin.
According to her author’s note, Pike has set out to reconstruct the historical underpinnings of the Arthur legends, tracing their roots to what is today Scotland. In this first volume, we meet Languoreth and her twin brother, Lailoken, children of chieftan-king Morken, who have recently lost their mother. Since their father is often absent at the court of the high king and overlord, Tutgual, the children are raised by their loyal nurse, Crowan, their tutor, Cathan, a Wisdom Keeper—that is, a druidic priest—and Ariane, a rare female Wisdom Keeper who appears one day to help prepare Languoreth for womanhood. Lailoken is being groomed as a warrior—the kingdoms to the southeast are being preyed upon by invading Angles—but his main aspiration is to be a Wisdom Keeper. As the twins reach adolescence it is clear that although Lailoken will be free to follow his path, Languoreth’s destiny is as a royal bargaining chip. One of the chief virtues here is Pike’s demonstration of the destabilization posed by Christian evangelists. When, at first, it's limited to a few monks, Christianity integrates well with the prevailing druidism. Then, a crusading monk named Mungo desecrates a druidic shrine and worms his way into Tutgual’s favor. Pike is sensitive to feudal politics: One of Christianity’s chief attractions for royalty is, apparently, a priesthood which submits to the divine right of kings, as opposed to the Wisdom Keepers, who guard their independence and sovereignty. Although the Celts cling to the old beliefs and to feasts like Beltane and Lughnasa (lavishly depicted here), Mungo will stop at nothing, including murder and pillage, to topple the ancient gods. Once Languoreth is wed to Tutgual’s heir, pregnant by her true love Maelgwn, and directly threatened by Mungo, the conflict never lets up. Despite a few clichés, the language does a fine job of evoking the period.
An unusual take on Dark Ages drama which may well command a following.Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-9141-1
Page Count: 544
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
PROFILES
At Buckkeep in the Six Duchies, young Fitz, the bastard son of Prince Chivalry, is raised as a stablehand by old warrior Burrich. But when Chivalry dies without legitimate issue—murdered, it's rumored—Fitz, at the orders of King Shrewd, is brought into the palace and trained in the knightly and courtly arts. Meanwhile, secretly at night, he receives instruction from another bastard, Chade, in the assassin's craft. Now, King Shrewd's subjects are imperiled by the visits of the Red-Ship Raiders—formidable warriors who pillage the seacoasts and turn their human victims into vicious, destructive zombies. Since rehabilitating the zombies proves impossible, it's Fitz's task to go abroad covertly and kill them as quickly and humanely as possible. Shrewd orders that Fitz be taught the Skill—mental powers of telepathy and coercion possessed by all those of the royal line; his teacher is Galen, a sadistic ally of the popinjay Prince Regal, who hates Fitz all the more for his loyalty to Shrewd's other son, the stalwart soldier Verity. Galen brutalizes Fitz and, unknown to anyone, implants a mental block that prevents Fitz from using the Skill. Later, Shrewd decrees that, to cement an alliance, Verity shall wed the Princess Kettricken, heir to a remote yet rich mountain kingdom. Verity, occupied with Skillfully keeping the Red-Ship Raiders at bay, can't go to collect his bride, so Regal and Fitz are sent. Finally, Fitz must discover the depths of Regal's perfidy, recapture his true Skill, win Kettricken's heart for Verity, and help Verity defeat the Raiders. An intriguing, controlled, and remarkably assured debut, at once satisfyingly self-contained yet leaving plenty of scope for future extensions and embellishments.
Pub Date: April 17, 1995
ISBN: 0-553-37445-1
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Spectra/Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1995
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
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