tcorder's review
5.0
Buy this book. Read this book. When you have finished this book, pick your jaw up off the ground and tell all your friends to buy this book. It is that good...even with its flaws. And there are flaws with this book.
The majority of the flaws with the actual story are minor things that can easily be ignored, or even missed altogether. They're the usual things like small errors in consistency (is it a necklace or a bracelet, switching back and forth between names at the beginning of chapter seven, Morgan stating that most people there are "too young to remember" an event that only happened ten years previously, etc.) and don't distract the reader from the story too much. In fact, for me, they only help to point out just how good a story teller and writer Ms. Ruth is because I was not distracted by them.
A slightly larger flaw is a flaw of omission. Such things as mentions of something discussed earlier when we never saw those earlier conversations. References to Addien's/Gennes' youth and social life in Trevelgue that we never see. The sudden introduction of Addien's/Gennes' Christian beliefs over halfway through the book. Her surprising grasp of the economic and trade situation in Dumnonia that allows her to help save the villagers being held captive by a neighboring area. A lack of explaining the motives behind some characters' actions. I place the blame for this flaw solely with Ms. Ruth, not so much because it is a problem with the story itself, but because she has made me care for these characters so much that I want more of them. I want more conversations between them. I want to see them growing up and learning. I want to see more of the reasons, motives, and thinking behind their actions.
The largest flaw with this book is, paradoxically, the best indication of just how powerful a story teller Ms. Ruth is. The book starts out as a fairly straight forward fairy tale about a young princess, Addien, and her imaginary (or not) friend, Trevilian, on her sixth birthday. Then, as in all good fairy tales, bad things start to happen and Addien must flee her home. From this, you might think that this is simply a light fantasy/fairy tale for children. It most definitely is not. Later on, we are given all of the elements of young romance complete with misunderstandings, knowing glances, and fluttering hearts. From this, you might think that this is just a light romance for young teens. But there are more mature elements later in the story that some may deem unsuitable for younger teens. So it must be for older teens, right? I don't know. I get the feeling that older teens may balk at some of the more fantastic elements as being too juvenile. (As for me, I almost shouted with childish glee when the truth about Trevilian was revealed. I was worried that Ms. Ruth wasn't going to go that route, and I was so happy when she did.) So I'm not sure what age range this book was written for.
Now, I said that this was the best indication of just how powerful a story teller Ms. Ruth is. That's because, as Addien matures in the story, the events mature right along with her. And as Addien and events mature, so do the levels of story telling and writing. Everything and everyone matures, grows more complex, and just plain gets better as the book progresses. And the transition from child's fairy tale to full blown adult drama happens so seamlessly and naturally that the reader is not even aware of it until they sit back later and reflect on what they have just experienced. If this was intentional on Ms. Ruth's part, then it shows that she is an accomplished and masterful story teller. If it was not intentional, then it shows that she is a natural-born story teller with a great gift.
Not only is she a wonderful story teller, she is also a brave one. Sure, you get some of the elements you expect - all of the gushy first love/young romance elements are there (even a steamy tryst in a hay loft, complete with ripped bodice), the narrow escapes, the sudden realizations, etc. But you also get a lot of things that you don't expect. I could picture an editor or agent looking through this manuscript going, "You can't do this. You can't do that. And you most definitely can't do THAT!" But she does do them. She makes the brave and difficult decisions. And she makes them work. A good example, that doesn't give anything away, is the way she treats belief in the story. Too many times I've seen stories of this time period where Christianity comes in and tramples out all of the belief in magic and the fantastic. But here, they all co-exist in harmony. There is real magic, real fantasy, and real Christian belief that all live side by side, and the story is so much better for it.
Ms. Ruth isn't just a story teller, however. She is also a writer, in the truest sense of the word. At one point, well into the book, I started to notice that some of the sentence structures seemed a little odd. After closer inspection, I realized that she was making sure her sentences didn't end in dangling prepositions. That's not just good writing, it's careful writing. There are a few places where she uses just the right sentence in just the right place to tell volumes about a character's feelings. In fact, there were some passages that I just wanted to cut out and send to hacks like Dan Brown, Patricia Cornwell, Stephenie Meyer, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, and others with a note saying, "You may be able to sell millions of copies, but this lady knows how to write."
So buy this book. Read this book. And maybe you will agree with me when I say I want to see more. I want to see more of these characters. I want to see more of this story. And I want to see more from this author.
The majority of the flaws with the actual story are minor things that can easily be ignored, or even missed altogether. They're the usual things like small errors in consistency (is it a necklace or a bracelet, switching back and forth between names at the beginning of chapter seven, Morgan stating that most people there are "too young to remember" an event that only happened ten years previously, etc.) and don't distract the reader from the story too much. In fact, for me, they only help to point out just how good a story teller and writer Ms. Ruth is because I was not distracted by them.
A slightly larger flaw is a flaw of omission. Such things as mentions of something discussed earlier when we never saw those earlier conversations. References to Addien's/Gennes' youth and social life in Trevelgue that we never see. The sudden introduction of Addien's/Gennes' Christian beliefs over halfway through the book. Her surprising grasp of the economic and trade situation in Dumnonia that allows her to help save the villagers being held captive by a neighboring area. A lack of explaining the motives behind some characters' actions. I place the blame for this flaw solely with Ms. Ruth, not so much because it is a problem with the story itself, but because she has made me care for these characters so much that I want more of them. I want more conversations between them. I want to see them growing up and learning. I want to see more of the reasons, motives, and thinking behind their actions.
The largest flaw with this book is, paradoxically, the best indication of just how powerful a story teller Ms. Ruth is. The book starts out as a fairly straight forward fairy tale about a young princess, Addien, and her imaginary (or not) friend, Trevilian, on her sixth birthday. Then, as in all good fairy tales, bad things start to happen and Addien must flee her home. From this, you might think that this is simply a light fantasy/fairy tale for children. It most definitely is not. Later on, we are given all of the elements of young romance complete with misunderstandings, knowing glances, and fluttering hearts. From this, you might think that this is just a light romance for young teens. But there are more mature elements later in the story that some may deem unsuitable for younger teens. So it must be for older teens, right? I don't know. I get the feeling that older teens may balk at some of the more fantastic elements as being too juvenile. (As for me, I almost shouted with childish glee when the truth about Trevilian was revealed. I was worried that Ms. Ruth wasn't going to go that route, and I was so happy when she did.) So I'm not sure what age range this book was written for.
Now, I said that this was the best indication of just how powerful a story teller Ms. Ruth is. That's because, as Addien matures in the story, the events mature right along with her. And as Addien and events mature, so do the levels of story telling and writing. Everything and everyone matures, grows more complex, and just plain gets better as the book progresses. And the transition from child's fairy tale to full blown adult drama happens so seamlessly and naturally that the reader is not even aware of it until they sit back later and reflect on what they have just experienced. If this was intentional on Ms. Ruth's part, then it shows that she is an accomplished and masterful story teller. If it was not intentional, then it shows that she is a natural-born story teller with a great gift.
Not only is she a wonderful story teller, she is also a brave one. Sure, you get some of the elements you expect - all of the gushy first love/young romance elements are there (even a steamy tryst in a hay loft, complete with ripped bodice), the narrow escapes, the sudden realizations, etc. But you also get a lot of things that you don't expect. I could picture an editor or agent looking through this manuscript going, "You can't do this. You can't do that. And you most definitely can't do THAT!" But she does do them. She makes the brave and difficult decisions. And she makes them work. A good example, that doesn't give anything away, is the way she treats belief in the story. Too many times I've seen stories of this time period where Christianity comes in and tramples out all of the belief in magic and the fantastic. But here, they all co-exist in harmony. There is real magic, real fantasy, and real Christian belief that all live side by side, and the story is so much better for it.
Ms. Ruth isn't just a story teller, however. She is also a writer, in the truest sense of the word. At one point, well into the book, I started to notice that some of the sentence structures seemed a little odd. After closer inspection, I realized that she was making sure her sentences didn't end in dangling prepositions. That's not just good writing, it's careful writing. There are a few places where she uses just the right sentence in just the right place to tell volumes about a character's feelings. In fact, there were some passages that I just wanted to cut out and send to hacks like Dan Brown, Patricia Cornwell, Stephenie Meyer, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, and others with a note saying, "You may be able to sell millions of copies, but this lady knows how to write."
So buy this book. Read this book. And maybe you will agree with me when I say I want to see more. I want to see more of these characters. I want to see more of this story. And I want to see more from this author.
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