This
review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained
therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to
copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions.
Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot & Librarything by Bookstooge’s
Exalted Permission
Title: In the Forests of Serre
Series: ----------
Author: Patricia McKillip
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 316
Format: Digital Edition
Series: ----------
Author: Patricia McKillip
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 316
Format: Digital Edition
Synopsis:
|
Prince Ronan, the
son of the heartless and one-eyed King Ferus, had his wife and child
die several months ago. Now his father has arranged a marriage for
him with Princess Sidonie, from a small neighboring kingdom known for
its magic. Before Ronan hears of this news though, he accidentally
kills a white chicken belonging to the witch Brume, who goes about
the forests of Serre in walking house of bones. She curses Ronan and
he becomes enamoured of the firebird. He begins to hunt the firebird
down only to become as wild as an animal.
Sidonie meets Ronan
on her way to the castle only she doesn't know it is him. She is with
a wizard named Gyre who has been sent as a guardian by the powerful
wizard Unciel, who fought a battle in The North and barely survived.
Once at the castle Sidonie is pretty much held captive under threat
of invasion of her home until Ferus can find his son. Gyre pretends
to be Ronan but his magical disguise is seen through and Ferus
attacks him and drives him into the forests, leaving Sidonie alone.
Gyre runs into
Ronan and helps him pay back Brume. Ronan has to give Brume his heart
and since it is already broken, he gladly gives it up and returns to
the castle. Sidonie realizes something is wrong with Ronan and sneaks
out of the castle to find Brume and bargain with her for the return
of Ronan's heart. At the same time Gyre is roaming the forest looking
for Brume for the heart of power that makes Serre so mysterious.
While all of this
is going on, a nameless, faceless monster appears and begins
terrorizing Serre. It would appear that the threat Unciel the great
Wizard defeated is not truly defeated.
Turns out that Gyre
stole the dead monsters heart and so it doesn't know it is dead.
Sidonie gets Ronan's heart back, Ronan falls in love with Sidonie and
Brume, the firebird and Gyre all figure out what is going on and
destroy the monster's heart, which was Gyre's heart which merely
needed to transform from a jewel into a real human heart.
I think.
My
Thoughts:
|
This was confusing and weird and perfectly delicious. It was
definitely one of the most fairytale'ish and straight forward of
McKillip's tales, as there was NO misapprehension with what was going
on with Brume or Ronan or Sidonie. Where things were confusing was
all with Gyre, Unciel and the nameless terror. I think the firebird's
egg was involved somehow, but I really didn't catch it all. I was too
busy enjoying the parts I could easily understand.
It has been almost 14 years exactly since I last read this and I have
to say, it has only gotten better. Despite my not understanding the
nameless terror, or maybe because of it really, I am going to be
adding the “Best Book of the Year” tag and put this in the
running for the end of the year. Something in this book just
resonated with me and while not making me jump up and down with glee,
so thoroughly satisfied me that I felt like a fat little buddha
statue full of literary satiation.
So far, my re-reads of McKillip have only enhanced my enjoyment of
her storytelling and of her writing skill. It saddens me that more
people don't love these books as much as I do and at the same time I
realize that I'm not exactly a focal point for what is hot. I do hope
that McKillip's books stand the test of time and survive where other
fantasies simply dissolve back into the morass from which they came.
The cover is once again an amazing one by Kinuko Craft. I'll be
including the full size piece of art in clickable linkiness so you
can peruse as you wish. I can already tell you that this cover is
probably going to win April's Cover Love hands down at the end of the
month.
★★★★★
No comments:
Post a Comment