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Title: Heir of Sea and Fire
Series:
Riddlemaster #2
Author: Patricia McKillip
Rating:
4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages:
215
Format: Digital Edition
Raederle, the woman
betrothed to Morgan, sets out to find him as he has gone missing. She
hooks up with some others, one of them being Morgan's younger sister
and sails all over. Morgan has thoroughly disappeared though and the
landheir power has been passed on to his brother. This usually means
the original holder of said power is dead and almost everyone but
Raederle believes Morgan to be dead.
Part way through
Morgan is revealed to be alive and chasing after the Bard who
betrayed him AND that the wizard Ohm has been masquerading as The One
(the magical master of the whole land). Raederle must convince Morgan
to not take his vengeance against the Bard as it will destroy who
Morgan is.
Raederle also comes
into powers of her own. She finds out that one of her ancestors was a
shapeshifter from the sea and this blood has bestowed peculiar power
to her. Considering that the shapeshifters were doing their best to
kill Morgan in the previous book, Raederle isn't sure how Morgan is
going to act when he finds out his betrothed belongs to those who
wanted him dead.
The book ends with
a showdown between the dead of Hel, controlled by Raederle and the
Bard and Morgan. Morgan is convinced to show mercy and then he and
Raederle set out to track down Ohm and get some answers for all the
mysteries going on.
While I am giving this 4stars this time, I completely understand
myself for giving it 2 stars back in '07. This was trying to tell a
fantasy story that needed a trilogy and McKillip kept going between
fantasy writerstyle of the day and her own style of lyrical prose. It
makes for an unsettling read as at one point you'll have everything
spelled out for you and then 10 pages later some monumental
revelation is made as an aside in some oblique reference to some
myth.
That was the weakness of this book and I am not sure that it can
truly overcome that weakness. It's the same problem I had with
Riddlemaster of Hed and the main reason I wouldn't recommend
these as starter books for someone looking to get into McKillip.
Now that being said, since I have already read almost everything of
McKillip's and am currently re-reading everything, I can appreciate
this book for its strengths.
This borrows heavily from Welsh/Welch (love that grapejuice by the
way!) myth with the lands of Hel, Awn, etc and the unsettled dead and
magic held by the lands rulers. If you've ever read The Prydain
Chronicles by Llloyd Alexander, you'll recognize a lot of the
places and situations McKillip uses in this book. I think having that
pre-existing knowledge will help a lot in understanding just what is
going on, since there is so much happening without being spelled out.
McKillip was writing for a well-read audience and I think a more
modern audience will miss out on a lot of references, references that
make this a much fuller, richer story.
Raederle was a great character. She wasn't pie in the eye in love
with Morgan, since she had only known him as a friend growing up. But
since he was her betrothed, she was going to find out what happened
to him. It showed a core of steel in her character. That showed her
as strong but not some kickass heroine where her femininity was
completely overshadowed by her being a man with breasts. She wasn't a
warrior, she couldn't sail the ship she was on but there was NEVER
any doubt that it was Raederle driving and leading everyone else on.
When she confronts Morgon about his quest for vengeance, she doesn't
kick his legs out from under him and pin him down until he submits.
She supports the parts of him that she does admire and lets him see
that and lets that support decide him.
The supporting characters, from Morgon's younger sister to the ghost
of the King of Hel (that is him on the cover, lusting after his
skull, which had been nailed to a midden pile and that Raederle used
as a bargaining chip in obtaining his help) to Morgon himself were
just as good.
To end, I once again thoroughly enjoyed another McKillip story while
definitely not recommending this as a starting place for anyone
thinking about a McKillip journey. Get some “experience” with her
as an author and then come back to this.
★★★★☆