This week’s novel is Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier. My mom, the prolific fantasy reader,
recommended this one to me.
Blackthorn and Grim are imprisoned in a corrupt chieftain’s
prison when a fey offers Blackthorn a chance to escape provided she goes North
to a specific village, takes a position as their wise woman (which is like a
healer), and never denies anyone when they ask for help. The two escape and head north and find a
mystery: the overly romantic Prince Oran has been corresponding with the girl
his parents have arrange for him to marry and he’s completely smitten. But when she arrives, she doesn’t act like
she did in the letters, and there’s the strong whiff of something magical and
sinister about the whole situation.
This book alternates point of view between Blackthorn, Grim,
and Oran, and I have to say I was way more invested in Oran’s story than anyone
else’s. His situation with his betrothed
was creep-tastic, with a bunch of little, weird clues that something was amiss
that it just rubbed the wrong way and made me suspicious and invested. I wanted to know what was happening so much I
almost looked it up. I almost texted my
mom to ask, making use of multiple interabangs.
Is she a changeling?! Did she
body swap with the dog?! Is she a water
monster?! Is Oran just a big
dummy?! What’s her goal here?!
I’m a little disappointed that Oran didn’t put Blackthorn on
the case until 2/3rds of the way through, but that was more surprising when I
noticed it than a sense that the pacing was off.
I also appreciated that Blackthorn was so bristly and hated
everybody and had to actively try to be polite.
Being sociable is hard, and her pain—although extreme—was
relatable. And even though she’s clever,
she lets her prejudices affect her better judgement. She’s a great, flawed character.
(In comparison, I pictured Oran as the prince from Monty
Python and the Holy Grail. The one who keeps trying to burst into song. So that’s also fun.)
***
Next Week: Illuminae, epistolary YA Sci-Fi by Amie Kaufman
and Jay Kristoff
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