Once again R J Anderson has allowed us to visit the wonderful world that she created in the first of this series “Knife”. (Review of previous book in this series, Rebel.) In this book we are shown the battle for the Oakenwyld through the eyes of Rhosmari, a Faerie who has lived her entire life on the Green Isles as one of The Children of Rhys. The Faerie population of these Isles are pacifist by nature and have no desire to join a fight, but after the loss of their Stone of Naming they are unsettled and one of the Elders, Rhosmari's mother, is considering aggressive action to get the stone back. The thought of this scares Rhosmari so much that she decides to run away to the mainland and try and find Garan, the Faerie responsible for the removal of the stone from the Isles and Rhosmari's ex betrothed, and get it back. I loved Rhosmari's attitude in this book, she was strong and yet completely naïve to the world outside of her personal experience. Even though she was very knowledgeable and a very accomplished scholar she had some preconceptions about herself and the world around her that were altered quite extremely throughout her journey. I loved her gentle, idealistic nature and found her a character that was very likeable, especially when she found solace in research. She meets many people on her journey and doesn't always know who to trust, even though she is wise it turns out she is easily manipulated because of her somewhat optimistic spirit. Her morality is tested quite a lot throughout the story as she interacts with people who handle situations differently than she would. She questions her own extreme views and has to accept that in certain situations deception and violence are unfortunately a necessary evil. The development of her character in this way was a fascinating read, I respected her because of her peaceful attitude and watching her morality shift and change because of the distressing situations she finds herself in really pulled me into the story to travel with her on her journey.
Another theme to this story that I found great was the concept of loyalty and betrayal. When you are setting out on a journey on your own how do you know who to trust? What does someone need to do to prove themselves to you? And even then can you ever really know what someone, or even what you yourself are really capable of? Rhosmari's trust is tested a lot in this story, people she thought to be friends turn out to be less than trustworthy and people who she naturally distrusts because of actions which she sees as immoral turn out to be the ones she can rely on the most.
I really enjoyed reading this book and read it very quickly over a couple of days. I had a rather over excited moment when Cardiff was visited in the story, as this is the place that I am currently moving to. : ) Like the previous books in this series I loved the world building and vast amount of characters. This book also had a plot that was like a snowball, once it started to roll it just grew and grew. There was never a slow moment, or a part that felt like it suffered for editing, it was all great reading.
At the end of the book I am treated to the news that not only is Anderson releasing another book in this story, “Swift” but also a story for older readers, “Ultraviolet” I can't wait for more on these. I have great faith in this author to give me a rich world I can fall into it, main characters that I invest so much hope into and villains that I can't bring myself to dislike no matter how deplorable their actions are. This is because whatever she writes she makes it feel real and tangible, everyone has a history and a story of their own. I can't wait for more.
Currently Reading: The Iron Witch By Karen Mahoney
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