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dangermousieWhile I am a big fan of scifi, space opera and urban fantasy, to say that I am generally allergic to quasi-medieval fantasy would be a huge understatement. I can count the number of 'medieval' fantasy books I liked on one hand. Possibly a mutilated one with half the fingers missing.
Well, now another novel has been added to that tiny list - The Hedgewitch Queen by Lilith Saintcrow (who apparently writes urban fantasy. I think I have a new author I need to check out). THQ is set in what is essentially a fantasy version of southern France during the High Middle Ages. Our protagonist and narrator is Viviane, a lady-in-waiting to the princess and distantly related to the royal line. When the novel opens, Viviane is a consummate court lady and the biggest problems facing her are keeping court intrigues from harming her princess and practicing her hedgewitch skills in peace (hedgewitching is viewed as peasant magic, as opposed to court sorcery). But within hours of the opening, Viviane's world is in ruins - the king, the princess and all the ladies-in-waiting except for her are assassinated and the King's brother, the leader of the coup, declares himself the new King.
Viviane goes on the run with Tristan d'Arcenne, the captain of the King's guard and his men, who are determined to declare her the new Queen. In the process, she develops strength, confidence and pragmatism, decides what it is she really wants and is capable of, gets to be the owner (or is it the ownee?) of the magical amulet that activates in the presence of the true heir, deals with death, illness and nightmares. Oh, and finds out that there are dark secrets everywhere, some of which may destroy what is left of her world.
So, why did I love it so, when most medieval fantasy books annoy me like the plague?
a. I like the writing style. It's first person narrative, which can be a hit or miss, but here the almost-claustrophobic feeling being only in Viviane's head gives us, is oddly fitting. Viviane's world has been destroyed and narrowed to (for most of the book) escape and survival and a very small group of people. Plus, I think the main thread here is how Viviane grows into her role and, seeing how self-possessed she is, if we were looking at her from the outside, a lot of this struggle and inner growth would be lost to the readers.
b. It's not high fantasy. Sure, there is magic and some interference by Gods in the world, but there aren't dragons, multiple races of elves or whatever. It really is very close to High Middle Ages, an area of particular interest to me. In a lot of ways, it's like a darker, denser version of one of those Lais of Marie de France, which had magic of their own. (Caution - for worldbuilding purists, there might be things that bug you here - this is supposed to be a society with matrilineal descent but some things don't seem to fit what that would do to the society. It doesn't bug me, but MMV. Also some names for things are fake-medieval which might also be a drawback. I liked the rest of it enough to overlook).
c. The characters. There aren't any characters in this I love but all main characters are uniformly interesting and complicated (OK, maybe not the villain, who is just plain bad. I am mildly surprised we didn't see him eating a puppy).
d. The main relationship. If you guys like intense and really dysfunctional, come right in. Viviane/Tristan is pretty much a goldmine for a therapist, except I don't think they have them even in a fantasy version of High Middle Ages. It's a rare book where I ended it convinced both that (a) they really love each other (b) I don't think of a way they can stay together, and not due to outside forces, but due to their own stuff. (Trying to be unspoilery here). I suppose we'll find out in The Bandit King, the second part of the duology, coming out this summer.
e. I really like the plot - there is a lot of adventure, twists etc. Nor is every twist predictable, though unlike a lot of people (if amazon is anything to go by), I was neither surprised nor appalled to find out that it was Tristan who killed the King. Mainly because his job description could have been pretty much summed up as "King's killer psycho," and it's not surprising that King's killer could finally turn on the King himself. Plus, some things just didn't add up. I do wonder what made him finally snap though (he mentioned Viviane to the King before the latter died, but was it just that the King didn't want him to marry her or what?) I am, however, a bit confused about his role - was he a part of the Duke's conspiracy (probably promised Viviane as a gift in return) and then got double-crossed, or was it some other conspiracy that got its wires crossed with the Duke's? Because he didn't seem to be in sync with the Duke and, also, he clearly didn't know of the plan to kill the princess and all the court ladies, because he would have never let Viviane go back to those quarters and almost get killed if he knew. Oh, well, I suppose TBK will elucidate, since it's written from his perspective (this is going to be dark, isn't it?)
I can't really see how their relationship can continue. Sure, he would die for her, but the fact remains his actions, at the very least, threw the Kingdom into a civil war and resulted in the death of the princess, Viviane's best friend. Sure, she loves him (and married him) and told him she doesn't care about his past, but I am sure that is far far beyond anything she even suspected in his past - she spends the whole book certain of his loyalty to the dead King, even thinking at one point that he's only protecting/wooing her for the dead King's sake. I have to say that was the one part that made me impatient. I mean, total strangers see that he is obsessed with her, and he does everything but set himself on fire to show his feelings, and she is totally 'he can't like me, can he?' Ah, why?
Random thought - anyone else thinks that if she ends up with anyone at all, it will be the bandit leader who is her distant cousin? If so, I hope he gets developed more in book 2 because right now, I am just not that interested in him.
Rather random, but when I read the book, I kept seeing this famous pre-Raphaelite painting. It's freakishly appropriate:
Tbh, I was perhaps wrong when I thought of Marie de France. It's more like a verbal pre-Raphaelite paintings - intense colors and beauty and middle ages through a very misty mirror.
I've seen some reviewers mention faint shadows of Jacqueline Carey's famous "Kushiel" series, but since I loathed that so much I not only stopped a quarter in, I actually threw out my copy, I am in no position to speak to that. (Yes, I know everyone loves it. The s&m is not my bag, to put it mildly).
So, go read. It's dark and smart and intense and wonderful.
Well, now another novel has been added to that tiny list - The Hedgewitch Queen by Lilith Saintcrow (who apparently writes urban fantasy. I think I have a new author I need to check out). THQ is set in what is essentially a fantasy version of southern France during the High Middle Ages. Our protagonist and narrator is Viviane, a lady-in-waiting to the princess and distantly related to the royal line. When the novel opens, Viviane is a consummate court lady and the biggest problems facing her are keeping court intrigues from harming her princess and practicing her hedgewitch skills in peace (hedgewitching is viewed as peasant magic, as opposed to court sorcery). But within hours of the opening, Viviane's world is in ruins - the king, the princess and all the ladies-in-waiting except for her are assassinated and the King's brother, the leader of the coup, declares himself the new King.
Viviane goes on the run with Tristan d'Arcenne, the captain of the King's guard and his men, who are determined to declare her the new Queen. In the process, she develops strength, confidence and pragmatism, decides what it is she really wants and is capable of, gets to be the owner (or is it the ownee?) of the magical amulet that activates in the presence of the true heir, deals with death, illness and nightmares. Oh, and finds out that there are dark secrets everywhere, some of which may destroy what is left of her world.
So, why did I love it so, when most medieval fantasy books annoy me like the plague?
a. I like the writing style. It's first person narrative, which can be a hit or miss, but here the almost-claustrophobic feeling being only in Viviane's head gives us, is oddly fitting. Viviane's world has been destroyed and narrowed to (for most of the book) escape and survival and a very small group of people. Plus, I think the main thread here is how Viviane grows into her role and, seeing how self-possessed she is, if we were looking at her from the outside, a lot of this struggle and inner growth would be lost to the readers.
b. It's not high fantasy. Sure, there is magic and some interference by Gods in the world, but there aren't dragons, multiple races of elves or whatever. It really is very close to High Middle Ages, an area of particular interest to me. In a lot of ways, it's like a darker, denser version of one of those Lais of Marie de France, which had magic of their own. (Caution - for worldbuilding purists, there might be things that bug you here - this is supposed to be a society with matrilineal descent but some things don't seem to fit what that would do to the society. It doesn't bug me, but MMV. Also some names for things are fake-medieval which might also be a drawback. I liked the rest of it enough to overlook).
c. The characters. There aren't any characters in this I love but all main characters are uniformly interesting and complicated (OK, maybe not the villain, who is just plain bad. I am mildly surprised we didn't see him eating a puppy).
d. The main relationship. If you guys like intense and really dysfunctional, come right in. Viviane/Tristan is pretty much a goldmine for a therapist, except I don't think they have them even in a fantasy version of High Middle Ages. It's a rare book where I ended it convinced both that (a) they really love each other (b) I don't think of a way they can stay together, and not due to outside forces, but due to their own stuff. (Trying to be unspoilery here). I suppose we'll find out in The Bandit King, the second part of the duology, coming out this summer.
e. I really like the plot - there is a lot of adventure, twists etc. Nor is every twist predictable, though unlike a lot of people (if amazon is anything to go by), I was neither surprised nor appalled to find out that it was Tristan who killed the King. Mainly because his job description could have been pretty much summed up as "King's killer psycho," and it's not surprising that King's killer could finally turn on the King himself. Plus, some things just didn't add up. I do wonder what made him finally snap though (he mentioned Viviane to the King before the latter died, but was it just that the King didn't want him to marry her or what?) I am, however, a bit confused about his role - was he a part of the Duke's conspiracy (probably promised Viviane as a gift in return) and then got double-crossed, or was it some other conspiracy that got its wires crossed with the Duke's? Because he didn't seem to be in sync with the Duke and, also, he clearly didn't know of the plan to kill the princess and all the court ladies, because he would have never let Viviane go back to those quarters and almost get killed if he knew. Oh, well, I suppose TBK will elucidate, since it's written from his perspective (this is going to be dark, isn't it?)
I can't really see how their relationship can continue. Sure, he would die for her, but the fact remains his actions, at the very least, threw the Kingdom into a civil war and resulted in the death of the princess, Viviane's best friend. Sure, she loves him (and married him) and told him she doesn't care about his past, but I am sure that is far far beyond anything she even suspected in his past - she spends the whole book certain of his loyalty to the dead King, even thinking at one point that he's only protecting/wooing her for the dead King's sake. I have to say that was the one part that made me impatient. I mean, total strangers see that he is obsessed with her, and he does everything but set himself on fire to show his feelings, and she is totally 'he can't like me, can he?' Ah, why?
Random thought - anyone else thinks that if she ends up with anyone at all, it will be the bandit leader who is her distant cousin? If so, I hope he gets developed more in book 2 because right now, I am just not that interested in him.
Rather random, but when I read the book, I kept seeing this famous pre-Raphaelite painting. It's freakishly appropriate:
Tbh, I was perhaps wrong when I thought of Marie de France. It's more like a verbal pre-Raphaelite paintings - intense colors and beauty and middle ages through a very misty mirror.
I've seen some reviewers mention faint shadows of Jacqueline Carey's famous "Kushiel" series, but since I loathed that so much I not only stopped a quarter in, I actually threw out my copy, I am in no position to speak to that. (Yes, I know everyone loves it. The s&m is not my bag, to put it mildly).
So, go read. It's dark and smart and intense and wonderful.
