Quickening Trilogy
Aug. 23rd, 2006 08:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sawylAfter some creative accounting, balancing the fact that I didn't go for lunch in town last week against my book buying overspend of the week before, I managed to come up with sufficient funds to get my hands on the sequels to Myrren's Gift by Fiona McIntosh. I knew I should have been an accountant — with skills like mine, I could have made a fortune working for Enron.
Blood and Memory opens with our hero, Wyl Thirsk, in a bit of a sitch, disguised as Faryl the assassin. After meeting up a mercenary called Aremys, Wyl finds himself unexpected hired by his nemesis, King Celimus, to kill his own sister. Ylena, meanwhile, has been forced by to abandon her monastic hideaway in favour of the security of her late husband's family estate, where she encounters Elspyth. After another change of identity, Wyl and Aremys head off into the Wilds in search of Myrren's father.
While navigating the Thicket, the mysterious boundary separating the Wilds from the rest of the world, Wyl finds himself meeting up with Fynch the gong boy and Elysius the warlock, while Aremys finds magically transported in to the Razors where he gets tangled up in the court of Cailech the Mountain King.
Bridge of Souls finds Valentyna still trying to come up with reasons not to wed Celimus. In response to Celimus' sabre rattling, she agrees to marriage and surrenders Wyl as a good will offering. Wyl arrives at Celimus' summer home, only to find him negotiating a peace treaty with Cailech and Aremys — rather embarrassing, given that Wyl is disguised as Ylena, someone whom Aremys has promised to assassinate. After a certain amount of confusion, a treaty is agreed, allowing Wyl, Aremys and Cailech to return to the Razors.
While a newly emboldened Fynch dukes it out with Cailech's Rasputin-like wizard, Rashlyn, Wyl returns to Werryl to help out Queen Valentyna. After a farcical interlude following Celimus' unexpected arrival — so keen is he to get his hands on Valentyna's kingdom that he decides to escort all the way to the alter in Perlis himself — things eventually resolve themselves in a satisfactory manner.
Concluding thoughts? With the narrative spread over a larger number of characters and the inevitable increase in plot threads, the sequels felt less focused than Myrren's Gift and suffered slightly in comparison. On the other hand, there were quite a lot of fun moments and the complex threads managed tie up the plot in the tidiest possible way.
Blood and Memory opens with our hero, Wyl Thirsk, in a bit of a sitch, disguised as Faryl the assassin. After meeting up a mercenary called Aremys, Wyl finds himself unexpected hired by his nemesis, King Celimus, to kill his own sister. Ylena, meanwhile, has been forced by to abandon her monastic hideaway in favour of the security of her late husband's family estate, where she encounters Elspyth. After another change of identity, Wyl and Aremys head off into the Wilds in search of Myrren's father.While navigating the Thicket, the mysterious boundary separating the Wilds from the rest of the world, Wyl finds himself meeting up with Fynch the gong boy and Elysius the warlock, while Aremys finds magically transported in to the Razors where he gets tangled up in the court of Cailech the Mountain King.
Bridge of Souls finds Valentyna still trying to come up with reasons not to wed Celimus. In response to Celimus' sabre rattling, she agrees to marriage and surrenders Wyl as a good will offering. Wyl arrives at Celimus' summer home, only to find him negotiating a peace treaty with Cailech and Aremys — rather embarrassing, given that Wyl is disguised as Ylena, someone whom Aremys has promised to assassinate. After a certain amount of confusion, a treaty is agreed, allowing Wyl, Aremys and Cailech to return to the Razors.While a newly emboldened Fynch dukes it out with Cailech's Rasputin-like wizard, Rashlyn, Wyl returns to Werryl to help out Queen Valentyna. After a farcical interlude following Celimus' unexpected arrival — so keen is he to get his hands on Valentyna's kingdom that he decides to escort all the way to the alter in Perlis himself — things eventually resolve themselves in a satisfactory manner.
Concluding thoughts? With the narrative spread over a larger number of characters and the inevitable increase in plot threads, the sequels felt less focused than Myrren's Gift and suffered slightly in comparison. On the other hand, there were quite a lot of fun moments and the complex threads managed tie up the plot in the tidiest possible way.
