Book Review
Jun. 22nd, 2004 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariSon of the Shadows
by Juliet Marillier
This book continues the saga begun in Daughter of the Forest, picking up about 18 years later and mainly concerning Liadan, the daughter of the main character in the first book. I also enjoyed this one, although it had less of the mythopoeic bent of its predecessor. There are several similarities of plot and character between the two books, but not at all enough to make the second seem like a rehash of the first. The fact that I was able to immediately figure out the secrets revealed over the course of the novel did'nt bother me either. It didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the story, and besides, maybe it's just that I've read so many fantasy novels as well as a lot of the myths and legends from which the fantasy genre is descended. And sometimes I suspect that the writer actually intends the reader to figure it all out for themselves before the characters do. I often get as much satisfaction out of seeing the process of revelation or epiphany as I do out of being surprised.
Son of the Shadows is, as the title indicates, a bit darker in tone. The choices Liadan must make are in many ways more difficult than those her mother faced, or, at least, it is much less clear whether or not Liadan is choosing the best path throughout most of the book. It's very much a middle book, too, in that for every resolution reached there is at least one new thread introduced.
by Juliet Marillier
This book continues the saga begun in Daughter of the Forest, picking up about 18 years later and mainly concerning Liadan, the daughter of the main character in the first book. I also enjoyed this one, although it had less of the mythopoeic bent of its predecessor. There are several similarities of plot and character between the two books, but not at all enough to make the second seem like a rehash of the first. The fact that I was able to immediately figure out the secrets revealed over the course of the novel did'nt bother me either. It didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the story, and besides, maybe it's just that I've read so many fantasy novels as well as a lot of the myths and legends from which the fantasy genre is descended. And sometimes I suspect that the writer actually intends the reader to figure it all out for themselves before the characters do. I often get as much satisfaction out of seeing the process of revelation or epiphany as I do out of being surprised.
Son of the Shadows is, as the title indicates, a bit darker in tone. The choices Liadan must make are in many ways more difficult than those her mother faced, or, at least, it is much less clear whether or not Liadan is choosing the best path throughout most of the book. It's very much a middle book, too, in that for every resolution reached there is at least one new thread introduced.
