ISBN: 0-399-24676-2 Order from: Amazon.com
A sympathetic heroine, lots of tension, unusual magic and a homey world are portrayed with clear, often lovely language in this enjoyable fantasy.
Reviewed by David on November 09, 2008
Genre: Fantasy (Politics)
Synopsis: Willowlands is a province in a world where land is mystically linked to its people. A Master of Willowlands is much more than a local lord.
Each province's magic selects a Circle, headed by a Master and bound by Chalice, who steward the land. They calm its disasters, heal the people, help husband its animals, and ensure peace and prosperity. When an already distressed Willowlands disasterously loses its Master and Chalice, the lands' magic and human hopes turn to two utterly unprepared people: an exiled younger brother of the last Master, and a beekeeper.
Full Review: Mirasol the Beekeper is the sympathetic protagonist of this book. She is a yong woman feeling very overwhelmed by the new duty, but boundlessly determined to do what's best for her land and its people. Harassed and short of sleep for most of the book, her viewpoint keeps the pace fast, but not so fast that we don't get glimpses of the beauty and peace possible in the world. There is a feeling of a larger land with hierarchy and politics, and powerful elemental magic, but it all stays in background of the earthy, homey magic and everyday pastoral concerns of the new Chalice and her neighbors. Mirasol's bees and honey become her tools, and most magic is unspectacular but nonetheless effective.
Along with calming the land, Mirasol's greatest challenge and strongest hope is the new Master, who after seven years in the Fire priesthood is scarcely prepared to live among humans. There are aspects of Beaty and the Beast in their relationship, but the romantic elements are so understated as to almost be missing, as both major characters driven by their sense of duty and land sense.
Mirasol starts off as a competent young woman rather than a child, and that both helps and limits her development. The plot is streamlined, with few twists and subplots and a fast pace. McKinley has crafted a very enjoyable and fresh fantasy, but it's less emotionally gripping than some of her best books.
Copyright: 2008
Overall: 6.5; Plot: 6; Characters: 6.5; Style: 6.5; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 7;
Penguin Group (G. P. Putnam's Sons), September 2008, Cloth, 263 pages
ISBN: 0-399-24676-2 Order from: Amazon.com