New Spring by Robert Jordan: Week 3

If you haven't read the book, or the whole series, why not join in and read along with the rest of us? This week the links to the other posts can be found at the bottom of this post.

This week we read through to the end of the book.

1. What do you think of the fact that Moiraine met Cadsuane. I don't think we knew that before. What's Cadsuane up to. Do you think Moiraine's eventual conclusion that she's Black Ajah is valid? Logical?

Any time spent with Cadsuane is always good fun, and I enjoyed this scene a great deal. I think that we had a slight hint about her and Moiraine at one point when she mentioned her in a list of things that she had failed to do or not seen as significant at the time. However, it was not clear that she had actually met Moiraine, or could have been much more proactive in the search for the infant Dragon.

I doubt that we will ever learn what Cadsuane was doing at this time, although it could simply be that she was in the Borderlands during the last months of the Aiel War to guard it against Shadowspawn incursions. However, we see here the weakness of Cadsuane’s total self-confidence and certainty of her own superior knowledge. She gives no thought to why Moiraine might be moving through the Borderlands and simply assumes that she is doing nothing of importance. If she had only considered the fact that the young Sister might be trying to accomplish something significant, she could have extracted the information from Moiraine and then helped in the search. I can understand why Cadsuane thinks that she knows everything, but this is a very good example of her making things worse by being too much of a bully. I am sure that her future self is now bitterly aware of this oversight and truly regrets it.

Given that Cadsuane is obviously not working under Tamra’s direction, but is one of the most powerful and competent Sisters for many generations, it makes some sense to think that she was not included in the search for a good reason. Given her paranoia, and her youthful assumption that she is the center of the universe, Moiraine leaps to the conclusion that Tamra could not trust Cadsuane, who must, therefore, be Black. Of course, the good reason was much more likely to be the fact that she was lost somewhere in the Borderlands when Tamra needed people close at hand that she could trust . . . or that she scared the snot out of the Amyrlin as much as everyone else! :D

2. Do you think Tamra was killed by a Darkfriend? Do you think the new amyrlin, Sierin, is Black Ajah? If so, why, and what do you think will happen next?

I think that it is very likely that the Blacks killed Tamra and her searchers. I would discount a ‘normal’ Darkfriend because of the similarity between her death and that of Meilyn. This suggests that the One Power was used to kill both these women and in a manner that would leave no evidence. It also makes a lot of sense for the Blacks to put Tamra to the question before killing her, and that again would leave evidence if done by a normal person.

I suspect that Sierin is not actually Black, even if she is a crazy man-hating ball of spite. Given the Aes Sedai tradition of manipulation and deception, it seems much more likely that the Blacks are highly placed individuals, as we see with Merean, and that Amyrlin is more of a puppet than she believes. We also know that she does not survive in place for very long, which adds more weight to my belief that she is not Black. It is likely that she became suspicious of one of the powerful Blacks, or learnt something incriminating, and they had to remove her.

3. We saw the scene with Lan, Moiraine, and the lake that was mentioned briefly clear back in book 2. What was your reaction to it? Did it play out the way you'd imagined?

I had completely forgotten the reference in The Great Hunt . . . but it is almost two years since we read it!

I thought this was hilarious, and did actually laugh out loud when she landed in the pond. I thought that the imagery was particularly well done, especially Lan’s apparent confusion that she had somehow disappeared from in front of him!

In the main series, we are constantly shown that Lan is as lethal as Moiraine, and that he has some pretty nifty talents that would make him almost super-human even without the Warder Bond. To have their initial confrontation show that he can both outwit and outmaneuver her was a delight, but also very necessary to show him as a worthy companion and true equal to Moiraine. It also made me wonder how much of his silence in later life was to cover up derisive thoughts and eye-rolling frustration over her stupidity and rashness.   

4. Someone tried to assassinate Lan. He was an idiot who was told to kill Moiraine first, but didn't. Who do you think the attack was aimed at and who was responsible for it?

At the time, it seemed clear that it must be Edeyn who wanted Lan dead. However, now that we know that she intended to marry him to her daughter, that seems less than unlikely. The assassin says that he was paid to kill Moiraine, so I suspect that she is correct in thinking that he has something to do with the man Gorthanes who was so interested in her in Tar Valon. It makes sense that one of the opposing Houses would want to remove Moiraine as a potential heir to the Sun Throne, especially as she has the might of the White Tower behind her. This would also explain why the young man was told to shoot her first, and from a great distance, so that she would not have chance to defend herself with the One Power.

5. What did you think of the Lan-Edeyn relationship, and all of Edeyn's plans for Lan?

I hate to be picky, but I am a little disappointed by Lan’s apparent habit of jumping into bed with women that he does not really like. We saw the same thing with Myrelle after Moiraine’s death, which was even more unforgiveable because of his love for Nynaeve at the time. I know that men have their ‘urges’, but I thought that there were cold showers available for that kind of problem! :D

I was rather surprised that Lan not only bedded Edeyn, but that he did so after she told him of her plan for him to marry her daughter . . . eew! The Malkieri seem to have very rigid customs about the whole carneira thing, but I was seriously expecting him to send her off with a flea in her ear, not ‘reluctantly’ spend several days having rampant sexytimes. Sorry, Lan, but you disappointed me.

I suspect that Lan has not changed all that much since Edeyn first ‘cut his hair’, but she seems to believe that he has no say in how his life will unfold. Either she is blinded by her ambition, or is just plain stupid, because he is obviously not a man to be forced into something he does not want to do. Of course, once we meet his intended bride, I have to believe that he would stab her to death after only a few hours in her company, or run off into the waiting embrace of the Blight just to get away from her. I suppose we cannot blame her for how she has been trained by her mother, but I was surprised that Moiraine did not push her out of a window.

6. In the end, a Black sister is revealed, and several innocents die. The fight scene was pretty epic. Thoughts? Feelings? Regrets?

Is it bad that I was actually quite pleased about Iselle dying? She was an obnoxious twerp and I suppose that she did not deserve to actually die, but I could not feel a great deal of sorrow for her or even her grieving mother. I think that this probably makes me a bad and judgmental person . . . sorry about that! :D

If it is any consolation, I did feel bad for Diryk and Brys, both of whom seemed nice and most definitely did not deserve to die. Of course, all that talk about ‘luck’ and mysteriously survived falls had me shouting “ta’veren!” in my head, so I was very disappointed when Diryk was the first off the balcony and this time he did not survive. I thought the point about the ‘blacksmith’ was a little labored and would have been much more subtle if the man had not been a very clear amalgam of Mat and Perrin and if he had not been mentioned several times. It felt a little like being hit in the face with a sign saying “This Is A Very Important Clue!”.

I was also sorry to see the demise of Bukama. He reminded me an awful lot of Uno, so I was sorry to see him die. However, he is never mentioned in the main series and I somehow doubt that he would ever have retired to a certain comfortable inn in a nearby town. These should have been obvious clues that he would probably not survive to the end of the book, but I can be rather blind when predicting the deaths of characters I like. Wishful thinking can be powerful stuff!

7. What did you think of final scene that led to Moiraine bonding Lan? Did you like it? Want more? Think it was legit?

I thought that it played out in an understated way that was rather appropriate for both characters’ impassive personas. There was a grim practicality about it that seemed like a good way to end this chapter of the series.

Would I have liked more? Of course! I want the entire history of most things and people in this world laid out nice and neatly . . . or even not all that neatly as long as I get more detail. Unfortunately, I know that I will never have my wish fulfilled and, even if Mr Jordan were still alive, the poor guy could never provide enough detail to stop me wanting more.

Extra Thoughts

I was so pleased to learn that the infamous mice were destined for Elaida’s bed . . . and so disappointed to discover that they never made it that far . . . boo! :(

Why would the Blues keep a secret of a weave that allows them to herd around insects? Maybe it is just me, but that does not sound like the world’s most exciting secret! :D

Goodbye Mr Jordan

Finally, I just want to comment on our transition to the “Final Volume”.

I know that Brandon Sanderson is no stranger to monster tomes of epic Fantasy, as I have copies of both The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance weighing down my coffee table. However, I am staggered that anyone could have expected this series to be finished in only one more title, even a real doorstopper. There are so many plot lines to resolve that I cannot believe that readers genuinely expected the series to end after book twelve. In fact, I imagine that even a summary of the upcoming volumes would still be a substantial work! However, I hope that we will see many characters reunited and plot lines tied off as we stagger towards the Last Battle and I doubt that Mr Sanderson will disappoint us.

Dab of Darkness   Musings On Fantasia

Winter’s Heart by Robert Jordan: Week 2

If you haven't read the book, or the whole series, why not join in and read along with the rest of us? This week the links to the other posts can be found at the bottom of this post.

This week we read through to the end of Chapter 7.

1) What did everyone make of the Shaido's treatment of Faile, Maighdin, Alliandre, Bain, Chiad, Lacile, and Arrela during the march through the snow? Harsh? As expected?

It was pretty much what I expected, considering what we saw of Egwene’s training and the way they treat the ‘loyal’ Aes Sedai. Of course, the added aspect of Sevanna’s craziness could have made a huge difference, but even she cannot help acting like an Aiel for most of the time. However, it makes me wonder how many prisoners die before they can even make it into their white robes.

I was very disappointed with Alliandre, but more so with Morghase: they showed a remarkable amount of stupidity in their display of queenly arrogance and richly deserved the beatings that they received. Considering that Morghase is trying to hide her identity, she is doing a very bad job of it without Lini to keep an eye on her. I am a little concerned about how the group has been split up, with Faile, Alliandre and Morghase becoming Sevanna’s personal slaves. I know that Bain and Chiad will not make any effort to escape, but I would still feel happier knowing that they were close at hand.

2) Faile and crew meet the Shaido Wise Ones (Therava & Someryn) and also the Aes Sedai Galina. What do you think of the Wise Ones speaking so openly of Sevanna's orders? Will Galina be of any help to Faile?

Oh no, there is unhappiness with Sevanna’s leadership! Hang on a minute while I take out the world’s smallest violin to play a sad song for her! :D

I guess my only confusion is over the fact that Sevanna is still alive and not buried in a snowdrift after conveniently ‘falling off her horse’. I am not sure why Therava is waiting, but I suppose it has something to do with the way Aiel society works and the fact that Wise Ones are not really supposed to assassinate their Clan Leaders. As for Galina, I think I can safely say that she has only one person that she is trying to help: herself. She is desperately trying to find a way of breaking the oath that she was forced to swear and then take her revenge on Sevanna and the others. She may help Faile inadvertently, but not intentionally.

3) It seems that Berelain is taking advantage of Faile's absence and Perrin's fatigue. Where do you think her flirtations will take her? Given the chance, what would you do with her at this point?

I would very much like her flirtations to bring her into a rapid meeting with my open palm, because she really needs a good slap across the face. Perrin’s wife has been kidnapped and she is still talking as if they will have some sort of liaison: what a total slut!

I have no idea what Perrin can do to stop her behavior, but I am disgusted by her attempts to make everyone in the camp think that they are sleeping together. When Faile was present it was possible to argue that Berelain was simply enjoying how much she could irritate Faile, but that is no longer the case and her behavior is just sad and despicable.

4) They are on the hunt! Talanvor left on his own to pursue the Shaido hours ahead of Perrin and crew. Perrin had to chastise the Cha Faile for their spying activities. The Asha'men want to lead the charge. Add to that, Masema offering to assist. Will Perrin's anger explode? How can this hunt possibly be derailed?

I think that Perrin is doing rather well, given the situation and all the bad behavior that he has to deal with. I think that he worked out a lot of his despair in Tel’aran’rhiod, so he should be a little more sensible after his encounter with Hopper.

Including Masema in the hunt is a terrible idea, but perhaps better than letting him travel on his own. I am quite sure that we will see treachery from him and his men at some point, but at least they are badly equipped and untrained. In many ways I am more concerned about the Seanchan and the possibility that there is yet another army in the area. All those angry people in a small space can only lead to trouble.

5) The men escorting Naean and Elenia were ambushed and killed outside Caemlyn. What do you think this portends? Will Elayne be able to unite the houses behind her or is this move the first of several by houses against her? Should the ladies be more concerned about defenses instead of clothing?

The political situation here makes my head hurt: I would definitely be no good at Daes Dae’mar. Fortunately, Elayne has a fair idea of what this means so I do not need to worry about her being caught off guard. I assume it means that she has lost some potential support, but they were hardly people she could rely on even if they did swear allegiance to her, so it might be no great loss.

Whilst I doubt that Elayne will suddenly be able to persuade all the Houses to support her claim, I am equally sure that she can mobilize a good enough defense to neutralize their opposition. She seems to have a good grasp on what is needed to protect the city and Birgitte will certainly do what is needed to recruit the necessary forces. We know that there are Darkfriends working against her in the city, and who knows what all those Aes Sedai are up to, but I have faith in Elayne and Birgitte.

Dab of Darkness   Musings On Fantasia

The Girl Who Chased The Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

My Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.40 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 3.97 / 5.00

Emily Benedict is seventeen when her mother, Dulcie, dies and her whole world is turned upside down. She discovers that her grandfather is still very much alive and that he is very happy to give her a home because Dulcie has kept him out of her life ever since she left town as a teenager. Arriving at Grandpa Vance’s house in Mullaby, North Carolina, Emily is shocked to find that he is the archetypal gentle giant, living a quiet and reclusive life in the town that his daughter rocked with a shocking scandal before she left. As Emily uncovers the details of her mother’s early life she is ostracized by many in the town who believe that she will be just as mean and unpleasant as Dulcie. However, it seems that not all the town’s inhabitants are hostile. Win, the son of a strange local family, is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and then strange lights start to appear outside her bedroom window.

Julia Winterson is a gifted baker who was forced to return to Mullaby by the death of her father. She left the town many years ago after being bullied mercilessly by Dulcie, but she is willing to befriend Emily who is a very different person from her mother as a teenager. Unfortunately, Julia’s father was not a great businessman and ran up huge debts whilst trying to keep his barbeque joint afloat. Now Julia has almost reached the point where she can sell up and go back to her old life, but then her old flame, Sawyer, is showing interest and she just might want to stick around a little longer.

First, I have to say that I find it very difficult to review Ms Allen’s books now because her debut title, Garden Spells, is one of my all time favorite books and the primary reason why I started this blog. This means that I tend to expect the same genius in each of her subsequent titles, which is probably not fair and leads me to sound unnecessarily harsh in my criticisms of them. All I can say is that once you have read a masterpiece it is difficult not to be disappointed if the author does not repeat that level of writing in their later works . . . you have been warned!

As with all her previous titles, we have a series of relationships that are or were dysfunctional in the past and that have consequences in the present. We also have a cast of beautifully drawn, sympathetic characters who make us empathize with them as they struggle with the rigors of daily life. There is also a smattering of the lightly magical realism that we have come to expect, along with an earthy emphasis upon food items and cooking as a magical gift that can affect emotions. We have the expected ‘strange’ families, with their special abilities and the wonderful recreation of the comforting aura of the gentile South. However, there is an unfortunate lack of focus that detracts from the setting and made me wish that the story were structured slightly differently.

Our lead characters, Emily and Julia, are both endearing and carry us along on their journeys, but that is one of my major complaints about this book. The fact that there are two leads means that our time and attention is divided between them and neither becomes the primary focus. This leads to two love interests, two backgrounds that need to be explored and understood and two sets of problems to overcome. I really wish that Ms Allen had chosen only one as the main focus of the story and kept the other in the role of strong support. Indeed, at first I thought that Emily would be the main protagonist, with Julia as an interesting mother figure, who would help to provide emotional support and excellent baked goods during the revelations about Dulcie’s life. I think that this would have made more sense and allowed us to concentrate mush more on the complex, fascinating and confusing person that was Dulcie, who has to be one of the most interesting non-present characters I have ever read.

Indeed, Dulcie is almost given more of a character arc than the living members of the cast, which is not in itself a problem, but which points out one other flaw in the plotting. A concentration on Emily and her journey of discovery would have given us more room to see how she coped and changed as her world view was destroyed and then rebuilt by her increasing knowledge of her mother’s past. I cannot imagine how terrifying it would be to suddenly become an orphan and then find out that so much of what you had taken for ‘truth’ was actually a form of deception. To suddenly discover that your wonderful, philanthropic, loving mother had been a terrible person who did unspeakable things when she was a teenager. To uncover all the sadness and regret that filled the grandfather who had been kept from you throughout your childhood so that your mother could ignore what she had been in the past. There was so much to follow in this journey that I almost feel cheated that we could not see it all.

As always, it is the little details and wonderful character work that carried me past my disappointment in the plotting. Grandpa Vance was an especially wonderful character to read because he himself was so subtle and understated. As a genuine freak of nature he is always painfully aware of his difference from everyone else, and, unlike Dulcie, he could never simply move away to somewhere new and reinvent himself. His gentleness and the tenderness with which her treats his new-found granddaughter were very touching, so the final revelations were all the more moving because I felt so much empathy for this lovely man.

I felt that most of the magic incorporated into the story was nicely handled. The wallpaper in Emily’s room that would change with her mood seemed like an excellent metaphor for the almost chameleon-like quality that many teenagers have to change and reinvent themselves endlessly. I also liked Sawyers ability to sense sweets and how that little magic fed into his story. However, the main magical item, which I will not reveal as it is a major spoiler, was rather too obvious to me. I am not someone who can easily recognize where a plot is going, so if I find it blazingly obvious before the big reveal I feel cheated rather than clever. In this case, I thought that the big magical secret was rather silly and impractical and would have been common knowledge in a very short space of time when the family first arrived in the town.

On the whole, this was an enjoyable read, and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who likes Ms Allen’s other titles, but it left me a little disappointed. In some ways I wish I could read it without the knowledge of what she has written before, so that I could give a more impartial review, but I cannot ‘unread’ her previous works.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

My Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.00 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 3.81 / 5.00

In Walls of Water, North Carolina, Willa Jackson is the last member of an old and once-wealthy Southern family. At one time the Jacksons were important because of their successful timber industry and Willa’s great-great-grandfather built The Blue Ridge Madam, the grandest house in town. Then came Tucker Devlin, with his easy charm and his idea to replace the waning timber forest with peach trees. Willa’s great-grandfather fell under Devlin’s spell, as did everyone else in the town, especially the young women. However, when Devlin mysteriously vanishes so does the Jackson wealth and the family is plunged into poverty and disgrace.

Since then, the Madam has been a ruin, slowly rotting and falling into decline, but the wealthy Osgood family has recently bought the old house and Paxton, the president of the local Women’s Society Club, has restored and refurbished it as a luxury inn. Paxton plans to make the inn’s opening night into an extra special event because it will be a party to celebrate the seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Club. However, a few days before the party a skeleton is found under an old peach tree that is being removed from the grounds and all of Paxton’s well-laid plans begin to unravel.

As Paxton’s world spins out of control, she leans more and more heavily on her best friend, Sebastian Rogers. Sebastian was rather effeminate in High School and remains carefully asexual now that he is a successful dentist. Everyone thinks that he is gay, but Paxton has fallen in love with him. Meanwhile, Willa is thrown off-balance by the return of Paxton’s twin brother, Colin. The two women are thrown together as their world changes forever.

After reading Ms Allen’s first book, Garden Spells, the ladies in my book group were blown away by her characters and writing style so we voted to read The Sugar Queen not many months later. Although most of us preferred the first title, we were still very impressed by her writing and so this third title was voted in for our June read. We had decided to nominate this title instead of her third book, The Girl Who Chased The Moon, because of the promise of a more mysterious story added to the magical realism. My review here will refer back to the first two titles, so if you have not read them I apologize, but I urge you to rectify that deficiency as soon as possible!

As I have come to expect, Ms Allen creates a lush and charming setting that plays to her strength of portraying the elegance and politeness of Southern society. In Willa’s family we see the embarrassment of a family that falls from great wealth into poverty: her grandmother went from a celebrated Southern belle to being a cleaning lady. We also see the scandal of a child born out of wedlock. However, these negative aspects of the Southern sensibility are counterbalanced by the themes of friendship through the worst adversity and generosity with no thought of repayment. It is unfortunate that these positive aspects are not revealed until close to the end of the book, but they are heart-warming all the same.

I did have a problem with the names of the two female protagonists. I believe that Willa is a traditional Southern name, but Paxton grated on me for some reason, although I found it interesting that the shortened version, Pax, is the Latin for ‘peace’ and Paxton is certainly the peacemaker of her family. Other than their names, the two women are well rounded and feel real. They are both the products of their upbringings, and their past histories are important for their present and future lives. This is also true of the two male leads, who are still fighting against society’s view of them and the roles that they are expected to fill. There are few supporting characters, although I particularly liked Rachel, Willa’s coffee-obsessed employee. The grandmothers of the two women play important roles in the plot and they were also well done, although Willa’s grandmother has dementia so she has very little presence in the book. However, this is made up for by Paxton’s gran, who is a fire-breathing dragon of the old school. She is a wonderful character, and possibly my favorite of Ms Allen’s creations since the redoubtable Evanelle in Garden Spells. For some reason I am drawn to eccentric old ladies who speak their minds and do exactly what they want to: I cannot imagine why!

I was a little disappointed that there seemed to be less magic in this book when compared to the previous two. I was very excited near the beginning when the Women’s Society Club has a meeting where the members begin to blurt out the truths that they have always kept secret. It seemed like this might have been due to one of the foods on offer because the only person who is not overcome by this need for honesty is Paxton, who we are told rarely eats at the meetings. However, we are given no explanation for this event, so I might have been wrong. The only real magic that we see is that of Rachel and her affinity to coffee, although we hear reports of Tucker Devlin that suggest that he could weave magic to his own advantage. There is also a brief cameo by Claire Waverley and a grown up Bay.

I was also somewhat disappointed by the mystery aspect that was much more prominent in this title. It was only marginally successful, mainly because the ‘surprises’ were easy to guess in advance and because it was relegated to the second half of the book and then felt a little rushed in its unfolding. As with The Sugar Queen, there were deep, dark family secrets to be uncovered, although these ones were due far less to the pressures of polite society and more to the terror and naiveté of young girls.

As with The Sugar Queen, I was not drawn to these characters as much I had hoped to be. The romances were a little too predictable and the plot felt out of balance somehow, with a rush to solve the mystery in the last few pages. However, Ms Allen continues to be a very good author and I look forward to reading The Girl Who Chased The Moon with the book group very soon.

The Wood Wife by Terri Windling

My Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Amazon Rating: 4.60 / 5.00

Goodreads Rating: 4.19 / 5.00

When Maggie Black was a student she fell in love with the writings of reclusive, but acclaimed, poet Davis Cooper. The pair exchanged letters for many years but never met in person. As Copper fell further and further in to alcoholism after the death of his young lover, artist Anna Naverra, Maggie gave up writing poetry so that she could support her husband as he built his music career. Unwilling to accept his infidelity she divorced him several years ago, although he still tries to control her life. She is about to sell their house and move away when fate intervenes: Cooper dies in mysterious circumstances and leaves his house and all its contents to her.

Maggie moves to Cooper’s home in a canyon Tucson, Arizona, where she meets his friends, reads his papers and experiences the desert that was such an inspiration to him. However, she is surprised to discover that the land and its inhabitants are not as simple as they seem and she gradually uncovers the wild spirits that live there. As she becomes more at home in the desert she begins to see what really lives there and comes to understand how Cooper could have drowned in the middle of a dry creek bed.

I chose this book as the Folklore title for the Once Upon A Time VI Challenge because I had seen some reviews of it that suggested that it was an interesting choice for the category.

This is one of those books where are I need to be purposefully careful about the magical elements that inhabit its pages because I do not want to spoil the surprises that it contains. Some books are so much better if you can explore them without too much knowledge of what to expect, and this is definitely one where that sense of wonder needs to unfold naturally.

The beginning of the book was somewhat disorientating as we are presented with a Prologue with several vignettes from the night of Cooper’s death. After this, the story is mostly laid out from Maggie’s point of view, although we do follow several other characters’ viewpoints as well. We follow Maggie as she encounters the various humans and spirits in the area, with the other perspectives adding information or offering tantalizing hints of what is really happening. Maggie is a well-drawn, likeable character with a great deal of sense and empathy that make her an intriguing protagonist. The other characters are interesting and fit well into the roles that they fulfill, although few of them are explored in very much detail as we concentrate on Maggie and her story.

The story unwinds elegantly and slowly, with suggestions and hints carefully placed so that there are few true surprises as the truth is revealed. However, this adds to the feeling of revelation and growing understanding that we share with Maggie and it works very well. We usually ‘see’ things before Maggie, as if our eyes are being opened to the magic around her slightly before hers, or she is seeing the same things as us but her mind is discounting them as impossible. This makes the magic seem real and solid as if the curtain that normally hides it is gradually fading until we see the total truth.

The world that we discover is built upon the ancient mythologies of the Mexicans, Celts and Native Americans, so it is very grounded in nature. Grace at Books Without Any Pictures feels that American culture does not have this type of mythology and so appreciates that this book creates one. This is not the magic of Harry Potter, but the inherent power of the land itself, with aspects of nature personified and able to act to influence the environment. There is a timeless quality to these ‘spirits’ that results in them being totally different to us, with concerns and morals that we cannot comprehend. This ‘otherness’ is captured beautifully and resonates well with the indifferent majesty of the natural world. The desert is inspiring and breath-taking, but it is also dangerous and can lead to insanity and even death. I like how the desert acts as a muse, inspiring so many people to creative and artistic expression, although they all react in different ways.