Book: Firethorn by Sarah Micklem
Published: 2004
Genre: Fantasy (realistic)
Synopsis:
Luck is a low-born (Mud) orphan who served under the Dame (Blood, aristocratic) until the Dame’s death. In her grief she fled to the Kingswood, a forest where no one is allowed. She lives there for a year scrounging out a living from the earth. One night she eats the berries of the Firethorn tree, which give her fevered dreams, a new name and set her on a collision course with the fate of the Kingdom.
On UpsideDown Days she meets Sir Galan, a Blood-born warrior. They soon begin a tempestuous affair, and Firethorn decides to follow him as his mistress to war. She makes friends, enemies, and uses the herb craft that the Dame taught her to help those in need. Soon, though, both she and Sir Galan realize that there is no place for passion—or possibly love—between a Mud-born and one of the Blood.
Thoughts:
Firethorn kept me reading well past my bed time. The writing style is evocative and the descriptions lush, but not overwrought. The plot moves quickly, but once they reach Marchfield, the holding camp before they set off to war, the action turns to politics, intrigue, and an examination of gender roles in a society much like Medieval Europe.
That’s not to say there isn’t tension, but that the action is more constrained. This allows the author to firmly establish the rules of this society and world, and like good fantasy authors, she never bends her rules for the plot. The characters are firmly of this society, even when they push against its boundaries.
Speaking of world-building and society, I want to praise Micklem for a job well done. Every character has a place, clearly defined, in this highly stratified society. It reminds me of feudal Europe, and as good as any historical fiction, Micklem illustrates just how constraining life was for everyone—male, female, highborn, low-born, no matter. You had a role, and you played it, or you were shamed, dishonored and cast aside.
The readers learn about the deities and religious system based on Firthorn’s use of a ‘Divining Compass’. The Compass is a circle of all the deity aspects on which one throws bones to divine the future. There are twelve deities with three aspects each, for example: Ardor is the deity and its three faces are Ardor Smith, Ardor Hearthkeeper and Ardor Wildfire. The system is just exotic enough, and just familiar enough, to be at once interesting and intuitive.
The pace did drag in the last third. I skipped some pages in the tournament and battle scenes as they dragged on for eight or ten plus pages.
The ending is left wide open with a cliff-hanger. I will definitely be searching for the follow-up, Wildfire, at my bookstore. The third in the series has yet to be published.
Final Word: The perfect book for a dreary autumn or winter weekend. Curl up with some mulled wine by a rainy window, and you’ll be set.
Under the Old Oak Tree 