Published Information
| Author: | Alison Croggon |
| Series: | Pellinor Series #1 |
| Published: | March 2006 |
| Genre: | Fantasy |
| Pages: | 528 |
Plot Summary
Maerad is a slave girl that doesn't know much about her past and is living in a city ruled by a cruel slave-master. Fortunately for her, other slaves and residents believe she is some kind of a witch and so leave her alone. One day, while doing chores, she meets a bard, Cadvan, that only she can see. This interests him greatly so he offers to take her from that place.
She agrees to go with him, but finds that his company is more dangerous than living as a slave. Soon, she is helping withstand magical assaults and dark, evil creatures. During their journey they visit a bard school and it becomes evident that their meeting was more than chance, and Maerad's destiny is important to the whole world in defeating a powerful, evil entity known as the Nameless One. She is the prophesied "Fated One" destined to overthrow his final assault on the land.
During their journey, they find help in places in which it wasn't expected, and danger where safety should have been assured. This book is but the beginning of Maered's tale. She must avoid the dark, and come into her powers, which seem to be very formidable, if she is to fulfill her destiny.
Comments
One of the main themes of the book is power. Power is a sweet temptation that, if not tempered, can become very evil and corrupt. The first instance of this is Maerad's slave-master. He is the lord of the small town we meet her in. The town is isolated from civilization, so he has complete power over all within the town. To the point that it is discuss that the walls of the town are for keeping people in rather than bandits, etc, out. There are ways to control him, but for the most part, he is able to do whatever he wills with whoever he pleases.
As we move forward in the book, another is brought up who isn't a servant of the dark, but is just as bad. He has realized that the dark can give him powers beyond what others can have and with it, he is able to become very powerful in the land. It is discussed that none think he is a slave to the dark, meaning he is not a "Hull" controlled, but he uses the dark in what he thinks is a controlled way, but in the end, it doesn't matter. If you are not serving the people and the light, you are just as bad.
Finally, as with other books, the discussion revolves around the fact that true greatness and knowledge is found through humility and acknowledging how much you do not know, and that true, good leaders are those who don't seek for it, but rather step into the position because there is no one willing to do what is right.
I have two comments. First, a petty one. Every other sentence that is narrated ends with an exclamation point. There are so many that it seems to me it is meaningless. Probably just a style thing, but it loses value in my eyes. Second, there are too many instances of Maered coming into a power just in the nick of time. It might play out that there is some kind of reason for it in later books, but it seems too "deus ex machina" for me. There are also occurances where Cadvan tells Maered about a power she should have (later in the book) and she is intuitively able to do it. Again, I think that abilities should be learned/earned. She goes to school briefly and picks up writing and swordplay, but magic just happens for her.
No comments:
Post a Comment