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When a friendly competition leads to the death of a beloved horse and incurs the wrath of the Horse Goddess, the kingdoms of the island of Tir Isarnagiri are doomed to suffer. As the goddess' curse chases them down the years, four friends destined for kingship-Conal, Emer, Darag, and Ferdia-are forced into conflict as their countries build towards war.Matters are complicated when Emer and Conal fall in love, and dream of escaping together from the machinations of their respective families. But Conal and Ferdia are rivals for the High Kingship of the island, and Conal cannot simply leave. The contest between them will lead to a visionary quest on a mountain sacred to the gods-and terrifying to men.Yet Emer faces an even greater struggle. For when war finally comes, Emer has two choices: perform her duty to the homeland to which she owes everything, or protect the one she loves and be branded a traitor forever. The path she takes will become the stuff of legend, and forever alter the destiny of Tir Isarnagiri.Set in the world of Jo Walton's previous novels, The King's Peace and The King's Name, this book takes us to a shining era of dark powers, legendary heroes and passionate loves-all of them ruled by the hand of Fate.… (more)
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I like Conal, Emer and Elenn better than Ferdia, but still feel dissatisfied with the text's summation of Ferdia's character: he's weak, certainly, and "lesser" in many
Unexpectedly, the character I was most interested in was Elenn, Emer's older, calmer sister. Each of the characters in the book have clearly been strongly influenced by their parents, and most have been damaged. Emer's malevolant mother and manipulative father turn her into a headstrong hoyden who forces her way through society. That same upbringing molds Elenn into a self-contained, untouchable princess of ice. In the King books, Elenn marries the High King Udo and remains his childless but incomparably beautiful queen (a la Guinevere). We got little glimpses of her there, but here she gets whole chapters to herself. I loved that Walton turned the usual heroine convention on its head: the people around Elenn are disturbed and saddened that she voices no desires other than to be a good princess and a valuable tool in building alliances. She is similar to GRRMartin's Sansa, but smarter--she knows her strengths (beauty, charm, social graces, piety) and her weaknesses (she will never be a good warrior). At the end of the book after (SPOILERS) Emer has given up hope, Elenn is just getting a glimpse of it. She has no expectations of actual love, only courtly admiration, but hopes to expand her mind and prospects by becoming an excellent queen.
Unlike the King books, this did not leave me breathless. It is a slightly more clinical, less exciting story; seen in retrospect, it is a nuanced exploration of honor.