Sister Light, Sister Dark

by Jane Yolen

Hardcover, 1988

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Tor Books (1988), Edition: 1

Description

A warrior woman and her dark twin are destined to remake the world in this "powerful" tale, the first in a trilogy by a World Fantasy Award winner (Newsweek). Legend foretold the child named Jenna, who was three-times orphaned before she could crawl, a fate that would leave her in the hands of women who worshipped the benevolent goddess Great Alta. In this world without men, Jenna comes of age, learning quickly the skills of close combat. But her most powerful gift lies elsewhere: a mirror sister who emerges only in the darkness--a twin named Skada--and shares the soul of the young, white-haired warrior who might well be the goddess reborn. But if Jenna is, in truth, the one whose coming is awaited, there is cause for great alarm among those who rule the Dales, for the prophecy speaks of upheaval and change, and a devastating end of all things. An incomparable world-builder and one of America's premier fantasists, the remarkable Jane Yolen begins a three-part saga as inventive, intelligent, and exciting as anything that has ever been produced in the literature of the fantastic. Brilliantly contrasting the "true" story of Jenna with the later myths, poetry, and so-called scholarship that her coming engendered, Yolen creates a culture as richly imagined as those found in the acclaimed novels of Ursula K. Le Guin. A truly magnificent work, Sister Light, Sister Dark takes fantasy fiction to wondrous places it has never gone before.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Aerrin99

I'm a sucker for young adult books, for fantasy, and for history, and this book hit all three kinks nicely.

Sister Light, Sister Dark is not actually a fairy tale or myth, but it has that feel to it. Yolen creates a rich and interesting world that has a history of undervaluing its female babies. A

folk hero began the tradition of 'Hames', women-only communities composed largely of babies taken in after being found left on hillsides, and then later of orphans or unwanted children taken to them.

These women worship a figure called Alta, who is composed of light and dark, and they have the ability to call forth shadow sisters - twins who exist only in the light of the moon or certain lamps, and who mirror and yet don't mirror their light sisters. This ability is legend even in their own time - the one important character we meet from outside the Hame believes it to be entirely myth and is dumbfounded to find that the girls he meets not only believe the legends, but treat them as matter of fact day to day truths.

The main trend of the story here follows Joanna, a girl brought to the Hame after her mother dies in childbirth, and a prophecy that suggests she may be the girl who changes everything.

What makes it stand out among from other books of this nature is the fantastic world building Yolen does. Her Hames are interesting and believable. Yolen employs a fascinating trick of beginning each chapter with a brief myth, legend, ballad or out and out history which tells the story we have just heard, or are just about to hear, differently. I found it absolutely fascinating to see the myths and histories set down side by side with the 'true story', and in fact found it to be a fantastic commentary on what we can ever really know about historical events so far removed - and how different (or not different) history really is from myth and legend. It helped that Yolen had the tone of a particular sort of historian down pat, right down to the academic squabbles mid-text.

The other thing that sets this book apart are the richly drawn characters. Joanna is a wonderful heroine, and her struggles are interesting.

I was horrified to turn the last page and realize that this is the first in a trilogy - and it's the sort where you want to have the next on hand - but I can't say I'm disappointed to have two more to look forward to!

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LibraryThing member memccauley6

Yolen’s world building in this book is incredible. The story is interwoven with “historical analysis”, folklore, and even folk songs (the sheet music is an appendix). A product of 70s feminism, this tells the story of thrice-orphaned Jenna, the warrior woman foretold in prophecy by the

worshippers of the mother Goddess, Alta. The followers of Alta are bonded to their “dark sisters” who are called to them by a scrying mirror and can only be corporeal in moonlight or lamplight.

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LibraryThing member pwaites

Sister Light, Sister Dark is the beginning to a YA fantasy trilogy. And let me emphasize that it is very much a beginning and not at all a complete story. Sister Light, Sister Dark intermingles songs, legends, and historical analysis with the story of Jenna, a girl who’s birth was prophesied by

the followers of Alta, a cult of women warriors. When they’re fourteen, the followers of Alta first call up their dark sisters, who can appear only in shadow.

Sister Light, Sister Dark being a beginning and not a complete story on it’s own should not be a problem. Isn’t this the case for many fantasy series? However, Sister Light, Sister Dark is not strong enough to compel me to read the sequel. Upon finishing the book, my overall feeling was confusion that I’d reached the end.

Sister Light, Sister Dark felt like an older fantasy novel, which would be accurate since it was published in 1988. It’s YA and includes elements of coming of age, but it doesn’t follow the typical path of modern YA fantasy novels (it’s not so focused on romance, for one). Something that also felt older, although you could debate if this narrative trend has really decreased, was the heavy reliance on prophecy. There wouldn’t be much of a story at all to Sister Light, Sister Dark if it weren’t for Jenna being the child of prophecy.

While I didn’t care much about the songs or legends inter spaced with the main story, I did like the parts written by presumed future historians. They don’t add to the plot of the book, but it does provide commentary on how historians can see the past through their own cultural assumptions. The historians don’t believe that the characters and warrior women could really have existed and dismiss the characters and events of Sister Light, Sister Dark has folklore. It reminds of reading about how females have been identified as male because they were buried with weapons. This examination of how the narrative of history is shaped and relates to the truth was my favorite part of Sister Light, Sister Dark.

Themes surrounding gender can also be found within the main story line. Besides the obvious focus on sisterhood, the followers of Alta dwell in a land that’s implied to have been formally matriarchal but is now patriarchal. The followers of Alta are an exception and remnant of an older way.

While there was ultimately not enough about Sister Light, Sister Dark to get me to read the sequel, it seems a decent enough classic fantasy novel. If you’re looking for 1980s fantasy novels dealing with gender, it might be a good one to pick up.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

I received a free ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

An interesting story, partially for the entire story itself but also for the interwoven myth and historical interpretation of it in later years. How centuries later the story is twisted by the perception of the writers. It was funny to see how the most discredited writer was actually closer to the

truth than the more academically accepted writers.

Jenna's life is haunted by a prophecy. Everything she does seems to fulfil this prophecy and sets the wheels in motion to change the world she lives in. With a patriarchy meeting a matriarcy this is going to be an interesting fight for the future of this world. Set in a pseudo earth with some roots in this one it's an interesting read.

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LibraryThing member t1bnotown

This book alternates between a story, a "history", and a bunch of other stuff. I found it to be better than I anticipated, but still not something I feel the need to keep with me.

LibraryThing member jshillingford

The firts book in a fabulous, and original, young adult historical fantasy trilogy. Young adult fiction is often dimissed out of hand by many readers. This series is an example of just what a mistake that can be!

Jenna is an orphan taken in by a tribe a Amazon-like women who worship Alta. She is the

Anna, a messiah type figure foretold in prophecy. In a moment of desperation, she calls forth her "shadow sister" Skada from the darkness to help her and their people.

An original story, with great characterization and excellent writing. I recommend the entire trilogy.

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LibraryThing member sara_k

I remember reading Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna when they first came out way back in the late 1980's. I was out of college but reading young adult fiction voraciously. Yes, I read almost everything voraciously but I didn't really have access to modern YA books when I was growing up. We

rarely bought books from major bookstores though my family frequented a book exchange several times a year. I always had access to private libraries (I never went to a public library until I was in college) but they were limited by their focus. Several of the libraries belonged to private christian schools and in one there was no science fiction or fantasy other than Tolkein and C.S. Lewis. The books were more reliable for research than for fun reading.

Anyway, I loved Light Sister, Dark Sister and the year of waiting for White Jenna seemed impassable. Rereading these books I felt less of the thrill and some chafing at the structure of Myth, Legend, History, Story. I did find the differences in the tellings interesting and let my mind follow how these differences could happen but I felt like they broke the story into less flowing parts.

They are complicated books to try to summarize. The worshippers of Alta are set apart communities of women. They practice religion and life that follow the sayings of Great Alta and their warriors are well known and respected. One of their great secrets is their practice of calling shadow sisters from a mirror to join them in this world. Jenna seems to fulfill an ancient prophecy through her unusual birth and mothers but she and her hame leader are not sure and ask for greater signs. When Jenna and her friend unknowingly become tangled in political intrigue, the fury of the reigning king and his 4 lords are brought against the communities of women. Whether or not she wasnts to be involved, Jenna is central to both the beginning and the end. Priestesses keep reminging everyone to read the prophecies "on the slant".

An added bonus for those of you who are musically inclined, each book has the words and music for the songs in the story.

I recommend this book, I guess to people in 5th grade through high school.

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LibraryThing member thioviolight

I absolutely loved this novel expertly written by Yolen. It is marketed for young adults but is totally engaging even for adults. Yolen has created a myth, story, history, legends, and tales in book one of the Great Alta Saga, a fantastic adventure filled with strong women and feminist tones.

LibraryThing member books_ofa_feather

Despite a slow and somewhat boring start, by the middle of the book I was very enthralled. I was eager to know what happened and sorry that book 1 was over already, after only just beginning to like it. I look forward to reading the next book!

LibraryThing member sylvatica

For the whole series: These books are fascinatingly written. The frame story is that there are legends, songs, and tales about the women of Great Alta, and that historians fight constantly about the meanings of these legends. Each chapter includes some “history”, some “legend” and then the

“true story” of what really happened. The women of Great Alta (and their shadow sisters) have a complex and magical way of life, which is brought to life all the more fully through the layered way Yolen constructs the books. The books are a great commentary on what we do or do not know about past cultures.

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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba

We have a girl that was given up at birth to an order of sisters, a religious order devoted to taking in women in trouble. THe babe was given the name Jenna - and many signs show her being the Goddess reborn. We follow Jenna as show grows up in the Hame, her discovery of her dark sister (Shadow

sister) and how she saves her home from the invaders. Also throughout the tale is songs, poems, and writings from this period. There is a historian interpreting it. The stories and tales are far more outlandish than the actual story. It lends a realism that most fantasy seldom manages.

I liked this story. It wasn't great, the history interspersed with the story is a good touch - I like how interpretation by the later historians work with the Real story. Otherwise, its a mostly unremarkable story.

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LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing

In a female-only warrior culture, everyone has a "dark sister"--a mirror image of themselves who only appears at night. I vaguely remember training montages in which the main characters must slog through mud at starve, and lots of thrilling knife work. Very satisfying.

LibraryThing member Noeshia

I really liked this book, though the story did have its problems. I think my favorite part was seeing the difference between the happenings of the story and the later interpretations of historians, musicians, and poets of the society long after it took place. The religion of Jenna's people reminds

me of the religion of the people in the Dragon Age games in that it has a vague, female Jesus feel to it, but it also has a hearty helping of reconstructed ancient European religion in there too. Unfortunately, even though I really enjoyed the sections about the future interpretations and the songs, I can see what other reviewers have said about them jarring the reader out of the plot. I did have a hard time keeping my attention on the story, though that may have also been because I have had a lot going on in my life to think about the past few weeks, or because the story was geared towards much younger readers. I was also a little thrown by the obvious subplot that the least academic historian writing about the subject was the one most right about what actually happened. While that may be true in this fantasy world, I'm leery of people taking that message back to our real world and doubting historians/archaeologists about their research. I've seen a little of what's on the real world side of that profession and I know that the pickiness of the field is there to ensure that no one is led astray and that spiritually or politically motivated ideologies are not warping the academic sources being produced, though that's happened in the past.

Tl;dr This book is beautiful, and I really enjoyed a look into a fantasy world that felt real because of the layers, but I would caution people not to take it to heart as a commentary on our world. This would be best for young readers and those who have good concentration skills.

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LibraryThing member zjakkelien

This wasn't bad, and it most certainly shows an abundance of interesting female characters, but the story was a bit thin and it was told rather slowly. The weird intermezzo's didn't help either.

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