Lord of Snow and Shadows
Book One of The Tears of Artemon
Sarah Ash
Random House
Trade paperback, 484 pages, R155
Reviewed by Gail Jamieson, 15 April 2004
Remember the scullery maid who did not know that she was really heiress to
a kingdom, and it being fantasy, was also unaware that she had secret
powers? Heard it before? I'm sure you have. Remember the story of the magic
jewels which have been lost and, when reunited, will control the
world? The prince, who also does not know he is a prince, with the magical
blood in his veins (in this case Dragon blood) who leads a relatively
unexciting life, in this case as a portrait painter, who falls in love with a
real princess, who has to marry a "real" prince in order
to prevent a war? The assassin who becomes the friend of the very man he is
sent to assassinate and who rushes back to his king, (who just in case
you wondered, wants to be emperor of the world) to correct his incorrect
impressions. The father who thinks that his son is dead? The grandmother who
doesn't know she has a granddaughter? And just happens to be a powerful witch?
The evil (pregnant) step-mistress, who wants her own son to inherit the
throne? And to further muddy the waters, also is a spy for the would-be
emperor? The snow owls who are taught to attack the enemy in battle? That one
might be new to you.
Is at least some of this starting to sound familiar? Well, for the greater
part of this novel, I am afraid that it mostly feels as if you had read
it all somewhere before.
Kiukiu, the scullery maid, is despised by everyone. Looked down upon
because she is the illegitimate daughter of an invading soldier. Yet she is
the only one who can help Lord Gavril when he is reluctantly drawn into the
fray, having inherited from his murdered father the title of
"Drakhaon", as well as the vampire-like tendencies which now flow in
his veins. He, of course, desperately tries not to give in to them.
With Gavril not there to protect her, Kiukiu is cast out into the snow;
then saved by the grandmother she did not know she had. The former
scullery maid releases and then banishes spirits after a crash course in
playing the Gusly, (a kind of lute with steel strings) and generally saves the
day.
The forces of "good" and "evil" clash and just when it
looks as if everything will turn out "honky dory" the wrong person
gets killed and off we go again.
This novel is filled with colourful characters and it is an interesting
read, but really there is nothing new in it. If you are a real fantasy fan
with nothing else to read, you might like to give it a try.
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