Review: Raven Flight by Juliet Marilier

Title: Raven Flight
Author: Juliet Marillier
Genre: fantasy, young adult
Series: Shadowfell #2
Pages: 416
Published: July 9 2013
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3/5

Neryn has finally found the rebel group at Shadowfell, and now her task is to seek out the elusive Guardians, vital to her training as a Caller. These four powerful beings have been increasingly at odds with human kind, and Neryn must prove her worth to them. She desperately needs their help to use her gift without compromising herself or the cause of overthrowing the evil King Keldec.

Neryn must journey with the tough and steadfast Tali, who looks on Neryn's love for the double agent Flint as a needless vulnerability. And perhaps it is. What Flint learns from the king will change the battlefield entirely-but in whose favor, no one knows.

Juliet Marillier is a talented author. That much is obvious upon opening and reading the first chapter of her books. However, she is not perfect and further, even this veteran fantasy author is not impervious to falling victim to fantasy tropes that hamper an otherwise good story. The story created in Shadowfell is continued here in Raven Flight, but on the whole, the second novel is weaker, less creative, and spends far too much time involved in one form or another of a quest. This is still an immensely readable book - it's fast-paced and easily read, but it is not without error.

When I read Shadowfell late last year, I was a big fan. It was easy to get caught up in the magical alt-Scotland - "Alban" - that Marillier used to house her story of forbidden magic, an oppressive king, and one girl fleeing for her life. However, the setting takes a back seat here in round two, giving way to focus on a lot of talking, a lot of training, and A LOT of Neryn journeying from one place to another. It's not to say that I didn't enjoy Raven Flight, because I did once it hit its stride late in the narrative. It's just not quite on the same level as the book that came before. It's definitely a victim of sequel syndrome, but! It was still good and fun enough to make me excited for the eventual sequel sure to be on the way. 

If you don't remember book one, a reread might be helpful. There is some summarizaton of the events that came before, but on the whole, Marillier is concerned with new action and a new plot. There are a lot of the same characters, but the author spends little time revisiting them to reintroduce the audience. Neryn is again the main character and chief protagonist. She is as I remembered her, but the path she takes in book two is less harrowing and less compelling that what she went through before with Flint by her side. It may also the lack of real interaction and chemistry between Neryn and her love interest made the journeying less riveting to read about. Neryn has grown since Shadowfell - less naive, more aware, haunted by her abilities - but the book sorely misses her repartee with Flint now that Tali has assumed the role of second lead.

Due to the lack of Flint during the majority of Neryn's plotline, it's obvious that romance is a minor aspect to the novel. Instead Raven Flight focuses more on Neryn's attempts to bring together an alliance between rebels, chieftains, and the fey to overthrow the despotic King Keldec and to train her magical abilities as a Caller of the Good Folk. And writing towards those goals is where the novel stumbles. For in order for Neryn to foster the alliance the rebels so dearly need, she needs to be trained by all four Guardians of Alban... which are strewn across the four corners of her country. That makes for a lot of time walking to find one of the mystical Guardians, then the inevitable (and long-winded) training sessions once they are found.... and, well, all that makes for less than page-turning fare. Tali makes for a good companion and the evolution of her relationship with Neryn from antagonistic acquaintances to real friends is believable and shows Tali to be a more dimensional character.

There is some action, and some genuine surprises mixed in, but on the whole, Raven Flight is a weaker than expected sequel. I love a girl that can kick ass as Tali does, or one that grows and learns as Neryn does... but it's not the most invigorating read. It does some interesting things, and it isn't exactly boring, but it lacks the flair and originality that so marked Shadowfell. Instead it is comprised of more typical fantasy fare, with long segments of traveling and training. The few times Flint shows up in the novel, it's easy to see that his contribution is sorely missed across the board. His role is complex and he is a complicated character. His chemistry with Neryn, his conflicting loyalties all make for more interesting aspects than what Neryn undergoes throughout the novel.

I was a little disappointed by the path that Raven Flight took for the majority of the narrative, but in the last chapters, Marillier really takes it up a notch and saves this from a 2-star read. Several events and revelations keep the emotion high and the outcome unpredictable. They don't wholly make up for what came before, but will definitely leave readers on edge waiting to see how everything will turn out.

Review: Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

Title: Shadowfell
Author: Juliet Marillier
Genre: fantasy
Series: Shadowfell #1
Pages: 416 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: September 11 2012
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 4/5

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill—a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk—Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death—but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban’s release from Keldec’s rule.

Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

My first Juliet Marillier novel, and I am already considering myself a fan. Though primarily known and loved as a gifted  fantasy writer for adults, this prolific and beloved Australian writer extends herself easily into the growing YA fantasy genre with the first in her new series about the oppressed magical land of Alban. Though rife with well-known and often overdone fantasy tropes - the "chosen one", the slow realization of virtues of the protagonist, usually during the long long quest filled with some few adventures and then more walking, the medieval feel to the country and culture - Marillier manages to infuse these often used conventions and make them exciting, fun, and emotional. Boasting a well-rounded cast operating on a lively stage, Shadowfell is occasionally formulaic but still manages to shine and involve readers in Neryn's journey for safety in a land wracked by distrust, suspicion, and fear. Combining fey legends ("The Good Folk") with pieces of Celtic lore, Marillier builds a novel that enchants and entertains all at the same time. 

Neryn is the likable, kind, and also incredibly naive protagonist of Shadowfell. It's both easy to like the canny girl and root for her on her trek, but also to become increasingly frustrated with the character's guileless attitude as the tension increasingly grows and her awareness of who to trust, what to do in these situations does not. I liked the character, she's easy to empathize with early on, but often enough her reactions would be silly, too trusting and thus lead to contrived, frustrating situations with her secondary protagonist and obvious love interest, Flint. The book is more internal and personal struggle-driven than moved by action or adventure - though there are incidences of both throughout - and Neryn's wide-eyed acceptance of whatever is most recently told to her can get a bit wearying. Her inner  monologue and thoughts are very readable and easily engrossing, but I do think that a more skeptical eye, a more discerning look at what she sees and hears, would clear up a lot of unnecessary conflicts that pop up more than once with Flint.  

Flint is a character of contradictions as well. His is a dangerous world without the benefit of neryn's black and white morality, and the role he is forced to play shows a clear hand at the author's ability to evoke pathos from her readers. Flint's relationship with the young girl is delicate balance (just like his with the King), full of equal amounts of cautious trust, doubt, and attraction (hopefully, unlike his interactions with the King). Like Neryn, he is more than he seems and is wonderfully fleshed out as the story progresses and more of his character is revealed. He's also a great love interest, outside of the "do what I tell you because I can't give you any pertinent information." It's an obvious ploy to cause drama between the two, and I must admit that it got old after a while. I did get frustrated with the lack of communication between the two, but I still came out of reading this pretty enamored with Flint. The slow burning mutual attraction and connection between Flint and Neryn are core parts of the story, but romance is not what drives the plot forward. Neryn's quest(s) for safety, knowledge, and self-awareness do the heavy lifting.

Shadowfell clocks in at a respectable 416 pages, but the characters, setting, and even the message at the heart of everything (though non too subtle) make for a fast-engrossing, easy, and fun read. It's a fantasy novel with two interesting characters wrestling with their future roles in the fight to free Alban, their mutual growing attraction to one another, their independent wants and hopes, which makes for a cast of well-rounded, distinct people with a well-crafted plot to keep interest high and the pages turning with alacrity. This was a one-day read, and I found myself severely jonesing for the next in the series as soon as I finished. Juliet Marillier has impressed me, and I won't be waiting long to try my hand at her more well-known and widely loved adult fantasy titles.