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I bought this book in hard copy two years ago and decided to move it up in the reading queue by means of re-buying it in e-book form earlier this month. Since I wasn’t reading it hard on the heels of release, I wasn’t distracted by the expectations of what other people were saying about it. Overall, this is the most enjoyable novel I read all year (setting aside the entirely separate category of “mind-blowing concept but impossibly turgid prose” into which The Adventures of Mademoiselle de Richelieu fell).
The setting is vivid and particular -- or rather, composed of several particulars -- without being a clear reflection of any specific historic setting. We follow three distinct storylines, developing in different times and places but all proceeding toward the same conclusion. Aude is a young woman of well-off family but not particularly noble lineage in a society in the early throes of an industrial revolution. She has been brought to the city in anticipation of marriage to a decidedly indifferent fiance, but becomes fascinated by, and entangled in, the social divide that supports her lifestyle on the backs of a downtrodden (and increasingly rebellious) working class. The entanglement is embodied in the form of Jehan, a young officer of the guard who becomes her protector and champion. With the decidedly naive goal of discovering and understanding the origins of her family’s wealth, the two set out on a quest, heading for her ancestral lands in search of clues. Those lands, rather than being a fertile source of wealth are dead and drought-ridden and infested with dangerous supernatural creatures.
The second strand comes in the form of two shape-shifting ferret-women. And it is vitally important to understand that these are not women who shape-shift into ferrets, but ferrets who have learned how to shape-shift into humans. The characterization of Yelena and Julana is one of the most delightful aspects of the story. They are always and ever very much ferrets, with concerns and reactions that feel exactly right for such creatures. Their story concerns how they came to befriend Marcellan, a philosopher who wandered into the Grass King’s realm (about which more below), how they learned to become human for his sake, and how they were exiled to the human world to become gatekeepers for The World Below (the Grass King’s realm). Marcellan’s writings about the various non-human realms form a theme tying the various strands together: viewed both as irrelevant mythology and dangerous subversion. The ferret-twins bargain for a copy of Marcellan’s book in the hopes that it will help them return to World Below (and Marcellan), but not until Jehan and Aude cross their path is that goal realized.
The third strand occurs in World Below itself -- one of five supernatural realms corresponding to five elemental forces, this one the realm of earth and growing things. We dip in and out of various time-streams, learning that Marcellan’s intrusion somehow set in motion a decay and drought in World Below that mirrors the one Aude found in her own lands. The Grass King and his five elemental captains enact their own dramas and tragedies that intersect with Aude when she is kidnapped and brought to World Below in expectation that she will somehow be able to make restitution and heal the land, though no one is quite sure how.
The first half of the book is slow, vivid world-building with the constant tease of the connection between Aude’s stark and concrete present and the magical vision she once had in childhood of the shining World Below, which she has never entirely stopped seeking. The three strands are developed independently until Aude’s quest brings them together in a tangled snarl. At this point, the story weakens a little. There are several episodes of nebulous travel through bleak unnatural landscapes which bear some resemblance to hallucinations. Several of these felt more present for the purpose of description than to advance the plot in a meaningful way. Similarly, Aude’s experiences as a captive in World Below sometimes shade into repetitive descriptions of opulent deserted palaces, unexpectedly luxurious baths, and cycles of conflict with her captors. The strands all braid together in the end, forming a satisfying and unpredictable resolution that evolves, in important ways, out of the basic underlying good will and generous impulses of the main characters (both human and not) and an understanding of the flawed “humanity” of characters who are decidedly not human at all. The blending of a feel of classical mythology (though not at all a default western one) with modern social/industrial dynamics is unexpected and successful. With only a few exceptions, the strength of the story lies in the vivid and concrete depictions of the several planes of existence in which the story operates. And the characters -- of all types -- are complex and engaging. But if for no other reason at all, read this book for the ferret-twins. They are absolutely delightful.
The setting is vivid and particular -- or rather, composed of several particulars -- without being a clear reflection of any specific historic setting. We follow three distinct storylines, developing in different times and places but all proceeding toward the same conclusion. Aude is a young woman of well-off family but not particularly noble lineage in a society in the early throes of an industrial revolution. She has been brought to the city in anticipation of marriage to a decidedly indifferent fiance, but becomes fascinated by, and entangled in, the social divide that supports her lifestyle on the backs of a downtrodden (and increasingly rebellious) working class. The entanglement is embodied in the form of Jehan, a young officer of the guard who becomes her protector and champion. With the decidedly naive goal of discovering and understanding the origins of her family’s wealth, the two set out on a quest, heading for her ancestral lands in search of clues. Those lands, rather than being a fertile source of wealth are dead and drought-ridden and infested with dangerous supernatural creatures.
The second strand comes in the form of two shape-shifting ferret-women. And it is vitally important to understand that these are not women who shape-shift into ferrets, but ferrets who have learned how to shape-shift into humans. The characterization of Yelena and Julana is one of the most delightful aspects of the story. They are always and ever very much ferrets, with concerns and reactions that feel exactly right for such creatures. Their story concerns how they came to befriend Marcellan, a philosopher who wandered into the Grass King’s realm (about which more below), how they learned to become human for his sake, and how they were exiled to the human world to become gatekeepers for The World Below (the Grass King’s realm). Marcellan’s writings about the various non-human realms form a theme tying the various strands together: viewed both as irrelevant mythology and dangerous subversion. The ferret-twins bargain for a copy of Marcellan’s book in the hopes that it will help them return to World Below (and Marcellan), but not until Jehan and Aude cross their path is that goal realized.
The third strand occurs in World Below itself -- one of five supernatural realms corresponding to five elemental forces, this one the realm of earth and growing things. We dip in and out of various time-streams, learning that Marcellan’s intrusion somehow set in motion a decay and drought in World Below that mirrors the one Aude found in her own lands. The Grass King and his five elemental captains enact their own dramas and tragedies that intersect with Aude when she is kidnapped and brought to World Below in expectation that she will somehow be able to make restitution and heal the land, though no one is quite sure how.
The first half of the book is slow, vivid world-building with the constant tease of the connection between Aude’s stark and concrete present and the magical vision she once had in childhood of the shining World Below, which she has never entirely stopped seeking. The three strands are developed independently until Aude’s quest brings them together in a tangled snarl. At this point, the story weakens a little. There are several episodes of nebulous travel through bleak unnatural landscapes which bear some resemblance to hallucinations. Several of these felt more present for the purpose of description than to advance the plot in a meaningful way. Similarly, Aude’s experiences as a captive in World Below sometimes shade into repetitive descriptions of opulent deserted palaces, unexpectedly luxurious baths, and cycles of conflict with her captors. The strands all braid together in the end, forming a satisfying and unpredictable resolution that evolves, in important ways, out of the basic underlying good will and generous impulses of the main characters (both human and not) and an understanding of the flawed “humanity” of characters who are decidedly not human at all. The blending of a feel of classical mythology (though not at all a default western one) with modern social/industrial dynamics is unexpected and successful. With only a few exceptions, the strength of the story lies in the vivid and concrete depictions of the several planes of existence in which the story operates. And the characters -- of all types -- are complex and engaging. But if for no other reason at all, read this book for the ferret-twins. They are absolutely delightful.
