November seems keen on asserting
itself as the darker, stormier portion of fall. Fortunately, all the rain and
rawness we’ve been experiencing lately makes for ideal conditions in which to A)
play all the games B) bake yummy things and C) curl up with a good book when
not doing A or B. As mentioned last week, we’re in the midst of an effort to
bring you more of B and C…well, more of everything really, but particularly B
and C.
As part of that endeavor, we’re
presenting you with a special couplet of posts. This post reviews Scrapplings, a new fantasy novel by author Amelia Smith that will be
available for your reading pleasure in a few weeks and our next post will be a
guest entry by Amelia herself.
Scrapplings introduces us to the land of Theranis, an island nation
favored by dragons. That favor, we quickly learn, is somewhat tenuous; the
majority of the citizens of Theranis are completely unable to see the creatures
that they revere and there’s a degree of unspoken skepticism as to whether they
still exist at all. However, a small minority of the denizens of Theranis know
that the dragons are not only very much alive, but influence many aspects of
daily life. Those “dragon-touched” individuals are regarded by their “dragon-blind”
peers with a mixture of opportunism and superstitious revulsion and, for that
reason, the former tend to conceal their abilities from the latter.
The protagonist of this tale, a
young girl named Darna, is amongst the ranks of the surreptitiously
dragon-touched, but her murky origin story belies a potentially more magical
lineage. We meet Darna in the midst of the drudgery that characterizes her life
as a kitchen servant in the keep of a provincial prince. She is hobbled by an
old injury that never healed correctly but her disability and low station don’t
stymie her ambition to trek across Theranis and build a new life in its
capital: the city of Anamat (for which the book series is named).
Darna’s plans are rent asunder
when a priestess of the dragons arrives at the keep and delivers a nearly unbelievable
message. Instead of leaving for Anamat in an orderly fashion, Darna is forced
to flee into the wilderness. During the course of the journey that follows, she
meets with three other youths: Myril, an older girl with preternatural hearing;
Iola, a beauty so touched by the dragons that she has difficulty clinging to
reality; and Thorat, Iola’s sworn protector.
We learn that the travels and
experiences of this quartet are not atypical of adolescents in Theranis. Thousands
of pre-teens flock to Anamat each spring in the hopes of securing an
apprenticeship in one of the many guilds there. A lucky few can purchase said
apprenticeship upon arrival. For the rest, it’s a season of begging and
scraping to get by in a desperate attempt to build a life for themselves. These
scrapplings exist in their own transitory de facto society, the machinations of
which serve as the fodder for the middle third of the book.
The final third steps up the
action considerably as the Cereans, a foreign faction known for their hatred
and/or denial of the dragons, engage Darna and her diminutive ‘gang’ of fellow scrapplings in various
intrigues whose nature lies just outside the realm of her comprehension. Her
role in these machinations not only angers the powerful dragon Anara, but appears to threaten Theranis at large.
Scrapplings features plenty of tropes that will feel familiar to
fans of fantasy, but their usage feels comfortable, homey even, rather than
tired. Part of the reason for this is that Smith doesn’t rely on them for
either her characterization or for worldbuilding. The characters are where the
text really shines. I’ve always considered it a mark of good writing when you
find yourself getting upset with or otherwise personally invested in a
fictional character, and there are plenty of instances where you’ll likely find
yourself doing just that. Furthermore, Smith scaffolds the world of Scrapplings with excerpts from ancient
texts and common folklore, but the majority of the reader’s education of Theranis stems directly
from the experiences of the characters. You will only learn about various
customs/factions/rivalries if the cast encounters these and then only to the
extent of that particular interaction. It’s a very effective way to keep
readers engaged on multiple levels throughout the narrative.
The pacing starts out on the slow
side and takes most of the book to build but it helps to keep in mind that this
is the first book in a series of five (with book two coming to market next
spring). Given that, as Scrapplings
spans slightly under 400 pages, it’s to be expected that certain aspects of the
narrative take longer to get into. Conversely, the last 30 or so pages blaze by, leaving an ending that feels a bit rushed, but no worse for wear.
It’s a tale that fantasy
aficionados will likely enjoy. There are elements of Marion Zimmer Bradley (a
female-centric, magic-based culture threatened by internal corruption, hostile
foreign elements, and waning faith in the old ways) and Daniel Abraham’s Dagger and Coin series (a world that
owes its existence to dragons and grapples with sudden societal change). If you’re
a fan of either set of works, then Scrapplings
will likely be a pleasure for you. If you haven’t read either, fear not; there’s
still plenty to enjoy. It’s a fresh take on an incredibly dense genre, and that’s
no easy feat. The world of Theranis is lush, alive, and fully encompassing. The
prose is fluid without being overly complex, which, along with the ages of the
protagonists, allows for some crossover potential for young adult readers.
Final Grade: A-/B+
Bottom Line: Scrapplings is an interesting, engaging
adventure that will appeal most to fantasy readers. Its rich cast of characters
and deceptively robust setting will leave you glad that there are four
additional books slated to follow and that readers will not have long to wait
before they can return.
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