Review
Ophelia is a talented ‘reader’ – if she holds objects without wearing gloves, she can read the emotions and thoughts of previous holders of the objects. She doesn’t care for her appearance, is extremely clumsy, and has turned down two attempts to arrange her a marriage. So it’s a total shock to her to find that the Doyennes have arranged for her to marry stern and largely silent Thorn, a man from another ark (post-distant apocalypse the world has separated into islands called arks), the Ark of the Pole. Chaperoned by her aunt, she leaves with her fiancé for this alien, icy place, only to find that it’s a world of deceit, hidden violence and constant political intrigue. Why has she been chosen? Who can she trust?
*
When I started reading this book, translated from the French, I thought that it might be a good recommendation for a keen middle grade reader. Turns out no. The cover quote says, ‘It’s the French Harry Potter!’ Absolutely not! It’s a bizarre magical world, gas lamp fantasy style, but full of references to people being “deflowered” and seduction as a political weapon. It’s all very YA appropriate – no detail at all – but it was startling. Is this a French thing? Certainly the floating city of Citaceleste feels very Versailles. There is what seems to be a sort of extremely nascent Jane Eyre/Mr Rochester style romance budding between the main characters… if so, definitely a slow burn with no real Volume 1 payoff. It’s almost all told from Ophelia’s third person limited/subjective perspective.
Anyway, it was mildly entertaining, but I don’t think I’m engaged enough to read #2, especially given how long they are – this one is 491 pages, although largish print. The world was interesting, but a bit too stuffed full of fantastical detail (another thing! another thing! yet another thing!) to be fully coherent. And the vision’s a bit too Les Liaisons Dangeureuses for my tastes: too much deceit and malice. There is also some friendship and loyalty, but not much.
13+ but really one for dedicated fantasy fans only. (I also have it on good 13 year old authority that while this book is “great”, the next one has “gross romantic stuff”.)
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Mild but nasty-feeling fantasy violence; a world full of deceit, malice, betrayal and political manoeuvring; regular passing references to seduction, deflowering, etc. as political weapons; characters smoke (while pregnant – also drink while pregnant); murders; near-murders; deaths of a character’s children told as backstory.
*
Dabos, C. (2018). A Winter’s Promise (H. Serle, Trans.). Text Publishing. (Original work published 2013)
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