Skip to main content

Swift

R.J. Anderson's Swift was one of my most anticipated reads of 2012. Anderson is an auto-buy author for me, so much so that if her books (like this one) aren't going to be foreseeably available in the US I order them from the UK. Swift did not disappoint, it exceeded my expectations for it. Anderson brought the story that began in Knife (my review) to a brilliant conclusion with Arrow (my review). Swift takes place in Cornwall and deals with an entirely different group of magical beings, Piskies. While there is a definite overlap between the first trilogy and this book you can read Swift without reading the others. (Though why would you want to? And if you don't read them first you will definitely want to once you have finished this.)

Ivy is a Cornish piskey living with her family and people in an old mine. Ivy is different from the other female piskies. She is smaller and more fail and, most devastating to her, born without wings. Being different hasn't been easy on Ivy nor has the disappearance of her mother, presumably snatched by spriggans, her people's fearsome enemy. When a strange creature, presumably a spriggan, is taken captive by her people and Ivy stumbles upon his cell she makes a dangerous bargain with him. If she helps free him he can take her to her mother and teach her how to fly. This sets Ivy off on an adventure that will forever alter the way she sees herself and the world she grew up in.

What I consistently impresses me about these books is that each heroine is very different from the ones who have come before her. They all share a similar spirit, but their personalities and how they go about achieving their goals is quite different. Ivy is, to me, the most interesting one yet. She has a confidence in herself that is mixed with fears of inferiority. She is stubborn and strong willed, but also willing to explore new ideas and entertain the notion that she may be wrong about things and need to rethink them. Having been sheltered all her life, completely shut off from the outside world, she has much to learn and yet she has a real sense of adventure and is not afraid of the unknown.

The mysterious captive who offers Ivy the bargain for her heart's desire is as fascinating as they come too. Ivy calls him Richard, but that is not his name. When she discovers him for the first time he is alone in the dark and is despondent. What is he doing in his despondency? Quoting Shakespeare. You should have seen the smile on my face when I reached that page. I admit I was excited and extremely happy to find they had captured a Shakespeare quoting magical being. I was kind of hoping we would get more of a certain character who fit that description.

The story itself is an interesting one full of intrigue and a lot of action. As always, the themes Anderson explores through the plot are just as engaging as the plot itself. There is a blood feud that shows what a cruel face justice can have when it is used as a mask for revenge. There is the danger of what happens when we allow the stories we tell about our pasts to become the truth we believe about ourselves and our history. There is the fine line that exists between protecting those we love for their good and enslaving them for our own. Good food for thought and excellent execution all around.

While the book has a definite end it leaves the door open for more which I am anticipating. There is still a lot left to explore both individually for Ivy and "Richard" and with their connection to each other. (Whether it turns out to be a romantic one or not. There was no romance in this story though there was definitely potential for that to develop. Yet there is also potential for things to develop in a completely different fashion. I'm interested to see where Anderson might go with all that.)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak  by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t

Favorite Kissing Scenes

When thinking of a favorite things post I could do for February I decided it would have to be kissing. I've already done couples and I was feeling in the mood to do something fluffy and Valentine's related. So kisses it is. I read more MG than YA, and the YA I read tends to not focus on romance so this was actually harder than I expected it to be though a few jumped into my head right away. (And one of my choices does actually come from a MG book. One is adult. Gasp!) The actual scene from the book is quoted followed by my thoughts. The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day . - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Turner doesn't write the

Shadowshaper

Shadowshaper  by Daniel José Older is everywhere. Best of lists. Award buzz. Blogs everywhere. It's one of those books everyone is reading and talking about. I had it on my TBR but decided I definitely needed to read it before the year was out just so I could weigh in on one of the most talked about books of 2015 if asked. It is deserving of every good thing said about it. Every. One. Sierra was looking forward to a relaxing summer break. Her plans involved hanging out with her friends and painting. They did not involve being chased by zombie like creatures and threatened by a magical power connected to her family's heritage she has never heard of. When murals begin fading all over her Brooklyn neighborhood, Sierra is perplexed. When her grandfather, who had a stroke, begins to apologize and starts repeating strange phases and insisting Sierra get the help of a boy she barely knows to help her finish her mural, Sierra is concerned but mostly about her grandfather. Then at a

The Field Guide to the North American Teeanager

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe is a book I picked up on a whim at the bookstore when it first came out. I liked the cover. I thought it had an engaging premise. I went into it with a healthy does of trepidation because the execution could have gone so terribly wrong. Fortunately, Philippe is an excellent character writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent reading about Norris's adventures in Texas and high school. High school junior Norris Kaplan's life is ruined by his mother when she takes a job that requires them to leave the only home he has ever known in Montreal, Quebec. Moving is always hard, but Norris knows for him it will be harder than it's ever been for anyone else. Norris is moving to Texas. He will be a Canadian living in Texas. Not just a Canadian. A French Canadian who speaks fluent French. And not just your average run-of-the-mill French Canadian. A black son of Haitian immigrant parents French Canadian. If Norris has