Blade of Fortriu by Juliet Marillier
September 17th 2006 10:13
Blade of Fortriu by Juliet Marillier
I do not know why but I have this habit of reading a series in reverse. I began reading Harry Potter at number four and then read numbers three, two and one. I read Roberston Davies trilogy in the same order. I read Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass, the last novel of his His Dark Materials trilogy and have been trying to read the other two novels ever since. A hard task, if you ask me.
This time, I began in the middle. I read Juliet Mariller’s Blade of Fortriu, the second novel of Bridei Chronicles trilogy before I read the first one. Marillier I marked for intimate acquaintance, once I had read her Daughter of the Forest. So, I am not ashamed I began in the middle.
Bridei is the recently crowned king of Fortriu who dreams of driving the Gael invaders from his homeland. He sends Ana, a royal hostage in his court, to be the wife of Alpin. Alpin’s alliance is necessary if Bridei is to prevail.
The task of negotiating the marriage and the treaty falls on the head of Faolan, Bridei’s bodyguard with a dark past. Ana and Faolan start on a wrong note but it is not long before Faolan falls in love with Ana. They start their embassy on a weak foot when the rest of their entourage is washed away in a flash flood. Alpin is rough, vulgar and uncouth and Ana wonders how she can marry this man when she spots the family secret. Alpin has a brother, who is secretly stowed away. Drustan may be slightly mad but he is hauntingly handsome and it is not long before Ana falls in love with him and the love triangle is set up.
The good thing about this novel is that the romance does not joltingly morph into a fairy tale, as in Daughter of the Forest.But, Marillier’s strength is not so much her plotting or action but her beautiful narrative voice and this novel has a lot of action which mars the narrative’s pitch from settling down.
All things considered, this is one acquaintance I would like to keep.
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