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starladyTurner, Megan Whalen. The Thief. New York: Greenwillow Books, 1996.
Turner, Megan Whalen. The Queen of Attolia. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2000.
Turner, Megan Whalen. The King of Attolia. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2006.
I love these books so much, and The Queen of Attolia in particular may be a perfect book; I want to find the right words to talk about them. In short, Megan Whalen Turner is an amazing writer. Each of these books is a miracle of structure, and her characters are absolutely indelible. Turner also writes incredibly dense prose that is as translucent as water--there's multitudes packed into her words, which only look simple. Oh, really, these books are a marvel.
Begin at the beginning, as Holmes would tell Watson, right? So, The Thief. It was a 1997 Newbery Honor book, and it introduces readers to Turner's Byzantine/early Renaissance alternate Near East, and to the three countries of Attolia, Eddis and Sounis whose fates are uneasily yoked together at the best of times. After taking a degree in classics, I can piece together what in Turner's world is based on what in ours, but she prefers to leave direct correspondences unexplored, and I'll respect her wishes. In any case, she thoroughly transforms her source materials (check out the feminist retelling of the myth of Persephone in The Queen of Attolia!).
Speaking of which, aside from the carefully constructed plots, another common thread in all three books is the importance of inset stories, which characters tell one another and which all connect in clever, thematic ways to the plots themselves.
The Thief contains a major twist ending which is unspeakably brilliant and which sets up the next two books in a foundational way, so I don't want to talk too much about the plots themselves. I would, however, like to talk about The Queen of Attolia, which has to be one of the most complex, wracking books I own. Though all these books are YA, there's more than a little of D/s dynamics in this particular book, as well as one of the most wrenching love stories I've read. I really do think that if I had to name one perfect book, I might pick that one, not least because of how the main character deals with having his hand cut off in the first 20 pages. Yes, despite being YA, the book is quite dark.
In some ways, actually, Turner reminds me a lot of Michelle West--both women write about power, and about fantasy realms in which characters not only believe in but talk to their gods (indeed, the introduction of the gods into the narrative is a minor marvel). Both women ask, to an extent, what people will and won't do for and with power, when they must, what roles people take and what are thrust upon them, and how and whether they'll grow to fill them. The next book, A Conspiracy of Kings, comes out on March 23, and I cannot wait.
Turner, Megan Whalen. The Queen of Attolia. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2000.
Turner, Megan Whalen. The King of Attolia. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2006.
I love these books so much, and The Queen of Attolia in particular may be a perfect book; I want to find the right words to talk about them. In short, Megan Whalen Turner is an amazing writer. Each of these books is a miracle of structure, and her characters are absolutely indelible. Turner also writes incredibly dense prose that is as translucent as water--there's multitudes packed into her words, which only look simple. Oh, really, these books are a marvel.
Begin at the beginning, as Holmes would tell Watson, right? So, The Thief. It was a 1997 Newbery Honor book, and it introduces readers to Turner's Byzantine/early Renaissance alternate Near East, and to the three countries of Attolia, Eddis and Sounis whose fates are uneasily yoked together at the best of times. After taking a degree in classics, I can piece together what in Turner's world is based on what in ours, but she prefers to leave direct correspondences unexplored, and I'll respect her wishes. In any case, she thoroughly transforms her source materials (check out the feminist retelling of the myth of Persephone in The Queen of Attolia!).
Speaking of which, aside from the carefully constructed plots, another common thread in all three books is the importance of inset stories, which characters tell one another and which all connect in clever, thematic ways to the plots themselves.
The Thief contains a major twist ending which is unspeakably brilliant and which sets up the next two books in a foundational way, so I don't want to talk too much about the plots themselves. I would, however, like to talk about The Queen of Attolia, which has to be one of the most complex, wracking books I own. Though all these books are YA, there's more than a little of D/s dynamics in this particular book, as well as one of the most wrenching love stories I've read. I really do think that if I had to name one perfect book, I might pick that one, not least because of how the main character deals with having his hand cut off in the first 20 pages. Yes, despite being YA, the book is quite dark.
In some ways, actually, Turner reminds me a lot of Michelle West--both women write about power, and about fantasy realms in which characters not only believe in but talk to their gods (indeed, the introduction of the gods into the narrative is a minor marvel). Both women ask, to an extent, what people will and won't do for and with power, when they must, what roles people take and what are thrust upon them, and how and whether they'll grow to fill them. The next book, A Conspiracy of Kings, comes out on March 23, and I cannot wait.