Title: The Witch's Daughter (US Link)
Author: Paula Brackston
Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Series: The Shadow Chronicles
A few starting notes:
Apparently this is the first volume of the Shadow Chronicles, though it seems that the series continues along a theme rather than with the same characters. Though with this being the first I've read, it's possible I'm wrong.
Premise:
Bess Hawksmith was happy enough faffing about in the rural West Country in the 1600's. Then everything basically went to hell in a hand-basket. There was death, lots of it, and magic, some of it, and fear, buckets of it.
Eliza Hawksmith was working as a doctor, treating the rich and the poor of Victorian London, until the past caught up with her.
Elise Hawksmith was a nurse on the Western Front. She met a soldier. They were in love. Could it last?
Elizabeth Hawksmith is just settling into a new village when she meets Tegan. Tegan becomes almost like a daughter to her, and Elizabeth finds herself having to protect the girl from things she's too young to understand.
And looming over it all is the shadow of Gideon Masters. A rejected suitor is a dangerous thing - particularly one like Gideon.
Best bits:
I like the historical settings - the images used are vivid and really conjure the essence of the period of time.
The plot is interesting enough to keep you going, and the characters are amiable enough to make you care. Which of course is what you need in any novel.
I also liked the way Elizabeth's diary is used as a frame for the other three stories - it gives an effective structure to the whole thing.
Not so great bits:
There's some pretty gory bits, so if you're not a fan of the violence, blood and guts, beware. There's also some pretty uncomfortable and down-right graphic descriptions of rape, so read responsibly.
This isn't exactly historically-accurate, what with all the witching and all, but I'm pretty sure that the black death/bubonic plague was centred in the 1300/1400s, not the 1600s - though I will admit that there were some localised outbreaks afterwards. Brackston's plague is in 1628; the history nerd in me wishes that at the very least there was some mention of the unusualness of an outbreak at this time.
The narrative has a kind of BBC4 afternoon play vibe - which is all very well and good in its place, but kind of jars with the content in places.
Verdict:
A decent novel with plenty of historical-drama melded with witch-y activity. Enjoyable but a little slow and sometimes off-key in pace and tone, this is most likely to appeal to fans of Alma Katsu's The Taker, or the TV show Forever - although, personally, I think that Forever does a better job at dealing with the themes.
Title: Prince of Shadows
Author: Rachel Caine
Genre: YA, Historical fiction, Romance
A few starting notes:
A historically-set piece of YA from Rachel Caine (author of the Morganville vampire series) which had me intrigued but weary before reading. Could it live up to the strength of its premise?
Premise:
Ok, so we've all heard of Romeo and Juliet - those doomed Shakespearean lovers from fair Verona. This takes the original play and runs with it, focussing on characters who see relatively little or no stage time in the Shakespearean version - Benvolio Montague, cousin to Romeo, and Rosaline (here made a cousin to Juliet to make the plot more fitting.) Benvolio has secrets of his own, stalking the night as the infamous thief the Prince of Shadows, and despite his best efforts, developing a bit of a thing for Rosaline Capulet. And then a curse starts to set in and things get interesting!
Best bits:
The paranormal aspects of this are never overdone - subtle and in-keeping with both the plot and the tone of the novel. It's not overt, and hits just the right note.
The writing flows well (I know it sounds like a bit of a standard review phrase but good quality writing really should be acknowledged,) and Caine imbues the whole book with the passion of both her own plot and the original play. Her Verona has a dream-like feel to it - a world of extremes filled with beauty and horror - and we stay very firmly in the period setting of swords and nobles.
The characters are vivid, their pains and pleasures believable, and Benvolio (our eloquent narrator for the majority of the novel) is charming enough to keep you reading - which of course is an excellent quality to have in a narrator.
Not so great bits:
Caine's attempts to incorporate Shakespearean language and dialogue occasionally jar the reader - this isn't her fault exactly, it's just that Shakespeare's tone is so different from her own voice that it's sometimes noticeable when she's tried to force a merger of the two.
I also didn't find the character of the Montague grandmother all that believable - are you telling me that this world you've tried to convince is so chauvinistic allows a shrivelled and spiteful old matriarch to tell lords what to do? Maybe it's a personal thing, but, although she certainly moved the plot along, she annoyed the hell out of me.
Verdict:
A couple of minus points aside, this kept me engaged and lived up to its promise - I love things that look into other character's points of view and this managed to follow through where a weaker writer may have floundered and failed. I thoroughly enjoyed it - and it wasn't too smushy and kissy kissy either, making it all the more believable. Anyone who enjoys well-written young adult fiction could do worse than to give this a go.
