Review: The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier

The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier

Buy It Now: via Amazon.com

Description: In the mid 6th century, the homeland of the Picts in northern Britain was under threat from the Gaels, who had invaded the west coast and established themselves in their new kingdom of Dalriada. At the same time, the Christian faith was taking hold in the southern part of the Pictish kingdom, and the leaders of the northern realm were struggling to maintain their ancient traditions. In young Bridei, a little-known son of the royal line, king’s druid and powerbroker Broichan sees the perfect candidate for future kingship. The child is sent to him for fostering. At his remote forest home of Pitnochie, Broichan sets about training his protege in the ways of the ancients and in the all-important preparation to be a leader of men. But Broichan has not allowed for the Good Folk, well-known workers of tricky magic. When young Bridei discovers a strange baby girl abandoned on Broichan’s doorstep in the chill of the winter solstice, he takes her into the house. And the druid discovers that there is one power at work that may be too strong for him to control; one unpredictable factor that could become the death of his dreams. from julietmarillier.com

Stacy’s Review:

I’d read Marillier’s Sevenwaters trilogy because the story of the six swan brothers and their sister weaving the shirts out of nettles was always one of my favorites. I fell out of her readership for a little while (and abandoned most high fantasy in general for thrillers, murder mysteries, and eventually urban fantasy), but was glad to return to it with this one, the first book in the Bridei Chronicles. Marillier holds degrees in music and languages, with a dedicated affection for Celtic folklore (and obviously German fairytales) and now sets her eye on 6th century Scotland. Steeped in Pictish history and religion, the first of the Bridei Chronicles is the story of the origin of Bridei, a young man from Gwenydd (depending on who you believe, this is Wales – I wrote an entire thesis on how it wasn’t Wales until England unified it all under the same banner against their will, but at any rate, it is the northern kingdom of what is now called Wales) who is fostered with the king of Fortriu’s druid, Broichan. Broichan teaches young Bridei the druidic arts, and a pair of delightful old men, Wyd & Erip (whom I read as Wyatt and Earp the first time…do you blame me?) teach him his history and politics. Broichan does not tell him why he is important (though other characters begin to give the game away – when he reaches maturity he will be put forth as a possible king of Fortriu because his mother was of royal blood), but succeeds in balancing him and teaching him all he will need to know if he is to be a competent king.

That is, until Tuala.

Left on the doorstep of Broichan’s home, an infant girl in a basket whom Bridei finds and names Tuala, Broichan sees the child as the foil to all his good work – convinced that Bridei will lose sight of what is important (though he won’t tell him why these things are important) if he is so caught up in this girl. Worse, she is no ordinary girl, but has the fair skin and dark coloring of the Fair Folk. She and Bridei become fast friends – Bridei is only eight when he finds her – and Broichan’s coldness towards the usurper means that Bridei practically raises her himself. As she gets older, she is seen as a threat – where once was a child whom everyone indulged, now there is a blossoming young girl on the edge of womanhood – whose differences are now the sources of whispers and those whom she called friend now bar her entry into their homes lest she steal their men and children away into the forest.

With Bridei gone more and more, Tuala begins to wonder if she really belongs in the realm of men.

I have to say, what put me off high fantasy in the first place, so many years ago, was the tendency of authors to believe themselves the second coming of Tolkien. Few can even begin to approach such a title without becoming mockeries of what they aspire to. Perhaps it is Marillier’s excellent research (though she readily admits, she is not writing historical fiction, she’s writing historical fantasy, so she changes certain details to fit her storytelling) and the feeling of being grounded in real characters (despite their gods and goddesses and rituals and bits of magic) that allowed me to be pitched headfirst into this story. While Bridei himself was interesting, I found my interest strayed more to Tuala – who never fit in and desired only to be loved and cherished. Her relationship with Broichan is something that made me dislike Broichan the entire time, despite his obvious good intentions towards Bridei and the future of Fortriu. Where he could have been a father-figure, he treats her like a plague upon his house, and she knows it just as everyone else does, despite his ward’s affection for her and the fact that he is the only father-figure she has ever known.

Marillier details aspects of the Pictish culture (called Priteni – though I do not know if this is Marillier’s renaming or a historical name that has been distorted into what we use today) and religion, lighting on the roles of women, class interaction, and the tribal organization of the kingdom as well as the method of kingmaking as aspects of the story – she balances showing and telling in just the right amounts so one neither feels as though one has just had a Matrix-esque “early Scottish history” program jacked into one’s brain or that the descriptions get out of hand before getting to the point. Plot and character development come hand-in-hand, and the plot works to finely tune the characters that we have been getting to know.

I highly enjoyed this, finished it off lickety-split, and in fact just finished the second book this afternoon. I can feel that 33% off Borders coupon burning a hole in my pocket to get my hands on the third book, the conclusion to the trilogy.