Fire Arrow | |||||
Edith Pattou | |||||
Harcourt Brace, 332 pages | |||||
A review by Victoria Strauss
Fire Arrow, next in the series, takes up the tale of Brie, one of Collun's companions along the
quest. Brie saw her father murdered when she was a child, and since then has lived only for revenge. Her
search takes her north, into the mysterious land of Dungal, where she finds and slays her father's
killers. But vengeance, which has governed her life for so long, proves hollow in the achievement. Brie
takes refuge in a small fishing village, where she learns the ways of the sea and tries to discover a
new direction for her life.
But evil is brewing in the northern land of Scath, ruled by the witch queen Medb. Her attempted invasion
of Eirren was the one Collun and others turned back in the previous book. Now Medb wants to conquer Dungal. She
unleashes a variety of evils upon the land -- shoals of rapacious sea-snakes to infest the ocean, drought
and windstorms to decimate the crops, roaming bands of murderous goat-men to terrorize the populace --
and sends the sorcerer Balor to lead the invasion. Balor, who is Brie's cousin, seeks out and captures
her. He wants her for his consort -- but he also desires the magical fire-arrow she has inherited, for it
has been prophesied that the arrow will destroy him.
Balor imprisons Brie in an enchanted belltower, each of whose rooms holds a different spell. But Collun
has dreamed of Brie, and he comes to rescue her. Together Brie and Collun assemble a ragtag army and
journey out to face Balor and his huge force of goat-men and evil, lizard-like morgs. In the great battle
that follows the fire-arrow works its magic, and Balor is destroyed, along with his inhuman
army. Dungal is saved -- though not without great cost.
Fire Arrow is a much more accomplished book than its predecessor, which, despite its swift
adventure, was slowed by big chunks of explanatory dialogue and awkward point-of-view
shifts. Fire Arrow's narrative stays with Brie, who is an appealing character, entirely believable
in her determination and bravery. There is little of the narrative-halting exposition that marred
Hero's Song, and rehash of previous action is kept to a minimum. Pattou has a formidable
imagination; Fire Arrow is replete with fascinating and fantastical images, creatures, and
settings. I particularly like the story's integration -- and transformation -- of Irish myth and folklore.
There is a sense, sometimes, of a little too much going on. The adventures come so thick and fast the
reader hardly has time to absorb one before being vaulted onward to the next. Some of the characters
are annoyingly stock; others are sketchily drawn, and it's a little difficult sometimes to remember
who is who. And the nitpicker in me cringes each time someone eats corn or tomatoes, New World vegetables
unlikely to exist even in an Ireland-that-never-was. But overall, this is an engrossing, well-crafted
book, and will be much enjoyed by young fans of high fantasy. Pattou is clearly a writer whose skill is
growing with experience; if the third book in the series is as much of a leap forward as
Fire Arrow, it should be very good indeed.
Victoria Strauss is a novelist, and a lifelong reader of fantasy and science fiction. Her most recent fantasy novel The Arm of the Stone is currently available from HarperCollins EOS. For details, visit her Web site. |
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