Following straight on from The Golden Apple this
continues the Dark Forest series adapted from
Scandinavian folklore. THE SILVER PEAR briefly reprises
the
first story in which Princess Kayla and warrior Rane are
bespelled by a golden apple and head off to find a witch
in
the forest, meeting dangers. They manage to free Rane's
brother Soren from captivity but become separated.
Kayla can draw on wild magic to work spells in the deep
woods. Soren now finds himself held in a stronghold along
with some other honest men, all of whom unwittingly
touched
a magic gem and were transported here. Miri is a young
female magic user in the castle who stores power in a
silver pear talisman around her neck. She's under threat
from the military leader here but everyone is wary of
sorcery, even Miri herself. When she courageously helps
free the captives, a newly arrived, paid sorcerer attacks
her. She manages to hide the pear but is thrown
unconscious
in a dungeon... and Soren can't bring himself to leave her
there.
Rane and Kayla meanwhile are asking a witch in the woods
to
teach Kayla how to use her magic; they will need it, for
war is coming. The lovers hate the thought of being
parted,
but this seems inevitable. There's nerve-shattering action
as the various travellers encounter water nymphs, imps and
wood bogeys.
I liked the simple practicality of magic items. A small
stick will light a fire even of wet wood, while a
moonstone
makes a bearer who closes his hand around it invisible. I
particularly loved a magic tree house. The sheer realism
of
these and the location details makes for an immersive
read.
We can feel the cold of the stone floor and smell the rank
sweat steeped into a pallet. Names include Nordic ones
like Eric the Bold, Hirst Red Tongue, Andrei Wolfsblood.
The humble woodcutters and carters are a bolster to the
setting.
This gripping Dark Forest instalment improves as we
proceed deeper into the adventure, and follow more
characters. Nobody is entirely good or bad, no
spellcasting
entirely right or wrong. Michelle Diener writes impeccably
peopled stories, set from South Africa to Scandinavia, and
THE SILVER PEAR may be among her best. Fantasy fans should
grab this up - but watch out. There are worse things than
grindylows in the woods.
An unlikely princess . . .
Kayla is determined to master her new-found abilities as a
wild
magic witch by learning everything she can so she and her
betrothed, Rane, can
put a stop to the sorcerers who are recklessly gathering
their power, building
up their magic to take each other on in a war that will
destroy the countries of
Middleland.
An even more unlikely sorcerer . . .
Mirabelle's father was one of the greatest sorcerers in
Middleland, but when he
used the magic in the silver pear to bespell his pregnant
wife to
give birth to the
greatest sorcerer who would ever live, he never thought
for a
moment that child
would be a girl. Mirabelle is nothing like a usual
sorcerer,
confounding every
expectation, and when she comes to the rescue of Rane's
brother,
Soren, she
makes a decision few sorcerers would. She saves him,
rather than
herself, losing
the silver pear in the process.
And using magic always exacts a price . . .
With war not just a possibility but simply a matter of
time,
there
are no neutral
parties and no fence-sitters in Kayla and Mirabelle's new
world.
Everyone is
either an ally or an enemy and there is a price to pay for
everything. The
question is, how high will it be?
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