'Quintana of Charyn' Lumatere Chronicles #3 by Melina Marchetta

 Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

There's a babe in my belly that whispers the valley, Froi.
I follow the whispers and come to the road...

Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi must travel through Charyn to search for Quintana, the mother of Charyn's unborn king, and protect her against those who will do anything to gain power. But what happens when loyalty to family and country conflict? When the forces marshalled in Charyn's war gather and threaten to involve the whole of the land, including Lumatere, only Froi can set things right, with the help of those he loves.

‘Quintana of Charyn’ is the much-anticipated third and final novel in Melina Marchetta’s ‘Lumatere Chronicles.’

I didn’t want to read this book, because I didn’t want to have it all come to an end. Melina Marchetta has taken readers on an epic and perilous journey that began with the assassination of a royal family, a Kingdom’s curse and ten years of exile that separated families, and destroyed lives. She has written tangled webs and fractured hearts, and the types of classic, grandiose love stories that can only be found in fantasy. I've loved every page of ‘The Lumatere Chronicles’, and though I was sad to read its end with ‘Quintana of Charyn’, I found there was a lot to love in this goodbye. But, then again, maybe I shouldn’t look at this as ‘the end’. A large focus of ‘Quintana’ is hope; hope and family and how those two are sometimes irrevocably linked. So maybe it’s more accurate to say that ‘Quintana’ isn’t about the destination, but the journey. You have to go there to come back, so to speak. Through the uncertainty of ‘Finnikin’ and the darkness of ‘Froi’, you had to go there to get to this point. To this book that’s brimming with hope and family – maybe it’s more like a homecoming than an ending?

‘Quintana of Charyn’ picks up where ‘Froi of the Exiles’ left off, give or take a few weeks during Froi’s recovery. When we revisit him, Froi is being tended to by his uncle Arjuro, but is restless and heartsick for Quintana, not knowing her whereabouts but knowing there will be a price on her head as King-killer and last Charyn royal. Not to mention, she carries their babe. So once Arjuro relents, Froi intends to go searching for his Quintana with his parents, Gargarin and Lirah, in tow.

Meanwhile, Isaboe and Finnikin are fighting – nobody has heard from Froi in weeks and rumours are swirling that his allegiance has shifted. Finnikin wonders if there is more to Isaboe’s concern over Froi’s whereabouts, and it becomes abundantly clear that he is still not quite resigned to his role as Consort. Though Isaboe is big with a baby on the way, Finnikin decides to leave their home and go travelling with his father, Trevanion and trusted soldier Perri, the three men still on the hunt of vengeance for Isaboe’s slain family.

Trouble is brewing in the valley since a plague killed some of the Charynite women, including Lumatere leader, Lucian’s, wife. Food is scarce for those seeking refuge, but Isaboe will not bring war to her valley by opening her home to those she has a dark past with. And while Lucian grieves for his deceased wife, Phaedra of Alonso is in fact hiding in a cave with other Charynite women; Cora, Florenza, Jorja and Ginny. These five women could not be more different, but it’s keeping someone secret that binds them together and keeps them hidden.

And down in the same valley, a savage girl wanders.

‘Quintana of Charyn’ begins with many tangled webs and seemingly disconnected stories, spread across the Skuldenore land. But as the book progresses, stories overlap . . . connections are made and fate plays a deft hand in these character’s lives and paths. And along with ‘family’ and ‘hope’, I do think that fate plays a big part in this book – and perhaps has been playing its part since ‘Finnikin of the Rock’, as storylines transpire and show roots reaching back to that first book. I think Froi summarizes this beautifully, in one of my favourite scenes between him and Arjuro. ‘The Lumatere Chronicles’ has been filled with characters transforming themselves and rising above their circumstances – Evanjalin to Queen Isaboe, and Froi from street urchin to Queen’s trusted assassin being the biggest. With that in mind, it was humbling and touching to read Froi’s thoughts on the hard life he’s had, and that he wouldn’t change any of it;

Froi saw the rage in Arjuro’s eyes, his clenched fists.
‘If I could find the men who did those things to you as a child I would tear them limb from limb.’
Froi embraced him.
‘One day,’ Froi said, clearing his voice of emotion, ‘I’ll introduce you to my queen and my king and my captain; and Lord August and Lady Abian, who have given me a home; and the Priestking and Perri and Tesadora and my friend Lucian; and then you’ll understand that I would never have met them if you hadn’t journeyed to Sarnak all those years ago, Arjuro. And if the gods were to give me a choice between living a better life, having not met them, or a wretched life with the slightest chance of crossing their path, then I'd pick the wretched life over and over again.’
He kissed Arjuro’s brow. Finnikin called it a blessing between two male blood kin. It always had made Froi ache seeing it between Finnikin and Trevanion.
‘I'd live it again just to have crossed all of your paths. Keep safe, Arjuro. Keep safe so I can bring your brother home to you.’

One of my favourite aspects of this book is the poisoned history between Queen Isaboe and Princess Quintana. Quintana and Isaboe actually reminded me a little of Elizabeth ‘The Virgin Queen’ and Mary ‘Queen of Scots’ for the very complicated royal rivalry where one life hangs in the balance of another, and what’s in each of their bellies could change the fate of Skuldenore forever. Throughout this book there’s this tension pulling Isaboe and Quintana tighter and tighter, like an invisible rubber band that’s about to snap and send them colliding into one another. I just loved that so much power and fate is bundled up in the wombs of these two very different, but very powerful women. They’re also interesting for the people they have inadvertently come to share between them – like Froi, who is battling the love he has for his Queen, with the need he has for Quintana. 

Speaking of the women of this book; they’re simply wonderful. I hate to draw comparisons between any of the ‘Lumatere Chronicles’ books and Melina’s previous contemporary work, because they’re very different beasts, but the Charynite women in the cave had powerful echoes of ‘Saving Francesca’ for me. It was the fact that these women are thrown together for reasons beyond their control, and to begin with they can barely conceal their disgust at having to cohabitate … but then something changes, something bigger and more important draws them together and by the end it seems they can’t imagine their lives without one other. They would die for each other. Substitute the cave for St Sebastian's and you’ll know where I got that connection from, and why I loved reading about the forming bond between these women.

Many of you will no doubt remember that ‘Froi of the Exiles’ left fans reeling with many cliffhangers and revelations. Well, let me assure you that Marchetta pays tribute to all those loose-ends and pitfalls in a most satisfying way. This book is really about coming full-circle; and while some resolutions are quieter than others (like the subtle mentions Beatriss makes to Trevanion teaching his daughter, Vestie, to swim) others are far more complex – like Lucian and Phaedra’s rather rocky relationship, or Tesadora and Perri’s secretive one. The big players are the focus of this book – Froi, Quintana, Finnikin and Isaboe – but it’s a mainstay of all Melina Marchetta’s stories that she writes as interesting and complicated secondary characters as she does protagonists, and that’s again true of ‘Quintana of Charyn’.

And as for whether or not ‘Quintana of Charyn’ is a most satisfying conclusion to the epic ‘Lumatere Chronicles’? Of course it is. I can’t wait until many people have read this book, and there’s wide-open discussion about how beautifully tricky and gut-wrenching a certain plot point is towards the end. It’s a scene that shows Queen Isaboe’s mettle, and her compassion – and another one of those moments that seems to ring with destiny. So beautiful is this scene, this moment between two Queens, it has the makings of a legend – like a tale that will be passed down from generation to generation.

‘Quintana of Charyn’ is indeed the end of the epic ‘Lumatere Chronicles’ (though I will have my fingers crossed for more Celie short stories). This has not been an easy trilogy, far from it – Marchetta wrote of a royal murder, heartbreaking curse, separated families, displacement and sad destinies. But this has also been a series with one of the most beautiful father/son relationships explored, between Trevanion and Finnikin. It has been a series based around strong women who were once broken, but never defeated. Marchetta wrote a foul street urchin in one book, and then built him up to admired assassin and kingdom saviour in another. She wrote of families being torn apart, only to make their finding one another that much sweeter. For three books now she has written a fine balance between darkness and light, hope and despair. Yes, you had to go there to get to this point, to this book . . . this book which takes us full-circle, to bring us home again. It’s not the destination; it’s the journey – and what a wonderful journey it has been.

5/5

'Froi of the Exiles' Lumatere Chronicles #2 by Melina Marchetta

Received from the Publisher

From the BLURB:

Blood sings to blood, Froi . . .
Those born last will make the first . . .
For Charyn will be barren no more.

Three years after the curse on Lumatere was lifted, Froi has found his home - or so he believes.

Fiercely loyal to the Queen and Finnikin, Froi has been trained roughly and lovingly by the Guard sworn to protect the royal family, and has learned to control his quick temper. But when he is sent on a secretive mission to the kingdom of Charyn, nothing could have prepared him for what he finds. Here he encounters a damaged people who are not who they seem, and must unravel both the dark bonds of kinship and the mysteries of a half-mad Princess.

And in this barren and mysterious place, he will discover that there is a song sleeping in his blood, and though Froi would rather not, the time has come to listen.

Five days of the unspeakable.

Ten years in exile.

Three years later…

Queen Isaboe of Lumatere is a great and benevolent ruler. Together with her King consort, Finnikin, they have been watching their once displaced people grow and prosper and learn to live in peace once more.

But a faraway kingdom with a brutal King recluse and mad Princess could threaten everything Isaboe and Finnikin have worked for … especially their growing family.

Froi is a most loyal (but rarely humble) servant to his king and queen. Trained by the Guard, under the tutelage of Finnikin’s father Trevanion, he has become a brutal killer and a natural assassin. So when an opportunity presents itself to send a decoy into the Charynite kingdom, Isaboe orders Froi to do what he has been trained these past three years … get in, kill the King and leave no trace back to Lumatere.

Under the guise of lastborn Olivier, Froi enters the kingdom where the Charynites believe he has come to bed the Princess until a seed is planted and their childless curse is broken.

But it is in the Charyn cliff kingdom that Froi encounters many mysterious players with twisted hearts and hidden agendas.

There is the mad Princess, Quintana, who speaks in multiples and is fated to break her kingdom’s barren curse.

Lirah is the King’s Serker whore and Quintana’s mother – locked in the tower all-alone, her daughter calls to her from the windowsill.

The doomed twins Gargarin and Arjuro – one a godstouched disgraced Priestling, and the other a respected intellectual, coveted by many noblemen to sit at their court. Between these two brothers is a secret so vast, it could make or break a kingdom. . .

‘Froi of the Exiles’ is the second book in Melina Marchetta’s fantasy series, the ‘Lumatere Chronicles’.

This has got to be one of the most anticipated Australian novels of the year. Fans have been chomping at the bit for this second instalment since 2008, when ‘Finnikin of the Rock’ was first released and readers travelled across Skuldenore with a band of Lumatere exiles searching for home. It has been a long wait for readers. When we left them, Finnikin and Isaboe were beginning the task of reforming a displaced kingdom, and assuming their roles as ruler and consort. When we revisit them in ‘Froi’, it has been three years and much has changed.

Lumatere is trying to recover funds from their land and make money from dead soil. They are, begrudgingly, sharing their valleys with Charyn refugees and Isaboe is in the process of peace-making with those kingdoms who so cold-heartedly turned her people away in their exile. But most importantly, Finnikin and Isaboe have a two-year-old daughter called Jasmina. Their growing family gives Isaboe the impetus to instigate an assassination plan and send her loyal Froi to Charyn, to execute their king and secure her family’s safety. . .

‘Is it true that she’s mad?’ Froi asked.

The grimace was back on Gargarin’s face. ‘True enough,’ he responded. ‘But if you should believe anything, believe that everyone is out to kill her, Olivier. Her only delusion is the belief that she’ll break the curse.’

‘Then why am I here if everyone believes that she’s delusional about last and firstborns?’

‘Because the King doesn’t believe she’s delusional. Because the King is frightened by his own child and is convinced that she’s mad. When a mad Princess whose birth cursed a kingdom states that the gods have spoken, the King takes heed of her words.’

But when Froi arrives in Charyn, at their kingdom on the cliffs, he becomes caught up in palace lies and the Charynite’s futureless future. Under the alias of lastborn Olivier, Froi must spend time with the mad Charyn princess – the girl who does not speak of herself as an ‘I’ but a ‘we’, and who has been subjected to countless couplings with lastborn men to try and break her kingdom’s childless curse. She is a mad and feral princess, motherless and scorned by her people for her constant barrenness.

But Froi is intrigued by Quintana, the mad royal. She has suffered greatly in her life, but does not seem a victim. She lives in her cluttered, hazy mind – far away from the cold Charyn kingdom where her worth lies between her legs. A promise to Queen Isaboe means that Froi will not share Quintana’s bed without her wanting – and he finds that he desires nothing more than to be welcomed into this feral royal’s bed.

Meanwhile in Lumatere, people are still assimilating to life after exile. Those who were stuck in the Lumatere kingdom and those who were left to wander outside its walls . . . the adjustment period is especially difficult since Charyn refugees have taken to the Mont’s valleys since the curse was broken. Now the Lumatere residents are forced to live across the river from the same people who abused them during their cursed time. There is unease in the air, and violence on the verge.

Tesadora turned her attention back to the old man before her.

‘Give him a blanket, Japhra,’ she said quietly. Japhra placed a blanket around the man’s shoulders and he walked away.

‘Do you give everyone a blanket?’ Lucian asked, watching as Japhra had to almost drag the next woman to Tesadora.

‘Just those who are dying,’ Japhra said, when it was obvious that Tesadora had already dismissed him.

Lucian was livid. ‘If he’s contagious he can’t stay in the valley,’ he hissed.

Tesadora’s stare was hard. ‘The only thing contagious around here at the moment, Lucian, is fear and ignorance. The Charynites are afflicted with one and the Monts with the other.’

‘Froi of the Exiles’ brings readers to the middle of Marchetta’s ‘Lumatere Chronicles’. The page-count has grown along with Marchetta’s universe. ‘Finnikin’ was 399-pages long . . . whereas ‘Froi of the Exiles’ is a 593-page mammoth book to get lost in. This series is epic fantasy, not unlike George R.R. Martin’s ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’. With ‘Froi’, readers find themselves in the thick of the story – trekking through Marchetta’s expansive universe and tangled in the aftermath of death and exile. Readers should be warned that, whereas ‘Finnikin’ left readers with satisfying open-endedness , ‘Froi of the Exiles’ is all about Marchetta walking readers to the edge of a cliff and preparing us for the inevitable fall . . .

I love, love, loved this book. I have been desperate for the continuation of the Lumatere story since 2008, and re-reading ‘Finnikin of the Rock’ last month just whet my appetite to drooling-proportions. I had high expectations for ‘Froi of the Exiles’, and it should come as no surprise to anyone that Melina Marchetta met, and exceeded, those expectations.

The main story in this book is, obviously, Froi’s. Froi was the wretched street urchin we met in ‘Finnikin of the Rock’ – feral and brutal, he tried to rape Isaboe and at one point begged Finnikin to kill him. He was always bound to be a wonderful protagonist – a man of many shades. And three years since his first introduction and Froi is still utterly compelling – vicious but loyal, cheeky and cruel. His and Quintana’s story is epic romance, and at times unsettling to read. ‘Froi’ is a more violent book than ‘Finnikin’, in my opinion. What the Princess Quintana has been subjected to is gut-wrenchingly awful. She has been abused throughout her young life, indeed from the moment she started bleeding she was being bedded to break a barren curse. It’s a sad character history . . . and for that reason, Froi treads lightly. But when he breaks through Quintana’s shields and armour, theirs is an epic and beautiful romance to rival that of even Finnikin and Isaboe.

There are more side-stories and intersecting plots being told in ‘Froi’. A returning story is that of Queen’s guard and Finnikin’s father, Trevanion, and his tortuous rekindled love with the Lady Beatriss . . . the woman he thought dead these past ten years. When we left them in ‘Finnikin’, Trevanion was coming to terms with the fact that Beatriss had become a mother in the ten years of exile – raped by the guard’s of the impostor king, and subjected to violence and torture, simply because she was Trevanion’s wife. Trevanion spent his ten years of exile in a dungeon, not knowing that Beatriss was alive. But when the two faced one another again, after so long and so much heartbreak, it was a sad case of love not necessarily conquering all. Instead, love takes time to heal. And in ‘Froi’ the past continues to haunt Trevanion and Beatriss. . . I am so glad these two are still a focus for Marchetta! I got especially caught up in their story upon my re-reading ‘Finnikin of the Rock’. It’s so heartbreaking and tragic, but with plenty of room for redemption and romance.

The other side-story is that of Isaboe’s cousin, Lucian, and his Charyn wife, Phaedra. Theirs was an arranged marriage; a way by which to mend the past and move on from the Charynite’s cruel treatment of the Mont people all those years ago. This is setting up to be the other big romance of the series, and I do wonder if Lucian will get his own book? I love this couple, almost as much as Beatriss and Trevanion. Phaedra is subject to her husband’s keen dislike of her people, and he is not afraid to admit that he married her out of obligation and nothing more. Lucian, meanwhile, is unbelievably lonely and self-doubting since taking over the care of his people. He hates the Charyn and despises his wife. But as they spend more time together, and work to learn the other’s ways, a romance blossoms.

One of my favourite things about ‘Froi of the Exiles’ was the Charyn city setting. Marchetta said that she got the physical lay of this land from villages and castles in Turkey, Italy and Wales. She has envisioned this place beautifully – so it felt like I was really jumping between balconies with Froi, and I could feel the cold stone of the dark cliff-face rooms. Setting is so important in this series, as all the characters are looking for home whether because they were exiled from the physical place, or never knew the people of their blood. Melina Marchetta articulates place and setting beautifully, and Charyn is a testament to her landscape prose.

Readers have been anticipating ‘Froi of the Exiles’ ever since we left Finnikin and Isaboe to their recovered kingdom back in 2008. This second outing is sure to please fans, while also leave them panting for more. In ‘Froi’, Marchetta is pushing readers off a cliff, sending us hurtling and plummeting towards book #3, ‘Quintana of the Charyn’ which is due for release in 2012. And I, personally, cannot wait for that fall.

5/5

'Finnikin of the Rock' Lumatere Chronicles #1 by Melina Marchetta

From the BLURB:

Finnikin of the Rock and his guardian, Sir Topher, have not been home to their beloved Lumatere for ten years. Not since the dark days when the royal family was murdered and the kingdom put under a terrible curse. But then Finnikin is summoned to meet Evanjalin, a young woman with an incredible claim: the heir to the throne of Lumatere, Prince Balthazar, is alive.

Evanjalin is determined to return home and she is the only one who can lead them to the heir. As they journey together, Finnikin is affected by her arrogance . . . and her hope. He begins to believe he will see his childhood friend, Prince Balthazar, again. And that their cursed people will be able to enter Lumatere and be reunited with those trapped inside. He even believes he will find his imprisoned father.

But Evanjalin is not what she seems. And the truth will test not only Finnikin's faith in her . . . but in himself.

Finnikin grew up with royalty. His childhood companions were the prince and princesses of Lumatere, their noble cousins were his partners in crime. Finnikin’s father was Captain Trevanion, head of the King’s guard and close personal friend of the royal family. Finnikin’s beloved stepmother, Lady Beatriss, was carer to Prince Balthazar and Princess Isaboe. Life in Lumatere was near perfect . . . until the five days of the unspeakable.

In those dark days the impostor king slaughtered the royal family and took Finnikin’s father and stepmother prisoner. Blood was awash in the Lumatere palace, and a blood curse placed on its inhabitants.

Finnikin’s father was deemed traitor and thrown to the dungeons, while Lady Beatriss was accused of treason and sentenced to death – along with her unborn babe.

Finnikin escaped, and for ten years he has travelled with his guardian, Sir Topher. They have trekked the stretch of Skuldenore, looking for a way to free Finnikin’s father and save Lumatere.

Ten years of searching – and now a mute novice girl called Evanjalin claims that she can walk the dreams of Lumatere captives, and prophesizes the return of Balthazar to the throne.

‘Finnikin of the Rock’ is the first book in Melina Marchetta’s fantasy series, the ‘Lumatere Chronicles’. The book was first released in 2008; to much critical acclaim which marked Marchetta’s transition from contemporary young adult literature, to the realm of epic fantasy. In anticipation of the second book in the ‘Lumatere Chronicles’ series, to be released in October and called ‘Froi of the Exiles’, I have re-read ‘Finnikin’ and revisited Skuldenore.

I grew up with Marchetta’s books – I mourned John Barton with Josie, fell in love with the St. Sebastian boys and climbed a tree with Jonah Griggs. Marchetta’s novels mark my teenage transitions and have pride of place on my keeper shelf. Ms Marchetta is one author whom I trust, completely. And so, in 2008 when ‘Finnikin’ first came out I went into the book with arms and imagination wide open. . . and I was rewarded.

True, ‘Finnikin’ was a genre departure for Marchetta, who in the past favoured the dynamics of private schools, the socio-economic microcosm of the suburbs and the landscape of tight-knit family. ‘Finnikin’ is fantasy – set in an imagined land with a ruined kingdom and epic mythology. But, this is still a Marchetta book – and despite the creation of Skuldenore and a trek for a Kingdom’s freedom, ‘Finnikin of the Rock’ is a beautiful book for having a focus on connection.

All those worried readers who didn’t want to venture so far outside of Marchetta’s genre should be reassured – ‘Finnikin’ stays true to what Marchetta is best at. At its heart, the book is about people, and the myriad of storylines woven throughout the saga are firmly tethered to the characters.

Finnikin was a boy who lost his home and his family. Now, he is a man searching for his father and his place in uncertain times. Evanjalin is a girl with a secret, drawn to Finnikin’s fierce loyalty and determination and powered by her own sense of justice. Sir Topher has become surrogate father to his friend’s son, and developed a strong bond with his pupil in the ten years that they have lived wandering. Trevanion lost everything in the days of the unspeakable – the woman he loved, the babe he never had a chance to hold and the son he couldn’t protect.

All of these characters are searching for home – another constant in Marchetta’s books – the sense of belonging and being bigger than the sum of your parts. Josie was reluctant to take her place amidst her large ‘wog’ family, held back by a family curse and secret. Francesca’s family had to rebuild itself in the wake of her mother’s downward spiral, all while being lost at sea in a school that didn’t want her. Taylor needed to understand her past, to carve a place for herself in the present. Likewise, Finnikin and his weary travellers are searching for home, literally – the home that was ripped away from them by an impostor king.

Re-reading ‘Finnikin’, I find myself bringing a new maturity to the novel. Perhaps it is because I am a slightly older reader now, or perhaps it’s a reflection of current affairs – but I couldn’t help connecting the Lumatere people’s exile to that of the ever-present ‘boat people’ debate in Australia, and the case for refugees seeking asylum on our shores.

The Lumatere people were scattered across Skuldenore in the wake of their kingdom’s fall – and as Finnikin and Evanjalin seek their countrymen and women, they see the mistreatment they have suffered for being ‘exiles’ and unwanted. They are persecuted and herded wherever they go, left to be ravaged by plague and fever, turned away from every other kingdom’s doorstep. This is certainly a subtle reflection of our times – in the wake of Australia’s ‘Pacific Solution’, and now the abysmal ‘Malaysia Solution’. Whoever says fantasy is a complete departure from reality need only look as far as Marchetta’s cunning commentary on the Lumatere people’s exile to see connecting threads to the current political climate. . .

He felt her stare but did not turn and look. Did not want those eyes reaching into him.
‘So you are destined to spend the rest of your life scouring this land? Who are you, to deserve such a curse?’ she asked.
One who has an evil lurking inside of me, he wanted to say. An evil that Seranonna of the Forest Dwellers recognised that day in the forest as he played alongside Isaboe.
Her blood will be shed for you to be king.
‘What is it you want, Finnikin?’ Evanjalin persisted.
‘I want to be left alone to do what we’ve always done,’ he said vehemently. I want to go searching for my father, he longed to shout.
‘And what is that? Wandering the empire? Collecting names of the dead? Where would you like me to leave you, Finnikin?’
In the numb peace we lived with before you came into our lives.

I am also re-reading ‘Finnikin’ in the wake of ‘The Piper’s Son’ – Marchetta’s stunning novel about Tom Mackee, a favourite St. Sebastian boy from ‘Saving Francesca’. With Tom still fresh in my mind, I saw a definite influence between Georgia and Sam’s awkward relationship, and Trevanion and Beatriss’s equally complex devotion. Both of these couples are learning to love in the wake of heartache – for Georgie it was a betrayal of the deepest order. For Beatriss and Trevanion, it is ten years of brutality and twisted fate. I loved Trevanion and Beatriss’s story even more the second time around, and I sincerely hope that they have a large re-appearance in ‘Froi of the Exiles’.

Speaking of Froi, I paid much closer attention to Evanjalin’s Sarnak thief this second time around . . .

‘His name is Froi,’ Evanjalin said.
The thief grunted.
‘It’s boy,’ Finnikin argued. ‘It’s just that his lip is split and it sounded like Froi.’
‘Everyone has a name, Finnikin. You can’t just be called boy. His name is Froi.’ The thief from Sarnak opened his mouth to speak, but Evanjalin raised a finger to silence him.

Marchetta offers us few snatches from Froi’s perspective in this first book, but what is there is powerful. Like Froi seeing Evanjalin and Finnikin’s reunion after a near-death experience, and interpreting their clear affection through his jaded eyes. Froi definitely leapt off the page in Finnikin’s book, and hinted that he was protagonist material. He is a beggar child and a thief, from a brutal background who did awful things in ‘Finnikin’ – but at one point also begged to be killed. He will be a formidable and, I think, uncomfortable narrator – and I can’t wait for his book.

‘Finnikin of the Rock’ is an incredible fantasy novel swinging between bloody violence and great romance. It is a book that showcases the best of Melina Marchetta – her preoccupation with home and connection, fitting in and finding our place in the world. But it is also a novel of dark complexity and brutality, exploring current political climates through the exile of a fantasy kingdom and their harsh treatment by those who should offer shelter. I loved revisiting Skuldenore by re-reading ‘Finnikin of the Rock’, and trekking with the Lumatere people back to their rightful home. Now I can’t wait for ‘Froi of the Exiles’, and after that ‘Quintana of Charyn’.

5/5

'Froi of the Exiles' will be released on October 3rd 2011