Review: The Caller by Juliet Marillier

Title: The Caller
Author: Juliet Marillier
Series: Shadowfell, Book 1
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Release Date: 9 September 2014

In the final book in this gripping, romantic fantasy trilogy perfect for fans of Robin McKinley, Kristin Cashore, and Shannon Hale, Neryn’s band of rebels reach their climactic confrontation with the king. The stunning conclusion to the story that began with Shadowfell and Raven Flight is full of romance, intrigue, magic, and adventure.

Just one year ago, Neryn had nothing but a canny skill she barely understood and a faint dream that the legendary rebel base of Shadowfell might be real. Now she is the rebels’ secret weapon, and their greatest hope for survival, in the fast-approaching ambush of King Keldec at Summerfort.

The fate of Alban itself is in her hands. But to be ready for the bloody battle that lies ahead, Neryn must first seek out two more fey Guardians to receive their tutelage. Meanwhile, her beloved, Flint, has been pushed to his breaking point as a spy in the king’s court—and is arousing suspicion in all the wrong quarters.

At stake lies freedom for the people of Alban, a life free from hiding for the Good Folk—and a chance for Flint and Neryn to finally be together.

I'm finding this, the final book in the Shadowfell series, a bit hard to review. Ever since first picking up Shadowfell and being introduced to Neryn, and the land of Alban that she inhabited, I was invested in this story. I grew to love the characters, the world, the magic the permeated it. My heart was with them as they were crushed under the tyrannical rule of King Keldec. My hopes lifted with the rebellion. Trust came with difficulty - and in fits and starts. I began to see how it could be done.

Raven's Flight lifted me even higher. With a tighter story, the stakes raised, and my heart already connected to the characters and the world, I bit my nails as I raced through the book. I knew the entire time I was reading it that I wouldn't get the climax and resolution that I so wanted, because there was one more book to come. But I couldn't help but needing to know how Neryn, and everyone else I loved was. Were we any closer to the freedom that Alban so deserved?

When I finished Raven's Flight I had no idea how I was going to manage the wait to The Caller. Somehow, with a few re-reads thrown in, I managed it. And it was definitely worth the wait. The Caller was, nearly, everything I could have asked for in a concluding chapter of this story I'd become so intensely invested in. And if this review were to be about the first 95% of the book I would have easily given it ALL the stars, an A+, everything I could have.

There was tension that kept me on the edge of my seat, enough emotion to have me near tears, characters that I ached for - that I wanted to simply have the peace and happiness they so deserved. Everything I could have possibly asked for upon finishing Raven's Flight was in The Caller. I could find no fault with it what-so-ever. Because of spoilery reasons I'm having a hard time talking about everything I loved. There were shocks, and drama, hard choices, and good instincts. Every decision was hard made and thought over. Neryn and company realized the possible ramifications of their choices and made the conscious choice to deal with those consequences, if need be. I loved them for that. Things aren't always easy, there's not always a right answer; sometimes you just have to do the best you can with what you have.

Then came the climax - as fraught with tension and hope as it should be. Sorrow and joy. Love and hate. It was all there for the taking. My emotions were in a whirlwind of ups and downs. I was both proud of and terrified for Neryn. She had accomplished so much - could she and her rebels do this last, biggest, thing? When it was over I think I breathed for the first time in 20 minutes.

Five percent of the book left to tie everything up - and this is where I'm left slightly disappointed. How can you possibly tie up everything that these characters, this world, have been through in just a single chapter? With a hint, a hint of what could be, what might be. It wasn't enough for me. There's too much left to be decided, too much left to be done. Yes, I can imagine it for myself, but I would have liked more. More time to catch my breath, relax into new reality, and see where things were going to go now. It's really hard to get into this without spoilers....I felt I only got to see part of the resolution, not the entirety. There's a lot of doubt left in my mind about where things are heading, and after how much I came to care for so many of these characters - I want more surety.

So. How to grade a novel that had me breathless throughout, and then left me feeling let down at the very, very last bit of the end. It's such a minor thing, the denouement of the novel, the place where it all comes to conclusion. Usually, I'm one that will say "less is more" here. Don't show and tell me everything - let me imagine it for myself. But here, I think, there was a little too much left to imagination. And, yet, this book - and especially this series is SO worth reading. I'd highly recommend it to anyone that has a love for fantasy and great characters. After all, Juliet Marillier only left me wanting more.

Grade: A


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Review: Raven Flight by Juliet Marillier

Title: Raven Flight
Author: Juliet Marillier
Series: Shadowfell, Book 1
Release Date: 9 July 2013

Be warned, spoilers for Shadowfell abound below.

Neryn has finally found the rebel group at Shadowfell, and now her task is to seek out the elusive Guardians, vital to her training as a Caller. These four powerful beings have been increasingly at odds with human kind, and Neryn must prove her worth to them. She desperately needs their help to use her gift without compromising herself or the cause of overthrowing the evil King Keldec.

Neryn must journey with the tough and steadfast Tali, who looks on Neryn's love for the double agent Flint as a needless vulnerability. And perhaps it is. What Flint learns from the king will change the battlefield entirely -- but in whose favor, no one knows.

Map of Alban from Juliet Marillier's website

Last year I read my very first Juliet Marillier book, Shadowfell. It was one of my favorite books of the year and single-handedly saved the YA genre for me. Immersive, smart, peopled with characters I cared about – it drew me in and kept me wanting more. I was more than a little nervous when I picked up Raven Flight; sequels have let me down more often than they’ve impressed me.

I ended up loving it even more than the first book in the series, and my excitement for the concluding volume in the trilogy is through the roof!

But some things did not change...Courage, for instance. Dedication to a cause. Comradeship. When they were strong and pure, when they came from deep in the bone, those qualities could hold fast against all odds.

In Shadowfell Neryn had a goal, just reach the end and all would be alright. She learned a bit differently on her journey, but it was still that singular goal. Raven Flight has Neryn on another journey, this time to hone her craft, learn the skill of a Caller, and be the person who is needed to turn the tide in the war to come against the King.

She is still incredibly reluctant to use the gifts that can cause death and injury to those around her, she feels guilt for those she hurts and those that die. That showed, to me, that she’s conscientious. If those that have the power to harm never consider, worry over, or rail against the consequences, I worry about them being in power. As she journeys to the Guardians part of what I saw in her training was the knowledge and learning to be able to instinctively use her gift in ways that do the most good.

“I like your anger…I like your resistance. It makes you less than courteous, but altogether more interesting.”

As the journey once again takes a large part of the story, with no small amount of time spent in her lessons, we’re cut off from the greater group of people within Alban. Neryn travels, mostly, only with Tali - her guard. We get some incredibly important glimpses, small moments that are all the more precious, to us and Neryn, because of their brevity, but for the most part this book is the building of Neryn. I have to say, I appreciated this more than nearly anything in the book. Too often in books I’ve read the woman will have some special gift, powerful and demanding, and then she meets a man and becomes dependent on him for the rest of the story. Not so with Neryn. Her thoughts wander to Flint with regularity, but he’s off doing what he must do while she travels with a woman who soon becomes a friend.

I didn’t like Tali much when we first met her. She was brash with little depth, I thought. I was wrong. Tali has layers that haven’t even begun to be shown. She’s steadfast and strong, confident and still slightly vulnerable, loyal and a good friend. Watching the true friendship develop between these two was so incredibly refreshing.

Let there be a time in the future, I prayed, when he laughs with his children, and plays on the shore with them, and spends all his nights in loving arms. Let us have that. To whom I was praying I did not know. The future was in our own hands. If we wanted a world where such things were possible, it was for us to make it.

Flint, oh Flint. I love your tortured soul more with each and every word. Those small glimpses from your point of view were cherished; over too quickly, but all the more special and important because of it. I can’t get enough of this man that walks on both sides of the war and the sacrifices he has to make. The tenderness in his heart, after all he’s done, is amazing and incredible. My heart breaks for him frequently. I worry about him all the time. Sooner or later his secret will be out, I only hope he’s prepared. The moments between Flint and Neryn were heart-wrenching and oh-so sweet. I need more.

”There's a light shining in him, moving him forward: the light of freedom. That's what draws all of us to follow, to take risks, to keep on fighting when we see our comrades fall beside us. But there's no light without shadow.”

In Shadowfell the villain, the King, was little more than a reference. We saw the consequences and actions of his decrees, but none of him. Not so here! We finally get more than a vague reference to the King’s villainy; and it was enough to make me wish I could jump into the book and get rid of him myself!

I should talk about the Good Folk for a moment, or their dialect. I am a reader that, generally, hates written dialect. It’s often distracting and hard to read, not to mention often used incorrectly and stereotypically. While the Good Folk do talk in dialect, and a fairly strong one, it’s very nearly phonetic, easy to read, easy to understand, and completely consistent. It adds depth and something more to both the characters and the world that they’ve lived in for so long. This is one of the few books where I really appreciate the dialect added to their speech.

There’s not a lot more I can say without spoiling a whole lot of the book, but I will say that even with the slightly slower pace than Shadowfell, this book put me through the emotional wringer. There isn’t a character in the entire rebel force, or of the Good Folk that I’m not attached to, all of them are special and distinct.

I said, when I finished, that I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with the long year (or so) wait until Caller, the third and final book in this series, comes out. A friend said: “Oh, that's simple. You start her other books.” Lucky for me I haven’t yet dug into Juliet Marillier’s back-list. But I shall, oh yes, I will.

Grade: A-


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Review: Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

Title: Shadowfell
Author: Juliet Marillier
Series: Shadowfell, Book 1
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Release Date: 11 September 2012

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill—a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk—Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death—but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban’s release from Keldec’s rule.

Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

I’d been meaning to pick up a book by Juliet Marillier for years before chance allowed me to get an early copy of Shadowfell. I’m so glad I started here. Ms. Marillier’s prose is evocative and beautiful to read, with lush descriptions that immerse you in the world and make you care about these characters. Shadowfell is a pretty classic quest story, with Neryn setting out to learn her powers, accomplish tasks – which she doesn’t know details about – and finding a place where she can be who she is.

Neryn is a character that I instantly related to. She made the decision long ago to live life, something that is much harder than it sounds in the bleak world that Keldec has made of Alba. On the run for much of her life, seeing atrocities that would break others, Neryn let all of that strengthen her resolve. Added to this, she’s unfailingly kind, protective, and smart – if a bit naïve. At just 15 (or 16, the text of my ARC copy did seem to waver on that), it all felt real. She’d experienced some things that made her grow up more quickly than she should have, and she still had an innocence about her that could frustrate me. She did spend a good deal of time sick, and relying on others for help, but I didn’t hold that against her. This was the first time she was really learning about what she was, and assistance was needed. What I loved here was that she still stood strong on her beliefs, needs, and what she needed to do. It endeared me to her. As I’m sure it did Flint – even while it frustrated him to no end.

Flint is a very conflicted character. Though I was fairly sure of his true allegiance throughout the book, there was just enough doubt thrown in there for me to question, just enough that I understood when Neyrn didn’t trust him and took some rather risky chances. I would love to see a bit more from Flint’s point of view, but I think the lack of that made me really appreciate what I did get near the end.

While the pacing isn’t fast there is a lot happening in Shadowfell. It’s a long journey, and Neryn has to accomplish many things along the way. I was pulled along, desperate to see what happened next, and how Neryn would beat these almost insurmountable odds to make it to her destination. One slight warning, while the book does end at a good stopping point, this is definitely not the end of Neryn’s story. There is a lot more to be told in the next two books. I didn’t think anything of this, because it seems pretty common in fantasy novels, but wanted to be sure others knew that the overall storyline is not tied up in these 400 pages.

Shadowfell is the best young-adult fantasy I’ve read in a long time. I enjoyed the story immensely, and connected with the characters. But the world is what will keep me coming back for more. Ms. Marillier has a gift for writing, one that I’m happy to have finally discovered – and I can’t wait for the next book in this trilogy.


Grade: B+


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