Monday, March 24, 2008

Once Upon a Spring Morn

Book 4/25

Dennis L. McKiernan's Once Upon a Spring Morn

Sadly, I am coming down to the end of Mr. McKiernan's Tales of Faery series; there remains just one book to read. I'm actually curious to see whose point of view the final edition - Once Upon a Dreadful Time - will be told in. I'd like to see Mr. McKiernan come full circle and return to Camille, but I'm not certain if that will happen. That's neither here nor there, though.

Celeste is the youngest of the four siblings of the Forests of Seasons, and that fact comes across...perhaps too well. Despite her accuracy with a bow, and her strength at overcoming the Ogre, Celeste gives the impression of being weak and helpless. The fact that her entire journey is in the company of Roel only bolsters that image; her brother and sister, and even Camille all managed their harrowing tasks on their own. The final straw was her panic over riddles and her own claims that she wasn't clever enough to solve such things. It's clear that Mr. McKiernan wanted her to be youthful and, yet, still clever, but it came across as a stereotypical princess who cannot even manage to saddle her own horse. I would have liked to have seen her cope with everything on her own. At the very least, I would have liked her to have earned her ending, as her siblings did. Instead, it felt more that she was handed her "happily ever after" in just the first handful of chapters, with filler following behind.

This book did have the strongest feeling of adventure about it, as well as some of the most dramatic battles and tasks. The solving of the map took the place of the riddles, which lost much of their appeal in Celeste's tears. I was happy to see a return of services needing to be rendered, however. The Fates themselves were also granted their due - finally - upon the sea, demonstrating how great their power actually reaches. Considering that they have continued to ask for the siblings' help with the fight against Orbane and his acolytes, to see how much power they weild alone gave Orbane the dread and fear that was lacking up to this point. Unfortunately, things fell apart, again, with the warband; this was one more instance of proving that Celeste is weak and unable to cope on her own. While I agree that her task was greater than those of her siblings, I wanted to see her succeed, on her own. The warband robbed her of that chance, as well as robbing the readers of their own travails, as they simply jumped from place upon the map to another.

The book was, as always, beautifully written, and Mr. McKiernan borrowed from two tales, this time. The weaving of all of the mythos, and the allusions to the previous books' trials was wonderfully accomplished. Faery became even more magical and dramatic this time, and I think it was, again, due to seeing through a mortal's eyes. Roel granted a fresh perspective that recaptured the wonder of Faery and its impossibilities. Unfortunately, Mr. McKiernan committed that horrible error of a dangling ending. While couched in love and happiness, he left the shadow looming higher and higher, and then snatched the story away. My only hope is that Once Upon a Dreadful Time will live up to its promise.
Posted by Andria :: 12:15 PM :: 0 comments

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