Graceling

By Kristin Cashore

Graceling by Kristin CashoreAs you might guess, I get to read a lot of fantasy novels. Most of them okay, and some of them actually pretty good, but every now and again something new and quite extraordinary comes along reaffirming my belief in the power of a good story, well told. Graceling is such a book.

The story is set in a wonderfully realised fantasy world where occasionally children are born with a ‘grace’ a skill or gift that makes them extraordinarily talented at something. These children – distinguished from others by having eyes of different colours – have to present themselves to their king and if the Grace is of use to him, like a cooking grace, a dancing or singing grace or a fighting grace then they will stay at the palace and serve the King, if the Grace is of no obvious use, like a whistling grace, then they are sent back to their villages. Unfortunately ‘Gracelings’, as they are known, are viewed with suspicion by everyone and treated as outcasts, so any Grace is as much curse as it is blessing.

Katsa has a killing Grace. She discovered it at the age of eight at the court of her Uncle, King Randa, when she accidentally killed a cousin who tried to grab and touch her. Since this discovery she has worked for the King as his personal assassin, doing his dirty work and enforcing his will upon enemies and common people alike. But Katsa has a secret life, she has formed a group called The Council and she spends her time secretly righting wrongs and fighting to help the oppressed and she does it to act as ‘balance’ with the work she must do for the king.

It is during one of these clandestine operations that Katsa meets a fighter, another Graceling, who, realising she is a woman, could pose a threat to The Council. He turns up at the castle and after discovering he is Prince Po of the Leanid and he was searching for his Grandfather, the man she was almost caught rescuing. They strike up an uneasy friendship that soon grows into respect and admiration as they spar with each other and talk. Eventually, in an effort to uncover the reason for his Grandfather’s kidnapping, Katsa escapes the grip of King Randa and goes with Po to see King Leck, whose story raises suspicions of a dangerous and powerful Grace and fears over the safety of Po’s Aunt and little cousin, Princess Bitterblue.

This is a fabulous story, on the surface it’s packed to the gunnels with action, adventure, intrigue and romance but delve deeper and it tackles complex subjects like power, relationships, responsibility and belonging. Katsa is the ultimate ‘strong female character’ she has power, strength, endurance and skill but she is wracked with self-loathing, hating her Grace and the uses to which is put on behalf of her Uncle and as a result has trouble with small talk and making friends. Po, we learn is the same, his Grace goes much further than simply fighting, as we will discover, and he too struggles to reconcile his gift and it’s uses.

In fact they are all too ordinary at first, struggling to discover who they are as they grow up and come to terms with themselves and each other, but it’s this ordinariness that engenders the most empathy in the reader and, as their relationship blossoms into romance, makes the pair so charming and likeable till you find yourself sitting on the train, silently cheering, when they eventually, and inevitably, consummate their love.

But while this story of first love and angsty soul-searching plays well, lets not forget that Ms. Cashore knows how to write action. Her fight scenes are fast paced, gripping and pull no punches as you dodge and weave through every move and the adventure, particularly in parts with Katsa and Princess Bitterblue, is real page-turning stuff, daring you to take a breath until the last scene plays out.

It’s not all roses however, there is room for more subtlety in some of the prose and at times the dialogue suffers from unnecessary repetition, as if the character is trying to hammer a point home, but I suspect, in part, it works because of the youth of our main protagonists, as they get older, and Kristen continues in her craft, they will learn to say more with less.

In some ways, while it does feel like a ‘young adult’ book, Graceling can hold its own in the company of the new breed of fantasy authors like Joe Abercrombie, Patrick Rothfuss and Tom Llloyd. It may not be as grittily realistic or as uncompromising as, say, Abercrombie but the writing flows, the story has sufficient depth to work at different levels and the characters don’t suffer in the wake of too much world-building.

This is a terrific debut from a bold new talent, well worth the price of admission, and while this is a standalone novel and leaves no loose endings, I understand that there are further books due featuring these characters so I’ll be keeping my eye open for them, make no mistake.

Graceling is published by Gollanz and is available from Play.com, Blackwell and all good book stores.

Kristin Cashore maintains the all-important blog here.