It begins when a wizard cleaves an island from the mainland, because the king destroys her temple. (…) It begins far away from the furious land, in a place so different in name and air that the one could not recognize the other as being born both from the same earth. (…) It begins on the day two bright hearts are born to the island, one just past dawn as a crescent moon rises, and the other when the sun is brightest, obscuring the glow of stars. (…) It begins when a queen sits in a pool of stars. (…) It begins with seven words with which to bind a crown, whispered in the language of trees: eat of our flower, and eat of your roots. (…)It begins as the sun sets, the last time the final king of Innis Lear enters the cathedral at the heart of the island. (…)It begins, too, with a star prophecy. But there are so many prophecies read on the island of Lear that to say so is as good as saying it begins with every breath.
Though many doubt love at first sight to be a genuine emotion (isn’t insta-love, after all, one of the most boring tropes?), I don’t find that to be the case with books, for I fell in love with The Queens of Innis Lear as soon as I read that first sentence.
Truth be told, though many people are eager for the book’s release, I tend to be cautious of hyped books, afraid they are unjustifiably oversold. Still, my curiosity urged me to request this book and it was to my great pleasure and surprise that the publishers via NetGalley granted me a preview in exchange for an honest review.
Though I entered this particular story intentionally blind and have yet to come across the Bard’s acclaimed tragedy, as the book’s title might suggest, The Queens of Innis Lear is a King Lear retelling (view spoiler):
The withering grandeur of an island that once thrived with magic. The erratic decision of a half mad king. Stars that predict the future; people that whisper with the trees. Greedy hands of enemy kingdoms, three sisters, yet only one will rise as queen.
Though I would have liked the story to have more action(which could be true for the rest of the book), in my opinion, amidst a genre dominated by authors that usually have a penis, Tessa Gratton delivers, insofar one of the most dignified examples of high fantasy I’ve seen the past few years.
The world she weaves is lyrical, as if some of the isle’s magic is hiding under her words. The magic itself is brilliant –raw, wild, enigmatic- challenging you to explore it more. Her descriptions caught my breath away –the writing was so colorful- and as for the characters themselves, well, call me a bit biased, but they were pretty great, too.
Lear in his absurdity, the lordlings and their scheming, Ban the Fox with his mysterious agenda, Aefa, the Fool, the foreign kings, they all make up of a beautiful setting for the three Princesses to thrive. It is not often we see women of color in such position and I think Queens of Lear is a wonderful example why we should. Gaela, Regan and Elia, too, are three wonderful examples, in their way, of what a badass female protagonist should be like. Each empowered in her own way, Gaela with her sword and shield, Regan with her beauty and cunning, Elia in her shy wisdom that only now blooms, they beautiful, complex and effortlessly come off strong, while they each battle their personal struggle. They love each other, but they love the crown most and the balances that slowly unravel between them (enriched by the letters and the back and forths) make up for the admittedly limited, as mentioned, climaxes in the story.
Though perhaps it is yet still soon to tell, I really enjoyed this story. I need a map of Innis Lear, star charts, family trees, guides for pronunciation. I need a beautifully illustrated copy of this book and I think I might just get one. For those interested, if my memory doesn’t fail me, it’ll be out this March. I hate I don’t have closure, but I guess that’s the point of a preview. Hihi. All in all, I honestly hope that if it doesn’t get better, it at least stays as it is: pretty darn good.
