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A review by stephxsu
Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier
3.0
It seems odd to attach the word "disappointing" to anything by Juliet Marillier, she of the unparalleled fantasy works. But CHILD OF THE PROPHECY is generally considered to be one of her weakest, and even knowing that way before going into the book, I was still struck by how disappointed I was. Oh, CHILD OF THE PROPHECY is still miles above 95% of all published books with its fluid, lyrical writing and respect of its characters' multidimensionality. However, two things doomed this book from entering the Annals of Eternal Worship in my opinion--one avoidable, one not so much.
First was the utterly overdramatic portrayal of Lady Oonagh, who, yes, makes a reappearance in this book as, once again, the villain. Only this time Lady Oonagh is ten times worse than she was portrayed in Daughter of the Forest, to the point where she resembles a caricature of a cackling crone using her powers for evil. It got to the point where I was doing all-body cringes whenever her insult- and exclamation point-ridden dialogue appeared on the page, which they unfortunately did with more and more frequency toward the end of the book. Lady Oonagh was a disappointment after the marvelous subtleties in characterization displayed by Marillier in the previous books in the trilogy.
Secondly, and perhaps unavoidably, was how the story set Fainne up to lurch on the edge of the Too Stupid To Live cliff. Such are the woes of a book where the main plot revolves around the main character being blackmailed/terrorized/otherwise manipulated into doing things she does not want to do.
And on a final note, did Eamonn?
First was the utterly overdramatic portrayal of Lady Oonagh, who, yes, makes a reappearance in this book as, once again, the villain. Only this time Lady Oonagh is ten times worse than she was portrayed in Daughter of the Forest, to the point where she resembles a caricature of a cackling crone using her powers for evil. It got to the point where I was doing all-body cringes whenever her insult- and exclamation point-ridden dialogue appeared on the page, which they unfortunately did with more and more frequency toward the end of the book. Lady Oonagh was a disappointment after the marvelous subtleties in characterization displayed by Marillier in the previous books in the trilogy.
Secondly, and perhaps unavoidably, was how the story set Fainne up to lurch on the edge of the Too Stupid To Live cliff. Such are the woes of a book where the main plot revolves around the main character being blackmailed/terrorized/otherwise manipulated into doing things she does not want to do.
And on a final note, did Eamonn