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A review by skycrane
The Bone Doll's Twin by Lynn Flewelling
4.0
This novel is structured in a very interesting way. The first few chapters explain very clearly why all the strange events throughout the rest of the book are happening, so there's never any sense of mystery or intrigue in that regard. It'd be like if the Eye of the World started with the events of A New Spring,
Here's the background: long ago a god promised the people of Skala that the nation would prosper so long as it was ruled by a queen. Hundreds of years later, the queen at the time was quite insane, and so no one complained too much when her son overturned the line of succession to declare himself king. But things haven't been going great since then, with constant war and plague (apparently the gods don't like it when you refuse their gifts), so some wizards decide they need to get a queen back on the throne. However, the king has been assassinating every single one of his female relatives, except for his sister, who has no desire to rule. So they have to follow this sneaky plan that involves murdering one of her newborn twins to cast a spell disguising the girl as a boy, so she can grow up to adulthood in safety (these baby murderers are the good guys, by the way). So when the story jumps forwards a few years to focus on the childhood of Tobin, we know what he doesn't: "he" is actually a girl wearing the skin of her dead brother. Also, we know why his mother is a raving lunatic, why his father is so overprotective, and the true identity of the angry poltergeist in the house.
The mystery is explained before the main story even starts, so that's not the draw of the book. I guess I'd say the core of this story is Tobin's coming of age. Despite being the son of a wealthy and powerful noble and the king's sister, he is raised in a small rural keep far from any major town. His father is often away at war (being the king's most trusted general), his mother keeps completely to herself and seems unaware of his existence even when they're in the same room, and there's an angry spirit that seems to delight in tormenting him. Whenever I read or watch a haunted house story, I always look for the obvious metaphor: a haunted house is a broken family. This example definitely fits the trend. His mother is at turns completely neglectful, sweet and loving, and downright violent; his father is consistently caring, but overprotective, often absent, and internally riven with fear and guilt; and his only "friend" is a demon that wishes it could kill him. The forces causing all this are so far beyond Tobin's understanding that in his confusion he blames himself, as children in this situation tend to do. Eventually, things do get better, but you can always see the mark this period left on him.
This first book ends when Tobin turns 12, but before that his unstable life goes through many transitions. Some times are miserable, lonely, and terrifying, and some parts are so marked by unexpected happiness that they're heartwarming to read. His first interactions with children his age are clumsy and anxiety-inducing, and that makes the moments of acceptance all the more powerful. But through it all, you know that his entire life is a lie and everything he knows and loves will come crashing down around him whenever the gods decide, whether he's ready or not.
I think that feeling is exactly why the author told the story this way. She wanted us to read about his life not just with curiosity, but with trepidation, seeing the world from Tobin's point of view as a child but also knowing the secrets that lie beneath.
Side note: the overarching plot of this series is driven largely by prophecy, which I think is generally a bad thing. When characters are simply told what to do by an oracle, you end up with a very boring story. I think this series gets a pass though. The book starts with the wizard Iya and her apprentice visiting an oracle. Iya wants to see a queen back on the throne, and the oracle shows her that the king's sister will soon give birth to twins, and tells her what she must do to ensure that the female twin survives. But ultimately, she's the one who makes it happen. She decides that it's worth killing an infant to accomplish her goal. Throughout, you generally get the impression that the events are occurring not because of some prophecy, but because individual characters are making decisions, which is how it should be.
Spoiler
so we'd know from the start that the reason the Dark One was hunting Rand and co was because he was Dragon Reborn, instead of saving that reveal for the very end.Here's the background: long ago a god promised the people of Skala that the nation would prosper so long as it was ruled by a queen. Hundreds of years later, the queen at the time was quite insane, and so no one complained too much when her son overturned the line of succession to declare himself king. But things haven't been going great since then, with constant war and plague (apparently the gods don't like it when you refuse their gifts), so some wizards decide they need to get a queen back on the throne. However, the king has been assassinating every single one of his female relatives, except for his sister, who has no desire to rule. So they have to follow this sneaky plan that involves murdering one of her newborn twins to cast a spell disguising the girl as a boy, so she can grow up to adulthood in safety (these baby murderers are the good guys, by the way). So when the story jumps forwards a few years to focus on the childhood of Tobin, we know what he doesn't: "he" is actually a girl wearing the skin of her dead brother. Also, we know why his mother is a raving lunatic, why his father is so overprotective, and the true identity of the angry poltergeist in the house.
The mystery is explained before the main story even starts, so that's not the draw of the book. I guess I'd say the core of this story is Tobin's coming of age. Despite being the son of a wealthy and powerful noble and the king's sister, he is raised in a small rural keep far from any major town. His father is often away at war (being the king's most trusted general), his mother keeps completely to herself and seems unaware of his existence even when they're in the same room, and there's an angry spirit that seems to delight in tormenting him. Whenever I read or watch a haunted house story, I always look for the obvious metaphor: a haunted house is a broken family. This example definitely fits the trend. His mother is at turns completely neglectful, sweet and loving, and downright violent; his father is consistently caring, but overprotective, often absent, and internally riven with fear and guilt; and his only "friend" is a demon that wishes it could kill him. The forces causing all this are so far beyond Tobin's understanding that in his confusion he blames himself, as children in this situation tend to do. Eventually, things do get better, but you can always see the mark this period left on him.
This first book ends when Tobin turns 12, but before that his unstable life goes through many transitions. Some times are miserable, lonely, and terrifying, and some parts are so marked by unexpected happiness that they're heartwarming to read. His first interactions with children his age are clumsy and anxiety-inducing, and that makes the moments of acceptance all the more powerful. But through it all, you know that his entire life is a lie and everything he knows and loves will come crashing down around him whenever the gods decide, whether he's ready or not.
I think that feeling is exactly why the author told the story this way. She wanted us to read about his life not just with curiosity, but with trepidation, seeing the world from Tobin's point of view as a child but also knowing the secrets that lie beneath.
Side note: the overarching plot of this series is driven largely by prophecy, which I think is generally a bad thing. When characters are simply told what to do by an oracle, you end up with a very boring story. I think this series gets a pass though. The book starts with the wizard Iya and her apprentice visiting an oracle. Iya wants to see a queen back on the throne, and the oracle shows her that the king's sister will soon give birth to twins, and tells her what she must do to ensure that the female twin survives. But ultimately, she's the one who makes it happen. She decides that it's worth killing an infant to accomplish her goal. Throughout, you generally get the impression that the events are occurring not because of some prophecy, but because individual characters are making decisions, which is how it should be.