Once Upon a Bookshelf

I’ve read a couple of other books by Tarr, and I always really enjoy how she writes. Her books kind of remind me of a cross between Marion Zimmer Bradley and Sara Douglass, and as I love both of those authors, it means I highly enjoy Tarr’s books too.

Rite of Conquest is a historical fantasy, based on the story of William the Conquerer. In this story, both Mathilda and William have druid roots and use magic. The book spans from before the two characters meet until the solstice after William has won England, and is as much the story of the relationship between the two people as it is the relationship between William and Britain.

The way this book tells it, William has been reborn again and again in order to rule England. While it never outright says it, it implies that William is Arthur reborn – even the Lady of the Lake makes a couple of appearances here.

I’ve always liked what I knew of William and Mathilda, and have read a couple of books with them as characters that I’ve quite enjoyed too. What I really liked about this one, actually, came afterwards in the author’s note. Tarr spoke about some of the research she’s done, and went on to talk about what is fact and what she made up for the story, and it was nice to see that so much of the book stuck with what really happened; it made it all the more believable when she wove a bit of magic into the story.

One day, Keturah follows a hart into the forest by her home, only to get lost in there. After wandering around for a very long time, Keturah meets Lord Death, who has come to claim her and make her his bride. However, Keturah isn’t ready to die yet and so starts to tell Death a story. She bargains with him – she will tell him the ending of the story if she can have one more day to live. This process goes on for a few days, and Keturah uses those days to warn the village of the oncoming plague, help improve the village for the King’s visit, and to help her two best friends find love. Of course, every night Keturah has to meet with Lord Death and try to convince him to give her another day.

I loved the way the narration of this book. It was just so beautifully written. The way Keturah realizes that she is in love with Lord Death is so subtle and well developed, you can’t help but falling in love with him as she does.

The characters were fabulous, though they didn’t come across as teenages at all. Not that it’s a bad thing, they just seemed older and more mature. Well, at least compared to most of today’s YA teenagers who are all too silly for their own good – have you noticed that a good majority of teens in YA books come across much like Lydia Bennet, or is that just me?

I am going to be looking out for other books by this Leavitt, and hopefully I’ll enjoy them quite as much as this one.

I was asked to review the ARC for this book; it’s going to be released in May, 2007. The royalties of this book are all going to charity.

I will admit right now that this book is not something I would ever have chosen on my own to read. The subject matter is not something I would have thought that I would have enjoyed, but I was pleasnatly surprised.

The book (the first in a trilogy) takes place in the years spanning 1983 through 1996. Kathleen O’Toole is a member of the IRA (Irish Republican Army), and meets Omar Jabri one night through a business deal. Both have lost their family in a bad sort-of way (Kathleen’s family got killed when a bomb was thrown into their home; Omar’s whole village was attacked, killed and burned to the ground), and both have vowed to take vengence on those who have killed their family. They fall in love, and eventually start a family. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of prejudice in Kathleen’s small Irish town towards Omar and her children due to the fact that they aren’t Irish. Needless to say, this book touches a lot on racial prejudices and cultural differences.

There’s a lot of action in this book – both Kathleen and Omar have jobs that are dangerous and sometimes exciting – Kathleen buys weapons for the army, and Omar is a part-time modern-day pirate, smuggling goods. These jobs add a lot of tension to the relationship between the couple and their family, but add a lot of excitement to the story.

There were parts of the book that I didn’t find well researched or developed, but overall I enjoyed it. It was an easy read, and when I picked it up, it was one of those books I could keep reading for hours. There was always some sort of adventure, and you had a chance to see a lot of different settings – Ireland, England, Spain, and Zimbabwe to name a few.

I enjoyed how the author gave a chapter to telling the backstory of a place or secondary character before bringing said place or character into the main story.You felt that you got to know the person or place better, and it was less awkward than how some authors go about introducing new characters and settings.

This is a good book if you’re looking for something lighter to read.