Kirsten Reviews: Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier

Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier

Blackthorn & Grim #2

Award-winning author Juliet Marillier’s “lavishly detailed”* Blackthorn & Grim series continues as a mysterious creature holds an enchanted and imperiled ancient Ireland in thrall.

Disillusioned healer Blackthorn and her companion, Grim, have settled in Dalriada to wait out the seven years of Blackthorn’s bond to her fey mentor, hoping to avoid any dire challenges. But trouble has a way of seeking out Blackthorn and Grim.

Lady Geiléis, a noblewoman from the northern border, has asked for the prince of Dalriada’s help in expelling a howling creature from an old tower on her land—one surrounded by an impenetrable hedge of thorns. Casting a blight over the entire district, and impossible to drive out by ordinary means, it threatens both the safety and the sanity of all who live nearby. With no ready solutions to offer, the prince consults Blackthorn and Grim.

As Blackthorn and Grim begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together, it’s apparent that a powerful adversary is working behind the scenes. Their quest is about to become a life and death struggle—a conflict in which even the closest of friends can find themselves on opposite sides.

Tower of Thorns by Juliet Marillier is the newest book in her Blackthorn and Grim series.

Disillusioned healer Blackthorn and her companion, Grim, have settled in Dalriada to wait out the seven years of Blackthorn’s bond to her fey mentor, hoping to avoid any dire challenges. But trouble has a way of seeking out Blackthorn and Grim.

Lady Geiléis, a noblewoman from the northern border, has asked for the prince of Dalriada’s help in expelling a howling creature from an old tower on her land—one surrounded by an impenetrable hedge of thorns. Casting a blight over the entire district, and impossible to drive out by ordinary means, it threatens both the safety and the sanity of all who live nearby. With no ready solutions to offer, the prince consults Blackthorn and Grim.

The story picks up shortly after the conclusion of Dreamer’s Pool, the first book in the series. The story is told from the perspective of Grim, Blackthorn, and the person who they are attempting to help, in this case, Lady Geleis. Of note, her motives are not straightforward, and this complicates the protagonists’ work and also serves to heighten the overall tension of the book.

As with most series, the second book is an opportunity for the author to expand on the world, its people and rules, and this is the case in Tower of Thorns, allowing Marillier to delve further into the politics, family relationships, and religious beliefs.

While Blackthorn and Grim have been damaged by the things they have been through, their strength and abilities are explored further, and their bond strengthened by the challenges they face in this book. They are not cheerful adventurers, and their complicated histories and the lessons they are learning, serves to help them heal as much as it does the people they seek to help.

As a whole, the book moves the characters forward, but does not put them on a pedestal, keeping them on a path that will compel them to grow, which will make readers eager to read further books in the series.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     Rabid Reads
     The Bibliosanctum
     The Eater of Books!

Previous Books:
     1. Dreamer's Pool

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Kirsten Reviews: Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier

Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier

Blackthorn & Grin #1

Award-winning author Juliet Marillier “weaves magic, mythology, and folklore into every sentence on the page” (The Book Smugglers). Now she begins an all-new and enchanting series that will transport readers to a magical vision of ancient Ireland...

In exchange for help escaping her long and wrongful imprisonment, embittered magical healer Blackthorn has vowed to set aside her bid for vengeance against the man who destroyed all that she once held dear. Followed by a former prison mate, a silent hulk of a man named Grim, she travels north to Dalriada. There she'll live on the fringe of a mysterious forest, duty bound for seven years to assist anyone who asks for her help.

Oran, crown prince of Dalriada, has waited anxiously for the arrival of his future bride, Lady Flidais. He knows her only from a portrait and sweetly poetic correspondence that have convinced him Flidais is his destined true love. But Oran discovers letters can lie. For although his intended exactly resembles her portrait, her brutality upon arrival proves she is nothing like the sensitive woman of the letters.

With the strategic marriage imminent, Oran sees no way out of his dilemma. Word has spread that Blackthorn possesses a remarkable gift for solving knotty problems, so the prince asks her for help. To save Oran from his treacherous nuptials, Blackthorn and Grim will need all their resources: courage, ingenuity, leaps of deduction, and more than a little magic.

Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier is the first book in the Blackthorn and Grim series, and offers an array of characters and a protagonist, Blackthorn, who is dealing with wrongful imprisonment, and begins the story having to set aside pursuing vengeance against a man who caused her a great deal of pain and suffering in return for the fey helping her to escape. Upon being released from prison, she travels to Dalriada, followed by a former prison mate, a man named Grim. There she lives, duty bound to help anyone who comes and asks for her assistance.

Meanwhile, another plot thread follows Oran, the crown prince of Dalriada, who is waiting for Lady Flidais, his bride-to-be. They have never met, and from her letters and a single portrait, he has concluded that she is the love of his life. However, when Lady Flidais arrives, she resembles her portrait, but soon proves that she is very different than her letters suggest. Now envisioning himself trapped in an unhappy marriage, Oran has no idea how to extricate himself from this marriage, but he has heard of Blackthorn, and her talent for solving tricky problems. Blackthorn and Grim must then use a combination of magic, cleverness, and bravery in order to solve the prince’s problem.

While the characters are interesting and the situation sufficiently tricky enough to provide plenty of story for them to unravel, there is a bit of a gap between the setup and its execution. At times the plot moves relatively slowly, and some readers may be impatient for more things to happen.

The story is told through the perspectives of Blackthorn, Grim, and Oran, which can be tricky for some authors to juggle, but this does allow for a greater amount of insight into various aspects of both events and the world. The first book in a series has a lot to cover, and if readers find some questions are left unresolved, they will undoubtedly be eager to pick up the next book in the series.

(Received a copy from the publisher)
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Other Reviews:
     The BiblioSanctum
     The Eater of Books
     Fantasy Review Barn

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