The Books of Pellinor by Alison Croggon

Genre: Fantasy

Book Summary: These young adult fantasy novels, giving great homage to the tradition of Tolkien, follow the story of Maerad of Pellinor, a slave who upon her rescue by the great Bard Cadvan, finds out that she too is a Bard and that she has unusual powers. Darkness and war is brewing, and along with her long-lost brother Hem, Maerad finds that she plays a key role in keeping evil at bay and saving the world from certain destruction.

Indulgent Book Talk: Admittedly, I was interested in the first book but not initially impressed---critics quoted on the backs of the books say that Croggon is writing very much as Tolkien did, and they are right, but a battle on a hilltop late at night was a little too obvious a reference for me. Nevertheless, Croggon made interesting and troubled enough characters who were forced to face terrible odds and those plot elements kept me reading these books. If you are a Tolkien fan, you'll definitely like these books with two strong leads, a boy and a girl, and with very little romantic silliness that can be so prevalent in YA lit these days. These books are beautifully written by a celebrated Australian poet, and the world is three-dimensional and carefully thought out. By the end of last book, I had trouble pulling myself out of the world Croggon had created. Good writing indeed!

Glorifying Elements: This is a fairly traditional good versus evil series, so there is much to be praised in the characters' resolve, sacrifice, and unselfish love for each other. The thing that impressed me most though was a loyalty shown by the characters to "The Light," which is not a religion exactly, but rather an overarching sense of moral rightness that the characters are fighting to maintain. Oddly though, they speak of the Light much like it is a god, by saying things like, "May the Light protect you" or "May the Light guide your steps." In the extensive appendices, the author is quick to be clear that this is not a god to be worshiped, but I can't help but think of the eternity that exists in all of our hearts, whether we choose to acknowledge this or not. I don't think Croggon can really escape that idea, and neither do her characters.

Worldly Elements: Violence is the main complaint here; no really graphic descriptions,  but the violence is of a particularly troubling sort: among other things, kamikaze birds that attack a city and fill it with disease, evil present in the very ground characters walk on, making them physically sick, and most disturbing and too-true-to-life: enslaved and bewitched child soldiers. A strange amount of time is spent in the first novel on Maerad getting her period, which I didn't find worldly exactly, just unnecessary and bizarre. Two characters at the end do fall in love and exchange "passionate" kisses, but that's all that's really said. And of course, we have to be aware of the hints of pantheism and animism present in these books and realize who our God really is.

General Recommendation: For fans of fantasy, this is a very engaging series and very true to the genre form. For all its imperfections, I still thought it was a fun read. Visit the official website to learn more about them: http://booksofpellinor.com/