A Heroine of the World
2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by girl-penguin from Richmond upon Thames, Greater London United Kingdom on Friday, September 23, 2005
This is one of my favourite fantasy novels, ever. Tanith Lee possesses a skill for language and imagery that is matched by few writers in the fantasy field. In "A Heroine of the World" she pushes the boundaries of the genre, creating a world similar to Eastern Europe of the 18th or 19th century, with subtle fantasy elements that do not overwhelm the stark realism of the story. The protagonist, Aradia, is a young girl in a besieged city at the beginning of a war that will change her world and profoundly shape her own life, carrying her, as she says, beneath its grinding wheels. Her parents are killed in the war and she is taken under the protection of an enemy officer. When he dies Aradia inherits his property and lands, and there she comes of age and gains power over her own life.
It's not necessarily an easy book to read, however. The first time I read it I set it aside after about 100 pages -- when Aradia is in the midst of what seems like a neverending military retreat across a bleak and desolate winter landscape. It seemed to me as if nothing much was happening in terms of the plot, and Aradia herself was a bit too passive for my taste. I didn't pick up the book again for at least a year, at which point I discovered that a few pages after I had abandoned the book, something really big happens. After that I was hooked, and I couldn't put the book down. I was completely engrossed by the story, by the subtle plot twists and the development of Aradia's character, by the heart-wrenchingly painful story of her discovering that the adult world is not everything she thought it would be, that there is no happy ever after. I reread this book every year or two, although I have the story pretty much memorised by now, because Lee's prose is just such a luxury to rediscover.
Aradia is 13 years old at the beginning of the book, and she may seem too passive, judged by modern standards of how novel protagonists should behave. But her behaviour is in keeping with her age and with the terrible events she has endured. And perhaps the point of the story, of Aradia's special (perhaps magical) power, is that every small action she takes has large consequences. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something a bit different, and especially to those who haven't tried reading fantasy before.
It's not necessarily an easy book to read, however. The first time I read it I set it aside after about 100 pages -- when Aradia is in the midst of what seems like a neverending military retreat across a bleak and desolate winter landscape. It seemed to me as if nothing much was happening in terms of the plot, and Aradia herself was a bit too passive for my taste. I didn't pick up the book again for at least a year, at which point I discovered that a few pages after I had abandoned the book, something really big happens. After that I was hooked, and I couldn't put the book down. I was completely engrossed by the story, by the subtle plot twists and the development of Aradia's character, by the heart-wrenchingly painful story of her discovering that the adult world is not everything she thought it would be, that there is no happy ever after. I reread this book every year or two, although I have the story pretty much memorised by now, because Lee's prose is just such a luxury to rediscover.
Aradia is 13 years old at the beginning of the book, and she may seem too passive, judged by modern standards of how novel protagonists should behave. But her behaviour is in keeping with her age and with the terrible events she has endured. And perhaps the point of the story, of Aradia's special (perhaps magical) power, is that every small action she takes has large consequences. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something a bit different, and especially to those who haven't tried reading fantasy before.
Journal Entry 2 by girl-penguin from Richmond upon Thames, Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Sending the book to shoegal123 at her request.
recieved yesterday. very excited to read
