Contrary to what the title says, my first fantasy love was not the Avatar series. But, as see pictures from the set of the new live action remake and start the Earthsinger Chronicles, I'm reminded how I got to Avatar in the first place.
My first fantasy series obsession was the Chanters of Tremaris trilogy by Kate Constable. In a world where magic is conjured by song, we find our main protagonist, Calwyn, as a young convent novice at a in the froze North, surrounded by a wall of ice. The ice protects not only the priestesses and the village, but Ice Call— the magic that allows the priestesses to make and manipulate ice and snow. Ice Call, like all magical abilities in this world, cannot be learned but inherited. Calwyn's a bit of a pariah amongst the novices and the priests. Her mother broke her vows in more ways than one a priestess when she went beyond the wall and when she came back with baby Calwyn. Without her mother, Calwyn has had to put up with a number of abuses from her peers and superiors who remember her mother as a traitor, but Calwyn always wondered about the outside world. Enter Darrow, a man with Iron Call who does the impossible and climbs over the wall from the outside— and subsequently falls and breaks his leg. Afraid, yet curious of the outsider, Calwyn hides him away and nurses him back to health. But Darrow comes with a warning: there is a man that has learned more than one song and he is looking to harness all of the songs to become ruler of Tremaris. Once Samis' apprentice, Darrow has been on the run. He warns Calwyn that Samis will come to the north to steal Ice Call and kill him once he finds him. When Samis does arrive and attacks the convent, Calwyn has no choice but to flee with Darrow, still far too injured to fight Samis. Together, Calwyn and Darrow must find a way to stop Samis from achieving his goals, while also trying to stay far enough out of his reach. Calwyn finds that Samis isn't the only one skilled in acquiring other songs and she just may be the only one who can lock him away for good. Each book tackles a different issue: battling Samis in Book 1, tackling Darrow’s traumatic past and the fraternity of sorcerers that made him who he was in Book 2, Calwyn dealing with the loss of her abilities. As the trilogy progresses, so does her relationship with Darrow and the rest of their ragtag team comprised of a surly fisherman begrudgingly roped into Darrow and Calwyn’s mission early on, a half-deaf misfit from a men’s college, a young Wind Call girl rescued from pirates, and Calwyn’s mute long lost brother whom their mother had left behind when she returned to the convent (like Toph, he's learned to adapt his abilities). I kid you not, I reread this series again and again, too stubborn to move on from the world of Tremaris (and my first book crush, Darrow!). (Not seeing a connection yet? Stick with me now...) 
After I finished the series, I was older but still wanted something similar: insert The Pellinor Saga by Alison Croggin. The concept is similar: magical world fueled by song and name. Instead of being shut away in an ice convent, the protagonist, Maerad, is shut away in a slavers settlement where she is a slave. Cadvan, one of the Great Bard of Lirigon, becomes her "Darrow" as he takes her away and becomes her mentor. He teaches her as much as he can about magic and enrolls her in the School of Pellinor to learn more while he goes away on business, but an uprising results in murder and Maerad and Cadvan must flee together to stop dark forces threatening to regain power. The books grow darker and darker with each one. Child soldiers, death, and army of the fallen, murder, we even see Maerad permanently maimed before the series conclusion.
How can I possibly top these series written for Middle and High Schoolers? 
I discovered L. Penelope’s Earthsinger Chronicles during the COVID closure. The library was closed to the public. Staff had taken the opportunity to shift the entire fiction collection, replace old labels, and reorder yellowed and stained copies. I came across Song of Blood and Stone and, after reading the synopsis, nostalgia came flooding back to me.
In the first book of this Adult fantasy series, Jasminda (like Calwyn and Maerad) is an outsider in her community. As a mixed race young woman living in a territory that only sees the side of her they hate and fear (the side of her that inherited her Lagrimari father's gift of Earthsong), she struggles just to survive as an ordinary citizen. But when she rescues an Elsiran soldier, Jack, as he's being held captive by Lagrimari enemies, she is thrust into the start of a war between the two nations. Though it took me a while to finally pick the book up again to actually read it (work, life, and a TBR list longer than the COVID lockdown), so far, I am not disappointed! It looks like each book focuses on a different set of characters, so that should be interesting. Hmmm, swap the genders and substitute Singing with Martial Arts…
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
