Customer Reviews

Moon And The Thorn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Guillyns have always been a selfish lot, you know, and it seems to me that we are incapable of forming really strong attachments. Even worse, we never seem to show any natural sense of kindness or kinship even within the family. You have only to consider the history of my clan."
"The Princess Tinne was a great and tragic lover."
"But the Governor had to go all the way back ten centuries to find her. She was probably the only one. A Guillyn finally fell in love and it turned out so badly, not one of us has been willing to try it again for a thousand years."
- Mahaffy Guillyn and Conn mac Matholwch, herein

This third volume of Edgerton's second Celydonn trilogy (the first two volumes being THE CASTLE OF THE SILVER WHEEL and THE GRAIL AND THE RING) is somewhat difficult to follow when taken on its own, having neither a cast of characters nor a prologue summarizing the story so far. THE MOON AND THE THORN deals with the aftermath of the events of THE GRAIL AND THE RING, so it can't really be read or reviewed without giving away major plot points of its predecessor. Consider yourself warned against spoilers.

That said, this second trilogy as a whole can be read before reading the first trilogy. The chapter headings, typical of both trilogies, not only supply interesting background material but at intervals supply segments of another story-within-a-story that in itself is interesting and worth reading (in this case about a king who, having defiled a magical place, must forfeit his life if his three sons cannot undo the damage - very apt, considering the efforts to set Mochdreff's magical and political problems straight that underlie the entire trilogy).

In a way, this book is concerned with showing that "happily ever after" can be much more complicated - and more work - than one might realize. The main love story of the previous two books, evidently brought to a resolution at the conclusion of the second book, turns out to have consequences obvious in retrospect - and as in the previous two books, Tryffin and Gwenliant are once again separated for much of the story, though on somewhat different terms than before. Two more pairs of would-be lovers are entangled with one another in this volume, however, so the reader isn't deprived of seeing further romantic complications.

While the events of THE GRAIL AND THE RING addressed the most deeply rooted problems of the cursed land of Mochdreff, resolving the magical issues didn't clear up the political problems and managed to introduce a new complication by offering yet another candidate for the lordship of Mochdreff, one with a claim more difficult to explain to hard-headed men used to thinking of magic as the province of wise women and philosophers rather than affecting their immediate political concerns. On the other hand, since the claims of Peredur and Math - who are developed for the first time in this book - are of equal weight, even skeptics on the issue of the "rightful" lord of Mochdreff see advantages to the possible selection of a third candidate, particularly a mature man with few pre-existing complications involving the powerful nobles of the region.

The lack of family ties and alliances is a problem as well as an advantage, of course, so Tryffin's part of the book involves not only helping Mahaffy argue the legitimacy of his claim, but arranging a marriage for him with the only daughter of one of the more powerful nobles, a young woman scarred in a freak accident years before and very skeptical of the sincerity of Mahaffy's attempts to establish their relationship on a decent footing. (Mahaffy's background established in THE CASTLE OF THE SILVER WHEEL makes this particularly interesting.)

On a magical level, Gwenliant once again enters the Inner Celydonn, this time in pursuit of a spirit set loose in THE GRAIL AND THE RING, seeking to prevent the spirit from doing further damage. She passes through several episodes of long-past history, seeking in each to identify her opponent before the opponent identifies her (and also at some points gaining more magical training). In the more mundane world, yet another politically ambitious dabbler in magic has become involved with the family of at least one of the other claimants to the Mochdreffi lordship, though this time someone more interested in co-opting the magically gifted rather than being much of a magician himself. One of the witches caught in this part of the plot - a relatively minor character in the previous book - is one of the major romantic players in this book.

"Magic makes women wise and men into lunatics. Which is to say...in neither case does it change them very much."
- Mochdreffi proverb

This series just kept getting better and better. By the end, I was so totally immersed in its world that I looked at my own like a foreigner. Unbelievably good.

Teresa Edgerton has written two very enjoyable trilogies, with well-developed characterizations and interesting conflicts. The mythical/medieval setting lends an intensity to issues of right and wrong, honor, loyalty and faith. It's been a while and I certainly hope she writes more!

this is teresa edgerton's second trilogy. she is a great writer, using believable characters and creative stories.