Customer Reviews

Murkmere

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

 

 

This book is an example of how intelligent young adult fantasy can be, and should be a benchmark by which others in the genre are judged. It is completely intoxicating, and engaging to the point you let dinner burn on the stove as you can't bear to put it down! It is, as the saying goes, a "thumping good read."

Borrowing from the gothic tradition of literature, _Murkmere_ is a great brooding, dark sort of book. It's dark in the way _Wuthering Heights_ is, with the setting being as much a dominating force as any of the characters. It also reminds me of the wonderful Gormenghast series of books, to the extent I wonder if Elliott wasn't influenced by them. The imagery is just gorgeous, and allows even this jaded adult reader to completely lose all sense of the outside world while reading it.

The characters are brilliantly drawn and sympathetic from the start, and the use of myth and legend is done with just the right touch. Elliott writes with such a graceful flair, and never falls into the trap of being self-conscious. You can tell she believes in what she's writing, which makes the magic of it all absolutely take flight.

I read a fair amount in this area of fiction, and aside from the Harry Potter books and a few other gems I haven't found anything at all that's as completely consuming as this book. I can only hope Ms. Elliott keeps writing, and the more prolific she is the better! A brilliant book. If there were a higher than 5 star rating I would give it!

Clouds hang low in the sky where I live. They seem to touch the flat brown fields around our village, and to shadow the broad backs of the horses pulling the plow.

From the opening sentence I was trapped in the dark, oppressing world Patricia Elliot so convincingly creates in Murkmere.

This is a world where the search for knowledge is severely punished and birds are worshiped as gods; their wishes, mysteriously translated by an inbreeding elite called the Ministration, used to submit the people. High above them, in the distant capital, the Lord Protector, divinely bound with the Eagle, the supreme of all Gods, rules uncontested.

Yet not everyone is content. Forbidden books are still read in hiding and the peasants, pushed to their limits by a brutal militia, are flirting with rebellion. But nothing threatens the established order more than the rumors about the avia. The avia, the legend claims, are the descendents of those who long ago dared to challenge the gods by flying. In punishment, they were forced to be trapped between two forms, bird and human, for ever.

Far from the capital, at the edge of the civilized world, lies Murkmere, a rural state that has been deteriorating since its Master became crippled in an accident following the death of his beloved wife in childbirth.

As the book begins Aggie, a girl from the nearby village, is called to the manor in Murkmere to be the companion of Leah, the Master's ward, a wild girl of fifteen, he plans to make his heir on her sixteenth birthday.

Like in so many classics of the gothic genre--the tale of a young girl coming to a decrepit old manor--the girl is the narrator of the story. But in this case, the choice of Aggie as the narrator is, in my opinion, a big mistake.

Aggie is a secondary character, with an uninteresting story of her own. Yet because she is the narrator the reader is forced to follow her through all her boring daily activities. The story picks up when Aggie interacts with Leah, with the master, or even with Silas, the handsome, mysterious steward. These three are, by far, much more interesting characters than Aggie. Unfortunately they are not in the foreground often enough.

Aggie is not only an unreliable narrator--her vision of the events she relates is distorted by her religious zeal--but her motivations and actions are somehow bizarre. She is always at the right time and place, without a convincing reason to be there except that she must tell the reader what is happening. Also, her changing feelings for her mistress, a development that propels most of her comings and goings, seems forced.

Aggie is a character so secondary that if she were to be taken from the story, the main plot would remain unchanged.

Murkmere had the potential of being a powerful story, but the choice of the wrong narrator, an ending that lacks resolution and a plot that fails to address the most interesting elements of the story ruined it for me.

At the end, and although I was impressed by the haunting beauty of Murkmere and the depth of the world the author has created, I was disappointed.

Patricia Elliot makes a compelling YA fantasy out of old-fashioned elements: an old, decrepit mansion in the North Country with a crippled master and many mysteries, a petulant heiress to be brought out of her shell, and a good-hearted servant-girl protagonist. The quasi-18th century feel evokes the marvelous YA novels of Joan Aiken, to whom Elliot is a worthy successor.

But while the building blocks are almost Victorian, the putting-together has the sensibilities of modern fantasy as well. The setting is remsniscient of Cromwellian England, with the populace ruled by religious superstition and a harsh Ministration. The mysterious figures Aggie finds at _Murkmere_ are not merely hiding missing children or grieving widowers, but, shape-shifters and heterodoxy. Persecution, censorship, and religious dogmatism are all taken on as the plot moves toward more than just a story of frienship gained and trust won. In spite of its heroine Aggie's journey from obedient believer in authority to revolutionary, _Murkmere_ never comes close to didacticism or allegory. Aggie's personal journey is gradual and entirely her own: she does not immediately abandon the worldview she has been raised with. Elliot's treatment of religion is one of the high points of her world-building here. She creates an interesting set of doctrines, myths, and superstitions which for her world to interpret that approximate the function of the early-modern Church without being merely an imitation of Christianity. The very fact that this can be described as "a YA fantasy with themes of heterodoxy versus orthodoxy" would make it worthy of multiple stars.

Attention to character is what really distinguishes _Murkmere_ from the standard run of YA fantasy. Aggie makes mistakes in judgement from naivete, fear, and misunderstanding. Even when she and her mistress Miss Leah come to a tentative detente, their relationship fluctuates constantly with Leah's arrogance and impatience, and Aggie's stubbornness. By the time Leah and Aggie really do unite to work together in the book's climactic chapters, it is an alliance, but not necessarily a dear friendship. While it is certainly a fantasy, _Murkmere_ is at root a story about people.

Fifteen-year-old Agnes Cotter, aka Aggie, always expected to live the rest of her life in the village on the Eastern Edge, where she grew up under the care of her Aunt Jennet, a recently retired schoolteacher. Aggie has never questioned the rule of the Ministration or the power of the divine beings --- the Birds. Aggie and her Aunt Jennet, like many of the villagers, wear amulets as a source of protection from the Birds of the Night and a symbol of devotion for the Eagle, even though Aggie is fearful of his absolute power. When the Master of Murkmere Hall, a member of the Ministration, seeks Aggie to be a companion to his ward, she accepts, seeing the job as an opportunity to improve her life and that of her aunt's. Little does she realize just how difficult the job will be.

When Aggie passes through the gates of Murkmere, she immediately has an uneasy feeling as she sees the rooks nesting above her. She continues to feel out of place when she meets the estate's steward Silas Seed and the housekeeper Miss Crumplin, whose disdainful remarks about Aggie's deceased mother Eliza makes Aggie uncomfortable but curious to know more about the life her mother had while working at Murkmere years before. Then Aggie meets the mysterious Mr. Tunstall, the Master bounded to a wheelchair as the result of a terrible accident, and his ward Leah. A moody, restless girl who prefers to visit the mere and its swans every chance she gets, Leah often eludes her sour-faced maid Doggett, aka Dog, who quickly sees Aggie as an enemy rather than a friend.

Leah makes it clear that she would rather not have a companion or be at Murkmere at all. When Aggie voices her concern about Leah to the Master, she sees that the Master cares for Leah even though his protectiveness makes Leah --- and later Aggie --- feel imprisoned behind the gates of the estate, just as the Master himself seems to be from behind the iron bars that restrain him in his wheelchair. The Master's overprotectiveness, his rumored secret "blasphemous" book collection, and the dangerous machine in the estate's watchtower add to the mystery that surrounds Murkmere.

While Aggie settles into her new life, she soon discovers that the devout charming Silas is not as dutiful as he seems and becomes entangled in a deadly web of secrets and lies involving Murkmere, the village, and even the Capital. As the celebration of Leah's 16th birthday approaches, Aggie realizes she must save Leah and herself, or else be trapped in the mysterious Murkmere forever.

MURKMERE is a well-crafted fantasy that teems with suspense, intrigue and symbolism --- all the while remaining descriptive of the haunting scenery that brings Aggie and Leah's story to life.

--- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle (SdarksideG@aol.com)

In a land where the Eagle is God and bird omens determine the course of human life, young Aggie Cotter leaves her village for the nearby estate, Murkmere, where she will be companion to Leah, the willful ward of the estate's Master. As she struggles to gain acceptance, Aggie begins to suspect that nothing is what she thought or as it seemed: not Leah, who disregards the superstitions of faith and has an unnatural bond with the mere's swans--nor Aggie's family, or the religion and government that she has always trusted. Murkmere suffers from a number of faults, including poorly constructed characters and an unsatisfying conclusion, yet the book is engrossing and possesses a certain sense of otherworldy magic that keeps the reader constantly curious, always hoping to discover more. Although I have reservations, I recommend the book on the basis of that mystery and magic, and I hope that the sequel delves deeper into that promising aspect.

On the whole, this book is unremarkable. It is peppered by a number of faults: The villains, both large and local, are unoriginal, some following the tired trope of twisting religion for personal gain, some merely evil by nature. The narrator, although the purported protagonist, goes through little character growth and is much less interesting than Leah, who has a more important story to tell. Although the book's climax is satisfying, the ending feels empty--for Aggie, there is no real conclusion; the reader is not privy to the end of Leah's story. Although minor on their own, together these faults combine to take the book down a notch, making it a little too simple to read, a little too shallow in depth.

For all of this, Murkmere has a certain charm. By and large the writing style is nothing special, but skillful pacing builds a sense of foreboding, inserts action to hold reader interest, and leads to a satisfying climax that fulfills the sense and scope of the book. More than all of this, there is also a strange, unearthly beauty to the story: in the obsession with birds, in the Leah's still-secretive nature, in the secrets also of Murkmere itself, the book seems to offer a magical world that is not yet explored. I wish that the book did delve more into this world, indulge in the fantastical aspects, show us more of Leah's story and her character--yet even if I wish for more, what is present is atmospheric and interesting, pulling the reader deep into the book (which is quite hard to put down) and keeping him ever curious for more information, for one more glimpse of magic.

It was the mysterious fantastical aspects that kept me avidly interested in Murkmere and it is on that basis that I recommend the book. While far from the best I've ever read, I found myself constantly intrigued. I hope that the sequel better embraces this aspect--the faith without close-binding rules, the magic without fear or superstition--and, even better, that they adopt Leah as the narrator or at least the primary character. However, even in the sequel disappoints, I do recommend this book. It has many faults, but it also has a sense of beauty, mystery, and wonder that I wish I saw in more books and greatly enjoyed the the tantalizing, limited glimpses in which it is presented here.

I would probably give this three and a half stars. There was a lot to like about the novel. It had a dark, creepy feeling to it, and Elliot definitely knows how to build suspense and tension within the story. I also like when a character grows and changes over the course of the story, and Aggie certainly does. I also thought the writing in general was beautiful. The opening paragraph was quite lovely and indicative of what was to come.

I have never been the biggest fan of stories that are narrated by someone other than who the story is truly about. So, it's really nothing against the book, it's just my personal preference. The story is narrated by Aggie, but, in truth, it's about Leah. I like Aggie very well, but Leah could have been the protagonist.

I also could have used a bit more world building, such as, more background of Aggie's life in the village and the beliefs of the "Ministration," the rule-makers of Aggie's world. In Aggie's world, birds are considered holy, but for me it was a little bit vague. When Aggie goes back to the village after being at Murkmere, I had no idea how to picture it or think about it besides in a general way.

I did enjoy the novel. It had some good things to say about freedom of choice and how events are all relative to the person's perspective. I wasn't sure in the end if Aggie still believed in the bird religion or not, but I guess it's okay to have that left up to the reader.

The companion to this novel, Ambergate, is at the local library, so I will definitely check that one out and read it as well.

Reviewed by Sarah Corley (age 13) for Reader Views (3/07)

Agnes Cotter, who lives with her Aunt Jennet in the village, takes up a position at Murkmere Hall as companion to the crippled Master's ward Leah, whom he keeps hidden behind the high walls of his estate. Agnes' mother worked as a maid at Murkmere before her death. Agnes wears an amber amulet for protection and sees signs in the appearance of different species of birds. She keeps in touch with her childhood friend, Jethro Sim, who does not want her to work at Murkmere, and has his own secrets.

At first, Miss Leah does not welcome a companion, but over time and with many misunderstandings, she and Aggie develop a degree of friendship. Leah visits the frozen lake at every opportunity to commune with its swans, who allow her close to them. The villain of the piece is the estate's handsome steward Silas Steed, whom the Master foolishly trusts, but who has his own ambitious plans. These come to fruition at Leah's birthday celebration, which is attended by the Lord Protector himself, along with his wise fool Gobchick.

"Murkmere" is an interesting, at times slow moving, tale of a young woman's coming of age, and how she attacks and makes it through many conflicts between loyalty and faith. The story has a surprising ending that leaves you begging for more.

Book received free of charge.

I would actually give this book 3 or 2.5 stars for the first few chapters then 5 stars for every other chapter. This book is set in a very different belief system then ours, based on birds, which is never really explained. It makes sense as the book goes along, but makes it hard to get into the story at first. It is a gloomy sort of slow to develope story, which does develope into a great story . . . if you stick with it. Its a good sort of Jane Eyre kind of gloom. Characters are not always what they seem, so stick with it and you will not be disappointed.

This book was absolutely painful to read. I don't often dislike a book that I am compelled enough to write about it, but this was really truly awful. The story would have been a great 4 page short story, instead the author dragged it kicking and screaming into a novel

I liked this book a lot but some parts I didn't even understand. The book was a little different from what I read but despite that it still was a good book. I loved the ending of it and I hope to read Ambergate and put a review in about that, but before you read Ambergate read Murkmere because if you read Ambergate first I'm guessing things will be really complicated to understand. Anyway back to Murkmere I think that the whole belief that birds are sacred was a little stupid but who know's what people believed back then. Anyway I liked the book and hope you read it and enjoy it