The Pearl of the Soul of the World: The Darkangel Trilogy, Volume III [Paperback]

Meredith Ann Pierce (Author)

Book Description

Series: Darkangel Trilogy | Publication Date: April 9, 1999

All the world’s wisdom and magic resides within the iridescent depths of a small white pearl. “All my sorcery,” the Ancient Ravenna had said of the pearl. “It is left to you to save the world.” But is the pearl powerful enough to enable Aeriel to defeat the White Witch? Aeriel’s people have assembled an army--led by the redeemed darkangel Irrylath--and are soon to attack the Witch and her darkangel sons. But their cause is hopeless unless Aeriel can unlock the mysteries of the pearl . . . and of her own destiny.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers who crave solemn tales peopled with strange beings will find much to relish in this final volume of the Darkangel trilogy. Deprived of both her memory and the power of speech, Aeriel awakens to find herself in a cave somewhere below the earth's surface. In the company of three underground-dwelling duarroughs--natives--Aeriel journeys to the city of Crystalglass. There she meets Ravenna, the last of the race of ancient beings who created the world. Ravenna restores Aeriel's memory and reveals to her the nature of the role she must play in the final battle against the cruel White Witch. Though good does finally triumph over evil, this novel's conclusion is not a typical "happy ending": Aeriel is reunited only briefly with her estranged husband before she must leave to begin the lonely task of healing her planet. Pierce's thoughtful characterization and well-constructed plot lead to a poignant and believable conclusion. The meticulous, creative use of language gives form and substance to a fascinating mythic world. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up--Dazed, a young woman wan ders through a labyrinth of caves, un able to speak or remember her own name. A glowing pearl hangs around her neck, and in her pale hair gleams a tiny silver pin. With this arresting scene, Pierce opens the final volume of her acclaimed Darkangel Trilogy. Her heroine, Aeriel, is a victim of the world- destroying witch she has been trying to combat; the silver pin sunk deep into her head is responsible for her state. Rescued and restored by the Ancient Ravenna, Aeriel receives the dying Ra venna's powers within her pearl and must carry them to her successor. The subsequent destruction of the witch puts an end to the threats to the planet, but to Aeriel, newly reunited with her husband, Irrylath, it brings only sorrow and new burdens. Becoming Ravenna's successor, she must leave Irrylath for ever and set out with only her faithful companion, Erin, on her lonely destiny as world guardian. Readers will be im mediately and irresistibly drawn into Pierce's fantasy world, but the flash back necessitated by this beginning slows the pace of the story considera bly. Those who have read the earlier books will find this no hardship, how ever. Pierce always has the power to catch the imagination of her readers, and her creativity never falters.
-Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 301 pages
• Publisher: Magic Carpet Books (April 9, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 015201800X
• ISBN-13: 978-0152018009
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,525,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Ravenna's Own Daughter Shall Kindle the Crown...", February 9, 2006

By 

R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Pearl of the Soul of the World: The Darkangel Trilogy, Volume III (Paperback)

***This review contains spoilers***

As the last installment of the "Darkangel" trilogy, "The Pearl of the Soul of the World" had a lot to live up to, as well as a lot to wrap up. In the first book "The Darkangel," slave-girl Aerial saved the darkangel Irrylath from the misery of his own existence under the power of the White Witch and returned him to his mother's house. In "A Gathering of Gargoyles" she undertook another task, in searching for the lost lons to fight against the White Witch in the coming battle and in doing so discovered her own extraordinary heritage. Now the various countries of Aerial's world have gathered together in a great army to march against the witch, with her husband Irrylath at its head.

But the story begins in the most unexpected way. As the story opens, we find a young woman in a cave deep underground, with no memory of who she is, mute, with a silver pin driven through her temple and a sinister feeling that someone is following her. Although the "amnesia" plot device may seem cliched to some, Pierce uses it brilliantly by instigating it right from the beginning, so that the girl's identity and the events that led up to her awakening in the cave are kept shrouded until the time is right (and as it turns out, her forgetfulness plays an important role in the narrative; it's not just a silly plot twist and it's *not* brought on by a bump on the head).

Found by three duaroughs (beardless dwarfs basically), the young girl accompanies them through tunnels and caverns, all the time endangered by the presence of the witch's evil creatures. Eventually the girl finds a hidden passage to the ancient city of Crystalglass where the last of the Ancients - Ravenna - awaits reveal to her the truth of the White Witch and the world's history and to give her a final task: deliver a (literal!) pearl of wisdom into the Witch's own hand.

The girl (as you've probably guessed) is indeed Aerial, and when she meets Ravenna her memories return to her. We learn what happened in the space between "A Gathering of Gargoyles" and the time she found herself in the underground caves, (including the gathering of Irrylath's army, the rebirth of Avarclon, the equine lon that died in the first book, and Aerial's newfound reputation as a powerful sorceress). Most importantly of all is the dynamics between herself, her devoted servant Erin, her detached husband Irrylath and his cousin Sabr. Pierce excellently and poignantly weaves the bonds that tie these people together; Aerial's hopeless love for Irrylath, his seeming indifference toward her, Erin's devotion to Aerial and her scorn for Irrylath, and Sabr's sneaky innuendoes to discredit Aerial and snatch Irrylath for herself. It's certainly a tangled web of intrigue!

As well as these core characters Pierce also keeps good track of the rest of her (by this stage, rather large) cast of characters, all of whom have an interesting and vital part to play in the progression of the story. As such, we have reappearances from Talb, Syllva, Eoduin and the maidens, the Ma'a-mbai, the lons, Irrylath's brothers and Roshka. Only Roshka was a tad underused - as Aerial's newly-discovered brother I would have liked to have seen more of the bond between siblings. Pierce's gift is that none of her characters are strictly good or evil, and just as Aerial must cope with her jealously of Sabr and the pain she feels in regard to Irrylath; Sabr herself is not wholly bad, acting as she does out of love for Irrylath. And as for the White Witch...well, I don't want to give her story away, but let's just say she is given a name, a heritage and a heartbreaking motivation for the evils she does during the course of the story. Just as a darkangel was once redeemed, so too is there hope for the Witch...if she chooses to take it.

Pierce creates a vivid portrayal of a world; which is hinted at being our own terraformed moon set far into the future. However, no fantasy fan should be put off by the vague allusions toward science-fiction (such as archaic machinery and burning "chariots" that transport the Ancients from planet to planet), as this trilogy is fantasy at its core. However, ideas that Pierce brings into the narrative, such as the reasons behind why the moon was terraformed in the first place and the ultimate fate of `Oceanus', should resonant in the readers' minds as contemporary statements of our world's present condition.

And then of course there's the ending, and as one can see browsing over the other reviews most were quite disappointed. However, in my opinion there was no other possible way for the story to finish. Pierce carefully laid out the elements of the story, and the conclusion makes sense given the facts that she had established. The ending thus takes on a tragic, inevitable and fateful air, reminiscent of all the best love stories. Though saddened, I could understand why things happened the way they did.

BUT!

For all those who were upset at the conclusion, hope remains. In an interview Meredith Ann Pierce had this to say:

"Anybody who considers that a satisfying ending is nuts. Take heart! I intend to shift focus to Irrylath and show him as a very human character coming to grips with a life of duty, devoid of personal satisfaction or love. No longer overshadowed by Aerial, Irrylath must forgive himself for his crimes as a darkangel, regain his wings and discover the secret that will set both him and Aerial free. Aerial will learn the high personal cost of surrendering herself, however nobly, to Ravenna's planetary rescue plan."

"Here end for a time the adventures of Aerial. The adventures of Irrylath have only begun" - this was the line that Pierce wanted to end "The Pearl of the Soul of the World" with until her publishers vetoed the decision. Now that we have hope for Irrylath and Aerial, all we can do is wait impatiently. Until then, "The Darkangel" trilogy is a fantastic set of books.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring., April 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Pearl of the Soul of the World: The Darkangel Trilogy, Volume III (Paperback)

I was very disturbed when I read the other on-line reviews. I think that this book is the culmination of the other two in the trilogy. If the ending were truly as bad as everyone seems to make it out to be, I think I would have been the first to notice. After all, I waited for years to discover the ending. I first read The Darkangel in third grade. Later after Pierce wrote the second book, I searched and searched for the book only to find it in a second hand store my freshman year of college. My college roommate was the one who searched for the third book, and she gave me the book for my college graduation. As you may guess, I had my own desires that Areil and her Prince would end up "happily ever after." However, I was not disappointed. The whole series has focused on the theme of responsibility and sacrifice. In the first book, Ariel sacrifices herself first to serve her mistress and later to save the good and destroy the evil within the darkangel. In the second, Ariel sacrifices her time and energy in trying to to recover the gargoyles and restore them to their former selves. The third book shows Ariel once again sacrificing herself so that the world may be a better place. Ultimately, the message of this trilogy is very religious and inspring in a world overrun by selfishness. Further, I think Ms. Pierce is a woman of incredible talent. I am now a graduate student of literature and I can honestly say that reading Pierce's novels early in life instilled in me a love of the written word that has yet to be quenched.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I was not looking for a fairy tale ending here., August 5, 2008

By 

AM "AM" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pearl of the Soul of the World (Darkangel Trilogy) (Kindle Edition)

I WAS NOT LOOKING FOR A FAIRY TALE ENDING. I really wasn't. I mean, I realized (very early on) that this story was not about romance. If it were, then Pierce would have focused a little more of her attention on Irrylath rather than only having him pop up every once in a while. That much was easy enough to decipher. What I WAS looking for, however, was less angst and for the heroine to at least stop getting the raw end of the deal time after time after time after TIME. So she had Erin in the end. Great! Okay! That's wonderful! But can someone please explain to me how much of a difference it made to have Erin go away with Aerial rather having her take Irrylath? If her husband was such a distraction, then wouldn't her best friend have been too? I mean, one could argue that the love that she had for her husband was much different than that which she had for her friend; true enough, but love IS STILL LOVE. In my opinion, the love that she had for Erin was much more tangible than her infatuation with the prince...because she actually knew and spent time her. I understand what Mrs. Pierce was trying to accomplish here, I really do, but it just didn't work for me. It would have made a lot more sense to have Aerial leave by her self. I would have actually bought that and, quite honestly, would have been satisfied in the end. Having her leave one partner behind, only to be replaced by the other made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Sorry, but it didn't.

This third book was a bit choppy, too. I had no idea what the hell was going on at the very beginning of it. It was pretty obvious that there were several years in between the publication of the second and third book. Seriously, it shows and in a major way. It seemed as though the author was just trying to finish things as quickly as possible. The pace, flow, and overall feel of this volume was just off. I don't know how else to explain it.

I wanted (so very much) not the hate this series, but halfway through the last book, I knew exactly what was going to happen. I only finished it because I'd consumed the first two so quickly and had enjoyed them so thoroughly that it would have been pretty lame to stop in the middle of the last one ...So (begrudgingly so) I pushed myself to finish it.

The only impression that this series gave me was that the heroine simply switched places with her husband, and was made to become the vassal of an old, hypocritical, selfish crone who was no better than the witch her self. My opinion has NOTHING to do with romance or lack there of.

The heroine is majorly screwed from the time she left her mother's arms to the very the end of this series.

Five stars for the first two books, minus two stars for the crappy ending.

Way to finish off such a great series...how disappointing.