Title: Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1) Author: Kristin Cashore Published by: Harcourt Published on: 1 October 2008 Pages: 480 pages
When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?
It just occured to me that, although I often made fun of most young adult books, this genre is the one I discuss the most here. Maybe because this is just a popular genre, or maybe I am just being obnoxious, lol. But I arrive at your feed today to recommend the Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore -- it is bloody good. Its main strengths are the world building and an original plot -- something quite rare in young adult fantasy.
Graceling is set in a mythical place called Seven Kingdoms (IKNOWRIGHT?) which consists of, well, seven different kingdoms: Nander, Wester, Estill, Sunder, Middluns, Monsea, and Lienid.
Seven Kingdoms have people that are Graced with certain skills that they do better than anyone else, from something mundane to even magical. They are called Gracelings, and they can be recognised from the colour of their eyes -- sort of like heterochromia. The change in their eyes usually happened when they are still an infant or a toddler, and as soon as it does, they automatically become the property of the king. If their skills are considered valuable to the kingdom, they will be kept. If not, they are sent home. On a side note, most people are afraid of Gracelings.
Our main heroine is Katsa, a Graceling whose eyes were a beautiful shade of blue and green. She lost her parents since she was little and was adopted by her uncle, Randa, who happened to be the king of Middluns. What was Katsa's Grace, one might ask? Killing.
Aware that he could use his niece to his advantage, Randa trained Katsa in every way possible to be his own valuable weapon. But Katsa's conscience couldn't be manipulated. As she grew, she realised she didn't want to live this way and decided to form The Council -- an organisation consist of her closest friends and allies with a goal to protect the people from corrupted kings.
Our story began at one of The Council's operation, which was to free the father-in-law of the king of Lienid. The old man's name was Tealiff and he was abducted by Murgon, the King of Sunder. Katsa managed to save him from the dungeon, but then he was confronted by a Graceling guy who was curious on her business in Sunder. Katsa knocked him out and carried out the rest of the mission in success. Later on, she found out that the Graceling guy was Prince Greening of Lienid, nicknamed Po, who went in search of his grandpa all around the Seven Kingdoms. After being informed on the condition of his grandpa, Po was invited into one of The Council's meeting to discuss the motive behind the abduction.
Sorry can't help it :P
The kings of Nander, Wester, and Estil became immediate suspects as they were often at odds and made petty wars with each other. Lienid and Monsea were eliminated due to their connection with Grandfather Tealiff. Katsa, as much as she hated her own uncle, could vouch that Randa was not involved. It was then decided that Po would assume the disguise of looking for his grandfather all around Seven Kingdoms, when in fact he was looking for the suspect. And Katsa would be with him.
Questions arise as to truthfulness. Which of these kings were telling the truth? What would be the reason behind this? And as a Graced fighter, was Po really who he seemed to be?
EGGLYSIS
Reading the synopsis, I think you would agree that Kristin Cashore's idea is hella original. Props to the decision to set the story in medieval times, as it's something quite rare amongst young adult fantasy genre.
Katsa... is an interesting character. She was physically strong and nobody seemed to be able to rival her, even Po who was Graced with fighting. Po is also the same, character-wise. In fact, I would argue that had they not been paired together their characters wouldn't have been as intriguing. I see a lot of online debates about Katsa, describing her as man-hating and far too modern to be in that timeline. While I agree that at some point Katsa's life decision seems a bit far-fetched, I could also see Kristin's reason in doing this. We have seen strong men throughout fantasy literature for far too long, it's time for a strong woman. With flaws. Katsa's flaws are beautifully balanced by Po.
However, glanced through a distorted view, people could deem Katsa, and in turn Kristin herself, as anti-feminine. Katsa hating her long hair, Katsa hating dress and basically anything feminine, and several other decisions she made for her future. Which is basically not the point, IMO. I would admit that I couldn't really relate to Katsa as a character, but I could understand and sympathise with her. Another plus to Kristin: having a heroine that makes her readers think.
Style-wise, it is very obvious that this is Kristin's first novel. The way she tried to use more formal narration could seem a bit out of place at times. I swear by midway I couldn't take anymore use of "for" as conjunction clause, lol.
Overall, Graceling...
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