Sister Light, Sister Dark (1988)

We have a girl that was given up at birth to an order of sisters, a religious order devoted to taking in women in trouble. THe babe was given the name Jenna - and many signs show her being the Goddess reborn. We follow Jenna as show grows up in the Hame, her discovery of her dark sister (Shadow sister) and how she saves her home from the invaders. Also throughout the tale is songs, poems, and writings from this period. There is a historian interpreting it. The stories and tales are far more outlandish than the actual story. It lends a realism that most fantasy seldom manages.

I liked this story. It wasn't great, the history interspersed with the story is a good touch - I like how interpretation by the later historians work with the Real story. Otherwise, its a mostly unremarkable story. ( )

For the whole series: These books are fascinatingly written. The frame story is that there are legends, songs, and tales about the women of Great Alta, and that historians fight constantly about the meanings of these legends. Each chapter includes some “history”, some “legend” and then the “true story” of what really happened. The women of Great Alta (and their shadow sisters) have a complex and magical way of life, which is brought to life all the more fully through the layered way Yolen constructs the books. The books are a great commentary on what we do or do not know about past cultures.

I'm a sucker for young adult books, for fantasy, and for history, and this book hit all three kinks nicely.

Sister Light, Sister Dark is not actually a fairy tale or myth, but it has that feel to it. Yolen creates a rich and interesting world that has a history of undervaluing its female babies. A folk hero began the tradition of 'Hames', women-only communities composed largely of babies taken in after being found left on hillsides, and then later of orphans or unwanted children taken to them.

These women worship a figure called Alta, who is composed of light and dark, and they have the ability to call forth shadow sisters - twins who exist only in the light of the moon or certain lamps, and who mirror and yet don't mirror their light sisters. This ability is legend even in their own time - the one important character we meet from outside the Hame believes it to be entirely myth and is dumbfounded to find that the girls he meets not only believe the legends, but treat them as matter of fact day to day truths.

The main trend of the story here follows Joanna, a girl brought to the Hame after her mother dies in childbirth, and a prophecy that suggests she may be the girl who changes everything.

What makes it stand out among from other books of this nature is the fantastic world building Yolen does. Her Hames are interesting and believable. Yolen employs a fascinating trick of beginning each chapter with a brief myth, legend, ballad or out and out history which tells the story we have just heard, or are just about to hear, differently. I found it absolutely fascinating to see the myths and histories set down side by side with the 'true story', and in fact found it to be a fantastic commentary on what we can ever really know about historical events so far removed - and how different (or not different) history really is from myth and legend. It helped that Yolen had the tone of a particular sort of historian down pat, right down to the academic squabbles mid-text.

The other thing that sets this book apart are the richly drawn characters. Jenna is a wonderful heroine, and her struggles are interesting.

I was horrified to turn the last page and realize that this is the first in a trilogy - and it's the sort where you want to have the next on hand - but I can't say I'm disappointed to have two more to look forward to! ( )

Despite a slow and somewhat boring start, by the middle of the book I was very enthralled. I was eager to know what happened and sorry that book 1 was over already, after only just beginning to like it. I look forward to reading the next book! ( )

I absolutely loved this novel expertly written by Yolen. It is marketed for young adults but is totally engaging even for adults. Yolen has created a myth, story, history, legends, and tales in book one of the Great Alta Saga, a fantastic adventure filled with strong women and feminist tones. ( )