The Lady of Han-Gilen

Judith Tarr’s prose is a delight, but this particular installment in the Avaryan series is a rather trite romance at its heart, with a fickle-minded, headstrong princess alternately loving, hating, and trying to choose between two emperors-to-be. Too many pages assigned to the waffling thoughts of Elian and not enough to the political machinations of a few of the princes of the Hundred Realms and the sorcery of the Exile. Still, a good story overall and an important piece in the Avaryan series.

Elian is princess of a mighty kingdom, with many royal suitors. But she will not consent to marry any of them, and when she begins to fall in love with one, she flees. Her foster-brother has raised an army and begun creating an empire, and she goes to serve him. Even as she and Mirain (son of the Sun-god, a mortal man sent by his father to bring all to the light) conquer kingdoms, she battles with her tangled feelings of love, loyalty, and a fierce desire to be free above all other considerations.

I could have done with fewer reminders of how red Elian's hair is (it's so red guys, so very very red), but the way she's described fits with the overall style of the novel. These books are told in manner similar to old epics, complete with show more archaic sentence construction and reiterated descriptions. Sometimes this rankled as a little too old-fashioned and expected, but most of the time it worked very well in creating the sense that this tale is that of an oft-told legend. The only place the style really annoyed me was during descriptions of the magical battles: there, the elliptical, flowery style made the action difficult to follow.

I was frustrated with Elian a good deal, because she seems incapable of figuring out what or who she wants for most of the novel. She changes her mind about who she loves and what she wants to do so fast I nearly got whiplash. I think her fellow soldiers and family put up with her mood swings and changing priorities far too often. When she does know her own mind, though, she's nigh unstoppable, and I liked that. She truly is fierce and implacable--she'd tear herself apart struggling against bonds. The end was an interesting turn on her perpetual struggle for personal freedom, because to save Mirain she melds minds with him and his half-uncle. She'll never again be truly alone, or able to forget others' concerns. show less

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