The Lady of the Sorrows

Il secondo capitolo della trilogia di bytterbinde (letteralmente un voto vincolante) si apre laddove La ragazza della torre termina. Imhrien ha riacquistato voce e volto e ora deve compiere la sua missione presso la corte del Re-Imperatore di Erith. Assume quindi la fittizia identità di Rohain delle Isole Sorrows e come nel precedente capitolo da qui si snoda una fitta trama di avventure che porteranno la giovane a scoprire la sua vera identità.
La dama delle isole è un romanzo più scorrevole del precedente e meno farraginoso, seppure lo stile della Thornton non si smentisce con le sue minuziose (a volte manieristiche) descrizioni.
Tutta la potenza narrativa dell'autrice però si rivela negli ultimi capitoli, quando diventa evidente show more che la rievocazione delle mitologia e del folklore non è ridotta solo a qualche sporadico racconto orale e ballata, ma caratterizza fortemente l'etnografia di Erith.
Per questo arrivati alla rivisitazione del mito del Pifferaio Magico di Hamelin adattato al mondo della Thornton, assumendo un ruolo centrale nella vicenda di Imhrien, si capisce che il lavoro condotto dall'autrice è veramente colto e minuzioso. Ovviamente la vicenda non si conclude, giacché la trilogia è un corpo unico. show less

Settled on 4 stars for this book. Gave the first book 3 which I felt was a little harsh and I sort of feel I'm being a bit generous giving this one 4 stars.
I found that early on I had already predicted Thorn's identity and that the death of a character from the first book had been exaggerated.
Also felt that it was really dragging on at the start with a lot of pages (and words) passing without much actually happening.

However, it really picked up the pace at the end and took a twist that I had not seen coming. I found that I was really enjoying it and want to know how it all ends in the last book.
That alone basically earns it 4 stars.
Also think that regardless how tedious I find it to plough through page after page of lavish description show more and little action, this might be one of those series that sticks in my memory for a long time after I finish. show less

Il secondo capitolo della trilogia di bytterbinde (letteralmente un voto vincolante) si apre laddove La ragazza della torre termina. Imhrien ha riacquistato voce e volto e ora deve compiere la sua missione presso la corte del Re-Imperatore di Erith. Assume quindi la fittizia identità di Rohain delle Isole Sorrows e come nel precedente capitolo da qui si snoda una fitta trama di avventure che porteranno la giovane a scoprire la sua vera identità.
La dama delle isole è un romanzo più scorrevole del precedente e meno farraginoso, seppure lo stile della Thornton non si smentisce con le sue minuziose (a volte manieristiche) descrizioni.
Tutta la potenza narrativa dell'autrice però si rivela negli ultimi capitoli, quando diventa evidente show more che la rievocazione delle mitologia e del folklore non è ridotta solo a qualche sporadico racconto orale e ballata, ma caratterizza fortemente l'etnografia di Erith.
Per questo arrivati alla rivisitazione del mito del Pifferaio Magico di Hamelin adattato al mondo della Thornton, assumendo un ruolo centrale nella vicenda di Imhrien, si capisce che il lavoro condotto dall'autrice è veramente colto e minuzioso. Ovviamente la vicenda non si conclude, giacché la trilogia è un corpo unico. show less

Continuing the intrguing blend of celtic fantasy.

Our heroine is still nameless but the story picks up at the end of the last book where she's been transformed into a beautiful girl, surely princesshood is just around the corner. With her regained voice she decides it is time to continue to the King's castle where she can deliver her report about the treasures of Waterstair, and maybe even catch a glimse of her glorious soldier, Thorn. Assuming the identiy of Rohain from the Sorrow Isles (hence the bokk's title) she finds life in the capitol isn't as straightforward as she first thought it might be. They use forks, which she has seen before, but upside down, rather than in their more obvious shovelling mode! And speak in a contrived show more lingo to exclude outsiders. However she does manage to cultivate a few friends, and while she hasn't met the King in person, His Royal bard - True Thomas Rhymer, is also favourably impressed. Especially when the expedition returns with the treasures of Waterstair. She is also aided by a maid, who finds Our Lady of Sorrows a far less demanding Mistress than any of her previous owners. Although she hasn't yet met her Thorn, all good thigns come to an end, and Rohain escorted by her maid must travel once more amoungst the weight haunted countryside.

The style remains much as in the previous book - occasionally overflowery descriptions of adjectives strung together. And more annoyingly very descrete appearances of characters, the transitions from area to area are huge, and all previous events scarcely mentioned again. This is very annoying as so much more could have been made of, for example, the swanship. We do get a brief update on those who survived the first book, but then they are never mentioned again. The elaborate enhancing of various fairy tale themes continues, although I failed to recognise the significant volcano based one - maybe this is a maori legend than hasn't made it to the UK. There is less of the fae present, and a bit more focus on the human characters, which is is some ways a shame as it is the blending of various tales that made the first book such a departure from the norm. It is enjoyable though.

There are some problems with the ending - the knife is clearly broken upon her exit from the Realm but apparently still completely usable. Also her age: She seems too old in her memories to be mistaken for the slavechild in the beginning of the first book.

A worthy continuation from the first book, perhaps not quite as good, but still enjoyably engrossing, in alight fantasy style.

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This is a sequel to "The illmade mute", and nicely she does a synopsys of the previous book, something that can be very useful when you are like me and read a lot! This takes a lot of legends and folk-myths and weaves them into a very good and well told tale. (I think it spoilt "The Thief's Gamble" for me!) The main story used is the Pied Piper, which it weaves into fairy abduction stories, and nicely enough there is a list of stories and their sources at the end of the book.

This one picks up immediately where the first one left off, as our amnesiac protagonist takes another assumed name - Lady Rohain of the Sorrow Islands, which is where we get the title - and finishes her journey to the king, to deliver news of the treasure. She makes swift friends with Tam Lin and True Thomas (who are just there, hanging around - you find out why in the third book), as well as Tam Lin's wife, Alys-Janetta. She, as usual, makes some enemies at court, and is forced to return to the Stormrider tower, this time as an honored guest. It is there that the Wild Hunt attacks her and she finally meets the king, who courts her and they end up engaged. When he is forced to fight a war, he leaves her, along with his heir, Thomas, and show more Alys, on a hidden island, theoretically safe. Alas, the island is attacked, they are forced to flee, and are separated in a large tsunami. Washing up on the shore with her two servants, Rohain wanders toward the place she learned she was first discovered at, and upon actually getting there manages to regain most of her memory.

The story of how she wound up an ill-made mute is actually quite well done, and I'm a great fan of it. I'm also a great fan of her newly realized importance and her newly-remembered antagonist - Morrigan, the Crown Prince of Faerie. The book ends with this discovery. show less

Halfway thru this 2nd book and unrelated in any way to the plot, the author skates from one bit of well-known folklore and/or fairy tale to another. To no point. Nothing new there. Felt like filler to be gotten past. Did she have a page quota in her contract? Could totally have done without it. An unnecessary and unwelcome distraction to the main story. You could miss the bulk of this book and not miss a beat of the main story! After a magnificent first book, this sequel is a disappointment.