Sister Light, Sister Dark

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 show more 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! show less

An interesting story, partially for the entire story itself but also for the interwoven myth and historical interpretation of it in later years. How centuries later the story is twisted by the perception of the writers. It was funny to see how the most discredited writer was actually closer to the truth than the more academically accepted writers.

Jenna's life is haunted by a prophecy. Everything she does seems to fulfil this prophecy and sets the wheels in motion to change the world she lives in. With a patriarchy meeting a matriarcy this is going to be an interesting fight for the future of this world. Set in a pseudo earth with some roots in this one it's an interesting read.

(3.5)

Jenna, a white-haired babe orphaned three times, is taken in and raised by an all-women community who worships a white-haired goddess named Alta. There, she learns about dark sisters - shadow women called out from a great mirror who only appear during the night. She also discovers that she might be the subject of a prophecy that foretells the goddess's rebirth on earth.

Folktales, ballads, and history lessons interrupt each chapter, told from sometime in the future looking back. It really reveals how corrupt history can become with each retelling and from who's telling it (the historians are all men, lecturing about what they thought they knew about the all-women communities, while what's shown to the readers real-time in the show more chapters tend to differ).

I ended up enjoying the book, but it took until halfway for the story to really get moving. And I felt the entire book was written up to set up its sequel, which bummed me out. I wished the book had a complete beginning, middle, and ending. I might pick up the sequel, but we'll see . . . show less

I really liked this book, though the story did have its problems. I think my favorite part was seeing the difference between the happenings of the story and the later interpretations of historians, musicians, and poets of the society long after it took place. The religion of Jenna's people reminds me of the religion of the people in the Dragon Age games in that it has a vague, female Jesus feel to it, but it also has a hearty helping of reconstructed ancient European religion in there too. Unfortunately, even though I really enjoyed the sections about the future interpretations and the songs, I can see what other reviewers have said about them jarring the reader out of the plot. I did have a hard time keeping my attention on the story, show more though that may have also been because I have had a lot going on in my life to think about the past few weeks, or because the story was geared towards much younger readers. I was also a little thrown by the obvious subplot that the least academic historian writing about the subject was the one most right about what actually happened. While that may be true in this fantasy world, I'm leery of people taking that message back to our real world and doubting historians/archaeologists about their research. I've seen a little of what's on the real world side of that profession and I know that the pickiness of the field is there to ensure that no one is led astray and that spiritually or politically motivated ideologies are not warping the academic sources being produced, though that's happened in the past.

Tl;dr This book is beautiful, and I really enjoyed a look into a fantasy world that felt real because of the layers, but I would caution people not to take it to heart as a commentary on our world. This would be best for young readers and those who have good concentration skills. show less

On the face of it this book should have appealed to me more: a community of women, including warriors, who worship a goddess and provide a safe haven for the abandoned girl babies of their local communities. It is a 'chosen one' type story which has become rather more of an overused trope than at the time of first publication, but all the same there should have been the opportunity to become involved with the characters and their problems.

Unfortunately, I found the same kind of distancing that I found in this authors Cards of Grief. This time it is accomplished by constant interruptions to the story to tell us what the mythical version of these real events was, what the legendary and often very distorted version was, and what various show more learned academics made of it a thousand or so years later, often rubbishing the very idea of women as warriors or the existence of the main character, Jenna, as a real person rather than an archetype. Unfortunately this interfered to a major extent with my ability to invest in the characters and also - especially the academic parts - came across as a Pseud's Corner type sendup (for anyone who doesn't know that is a column in the journal 'Private Eye' which sends up this type of academic language and analysis). So I didn't find the story or characters very engaging as a result. The end is also a bit abrupt as it sets up the situation for book 2 of the trilogy - having built up the unpleasant priestess in Jenna's community as a real threat to her mission, said threat is easily and quickly neutralised. So I can only rate this as 2 stars. show less

I decided to go back and re-read my favorites from childhood and this one remained good, but not as great as I had remembered. The world-building is good and the contrast between modern and mythology great, but some of the plot devices bothered me, especially having the main characters skip ahead years through magical intervention.

Sister Light, Sister Dark is the beginning to a YA fantasy trilogy. And let me emphasize that it is very much a beginning and not at all a complete story. Sister Light, Sister Dark intermingles songs, legends, and historical analysis with the story of Jenna, a girl who’s birth was prophesied by the followers of Alta, a cult of women warriors. When they’re fourteen, the followers of Alta first call up their dark sisters, who can appear only in shadow.

Sister Light, Sister Dark being a beginning and not a complete story on it’s own should not be a problem. Isn’t this the case for many fantasy series? However, Sister Light, Sister Dark is not strong enough to compel me to read the sequel. Upon finishing the book, my overall feeling show more was confusion that I’d reached the end.

Sister Light, Sister Dark felt like an older fantasy novel, which would be accurate since it was published in 1988. It’s YA and includes elements of coming of age, but it doesn’t follow the typical path of modern YA fantasy novels (it’s not so focused on romance, for one). Something that also felt older, although you could debate if this narrative trend has really decreased, was the heavy reliance on prophecy. There wouldn’t be much of a story at all to Sister Light, Sister Dark if it weren’t for Jenna being the child of prophecy.

While I didn’t care much about the songs or legends inter spaced with the main story, I did like the parts written by presumed future historians. They don’t add to the plot of the book, but it does provide commentary on how historians can see the past through their own cultural assumptions. The historians don’t believe that the characters and warrior women could really have existed and dismiss the characters and events of Sister Light, Sister Dark has folklore. It reminds of reading about how females have been identified as male because they were buried with weapons. This examination of how the narrative of history is shaped and relates to the truth was my favorite part of Sister Light, Sister Dark.

Themes surrounding gender can also be found within the main story line. Besides the obvious focus on sisterhood, the followers of Alta dwell in a land that’s implied to have been formally matriarchal but is now patriarchal. The followers of Alta are an exception and remnant of an older way.

While there was ultimately not enough about Sister Light, Sister Dark to get me to read the sequel, it seems a decent enough classic fantasy novel. If you’re looking for 1980s fantasy novels dealing with gender, it might be a good one to pick up.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

I received a free ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. show less