Froi of the Exiles,
by Melina Marchetta
ARC from Candlewick, available 3/13/12
Three years have passed since Finnikin and Isaboe ended the
Lumateran curse and exile and began rebuilding their country. Now nearly 18, Froi has spent these years
helping rebuild Lumatere and training with the Queen’s guard, both to mind his
temper and to train to fulfill his promise to protect his queen. Foreign relations are tense due to the long suspected
role of Charyn in the Lumateran exile; to complicate matters, Charyn refugees
are flooding the Lumateran valley on their border. Fluent in Charnyite, Froi is given a secret
mission infiltrate the desert country, impersonate a noble, and assassinate
their king. However, not even the
trainings of the Guard could prepare him for what he discovers in the
treacherous Charyn royal court. Charyn
has a curse of its own: no children have been born or even conceived in 18
years. Charyn’s insane princess,
Quintana, claims to be the only one to be able to break the curse. However, Froi is strangely drawn to Quintana,
who has become a victim of the curse, and to the Charnynite people, hesitating
in his mission as his resolve to protect her and help Charyn find peace
strengthens. This wholly engrossing and beautifully
constructed novel is filled with intrigue, dark humor, mystery, adventure,
engaging new characters, and visits with old Lumateran friends. More political thriller than pure fantasy,
due to plot complexity and some sexual violence it is recommended to high
school students and adults. As a reader caveat, this novel ends on an
excruciating cliffhanger!
Hold your breath (or don’t
is probably a wiser idea), because here comes a loooong review:
Confessions: I was a little perturbed
when I found out that Finnikin of the
Rock, of which I finished, closed, and thought “almost all the ducks were in a row and I feel
good about these characters taking things from here and succeeding! DaYUM, what
a great stand alone!” was actually the first in a series, and that Froi of all
characters was going getting his own book.
I mean… Froi was a kind of fascinating but overshadowed character in Finnikin. Hilarious and tragic, but occasionally reprehensible, he wasn’t always our (taking a page from the
book and using the royal we here) favorite character. But it is
Melina, you guys! As in, author of several of my favorite books! Though I had my doubts, they were more about
Froi than Melina Marchetta’s abilities to write a stunning book. After a reread of Finnikin, and particularly the chapter in which we hear Froi’s
voice when the fever strikes Evangalin, I was MORE than excited to start Froi.
Frankly, Froi won me
over. Both the character AND the
book. He’s come a long way from
petulant, violent, impulsive thief to slightly impulsive, more mature, but kind
of admirable wannabe-assassin. If that
doesn’t sound like an argument to not be a preemptive judger, real live English major Lil’Miss Julia Hawesome ran
south with my ARC, and had the following thought: “it fit with Froi's own journey
and personality and darkness. There were times it was hard to
reconcile Froi from Finnikin with Froi from this book, but
I guess three years can do a lot for a person.”
Three years CAN. For instance, three years ago, Sarah Palin could see Russia from her house and only Apple nerds had iPhones!
You guys. Just pause here for dramatic effect. Pause… Because you know what? I worried for naught! This book is kind of
fantastic. I take that back. It’s not kind of anything but rather fully fantasy
fantastic. The characters, new and old,
are all multilayered, richly constructed, fully flawed human beings. The landscape is stark, hard, and dangerous,
much like many of the new Charynite characters.
The plot is captivating; it’s really hard to put this one down (and it’s
not a short book, clocking in at close to 600 pages). Even the slow moments are
filled with bits and pieces of import to the story. It’s a well-paced roller coaster ride, with
ups, downs, breaks, laughter, tears, and the occasional desire to puke from
over-excitement. The dark side of humor,
in that laughter can be based on sadness and cruelty but still be funny,
enlightening, and cleansing is on full display in this addition to the series. Charynites, despite their uber-rough country
and messed up curses and royal court etc., are deeply, darkly, humorous. In fact, in some ways what happens in this
book (survival, family, bearing unwanted burdens, etc.) is darker and yet less
sad than the exile in Finnikin,
perhaps because our characters are not entirely at the mercy of fate in the
same ways that the Lumaterans were.
At times, it reads like a
mystery as Froi works to unravel the layers of the Charyn curse; all is not
revealed at once. In some ways, we all suspect
what he’ll wind up doing, but yet it’s not fully predictable in ways we would
expect. The chapters alternate between
protagonists and kingdoms, with Froi as our main narrator, but all sides have
their say. Por ejemplo, despite the
struggle of rebuilding their country and getting their lives back together, or
say, dealing with a refugee situation of their own, I found it really
refreshing to step away from the darkness in Charyn and visit with our old
Lumateran friends. I love that the tide
has turned in ways, and now our exiles are the unwilling hosts who have trouble
admitting to themselves that the Charyn refugees on their border are just like
they were. Pot, have you met kettle?
Author Crush: I feel an author crush
ramble coming on…because none of that has been going on here already...You guys, saying Melina Marchetta is talented is like saying ice cream is delicious. DUH. I’ve gushed before and will again in the
future, but she really never fails to wow me.
How many authors can manage a story with as many plot lines and
characters with related yet individual stories as Froi, AND keep the writing
and story strong? On top of that, how
many can create a brand new major character, make her seem truly insane and
undesirable, and then explain it in a way that makes sense without mitigating
it, AND create sympathy, even affection and grief, when sanity is somewhat
found for this new character? (I know
this makes little to no sense if you haven’t read the book. Deal with it.
You know, by reading this book.)
 |
| Quintana or Smartypants? |
New Characters: Quintana is
fascinating. I loved picturing her in
her pink taffeta dress, which stinks of a bad bridesmaid experience! (If there is a snowballs chance in hell you
are reading this, Melina Marchetta, is this hunch true? Also, totally
unrelated, but will Jimmy Hailler ever get his story told?) I couldn’t help but
think of Babette Cole’s Princess Smartypants when picturing Quintana. And now thanks to that visually, you won’t be
able to help it either! You’re
welcome. Phaedra is also a character who I knew would
be more than she initially seemed. It
was and will be fantastic to see her coming into her own role and authority
with her people. I also loved the twins
from Abroi and their complicated history and relationship with Froi.
 |
| Australia's Froi cover |
Cover Judger: I think I initially wanted
to say more about how the themes of family, loyalty, and doing the right thing
run through this book, but I just did so I won’t gush on for another
paragraph. I will however, briefly talk
about the cover. LOVE the yellow and
black because it’s sufficiently dark and twisty, but I’m not a huge fan of the
fadey face picture. Is that dude with an intentional pupestache wearing eyeliner? Is Froi a
pubescent emo rocker? As covers go, I
like it but I’m having trouble not comparing it to the gorgeous US
hardcover jackets for Finnikin. You know, without the fadey people. I actually prefer the Australian Froi original. But that’s just me; it really is a
decent cover.
This book ends on SUCH a
crazy cliffhanger, which is apropos to the gorges of Charyn. But not to my desire to know what is going to
happpppeeennnn! 2013 can’t come soon
enough.
Finally, a special thank you to Jenny at Candlewick for generally being fantastic (she arranged a tour for a group of my students) and for basically ensuring I'd have a great winter break by sending this along. Yes, I read it poolside in Miami...
 |
| #mylifeissohard |
No comments:
Post a Comment