Book Review: "The Bone Doll's Twin" by Lynn Flewelling
This book is a little dark, so if you are looking for upbeat then don't look here. The story is very intriguing and Flewelling style is easy to read. She does really well with her characterization. The book didn't seem to drag as I had no problem zipping right through it.
The story begins with a trip to an oracle and a prophecy(after all this is Fantasy). Iya, a wizardress, sees a vision of the future she hopes to create, but it will cost her and others a price perhaps they cannot bear. The prophecy for this land that as long as a female from the line of the warrior queen, Gherilain, holds the throne then Skala shall prosper and be free of the rule of Plenimar. Erius, the son of the last queen has stolen the throne from his half-sister and he kills any female rival for the throne save his sister. The land has begun to suffer under his rule, there have been long droughts under his rule in lands that used to prosper, and once again Plenimar is rising up to conquer the land.
Iya and her apprentice Arkoniel have gone to the oracle and have seen future as it can be, if Illior's will be done. This involves the sacrifice of a child. Eruis's sister is pregnant with twins--a boy and a girl. To save Skala a female of Gherilain's line must be placed on the throne. If Eruis finds out that his sister has given birth to a girl, then he will kill the child. So with the help of Lhel a witch, Iya kills the twin boy and superimposes his image on the girl so that everyone will believe that she is a boy. She is named Tobin. The twin that is killed haunts Tobin tearing up her toys and distressing everyone in the castle. Instead of staying at court, Tobin's father talks his family to an outlying castle that they have. Tobin's mother goes mad after giving birth and losing her "son."
The interesting perspective in this novel is the fact that Tobin is raised as a boy and taught that his girlish feelings are wrong so that the boy is supposed to be is at war with the girl that he actually is. He is also surrounded by odd goings on: he is haunted, his mother is nuts, he has Arkoniel, a wizard, for a tutor, and he has no other children to relate to.
Tobin's character is really interesting since is a blend of a child that is inherently female, but brought up as a male. The child is also by circumstances forced to grow up rather quickly. Iya provides the wise wizard with all the answers? Arkoniel is her apprentice that believes in their work though it may cost him his morals in the end. There is also an "evil" wizard Niryn who was not as big a player in this novel as I fear he will be in the future novel. There are a cast of other supporting character's such as Ki which is a boy full of life that is brought to foster with Tobin to give him companionship; Duke Rhius which is Tobin's father; and Nari--Tobin's nanny. There is also the faithful Captain Tharin--best friend and squire to Duke Rhius. After the death of his mother, Tobin's father seems to forget how to be a father, so it is Tharin that replaces Rhius as a father figure to Tobin. The characters are all written well and each is interesting in their own right.
The is a rather unique novel in some ways, especially with the gender switch. If you like fantasy and do not mind a dark novel then you should enjoy this one.