Book 1 of the Witches of Eilanan 
Published by Arrow Books, 1997

I must admit that I had not read much by Kate Forsyth up until a few years ago when I was lucky enough to attend a Masterclass with her at the Sydney Writer’s Festival. I dutifully picked up Dragonclaw and started reading, and soon wondered why I hadn’t read anything by Kate Forsyth before. 

I found the first ten pages or so a little bit hard going –the beginning of the novel is dense with back story and the characters speak wi’a wee bit o’ th’ Scottish, which took me a few pages to get used to. Epic fantasy readers know that good things come to those who wait, and I was soon glad I soldiered on.

The back story of the novel is well-developed and goes that the evil Banrigh(Queen) has ensorcelled the Righ (King) to gain the throne and has outlawed all magic and magical creatures. Those practicing magic are burned as witches, and throughout the land magical creatures are hunted and killed. 

The storyline centres around a young apprentice witch named Isabeau and her guardian, a powerful old sorceress named Meghan, who live in a hidden valley beneath the mountain of Dragonclaw. When their valley is discovered and burned they flee, and Meghan and Isabeau part ways; Isabeau on a quest with a mysterious artefact, and Meghan on her own quest to overthrow the Banrigh.

There is just so much to love about this novel for us high fantasy lovers. Kate’s world teems with mythical creatures  - from the well-known such as faeries and dragons (I love a book with dragons!) to
more unusual creations such as mesmerds, fairgean and a helpful but rather scary nyx.

Forsyth writes the novel from a number of point of views, but rather than jumping back and forth between characters using short chapters, she instead employs a more tolkien-esque approach, giving each character a long chapter regardless of timeframe. I really enjoyed her style as it gave me plenty of time to settle in with each character and enjoy each individual journey.

Her protagonists are colourful and atypical; along with the young heroine there is also an ancient witch, a blind seer and a half-faery who can change into a tree. Despite having a predominantly female lead, you won’t find any damsels in distress waiting to be rescued here; Forsyth’s women are resourceful, tough, clever and powerful but still have faults and weaknesses. Forsyth also isn’t afraid to make her characters suffer as they face increasingly difficult obstacles.

The world Forsyth creates is compelling, beautiful and terrifying in turns, with plenty of plot lines, a familiar elemental magic system, and well-developed, unusual characters.

I give this book 8 out of 10 sparkling dragons.

Book 1 of The Book of Words
Published by Orbit Books

Ok, so I’ll admit it – I bought this book because the cover was so similar to early covers of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series. Seems its true what they say (for me at least) that readers often want more of the same, but just a little bit different. I also like to read High Fantasy novels written by women (initials often seem to be a dead giveaway for a female writer), as I find they often give a different take on the genre.

The Baker’s Boy wasn’t anything like The Wheel of Time, but it still has plenty to offer readers of high fantasy. The novel follows the adventures of a number of the residents of Castle Harvell. These include Jack, a baker’s boy who has a mysterious past and a strange power; the naïve young Lady Melliandra; her father, the pompous Lord Maybor; and Baralis, the scheming chancellor. A secondary plot introduces Tawl, a young knight on a quest for redemption.

Jones describes her characters as “Chaucerian”, and many of them do feel like caricatures – from the two dim-witted guards who discuss how to score with the ladies, to the evil Archbishop Tavilisk, who is eating another disgusting delicacy in each scene, to the ongoing feud between Maybor and Baralis who constantly seek to outmaneuver the other in an endless series of traps and tricks. These characters invite some humour into the bleak and treacherous world that Jones creates, and often put a smile on my face for their over-the-top evilness or absurdity.

The protagonists are a little less exciting; Jack is quite likeable if a little uninspired as is the knight, Tawl. However, I found Lady Melliandra (Melli) to be quite annoying. She was sooooo naïve, yet somehow managed to escape the dangers Jones placed her in with only minor injury, often relying on the lucky timing of someone’s arrival to save the day.  I found this deus ex machina irritating as it is hard to feel fear for a character who you do not believe to be in any real danger. I also had to give an inward shudder to the worst of clichés- the prostitute with a heart of gold.

Jones has written The Baker’s Boy from several point of views, which makes it seem a little hotchpotch at times, however the story is easy to follow and there is enough difference in the familiar plot devices to keep the pages turning. There is a lot of sex (and talk of sex) and violence in the book, which seemed to be at odds with the child-like characters.

All in all a pleasant popcorn read; good enough to make sure I pick up the second one in the series. 


I give this novel 6 out of 10 flapping dragons