The Sable Moon by Nancy SpringerMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I'm not done yet, GoodReads!
All right, now about the book itself. This, the third volume of Nancy Springer's Isle series, follows the next generation after The Silver Sun - Trevyn, the headstrong son of Alan and Lysse, part elf, someday king, and all-round pain in the neck. Trevyn's pride is a driving force of the first section of the novel, causing him to reject his blood-brother and walk away from his true love. My favorite part of the book is his arrival in Welas, where his pride both defeats him ... and at the same time, is the thing that defines and sustains him.
(Younger readers may feel differently, but through a lot of this volume, I had trouble liking Trevyn as a character. It is perhaps telling that I inadvertently stole the name, years and years later, for an RPG char's psychotic ex-boyfriend ...)
The main problem with The Sable Moon is that it relies even heavily on the deep, mysterious mythos of Isle - but here, perhaps in part because the fantasy field has now been inundated with similar tales, it wears thin. Instead of complementing the lyricism of the prose, the magical world feels like a deus ex machina, reducing motivations to, "Because I said so."
Still, as a romantic interest, Meg is positively delightful, a spunky heroine in a vein that has become perhaps just a touch too familiar ... but perhaps because she's original rather than imitative, she comes off very true and likeable. It's just a shame we don't get a bit more of her perspective. Hmm, so I've changed my mind - Meg is my favorite part of the novel.
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