jethrien

Title: The Spirit Ring
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Alternate history fantasy
Thingummies: 4

Synopsis: Fiametta's father, a master magesmith, may have refused to formally make her an apprentice, but has no trouble taking advantage of the free labor. Fiametta herself is not too put out to trade work for the opportunity to learn magic and maybe snag herself a handsome husband. But her pleasant life in a small Italian dukedom is shattered when a neighboring duke invades. With the help of an earnest young miner, Fiametta must risk the darkest of magics to save her town, her livelihood, and her father's soul.

Thoughts: There's a certain challenge in rating various books against each other. Some of the more interesting books I've read this year, such as the Mistborn saga, have been wildly inventive but also very uneven, taking risks that deserve admiration but don't quite pay off.

The Spirit Ring is not really one of those books. There is nothing that is outstandingly creative here. Instead, it follows some classic fantasy formulas and motifs: the underestimated apprentice, the ambitious duke propped up by the brilliant and evil sorceror, the failing mentor, the besieged innocents, the villainous mercenaries. There's a sweet little love story. There's the character who is kind to supernatural creatures most people fear and scorn and thus earns their aid. (In this case, it's kobolds, who are rather underutilized, so points for that.) The setting is a Renaissance Italian state in a slightly alt-history world in which magic is real but hasn't seemed to have changed events too much. It's a little different than the classic fantasy world, but for all the cute little historical references, the story itself could have just as easily occurred in a world entirely made up without much loss. (One of the bad guys does turn out to have been a real historical figure, but one you probably need to be a Renaissance history buff to catch. Several other people are based off real personages and several events that happen in various backstories are true, all of which is explained in the afterword.)

So it's not exactly a ground-breaking work of genius. What it is is a charming, extremely well executed, enjoyable little tale. Fiametta and the miner, Thur, are convincing, engaging people. They make some blunders that are understandable, but hold up the heroic ideal well. Their fumbling romance is winsome. The villains are well-drawn and not nearly the cariacatures they easily could have been. The duke is hot-headed and grasping, but as is pointed out, behaves no worse than many of his contemporaries (which is quite bad, to be sure, but within the parameters of normal if not acceptable behavior for Italian princes.) His wizard is slimy and disgusting, but still plausible.

I loved some of the little flashes of humor and irony, which is much of what is appealing about Bujold's writing. From a body that gets unsentimentally smoked along with the hams to a castellan with an obsession for bats, Bujold mixes comedy and tragedy to make you laugh along with the gut punch. It's a combo that always wins me.

In short, while this breaks no new ground, it's a book that's quite enjoyable.