Review: A Dance With Fate

A Dance With Fate by Juliet Marillier
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this one a lot better than the first book! 3.5 stars, rounded up.

WARNING: This review may contain spoilers for the first novel in the series, The Harp of Kings.

Without further ado, let me present the plot:
In an awkward fight accident Dau is blinded and as a consequence is sent back to the childhood home that still haunts him. Liobhan, blamed for the accident but also aware of Dau's traumatic past, agrees to accompany him as a bond servant for a year. This is not a fun time for them. Meanwhile, due to events in the last book, Brocc is off with the fairies again.

This one definitely seemed to have a lot more going on but, lord have mercy, this woman tells her stories slower than Treebeard. We're given so many unimportant details, and I can't tell you how much I loathe stories that feel the need to describe what items of clothing everyone is wearing at all times. Plus, this book includes a couple of boondocks law proceedings and these were a bit of a yawn-fest. But aside from all the boring, superfluous details, I really enjoyed the plot of it.

One of my biggest issues with the first book is that we were given this fiery, female lead with so much spirit and panache, but she was forced to conform to the role of a timid, respectable lady and it was just super frustrating. Whereas now her spirit is free and even though she's not in the best circumstances she doesn't have to pretend to be meek. She works hard, she fights for what's right, and she has no problem taking down sexism in all its forms. She's a total weapon, but she's still cheerful and full of light and the relationship between her and Dau is totally sweet. I love how fierce she is, while still amicable and charismatic. She finds loyalty so easily and rewards that loyalty with a fierce protectiveness. Still, there's no coddling, and while she spends a lot of this book caring for Dau she never babies him and she doesn't take his crap. She's a great character. Kinda glad her (literal) whistle-blowing was toned down, though. The music obsession in this book is such a main theme but it just makes me feel awkward for some reason (More on that later).

Dau is not in a good place right now. Poor kid is blinded in an accident in early days and doesn't take it too well. Plus, he's now having to face the reality of returning to the home he ran away from. This is some deep psychological trauma we are dealing with, and it doesn't go away easily. Dau is (rightfully) pretty messed up from being tortured by his siblings, so seeing them again leads to some pretty negative thoughts that layer this novel with a very real darkness. For a fantasy novel it's pretty confronting, and for that reason I think it's probably a little lighter on than it could have been. It deals with the issue quite respectfully, but thankfully isn't too 'doom and gloom' about it. Kind of ... wrong place, wrong time for that, I think. I appreciate that it isn't totally glanced over or repaired instantly, but I'm also glad it isn't dwelt on too heavily. I much prefer Dau when he's sassy and argumentative and giving Liobhan grief.

Brocc doesn't get too much screen time, which worked for me because as much as I love fairyland, I just cannot get on board with all the singing. I get that music and singing is actually kind of the big theme of this entire series but WOW. Allow me to bring up Tolkien again to allude to just how many songs we have to suffer through (If you're an unfortunate soul who has yet to read The Lord of the Rings, my point is that there is a lot of singing). Brocc is such a floaty kinda guy with only one thing on his mind - music. He's so soft-hearted and naiive and I'm really glad he has that open, loving soul, but at the same time his character just seems a bit weak. It's all singing and feeling sorry for everyone. BORING! (Sorry, Brocc.)

I do, however, LOVE the Crow-Folk, and I'm eagerly waiting the book when they get their big feature. This book was all about the monstrousness of Dau's family aka humans, so I'm hanging out to meet some real monsters and experience more animal attacks. I want more mayhem, more full-frontal assault, instead of all the spying and lying. I want savagery, and the crow-folk are my glimpse at that.

Not that this series is particularly savage. It's very PG.

Overall, even with it's slowness I enjoyed this book much more than the first, and devoured it easily. It had a few weaknesses with the plot and the storytelling, but it has some great characters and the promise of epic things to come.

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