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SPOILERS!
I'm going to keep this short, because I've tried repeatedly to write this review and I keep failing.
The overall structure of the novel is really like _Hawkmistress!_ by MZB: barely post-pubescent girl is about to be married off by her excessively oppressive and moralistic local culture (Holderkin are polygamous, and the only choice she gets is whether she wants to be a poor Firstwife or a well-off but no decision making Underwife). She has been taught to read (as with MZB's book, this is presented as somewhat unusual for girls) and she has learned about Heralds, which are a group of law enforcement / judges / representatives of the Queen with magical Companions (telepathic horse pluses) and she wants to be a Herald. The Wives in her family freak out (I think her mother died in childbirth so she's not a factor), Talia runs off and hides in an animal den and is found by Roland, a Companion and whisked away to the capital to meet the Queen and become a Herald.
No. Really.
Unlike Romilly's experience running away, once Talia is out of the family of origin, there is no further rapeyness involving Talia. So, yay for that! There is rapeyness involving other characters, mostly in their past, so, triggers there (and yep, the victim is wildly too young, so the pedophilia factor is present here, altho it is much reduced).
Also unlike Romilly's experience, Talia makes friends and connects with people who can teach her to use her Special Sauce. Talia conceals from those friends and others the degree of bullying she is on the receiving end of from the Blues / Unaffiliateds / Rich Frat Boy types, and is nearly killed after they dump her in a partly frozen river and she slides under the ice. Her friends and others take this all very seriously and protect her from further attacks and she recognizes how her concealing the problem contributed to it, so that's an unbelievably positive message and I'm super happy to see it here.
Like Romilly, Talia connects with the Monarch (not in exile in this case, but also threatened by Pretender(s)), and immediately gets roped into helping Save the Monarch, ultimately successfully. There is an extended period of Talia has to reprogram the Heir who has been led astray by her nanny. I have mixed feelings about this passage; I would have probably entirely approved of it when younger, but not so much now. It particularly weirds me out that no one noticed that the under nanny had been drugging the nanny in charge -- serious management issues in the Monarch's household.
On the whole, I really enjoyed the book, altho partly that was in contrast to _Hawkmistress!_ which I had _just read_, and which I had disliked in part for its relentless attacks on other women for being domestic, for being chatty, etc. This was a real palate cleanser. Talia integrates well in the domestic circle, and domesticity is shared with boys and men in this household. I also like that a lot of what Talia is good at is "relationship work". That was plausibly depicted and I enjoyed it (pace the jeez who was in charge of HR around here anyway questions).
I doubt I will read more by Lackey and here is why. (1) Friends who read a few books by her note that the formula is pretty relentless, and while one of these was okay, the pubescent kiddo going off to rescue the monarch thing wears thin real quick for me. (2) I note that some of the other books have other problems with them (there seems to be some transphobia in later books that broke the hearts of long time fans).
But I don't feel like this was a waste of time, and if I had a kid who got sucked into reading these books and consumed a dozen or more, I wouldn't worry about it, the way I might if I spotted them consuming job lots of MZB.
I'm going to keep this short, because I've tried repeatedly to write this review and I keep failing.
The overall structure of the novel is really like _Hawkmistress!_ by MZB: barely post-pubescent girl is about to be married off by her excessively oppressive and moralistic local culture (Holderkin are polygamous, and the only choice she gets is whether she wants to be a poor Firstwife or a well-off but no decision making Underwife). She has been taught to read (as with MZB's book, this is presented as somewhat unusual for girls) and she has learned about Heralds, which are a group of law enforcement / judges / representatives of the Queen with magical Companions (telepathic horse pluses) and she wants to be a Herald. The Wives in her family freak out (I think her mother died in childbirth so she's not a factor), Talia runs off and hides in an animal den and is found by Roland, a Companion and whisked away to the capital to meet the Queen and become a Herald.
No. Really.
Unlike Romilly's experience running away, once Talia is out of the family of origin, there is no further rapeyness involving Talia. So, yay for that! There is rapeyness involving other characters, mostly in their past, so, triggers there (and yep, the victim is wildly too young, so the pedophilia factor is present here, altho it is much reduced).
Also unlike Romilly's experience, Talia makes friends and connects with people who can teach her to use her Special Sauce. Talia conceals from those friends and others the degree of bullying she is on the receiving end of from the Blues / Unaffiliateds / Rich Frat Boy types, and is nearly killed after they dump her in a partly frozen river and she slides under the ice. Her friends and others take this all very seriously and protect her from further attacks and she recognizes how her concealing the problem contributed to it, so that's an unbelievably positive message and I'm super happy to see it here.
Like Romilly, Talia connects with the Monarch (not in exile in this case, but also threatened by Pretender(s)), and immediately gets roped into helping Save the Monarch, ultimately successfully. There is an extended period of Talia has to reprogram the Heir who has been led astray by her nanny. I have mixed feelings about this passage; I would have probably entirely approved of it when younger, but not so much now. It particularly weirds me out that no one noticed that the under nanny had been drugging the nanny in charge -- serious management issues in the Monarch's household.
On the whole, I really enjoyed the book, altho partly that was in contrast to _Hawkmistress!_ which I had _just read_, and which I had disliked in part for its relentless attacks on other women for being domestic, for being chatty, etc. This was a real palate cleanser. Talia integrates well in the domestic circle, and domesticity is shared with boys and men in this household. I also like that a lot of what Talia is good at is "relationship work". That was plausibly depicted and I enjoyed it (pace the jeez who was in charge of HR around here anyway questions).
I doubt I will read more by Lackey and here is why. (1) Friends who read a few books by her note that the formula is pretty relentless, and while one of these was okay, the pubescent kiddo going off to rescue the monarch thing wears thin real quick for me. (2) I note that some of the other books have other problems with them (there seems to be some transphobia in later books that broke the hearts of long time fans).
But I don't feel like this was a waste of time, and if I had a kid who got sucked into reading these books and consumed a dozen or more, I wouldn't worry about it, the way I might if I spotted them consuming job lots of MZB.