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Marie Brennan

 

Reviewed by
Kat and Kelly
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fantasy author Marie Brennan
Marie Brennan
(real name Bryn Neuenschwander) is a graduate student at Indiana University. Learn more about Marie Brennan and read excerpts of her writing at her website.
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Doppelganger — (2006) These were originally published as Doppelganger and Warrior and Witch, but they have ben re-released by Orbit as Warrior and Witch. Publisher: When a witch is born, a doppelganger is created. For the witch to master her powers, the twin must be killed. But what happens when the doppelganger survives? Mirage, a fierce bounty hunter, lives by her wits and lethal fighting skills. She always gets her mark. But her new mission will take her into the shadowy world of witches, where her strength may be no match against magic. Miryo is a witch who has just failed her initiation test. She now knows that there is someone in the world who looks like her, who is her: Mirage. To control her powers and become a full witch, Miryo has only one choice. To hunt the hunter and destroy her.

Marie Brennan book review Doppelganger 1. Warrior 2. WitchMarie Brennan book review Doppelganger 1. Warrior 2. Witch

book review Doppelganger Marie BrennanDoppelganger (Warrior): Marie Brennan's debut shows promise

Marie Brennan book review Doppelganger 1. Warrior 2. Witch I picked up Doppelganger (Warrior) because Marie Brennan is a graduate student at Indiana University where I also went to grad school, so I felt a connection there. (How she's managing to write novels while in grad school, I'll never know!) Overall, Doppelganger is a good debut.

At first the story follows the separate lives of Mirage, a kick-butt warrior who has recently graduated from warrior school and makes her living by being commissioned for various dangerous tasks, and Miryo, a witch who has been in school and has just failed her "final exam" because of the existence of Mirage, the doppelganger. Every witch has a doppelganger who is supposed to be killed while they are babies so that the magic power can be controlled by the witch. Because Mirage was not killed, Miryo must hunt her down and kill her. Meanwhile, Mirage and her friend Eclipse (he's also a warrior), have just taken on a murder investigation that ends up uncovering the plot of some rogue witches to let the doppelgangers live. Eventually, Mirage's and Miryo's paths cross as each woman sets out to meet her own goals which end up colliding with the other's.

Doppelganger was well-written and Marie Brennan has a good ear for dialogue. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of both Mirage and Miryo in their respective school programs. It was obvious to me that Ms Brennan is using her own grad school experience because I've been through the exact same thing. The way she talked about Mirage and Eclipse, as year mates, being like brother and sister was right on; I likewise had a male year mate who was like a brother to me during that ordeal. I could totally relate to that, and to the other aspects of school (advisors, qualifying exams, studying) that she described.

The story was interesting, but I had some issues. First of all, it annoyed me when characters didn't ask some obvious questions of their advisors or the people they worked for. As one example, why didn't Miryo ask her advisors why she had to kill the doppelganger herself? She had no travel or fighting experience and the witches had the resources to hire others to do this sort of job. At first I thought this was a plot hole and was surprised at what seemed like a graduate student's lack of logic. But, later this question was answered logically and reasonably, but I still wondered why Miryo didn't think to ask it at the beginning.

One other thing that I felt needed improvement was the description of the major characters. I had been assuming, based on the cover of the book, that Mirage had long hair, but I was surprised to find out half way through that she had "cropped" hair. Also, Eclipse was never well-described which disappointed me because, as the only "good" male character in the novel, I would have liked to have been able to visualize him. The villains (Ice, the bad witches, Wraith) could have been deeper and more impressive characters with a bit more description of their looks and mannerisms.

Despite these issues, I think Marie Brennan writes well (which is more than half the battle won) and therefore, this is a good debut from a promising new author. —Kat   Comments

Marie Brennan Doppelganger Warrior Witch


The issues between Mirage and Miryo were too quickly overcome. I would have liked to have seen them hunt each other for a while (or at least distrust each other more), but nearly as soon as they met they decided to work things out. That was a bit anti-climatic. And though I did like the ending, it all seemed a bit too easy. 

The Onyx Court — (2008-2009) Publisher: England flourishes under the hand of its Virgin Queen: Elizabeth, Gloriana, last and most powerful of the Tudor monarchs. But a great light casts a great shadow. In hidden catacombs beneath London, a second Queen holds court: Invidiana, ruler of faerie England, and a dark mirror to the glory above. In the thirty years since Elizabeth ascended her throne, fae and mortal politics have become inextricably entwined, in secret alliances and ruthless betrayals whose existence is suspected only by a few. Two courtiers, both struggling for royal favor, are about to uncover the secrets that lie behind these two thrones. When the faerie lady Lune is sent to monitor and manipulate Elizabeth's spymaster, Walsingham, her path crosses that of Michael Deven, a mortal gentleman and agent of Walsingham's. His discovery of the "hidden player" in English politics will test Lune's loyalty and Deven's courage alike. Will she betray her Queen for the sake of a world that is not hers? And can he survive in the alien and Machiavellian world of the fae? For only together will they be able to find the source of Invidiana's power -- find it, and break it . . . . A breathtaking novel of intrigue and betrayal set in Elizabethan England; Midnight Never Come seamlessly weaves together history and the fantastic to dazzling effect.

Marie Brennan The Onyx Court: 1. Midnight Never Come 2. In Ashes LieMarie Brennan The Onyx Court: 1. Midnight Never Come 2. In Ashes Lie

fantasy book reviews Marie Brennan Onyx Court Midnight Never ComeMidnight Never Come

Marie Brennan The Onyx Court: 1. Midnight Never Come 2. In Ashes LieMidnight Never Come is the story of two courts, and of two courtiers who must uncover a deadly secret that threatens both mortal and faerie England. Lune is a disgraced lady of the faerie court, trying to win her way back into the good graces of the cruel Queen Invidiana. Michael Deven is a young gentleman of Elizabeth I's retinue, working with Elizabeth's spymaster Walsingham to sniff out a "hidden player" in English politics. Neither is quite prepared for what they discover.

Marie Brennan has a lovely, elegant prose style that lends itself well to describing the glittering courts. There's a certain "iciness" to it, a certain emotional distance between reader and characters, at least at first. Later in the book, emotion does bleed through, unmistakable even when it's described with great restraint. And speaking of restraint, Midnight Never Come is unusually chaste when compared to many other recent faerie-themed novels. This is fantasy of manners, closer kin to Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint than to Laurell Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series.

The plot is tightly crafted. At the beginning it feels a little slow, but picks up as Lune and Deven get closer and closer to the secret at the heart of Invidiana's court. Brennan has done a great deal of research into faerie lore and Elizabethan history, and it shows. Brennan doesn't infodump, though; the folklore helps drive the plot and flows organically with it. There are layers upon layers of politics and curses and bargains and secrets here, and I loved discovering them along with the characters.

Brennan makes an unusual authorial decision toward the beginning of Midnight Never Come. I initially didn't like it but eventually decided it worked. (*** Spoiler alert in this paragraph! ***) The early stages of Deven and Lune's courtship, when Deven first meets Lune in her guise as a mortal lady, are completely skipped over. By the time we realize Deven and Lune have met, they're discussing marriage, and trouble brews between them not long after. I felt cheated at first, but in retrospect, I don't think those early months actually matter much. The real development of their relationship begins later, outside the artifice of court. If Brennan had devoted a lot of page space to the romance in the early chapters, it might have resulted in the plot taking too long to get off the ground. So, I think this decision turned out well in the end.

Marie Brennan's treatment of London is delightful. She builds her story around real locations within the city, and the legends that have grown around those locations, creating a tangible sense of place. I only wish she had included a map of the city in Midnight Never Come, so that a reader unfamiliar with London could more easily visualize the places the characters visit. I ended up reading Midnight Never Come with Forever Amber open on the table next to me because it has an excellent map of London in it.)

Overall, a slowish start, but worth it. Brennan's prose and plotting are particularly good, and I can't wait to read In Ashes Lie.  —Kelly   Comments


fantasy book reviews Marie Brennan Onyx Court Midnight Never Come, In Ashes LieIn Ashes Lie

Marie Brennan The Onyx Court: 1. Midnight Never Come 2. In Ashes LieIn Ashes Lie continues the story of the Onyx Court, a faerie city situated just below London, and the Court's dealings with London's mortals. Lune, who became queen of the Onyx Court in Midnight Never Come, reigns still. Her mortal consort, Michael Deven, is long dead. Lune has chosen another man to act as her official consort and liaison with the mortal world, but the role is political only.

In Ashes Lie follows Lune and her allies through the end of Charles I's troubled reign, Oliver Cromwell's rise to power, and the eventual restoration of the monarchy. Running alongside this mortal politicking, dangerous plots are afoot in the faerie court. As you might guess by the novel's title, the climactic events take place during the Great Fire of 1666, which threatens to destroy both London and the Onyx Court. Like Midnight Never Come, In Ashes Lie gets off to a slowish start. Marie Brennan takes her time moving all of her pieces into place. When all hell does break loose, though, it's as exciting as anyone could wish, and made all the more effective by the careful, deliberate buildup of events.

This is, first and foremost, a story about power: its uses and misuses. It becomes clear early in the novel that Lune has been changed by her years on the throne, by the tough decisions that a ruler must make. The events of In Ashes Lie test her further, and there are a few questions always on Lune's mind and the reader's: When should justice be tempered by mercy? Should the fae meddle in mortal affairs, and if so, how? Can Lune avoid becoming as ruthless as her predecessor, Invidiana?

Readers looking for romance will not find it here. If In Ashes Lie is a love story, it's a love story between Lune and her kingdom, and between her mortal friends and the city of London. It's a beautiful and touching story, too. It's just not what you may be expecting if you seek another Lune/Deven plotline.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention Brennan's prose, just as restrained and elegant as before. And the only real peeve I had in Midnight Never Come has been remedied here: there's a map of London in the front of the book, along with a Dramatis Personae for those moments when you can't remember who is lord of what.

Recommended, with the caveat that you'll probably want to read Midnight Never Come first. In Ashes Lie stands on its own plotwise, but there are many references to people and events past. The characters' history weighs heavily on them, and you'll get more out of the story if you are familiar with that history.
Kelly   Comments

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gravatar suebee – michigan
December 03, 2008 - 19:25
Subject:

aha -- I was confused about the Doppleganger and Warrior and Witch titles -- thanks!


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