Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Kristin Cashore’s Graceling is a wonderfully surefooted novel that pleases from start to finish. It is set in the land of the Seven Kingdoms, where some (Gracelings) are born with a particular talent ranging in scope and usefulness: mind-reading, fighting, cooking, climbing trees, etc. The main character, Lady Katsa, has a fighter/killer Grace which she usually employs (rarely happily) in the service of her uncle, King Randa as his “muscle.” The story opens with a bang (actually some flying kicks, savage punches, useless swordplay, and so on) as Katsa uses her Grace for her own purpose, performing a daring rescue of an old man kept prisoner by another king. On the mission, she meets another Graceling fighter, Prince Po (son of yet a third king).

The rest of Graceling explores several plot avenues. One is Katsa... Read More

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I had heard the buzz surrounding Kristin Cashore's Graceling and my curiosity was piqued. Sitting down to read, I hoped that it hadn't been over-hyped, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself reading a fast-paced, intriguing fantasy novel with a wonderfully real and sympathetic female protagonist — which is rarer than you might think.

The world in which Katsa lives has amidst its population people known as Gracelings: individuals with extraordinary, but rather arbitrary talents. Identified by their mismatched eyes, their gifts can range from mind reading to super-sensory hearing to simply being a strong swimmer. The Gracelings are feared by their neighbors and exploited by their kings, and Katsa is no exception, particularly since her own Grace is the skill of killing.

She lives under the command of her uncle, King Randa of the Middluns, w... Read More

Graceling  by Kristin Cashore

It took me almost no time at all to fall in love with Kristin Cashore’s main character, Katsa, in Graceling. In this book for young adult readers, Katsa is a strong — both literally and figuratively — sharp-minded young woman who practices a well-developed sense of ethics, knows herself, and knows what she wants (and more importantly, what she doesn’t want). What a wonderful role model she is for the female teenagers who are Cashore’s target audience! How much better it would be for a 13-year-old to read about this type of young woman than about some swoony female who falls for a vampire because he glimmers in the dark!

Katsa has a “Grace” — a special innate ability, as is evidenced by her eyes, one green, one blue. Her Grace reveals itself when she is 10 years old and a cousin makes sexual advances on her: she kills him. Swi... Read More

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Fire follows Kristin Cashore’s debut novel Graceling, which garnered quite a lot of praise from reviewers, including this one. A coming-of-age tale set in the Seven Kingdoms, where some are born with a particular “grace” or talent, Graceling focused on Katsa, whose grace seemingly is death. Many readers loved Katsa’s fiercely strong and independent character, as well her compatriots Po and Princess Bitterblue; loved to hate the creepy villain; and found the idea of Graces intriguing and ripe with potential. By the end, it was clear there was more to tell about this land and these characters.

So what does Kristin Cashore do for a follow-up? She writes a story set decades earlier in a different, but neighboring land about wholly different people (save one, and that appearance is ... Read More

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Bitterblue is the third book in Kristin Cashore’s series that began with Graceling and continued with Fire, both excellent novels (I gave them 5 stars and 4.5 stars respectively). Bitterblue is not quite as good, but the drop-off is slight, resulting in another strong read and a more than satisfying continuation.

Bitterblue picks up some years after Graceling. The murderous, tyrannical King Leck has been dead for years and now Bitterblue, as Queen of Monsea, is trying to put her kingdom back together. Her first step toward becoming a true queen, however, is when she leaves her castle refuge and steps out into the streets of her city to engage with real people. Soon, she’s finding things aren’t quite what she thought they wer... Read More

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

The truth of the lives of my people is never in the papers that cross my desk... 

Back in 2008 I read and thoroughly enjoyed Kristin Cashore's Graceling, particularly for its protagonist Katsa and her struggle to find agency and freedom in a world that seemed determined to deny her both things. It's quite a common trait in fantasy fiction for authors to believe that they've written a "strong female character" by giving her a sword and an attitude problem — but Cashore really seemed to understand what readers want in a heroine: real strengths, real flaws, real character development, and a growing sense of assurance in herself. As such, I ranked Cashore alongside Tamora Pierce and Read More