Darkangel — (1982-1989) Young adult. Publisher: The Darkangel, a vampire of astounding beauty and youth, can only summon his full power when he finds his 14th and final bride. But for Aeriel, whom he kidnaps to serve his brides, there is something about him — something beyond his obvious evil — that makes her want to save him rather than destroy him. The Darkangel — Pierce's first book, originally released in 1982 — was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a New York Times Notable Children's Book, a Parent's Choice Award Superbook, and a Booklist Best Book of the Decade.
  
 The Darkangel:
An Incredible Tale
I picked up The Darkangel the first time at my school library when I was 13 and I stayed up past three in the morning trying to finish it; It was that captivating.
It has all the components of a fairytale, and yet is worked into a fantasy novel that includes vampires, gargoyles and other strange and macabre creatures.
Don't be put off by the word 'vampire' though; this book isn't yet another vampire book of that most over-used genre, but an incredible story with a huge scope and scale that stretches from a small village, to the vampire's forbidden castle, to a seemingly endless desert.
It begins when a young Aerial's mistress is kidnapped upon the hills by a dark angel, or a vampire. Taking it upon herself to rescue her, she sets off on a wonderful journey that includes characters you've only ever seen in myths and legends. With her bravery, kindness and story-telling abilities, Aerial gradually begins to lighten the darkangel's world and teach him of his own dark heritage.
—Rebecca Fisher
A Gathering of Gargoyles:
A Beautifully Crafted Tale, A Lost Masterpiece
A Gathering of Gargoyles is the second of Meredith Ann Pierce's Darkangel trilogy, beginning with The Dark Angel and culminating in The Pearl of the Soul of the World, which together create one of the most beautifully crafted and presented stories that I have ever come across. As told in The Darkangel, the story is of Aerial, a simple slave in a wealthy household whose mistress Eoduin was captured by one of the dreaded winged vampyres, who drink the blood and steals the souls of women. Aerial followed her mistress, becoming a servant in the Irrylath's house, and to her horror, eventually being chosen to be his last bride. But with the help of the dwarf-like duarough Talb and a magical drought, she restored the darkangel to humanity by literally exchanging hearts with him, and returned him to his mother's house.
And now Aerial is appointed another task set to her by the deceased spirits of the brides: to seek out the missing lons, the powerful animal-like wardens of the land who have long been missing, most likely due to the designs of the White Witch, the maker of the darkangels, who still haunts Irrylath's dreams. Despairing of her husband's inability to love her, Aerial takes up the task and sets off on a journey to the temple of the sibyl in her own homeland to unravel the mystery of an ancient riddle that will help her find the missing lons. Armed with a dark staff with a heron passenger, she not only seeks the lons, but unknowingly finds the secrets of her own past, and her role in the destiny that follows in the war against the Witch.
Unlike The Darkangel, which was created in more of a circular narrative in the fairytale motifs of capture, trial and restoration (much like in Sleeping Beauty or Snow White), A Gathering of Gargoyles is a voyaging novel, with an ultimate goal hindered by several obstacles. And these obstacles, far from dragging the story on, are fascinating: a sail across a Sea-of-Dust, hidden danger in a City of Thieves, a chase through a dark forest filled with night-haunts, the rescue of a rather unusual maiden sacrifice, a time of being held in captivity by a man who has sold his own name, the relighting of a great lighthouse, and finally, with the meeting of two familiar characters from the first book — one good and one evil — the climax of the quest.
Although the premise may look silly written down, perhaps seeming to belong to a trashy vampiric-romance paperback, I assure you it is not. Meredith Pierce creates a world with depth and resonance, perfectly mingling together elements of many cultures — the German loreleis, the European gargoyles, the Grecian sphinx — into a familiar, yet totally unique blend. Unlike many fantasy authors — and Tolkien imitators these days, who feel as if they must cram detail upon detail into their books in order to make it seem realistic (but only succeeding in making them encyclopedic), Pierce creates exotic worlds and its wildlife with barely any effort; a different way of keeping time, a new range of foods and plants (including 'hungerspice', 'nightfruit', and 'winesheath') and vivid descriptions of scenery that do not inflict directly on the story or slow it down, but simply serve to convincingly create an entire world separate from this one. Likewise, she keeps in mind the separate sects of her land, as in different countries the terrain and communities change, as does the language — in one place a darkangel is called an 'icarus', and in another it is called a 'seraph'. All is told in an elegant and simple tone, as if Pierce is retelling a story, giving the book an air of being an ancient folklore retold.
Much of the charm of the books is the heroine, Aerial herself. In a politically correct world where authors feel as if female protagonists must be able to swing a sword in order to be considered 'strong female characters' equal to males, it is wonderful to discover a resourceful, intelligent, compassionate, strong-willed female who experiences hardship and triumphs over the odds without once resorting to violence (expect a couple of self-defensive maneuvers with a staff). Such heroines are increasingly getting harder to come by, but are always more realistic and interesting to female and male readers. I for one would have absolutely no clue what to do if someone handed me a sword, and Aerial, with her faults and virtues is a pleasure to read of.
The entire story reads like an old, dark fairytale, with traditional elements given new life — an invisibility cloak, magic fruit, a damsel to be sacrificed, a sacrificial stone — all sound like utter clichés, but are deliberately presented here in such originality that it is if you are reading of them for the first time. These books have my highest recommendation — everything about them appealed to me, from the content to the underlying themes to the style of the writing. Why these books remain largely unknown is a mystery to me, as Meredith Ann Pierce's talent as a storyteller is right up there with the masters of the fantasy genre. —Rebecca Fisher
The Pearl of the Soul of the World: "Ravenna's Own Daughter Shall Kindle the Crown..."
As the last installment of the Darkangel trilogy, The Pearl of the Soul of the World had a lot to live up to, as well as a lot to wrap up. In the first book The Darkangel, slavegirl Aerial saved the darkangel Irrylath from the misery of his own existence under the power of the White Witch and returned him to his mother's house. In A Gathering of Gargoyles she undertook another task, in searching for the lost lons to fight against the White Witch in the coming battle and in doing so discovered her own extraordinary heritage. Now the various countries of Aerial's world have gathered together in a great army to march against the witch, with her husband Irrylath at its head.
But the story begins in the most unexpected way. As the story opens, we find a young woman in a cave deep underground, with no memory of who she is, mute, with a silver pin driven through her temple and a sinister feeling that someone is following her. Although the amnesia plot device may seem cliched to some, Pierce uses it brilliantly by instigating it right from the beginning, so that the girl's identity and the events that led up to her awakening in the cave are kept shrouded until the time is right (and as it turns out, her forgetfulness plays an important role in the narrative; it's not just a silly plot twist and it's not brought on by a bump on the head).
Found by three duaroughs (beardless dwarfs basically), the young girl accompanies them through tunnels and caverns, all the time endangered by the presence of the witch's evil creatures. Eventually the girl finds a hidden passage to the ancient city of Crystalglass where the last of the Ancients — Ravenna — awaits reveal to her the truth of the White Witch and the world's history and to give her a final task: deliver a (literal!) pearl of wisdom into the Witch's own hand.
The girl (as you've probably guessed) is indeed Aerial, and when she meets Ravenna her memories return to her. We learn what happened in the space between A Gathering of Gargoyles and the time she found herself in the underground caves, (including the gathering of Irrylath's army, the rebirth of Avarclon, the equine lon that died in the first book, and Aerial's newfound reputation as a powerful sorceress). Most importantly of all is the dynamics between herself, her devoted servant Erin, her detached husband Irrylath and his cousin Sabr. Pierce excellently and poignantly weaves the bonds that tie these people together; Aerial's hopeless love for Irrylath, his seeming indifference toward her, Erin's devotion to Aerial and her scorn for Irrylath, and Sabr's sneaky innuendoes to discredit Aerial and snatch Irrylath for herself. It's certainly a tangled web of intrigue!
As well as these core characters Pierce also keeps good track of the rest of her (by this stage, rather large) cast of characters, all of whom have an interesting and vital part to play in the progression of the story. As such, we have reappearances from Talb, Syllva, Eoduin and the maidens, the Ma'a-mbai, the lons, Irrylath's brothers and Roshka. Only Roshka was a tad underused — as Aerial's newly discovered brother I would have liked to have seen more of the bond between siblings. Pierce's gift is that none of her characters are strictly good or evil, and just as Aerial must cope with her jealously of Sabr and the pain she feels in regard to Irrylath; Sabr herself is not wholly bad, acting as she does out of love for Irrylath. And as for the White Witch... well, I don't want to give her story away, but let's just say she is given a name, a heritage and a heartbreaking motivation for the evils she does during the course of the story. Just as a darkangel was once redeemed, so too is there hope for the Witch... if she chooses to take it.
Pierce creates a vivid portrayal of a world; which is hinted at being our own terraformed moon set far into the future. Ideas that Pierce brings into the narrative, such as the reasons behind why the moon was terraformed in the first place and the ultimate fate of 'Oceanus', should resonate in the readers' minds as contemporary statements of our world's present condition.
And then of course there's the ending which disappointed some fans. However, in my opinion there was no other possible way for the story to finish. Pierce carefully laid out the elements of the story, and the conclusion makes sense given the facts that she had established. The ending thus takes on a tragic, inevitable and fateful air, reminiscent of all the best love stories. Though saddened, I could understand why things happened the way they did.
BUT!
For all those who were upset at the conclusion, hope remains. In an interview, Meredith Ann Pierce had this to say:
"Anybody who considers that a satisfying ending is nuts. Take heart! I intend to shift focus to Irrylath and show him as a very human character coming to grips with a life of duty, devoid of personal satisfaction or love. No longer overshadowed by Aerial, Irrylath must forgive himself for his crimes as a darkangel, regain his wings and discover the secret that will set both him and Aerial free. Aerial will learn the high personal cost of surrendering herself, however nobly, to Ravenna's planetary rescue plan."
"Here end for a time the adventures of Aerial. The adventures of Irrylath have only begun" — this was the line that Pierce wanted to end The Pearl of the Soul of the World with until her publishers vetoed the decision. Now that we have hope for Irrylath and Aerial, all we can do is wait impatiently. Until then, The Darkangel trilogy is a fantastic set of books. —Rebecca Fisher |
The Woman Who Loved Reindeer
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