Seer of Sevenwaters

[gabbygrl]

I've loved the Sevenwaters novels by Juliet Marillier since early adolescence when I discovered them. It's been ten years (more or less) so it's hard to say if I'd love the early ones as much. Maybe my perspective has changed, or maybe the books have actually declined in quality, but as an adult my response to the books has certainly changed. Some

Comments

[gabbygrl]

I commented further on what I perceive as the difference between her early work and this below; to sum up, in the original books the romances were slower to develop instead of simply being there, the women seemed to want something other than a romance, and, in addition to falling in love, the characters were each in the books FOR A REASON rather than just being thrown together.

I'll contrast it with Daughter of the Forest for an example. Sorcha was trying to save her brothers from a magic spell; Sibeal is just chilling on an island. Hugh found Sorcha while he was looking for his brother, and he takes an initial interest in her because he thinks she knows something useful; Felix literally washes up at Sibeal's feet for no discernible reason other than Marillier decided that's what would happen. Hugh and Sorcha learn to trust each other slowly over a period of years; Sibeal and Felix have an instant connection, even though only one of them was even conscious. Sorcha ends her book settling down on her ancestral land with her brothers and husband; Sibeal ends her book leaving behind everything she's ever known to be with a man she barely knows. Sorcha's central conflict was bigger than herself and she just happened to fall in love on the way; Sibeal's central conflict was love and she just happened to find something bigger than herself along the way.

It took me time to sit and think up all the reasons this book bothered me, but once I had, it only took a little longer with a critical eye to see that what I remembered of the early books was, in fact, a complete difference from what I was seeing here.