Huntress by Malinda Lo
"Those who chase deer without a hunter
Lose their way in the Wood."
(I love this quote and how darkly evocative it is; alas, the rest of the book does not follow this quote)
First of all, this is a companion novel to Lo's debut novel, Ash, set centuries before hand. You might remember Lo's Ash for the buzz it got as a lesbian retelling of Cinderella.
One of my large complaints about Ash was that the prose was a bit clunky at times. I am happy to say that Lo's writing here has greatly smoothed out and improved. Part of that, might be because she's telling a very different kind of story here; Huntress is a questing story rather than a dreamy fairytale.
Some interesting writing decisions are made in Huntress, the lesbian romance and the issue of race. Minor spoilers, in these cuts.
This could easily have been the story about the prince falling in love with his guard. Rather, we have two Academy students coming to terms with their chosen paths in life. Yes, that's right. It might be one of the problems in this book. While the book is marketed as having a lesbian romance, and indeed the opening chapters seem to confirm it, that's not really what the book's about. Yes, our two heroines fall in love, but it's ultimately Kaede and Taisin undergoing growing pains as they must choose their path/duty. The choice not to privilege the oft-told heterosexual romance is one I'd like to hear more about.
Being a lesbian is surprisingly a non-issue. Kinda. Very early in the novel we find out that while being a lesbian is uncommon, and indeed same-sex political marriage have occurred on occasion, it's not going to get you killed. Kaede is quite clearly a lesbian too; there's no question she's attracted to women not men. So this story doesn't focus on the discovery of sexual identity but rather just plain old romance.
Secondly, as I've mentioned somewhere else on this blog, Ash was carefully non-specific about race and therefore defaulted as a European set novel. Huntress, on the other hand, quite clearly bears Asian influence. The cover for one. We have a clearly Asian heroine, although, wtf is that thing she's holding? I thought it was a staff, but it might be a bow. Either way, neither really makes much sense; while Kaede does use a bow, it's her iron knife that's important. I do love the font though; the same kind as on Ash. Secondly, the map on the inside covers of the book. There's a phoenix, a junk, and a qilin. The names are vaguely Asian sounding too I suppose; part of is I keep reading Kaede the same way it's said in InuYasha, rather than "Katie." The kingdom's occupants are always described with dark hair, and it is the Xi who are clearly designated as European. Interestingly, I believe there is white bean paste (which I read as tofu) and Fay food is clearly called cheese.
I'm also very curious about the world building of these novels. There's already been a split between fay and human, which is on the mend by the end of this novel. In Ash though, IIRC, the split is pronounced again. Why?
I'll admit right now, this review here is excellent, and influences my own review since I was immensely dissatisfied with the ending to say the least.
My big issue with Huntress is the romance. That Kaede and Taisin are drawn/interested in each other is clear. That they develop feelings and fall in love is less so. As such, I have very large issues with the novel's ending.
For all the Kaede and Taisin kiss, and quite likely consummate their relationship, and pledge their love to one another, I can't take this ending. For me, it reads as "pure love" will survive and transcend that their relationship is null and void from now own. (Taisin, by choosing to become a sage, must make vows of celibacy). This doesn't work for me period. While the review I linked praised this realism, I don't. We clearly have Mona hinting that the Academy is hiding things, and I expected this to go the way of Llewelyn's Tamir Trilogy with celibacy ultimately proving to be a smokescreen and untrue. And yes, Taisin tells Kaede it's ok to let go of her and love others, I don't have any emotional closure. I spent the bulk of this book watching their romance unfold, and the cut-off/ending of that relationship takes up so little of the book I can't buy it. I can't buy this duty angle; it's not built up enough for me, especially when we have the prince/guard romance occurring in the same novel.
Other issues I have:
--What about Kaede's father? Kaede's ongoing tension with her father and her political marriage to a man, fades throughout the novel. And yes, Con says he'll talk her father out of it, but I need Kaede hashing this issue out with her father after this issue's been so clearly set up in the opening.
--The unicorn's judgment rubs me the wrong way. The unicorn's reasoning ultimately feels like a cop-out to me with its sudden absolution of guilt. Therefore the judgment of innocent doesn't work for me.
--Not so much an issue so much as "I don't know what to make of it." The story is ultimately set up into two quests. The first is to slay the evil villain, and the other is a quest for a unicorn. The latter of which takes up a very small portion of the novel, but contains the most mythic feel of the book. Narratively the second quest is necessary to receive closure, but I feel there must be some reason to do this two-pronged quest.
--Kaede's decision to become a huntress. Where the hell did this come from? Admittedly though, I found this was an interesting backstory to where the position of Huntress comes from in Ash.
There's a sequel short story, "The Fox," available for free online. It deals with Kaede two years after Huntress.