Quintana
of Charyn
Melina
Marchetta
Viking Australia 2012
Quintana of Charyn is the third and final book of the Lumatere Chronicles and this review contains spoilers for both Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles. You have been warned.
Quintana of Charyn is the third and final book of the Lumatere Chronicles and this review contains spoilers for both Finnikin of the Rock and Froi of the Exiles. You have been warned.
Shot
through with arrows, Froi of the Exiles awakes to find that he has
lost that which he loves most. Frightened and alone, Quintana of
Charyn clings desperately to the hope she carries within her and
journeys towards people she has never met, believing that she may
find kindness within them. Isaboe of Lumatere fights the bitterness
in her own heart and faces decisions that she feels ill equipped to
make. Elsewhere, Lucian of the Monts grieves in his valley while
Finnikin of the Rock battles with hubris and confusion. Finally, in
a dark cave, sits Thaedra of Alonso fighting not only for her own
survival but for that of Charyn. The ultimate fate of Lumatere lies
now in the hands of them all, but most particularly in the hands of
Froi who tries again and again to do what needs to be done, fighting
through a sea of old lies and fresh rivalries to bring together two
lands and more importantly, two women who have yet to realise that
they need each other to truly survive the horror of their respective
pasts.
Of
all the characters who appear in the Lumatere Chronicles,
the most compelling has always been Froi. From the repugnant thief
first encountered in Finnikin of the Rock,
to the confused, often immature young man in Froi of theExiles it is his story that has
been most arresting, his passages that have seemed most truthful.
The Froi of Quintana of Charyn is
still growing, still learning and sometimes still confused but what
matters to him has crystallised, hardened to create an immovable
moral core. He's extremely principled, unerringly loyal (even when,
as is seen repeatedly in this final book, his loyalties are split)
and entirely focused. He's also heartbreaking. His slow realisation
that he will have no part of his son's life and his acceptance that
this falls under the banner of Things That Need to Be Done is
extremely moving. Of all the characters in the book, he is the one
most inclined to optimism – something that is quite extraordinary
and which characterises him best.
Considering
that Quintana of Charyn contains
sections from the point of view of almost all the main characters,
each individual in beautifully realised. Isaboe gets a little more
page time here and it becomes clear that Evanjalin of the Monts is
never far away – something that seemed to get a little lost in the
second book. She's another strong character (all of them are, but
particularly the women) but is continuing to battle the loss of her
family and the anger and grief this engenders. She is rather
beautifully contrasted with the erratic and terrified Quintana, who
remains as feral as ever yet emerges as a force to be reckoned with.
Quintana loves as fiercely as she hates and, at her core, is
extremely vulnerable yet never shies away from a good fight. A
character who was hard to get a bead on in Froi of the Exiles, she
emerges as one who is strange but incredibly admirable. She also has
a stunning narrative voice, written almost in iambic pentameter. She
sings out to Froi, and if the song be painful, it is nothing if not
beautiful, imbuing Quintana with a softness that tempers her more
jagged edges.
Finnikin
continues to struggle with his role in life, something that Marchetta
refuses to drop and rightly so. His pride continues to get in the
way of his personal life and his inner struggle and stubborn nature
lend believability to his character. Lucian is another who has
matured over the course of the story of Lumatere and his arrogance
continues to ebb as he becomes a worth leader of his beloved Monts.
Thaedra of Alonso remains one of the more striking characters, a
quiet woman with incredible strength and a true understanding of
sacrifice. Elsewhere, the story of Perry and Tessadora is finally
told, old hurts sting less and lies crumble in the face of truth.
And each and every character gets a satisfying and believable
conclusion to their story.
As
one has come to expect, Melina Marchetta's writing is arresting and
holds a quiet truth. This can be seen in all of her work, but the
scale of the Lumatere Chronicles
highlights her skill in a way not seen previously. The story
contained within Quintana of Charyn
is one of hope, of the belief that life can be better – that it
should be better. The
horrors of Lumatere and Charyn's pasts have left scars that will
never fully heal, but Marchetta has created a group of characters, in
all their flawed glory, who attempt to see past their personal pain
to a future that leans, as she so beautifully puts it, on the side of
wonder. The story of Lumatere is written in blood, tears, fear and
loss yet it carries a message of rebirth that is fantastically moving
and if the ending thrills with high sentiment it is more than welcome
in the conclusion of a story that has so often screeched of the evil
that men do.
Each
year, for three years now, a Marchetta book has made the top ten here
at The Mountains of Instead. 2013 will be no different. Pick up any
of this author's books but make sure that you get around to Finnikin
of the Rock before too long –
it's the start of an utterly mesmerising, startlingly relevant and
awesomely beautiful story that ends entirely perfectly in this, the
final chapter.
This review was brought to you by Splendibird who would like to point out that while Quintana of Charyn is available via Fishpond now, it's has yet to be picked up by a UK publisher - as has the majority of Melina Marchetta's work. UK PUBLISHING INDUSTRY - GET TO IT.
Comments