Take a running jump and fly!
This book was a fantastic treat for me- one that allowed me to go back to the roots of an author who has since delighted her readers as Robin Hobb and it was only with the first paragraph that I found myself once again completely hooked by an addictive prose, fascinating characters and an immediately involving opening scene. ?Harpy?s Flight? begins a quartet of books in the ?Ki and Vandien? series, which is a brilliant introduction to what I?m expecting to be another engaging set of stories from an author world-renowned for her page-turning writing style. And in my opinion this story is by no means an example of this author learning her craft- Robin Hobb may have advanced her skills in terms of characterisation and layer upon layer of story that constitutes high fantasy, but the writing style, human observation and heart, addictive style and all the rest that I personally associate with Hobb are 100% present and correct. And as an integral part of the story, Ki is an inspired lead character who is continually put into situations where she is ignorant of the correct customs and knowledge with which to safely navigate unfamiliar territory, just as Fitz and Althea before (or after her- depending on your point of view!) are in the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies by Hobb. The consequence of which is that keen empathy and strong attachment by the reader for the character.
This is the only book under the pseudonym of Megan Lindholm by Robin Hobb that I?ve currently read and my personal impression of ?Harpy?s Flight? is that it?s more similar to the books in the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies than in fact is the first book in the Soldier Son trilogy, because at the centre of this story is a character who finds herself at an impasse in her life, where the decisions she makes will shape her destiny in ways she can't imagine, but ways which the reader is made tantalisingly aware of. And just as with Hobb?s books, Lindholm effortlessly captures that intangible effect of the passage of time on people, which can act as either a healing salve or aggravating agent in wounds delivered by evil, enigmatic forces. In one way that this story differs from the works of Hobb however, is in the timeline of the story, which for a large portion periodically shifts between past and present, shedding new light on old questions and raising new ones as it goes, which acts as a great device to draw the reader into the tale (even if it did very occassionally leave me a little confused as to the sequence of events). So that?s some indication of what you might expect from this offering by Megan Lindholm if you haven?t sampled her stories before. And at just 312 pages long- if you should feel this is not nearly as stunning a debut as Hobb?s and not recognise the unique merits of this story then you won?t be investing too great an amount of your time, but that?s an extremely remote possibility in my mind and not a situation I expect many devoted readers of either Hobb or Lindholm to find themselves in.
I give 'Harpy's Flight' 5 stars, not because it rivals the books in the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, but because for what it is- a modest fantasy story with wonderfully observed characters and an original (albeit slight) story- it kept me gripped and more than convinced me to follow it with the other three books in the series, which is exactly what I'm about to do. Where as you are about to begin at the beginning...
