Dreamer's Pool | Review

Dreamer's Pool, the first installment in Juliet Marillier's new series, bored me and stole my heart in equal measure.

The story follows two escaped convicts, set within Marillier's usual dreamy, magical, middle ages Ireland-inspired landscape.  Blackthorn, a woman trained in healing, and Grim, a huge, lumbering giant of a man, occupied cells across from each other in a true pit of despair masquerading as a prison.  Blackthorn only spent a year in captivity, but it was enough time to see her raped, beaten, and thoroughly dehumanized. Poor Grim suffered comparably.

Blackthorn is dead set on getting revenge on the lord who imprisoned her, but is to be put to death before she can get the chance.  Then, as usual in a Marillier novel, the fae show up.  A fae man offers Blackthorn a deal — she is to postpone her quest for revenge for seven years, instead taking up post as a wise woman and healer in a distant village.  She must never refuse any cry for help.

Blackthorn accepts and is busted out of prison, only to find that Grim escaped as well and is determined to shadow her.  The man is traumatized beyond endurance — the only thing keeping him alive is some bizarre commitment to keep her safe.  Unable to cast off Grim because of her magical contract, Blackthorn has no choice but to band together with the troubled man.

There are three narrators in the book.  Naturally, Grim and Blackthorn are narrators.  More randomly, we also get the point-of-view of Prince Oran, who oversees the land that Blackthorn moves into to take up her post.  I can see the point of Oran's narration, as he has a distinctive storyline, but I sped read through almost all of his sections while reading Dreamer's Pool.  Until the end of the book, there were more interesting characters to follow.

The true star of this book is Grim, and his appearances and narrated chapters are the best this book has to offer. His character is a both a heart and scene stealer.  I loved seeing the the labor and care he put into making himself and Blackthorn a nice home in their new village.  A master of middle ages husbandry, he's dedicated to digging deep latrine pits and maintaining a crystal clear well. He and Blackthorn have no romantic attachment — Blackthorn is far to damaged to entertain the idea at this point — but this is a Marillier novel and there are two books left in the series. We'll wait and see.

Blackthorn was not a totally unlikable character, but her extreme animosity made her hard to love.   I forgive her because Grim likes her.

As for the plot, it takes a long, long time to become discernible.  I can understand the story structure better now, having read the book, but while I was reading, I had no clue if the plot was making any forward progress.  Dreamer's Pool could have benefited from being a little clearer on that point.

Overall, I did enjoy the book, with reservations.  I look forward to seeing where this series goes next.