_The Safe-Keeper's Secret_, Sharon Shinn
Andrew Plotkin
Shape-Changer's Wife_), and then branched out into SF and fantasy with
strong romance-genre elements. Now she's written another fairy tale;
but it's the opposite of the first one. Instead of distant formality,
it's the direct and unornamented viewpoint of a teenage girl. Instead
of the household of the most powerful wizard in the world, it's a a
village safe-keeper and her family. Instead of titanic battles of
tranformational magic, it's... well, magic comes into it. A king even
comes into it. But mostly it's these people in a little village.
Nowhere in particular.
A village Safe-Keeper is the one who people go to in order to tell
secrets. Her job isn't to use the secrets, or pass them along; just to
listen.
Damiana is the Safe-Keeper of Tambleham; her sister Angeline is the
Safe-Keeper in nearby Lowford. Damiana has two children. One arrived
in classic fairy-tale style, bundled up in the arms of a lone horseman
pounding on the door at midnight -- a horseman who was the Safe-Keeper
to the King, and who did not survive to dawn. The other arrived on the
same night, and in the standard fashion -- but Damiana has never told
anyone who the father is.
And it's already not what you think. A baby brought by the King's
Safe-Keeper? It's an impossible secret to keep; everyone in Tambleham
knows the story. Reed has grown up wondering if he's really the King's
son. And Fiona, his foster sister, has grown up knowing that she's
going to be a Safe-Keeper like her mother and aunt.
And it's really not what you think *anyway*, because really the book
is just this family. The author makes them all sparkle: stubborn
Fiona, irrepressable Reed, the imperturbable Damiana. And the extended
group of people that move around them. Elminstra, the witch down the
road. The local Truth-Teller, whose job is to say things that people
would prefer not said, and occasionally to know secrets whose time has
come. (He's named Thomas, as one might expect.) Isadora, the kingdom's
Dream-Maker. And more. Carpenters and merchants and farmers too.
Honestly I could have read about these people all week. They're all
interesting. They all have voices. And how often do you read a fairy
tale about kids growing up in a loving family? Not a loving family as
*background*, but a story *about* people who love each other. In their
various ways, through various kind and cruel times in their lives.
It's not about the conventional tropes; there may be a King's lost
heir, but the book isn't about reclaiming a throne. The notions are
original -- Truth-Tellers and Safe-Keepers and Dream-Makers, none
quite like anything I've seen before -- and Shinn takes them all
further, too, letting characters turn over and question the meanings
of these familiar-to-them roles. And then a big finish, with wishes
and royalty and the lot. And me trying not to sniffle.
This is a great book. Maybe a touch of everything-works-out-perfectly-
at-the-end, but I can't blame the author. I wanted it to work out too.
--Z
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
* Make your vote count. Get your vote counted.
William December Starr
Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> said:
> A village Safe-Keeper is the one who people go to in order to tell
> secrets. Her job isn't to use the secrets, or pass them along; just
> to listen.
If it isn't a spoiler, _why_ do people tell secrets to the Safe-Keeper?
What does it profit them?
[ *snip* ]
> The local Truth-Teller, whose job is to say things that people
> would prefer not said, and occasionally to know secrets whose time
> has come. (He's named Thomas, as one might expect.)
Why might that be expected? The only traditional Thomases that come
to mind are Doubting and Peeping (Tom), and I can't make either of
them fit here.
--
William December Starr <wds...@panix.com>
Nancy Lebovitz
William December Starr <wds...@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <cb3558$al5$1...@reader2.panix.com>,
>Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> said:
>
>> A village Safe-Keeper is the one who people go to in order to tell
>> secrets. Her job isn't to use the secrets, or pass them along; just
>> to listen.
>
>If it isn't a spoiler, _why_ do people tell secrets to the Safe-Keeper?
>What does it profit them?
It could be like (name forgotten) in _The Shockwave Rider_--it eases
people's nerves to be able to tell the truth to *someone*.
--
--
Nancy Lebovitz http://www.nancybuttons.com
"I went to Iraq and all I got was this lousy gas price"
http://livejournal.com/users/nancylebov
Andrew Plotkin
> In article <cb3558$al5$1...@reader2.panix.com>,
> Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> said:
>
> > A village Safe-Keeper is the one who people go to in order to tell
> > secrets. Her job isn't to use the secrets, or pass them along; just
> > to listen.
>
> If it isn't a spoiler, _why_ do people tell secrets to the Safe-Keeper?
> What does it profit them?
Cultural equivalent of a therapist.
> > The local Truth-Teller, whose job is to say things that people
> > would prefer not said, and occasionally to know secrets whose time
> > has come. (He's named Thomas, as one might expect.)
>
> Why might that be expected? The only traditional Thomases that come
> to mind are Doubting and Peeping (Tom), and I can't make either of
> them fit here.
Thomas the Rhymer, in the ballads, was given the gift of prophecy by
the Queen of Faerie, but at this cost: he could never again speak a
word that was not true.
(Not the same guy as Tam Lin. But as Diana Wynne Jones observed, the
Queen had a fondness for tormenting guys named Tom.)
Elaine Thompson
Starr) wrote:
>In article <cb3558$al5$1...@reader2.panix.com>,
>Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> said:
>
>>
...
>
>> The local Truth-Teller, whose job is to say things that people
>> would prefer not said, and occasionally to know secrets whose time
>> has come. (He's named Thomas, as one might expect.)
>
>Why might that be expected? The only traditional Thomases that come
>to mind are Doubting and Peeping (Tom), and I can't make either of
>them fit here.
True Thomas, aka Thomas the Rhymer, & Thomas of Ercildoune (sp?)
cursed/blessed by the Queen of Fairies to always tell the truth.
See Kushner's book about him, or google for the ballad - it must be
online.
--
Elaine Thompson <Ela...@KEThompson.org>
Bill Westfield
>> secrets. Her job isn't to use the secrets, or pass them along; just
>> to listen.
>
>If it isn't a spoiler, _why_ do people tell secrets to the Safe-Keeper?
>What does it profit them?
It could be like (name forgotten) in _The Shockwave Rider_--it eases
people's nerves to be able to tell the truth to *someone*.
"Hearing Aid." Of course, now we have blogs and web pages and stuff...
BillW
Joe Bernstein
Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
> Honestly I could have read about these people all week. They're all
> interesting. They all have voices. And how often do you read a fairy
> tale about kids growing up in a loving family? Not a loving family as
> *background*, but a story *about* people who love each other. In their
> various ways, through various kind and cruel times in their lives.
While this paragraph is what sold me on the book, I feel constrained
on reading it to object: <Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary>.
I also picked up a book of fractured fairy tales by Francesca Lia
Block a while ago, and have not yet officially given up on it, and
at least the story "Snow" early in the book seems to be about this.
But as is somewhat common in this sort of story these days, the
loving family is not constituted entirely by birth and marriage.
Which I suspect puts the story in a different category from the
one you were asking about - except that, well, um, the book you
described is also about a family not constituted entirely by
birth and marriage, no?
Um. Perhaps another example, perhaps not, but <Greenwillow> by
B. J. Chute? Perhaps more edgily, <Tooth and Claw> (title?) by
Jo Walton?
Anyway... I'm one of those people (I'm sure everyone knows one)
who were fully taken in by the faux-Beagle of <The Shapechanger's
Wife> but thoroughly pissed off by the faux-McCaffrey of Shinn's
second book. (My boss at the time at The Stars Our Destination
hadn't liked the first book either and took great satisfaction
in saying "I told you so!") Since then I've seen more and more people
I respect say nice things about her subsequent books, and have
kinda wanted to take another look, but I've been unable to
establish whether any of them is actually not in any way a sequel
to that second book I hated, so have been in no hurry. Your review
not only persuades me to read the book independently of its author,
but persuades me that at last its author has written a book provably
not related to that one, so I can safely read it...
Joe Bernstein
--
Joe Bernstein, bookseller and writer j...@sfbooks.com
<http://www.panix.com/~josephb/>
Andrew Plotkin
> In article <cb3558$al5$1...@reader2.panix.com>,
> Andrew Plotkin <erky...@eblong.com> wrote:
>
> > Honestly I could have read about these people all week. They're all
> > interesting. They all have voices. And how often do you read a fairy
> > tale about kids growing up in a loving family? Not a loving family as
> > *background*, but a story *about* people who love each other. In their
> > various ways, through various kind and cruel times in their lives.
>
> While this paragraph is what sold me on the book, I feel constrained
> on reading it to object: <Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary>.
Not... exactly... a fairy tale. But good point.
> I also picked up a book of fractured fairy tales by Francesca Lia
> Block a while ago, and have not yet officially given up on it, and
> at least the story "Snow" early in the book seems to be about this.
> But as is somewhat common in this sort of story these days, the
> loving family is not constituted entirely by birth and marriage.
> Which I suspect puts the story in a different category from the
> one you were asking about - except that, well, um, the book you
> described is also about a family not constituted entirely by
> birth and marriage, no?
You are correct, it is not. The characters remark on this.
I haven't read Francesca Lia Block, and I keep meaning to.
> Um. Perhaps another example, perhaps not, but <Greenwillow> by
> B. J. Chute?
Never heard of this.
> Perhaps more edgily, <Tooth and Claw> (title?) by
> Jo Walton?
Ow! There's *some* bitterness and smarm in that family.
> Anyway... I'm one of those people (I'm sure everyone knows one)
> who were fully taken in by the faux-Beagle of <The Shapechanger's
> Wife> but thoroughly pissed off by the faux-McCaffrey of Shinn's
> second book.
Heh. It didn't piss me off (_Archangel_), although I certainly felt it
was a McCaffrey homage. I liked it because it did some things better
than McCaffrey. Really, the early Pern books aren't that good.
> Since then I've seen more and more people
> I respect say nice things about her subsequent books, and have
> kinda wanted to take another look, but I've been unable to
> establish whether any of them is actually not in any way a sequel
> to that second book I hated, so have been in no hurry.
There are now four -- five? maybe I just saw a new one -- sequels to
_Archangel_, but they all have "angel" in the title. Er, except for
_The Alleluia Files_, but you probably guessed that one too. None of
them are particularly good, even if you had liked _Archangel_.
Her other books are a mixed bag. And I don't remember them
particularly well, so take this as fuzzy advice... _Heart of Gold_ is
a SF political romance, _Wrapt in Crystal_ is a SF detective /
romance, and _Summers at Castle Auburn_ is a fluffy fantasy growing-up
romance. I'd say they're worth taking a look at. None of them are
anything like either _The Shape-Changer's Wife_ or _The Safe-Keeper's
Secret_ (which, as I said, are very much unlike each other).
When you've read this one, post and tell me whether I've horribly
disappointed you. :)