Embedded Files
Barbara Willard
This book started with a great shock to me, particularly coming hard on the heels of the resolution of the second one. This is a challenge of the timeskip between books in the series, sometimes things can seem too sudden as the reader has not had time to adjust to them in the same way the characters have. Once I had made that adjustement I really enjoyed the book, it is set at a time of tumultuous change with the abolition of the monastries impacting on communities across the country. Piers, son of Medley, feels this particularly hard, thrust into a promise to a dying man he keenly feels his powerlessness in the world, saying "Suddenly the ground seem all heaving about us, minnow." This causes him to lash out at one different from himself, attempting to use anger as a way of asserting control over an uncertain world. When reading this it reminded me a lot about conversations around Red Wall seats in Northern England, lashing out at immigration as a way of trying to regain control in a rapidly changing world.
Piers gets his redemption though, supported by his family and in particular his doting younger brother, Richard. There is an interesting parallel with Richard, much the youngest of the family, who feels frustrated by the changes in his older brothers as they grow up and have less time for him, something which sometimes makes him behave in a way reminiscent of Piers - acting out his frustrations as anger. These journeys of growing up are really engagingly told, particularly that of Richard. Barbara Willard does a good job of making these frustrations make her characters seem human rather than unlikeable. I also enjoyed Piers' interactions with his old friend Robin Halacre who has used the changing times to claw his way up in the world regardless of cost to others. I really enjoyed the book but thought it would work less well as a standalone book than either of the first two, it is much more ambiguous about happiness which relies on a certain amount of buy into the world to enjoy. In that way it is a bit like Into Exile although the challenges are emphasised at different points.
Written by Jack.
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