pearl's Reviews > Alphabet of Thorn

Wow. This books packs a slow-building lyrical punch of magic, horror, and emotional revelation. And it is primarily about being a woman.

What does that even mean!

First, it's a story all about magic -- why we care about magic, the forms magic takes in the world, how it changes lives, how much and how little it is understood -- without ever placing magic in a system with clean edges or anything fully under human control. McKillip writes magic in the style of Le Guin's Earthsea books, as an obscure force that sometimes helps its user but more often promotes an unslakable thirst for ambition and control.

Second, the horror. Although it was never exactly scary, the horror emerged from the growing sense of inevitability, of events beyond understanding. McKillip does a great job of only letting readers know what her characters know and connecting their plot threads and motivations into a single purpose. At times these orchestrations felt predictable, but McKillip tells the story with an easy grace that propels everything forward, feeling as it should.

The emotional core of this book surprised me. The characters are not portrayed with tremendous depth, but they are themselves, operating and speaking in ways particular to their personalities and conflicts. Nepenthe's curiosity and her tentative but eager love felt real to me; Tessera's uncertainty and self-doubt were plucked from my daily life; Vevay was essentially a Virginia Woolf character reflecting on a long life with poise, dispassion, and vulnerability; and Kane--Kane! At the climax of the story, I discovered that my emotional investment in these characters was so much greater than expected. It took me completely off guard. I loved it.

Finally, this book is about being a woman. About women living in power structures. About women fulfilling roles and services. About women lost to history because it is convenient to forget. And about women in relation to each other and the choices they make to keep living.

This was a wonderful book, a new addition to my favorites, and certainly not the last McKillip I will read. Highly recommended.