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Read The Riddle (2006)

The Riddle (2006)

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Rating
4.08 of 5 Votes: 5
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ISBN
0763630152 (ISBN13: 9780763630157)
Language
English
Publisher
candlewick press

The Riddle (2006) - Plot & Excerpts

Christopher Booker’s ‘The Seven Basic Plots’ suggest that the more different archetypal narratives a novel includes the richer it becomes (Booker admires ‘The Lord of the Rings’ for this), and on this basis Croggon’s Pellinor series must be rich indeed. ‘The Riddle’ includes the themes of the Quest, Overcoming the Monster, Voyage and Return and Tragedy, while it is only a matter of time and two more novels before we must surely encounter Rags to Riches, Comedy (in the classical sense) and Rebirth. On this understanding alone ‘The Riddle’ is very satisfying, even as a middle volume in a sequence.But novel writing is more than just a matter of narrative structure. First and foremost must come characterisation. Maerad, the young heroine of the tale, would, in a modern context, be just another petulant teenager, a trait which some reviewers have found annoying but is absolutely right, not just for plot reasons but because that’s exactly what teenagers are normally about. While she is the Chosen One with innate mysterious powers (and you could argue that this is an annoying motif in itself), she still has to rely on her human resourcefulness, her stubbornness, her quick-wittedness and her physical strength. I liked also the roundedness of many of the other characters, even those who appear for such a short time, and even those who don’t support Maerad’s cause.Other important elements in a story are a sense of place and time, and here Croggon has thought long and hard about the nature of her secondary world. The journey Maerad takes is one we take too, from cold to warmth, from mountains to plains, from habitation to habitation, because her descriptions give us exactly what we require to imagine and sensually feel ourselves there. There is also a clear sense of the passage of time, marked by key dates in the changing seasons (the book ends on midwinter’s day, for example) and Maerad’s monthly periods arriving at the time of the full moon.Finally, Croggon’s theme is about words (as the title of the book hints). Poetry (real poetry, mind you, not doggerel verse) suffuses both prose and song in her text, recounted in English; and for the linguist too there is much delight in her creation of the languages of Pellinor: the names of peoples, of things, of places, of concepts. And let us not forget the crucial dialogues that Maerad has with key figures in the story; for those who like their fantasy dished up with lashings of action this may be a weakness, but for those who love words, the to-and-fro of conversations and the subsequent conflicts or resolutions that arise from them this must surely be a strength.A word about Cadvan: as a wizard figure he has resonances with both Gandalf and Dumbledore here, though it is clear that we are to think of him, despite the discrepancy between the aging of Bards and ordinary mortals, as a relatively young man. Like those other two wizards of modern writing he too disappears, and like them his dramatic loss through violence must be felt deeply by the reader, but it is for the reader to find out whether the loss is temporary, as with Gandalf, or permanent, as with Dumbledore.

At the end of 'The Naming,' Chosen One Maerad had just discovered her Bardic name, and she and Bard Cadvan were on the run from Enkir of Norloch, who has turned to the Dark. Barely surviving their journey to the island country of Thorold, they are able to rest and recuperate and Maerad can learn more about her unusual magical gifts, which combine Bardic talents with Elemental powers from her Elidhu ancestors. With Enkir in pursuit and the Nameless One once more rising to cover the world in darkness, Cadvan and Maerad cannot stay in Thorold, and more adventures begin as they quest to discover the mystery of the Treesong of prophecy. Fleeing to the frozen north, tragedy strikes, and although Maerad finds some answers, she also finds herself trapped--and learns that she is the biggest mystery of all.This is sprawling, epic high fantasy complete with extensive, footnoted appendices about the world Croggon has created. I really appreciate that Croggon intersperses her breathtaking action with periods of calm, when readers are allowed to explore her intensely detailed and complex world (she's great at describing food!). Maerad is a compelling character, though I have to admit I had my doubts about her in the middle of the book, when she seemed to be acting out of character--I'm still not sure why, though she got back in character fairly quickly. Of course the doorstop book ended on another cliffhanger, so now I have to go track down volume three!

What do You think about The Riddle (2006)?

I loved The Riddle, Croggon's second in the Pellinor series, even more than the first. For one, she worked through that tricky issue of pacing that plagued her first book. Admittedly, The Riddle is best read and followed in large chunks of time -- it's not the kind of story that's easy to pick up in little 20 page snatches -- but there's still a much steadier, more enjoyable pace happening here. And second, while Croggon convinced me to give Maerad a chance to be enjoyable in the first book, she convinced me to absolutely love her in the second.In this novel, Maerad is separated from her brother Hem and travels with Cadvan far north, in search of the Treesong. Here's where I feared the story would veer off into tedious mysticism, and we all can think of fantasies that have, in our opinions, fallen into that trap (poor Christopher Paolini; talk about your truly fantastic adventure story mired down in hundreds of pages of weird elf lore). But instead, Croggon keeps the story fresh by adding tangible realities to the Treesong quest. The song's secrets are hidden in an actual nomadic people -- as opposed to tapestries woven with gossamer threads, you know what I mean -- that she must travel to and win over enough to gain an audience with their unusual Bard and his wolf den.Also, Maerad does a lot of growing up in this novel that's more tangible than book 1, where she faced such relatable challenges as being instated as a Bard (and I'm still not sure what that meant). Here, she still has to suffer through some of Cadvan's Ben Franklinish pearls of wisdom, but her relationship with him gains a reality and a clarity. They fight; things are awkward, then very painful. The question of her own evil isn't a black and white fantasy thing (fear not, no evil forces possess her), but rather a question of the internal secrets of her mind and her heart, that she has to decide to alternately control or release. In this way, it becomes a sort of coming-of-age story, even if it is complete with Ice Witches and wolf spirits, and Maerad's journey gains a vividness and a poignancy that made this book a wonderful sequel.
—Heather

Tedious. After i finished book one i thought surely things ought to pick up in the next one. Nope. it just drew on forever and then as much as i hate to admit it i skipped ahead. Got to the part where she's separated from Cadvan and is being held prisoner by the Winterking who finally teaches her the rudiments of the missing runes - the tree song which turns out to be etched on her lyre (what are the odds?) She manages to escape, finds Cadvan again they talk about their adventures apart. Then they decide its time they should find her brother Hem.Sense of urgency... nonedanger.... you kinda know she was going to survive and everyone else too. Help is just around the corner as someone always pops up figuratively and sometimes literally out of the woodwork to help them escape.People that have previously reviewed Croggon's book keep referring to her prose as flowery and pretty and poetry like i dont really see it if you want beautiful written works i suggest you try Elizabeth Bear's The Edda of Burdens. Its so beautifully written it sometimes distracts from the actual story.
—Maryam Wakili

Ugh this series is so hard to get through! I like the actual story, and I appreciate the amount of work it must've been for the author to create this world--heck coming up with the names alone must've been exhausting--but gosh! It was ridiculously tedious to read. I thought the second installment would've been easier to get through because by then the author had the background laid out, but...nope. I just can't remember all those names, and the descriptions of every little detail of her surroundings got to be too much. And then --***SPOILERS*** Maerad was going here and then there and then somewhere else and somewhere else again and she's just so cold and then she's captured and then she falls oh so in love--(which was so stupid) and then she realized whoops she doesn't want to be caged but maybe she wants to stay anyway... Ok fine because shes 16 or 17 she can be an angsty girl but i still didn't buy her "love" for the winterking given her mistrustful characteristics. I would've liked a much more stripped down version that focused more on dialogue instead of all the surroundings, but oh well. Oh and her reunion with cadvan left much to be desired. The one person who actually protects her and cares for her doesn't get her Love return--at least not enough. I get that it's building up, but come on. She falls in love with a kidnapper but not the man who is good to her? Lame. A lot of people seem to really like this series but I give up.
—Monica

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