One Dark Window - 3.5 stars
Two Twisted Crowns - 4 stars
Spoiler warning! Some minor spoilers for One Dark Window in this review.
20-year-old Elspeth Spindle (all the noble families have surnames taken from trees) lives in the kingdom of Blunder, most of which is now enveloped in a thick, sinister fog. Most people who venture out into the fog without a talisman (bones, feathers, animal feet, braided horsehair, etc) go mad and run off into the forest, never to be seen again. The only ones who seem able to walk in the fog without nasty side effects are the survivors of a mysterious fever (which also grants the survivors some sort of magical ability), but such survivors are few and far between since the king has ordered all afflicted with the disease to be rounded up and taken to the palace (where they are experimented on and killed). Being found to have harboured a fever survivor is considered treason.
However, Elspeth is one such survivor. Her father used to be the captain of the king’s Destriers (think a Royal Guard crossed with Secret Police). He couldn’t bring himself to have his eldest daughter killed, so sent her into the woods to live with her aunt and uncle. Remember how I said all survivors of the fever gained a magical power? Elspeth’s ability made it possible for her to absorb the essence of Providence cards, which is why she has an unwanted cohabitant in her head – known as the Nightmare.
A brief history lesson: Back in the olden times, Blunder was ruled by The Shepherd King (also the name of this fantasy duology). In the woods of Blunder there was an ancient power, The Spirit of the Forest, who people used to turn to for help and who could grant wishes and the like. All magic had a price, because balance is necessary and such trades with the Spirit should not be undertaken lightly. The Shepherd King, in an attempt to safeguard his kingdom, negotiated with the Spirit of the Forest and created a magical deck of cards, called Providence Cards. To create each of the cards, he had to sacrifice something, like years of his life, his memories, his ability to sleep, all his hair, and eventually his own soul.
"Twelve different Providence Cards made up the Deck. Chronicled in our ancient text, The Old Book of Alders, Providence Cards were not only Blunder’s greatest treasures but the only legal way of performing magic. Anyone could use them – all it took was touch and intention. Clear your mind, hold a Card in your hand, tap it three times, and the Card is yours to wield. Pocket the Card or place it elsewhere, the magic would still hold. Three more taps, or the touch of another person, and the flow of magic would halt. But use a Card too long, and the consequences were dire. The cards were exceptionally rare, their numbers finite."
With some of the cards in the Providence Deck, there are multiple copies. There are only two Nightmare Cards, which grant the user the ability to speak telepathically to others. Eleven years ago, Elspeth touched a Nightmare card in her uncle’s library, and basically absorbed its essence, the werewolf-like creature depicted on its surface. The creature speaks to her, gives her warnings, and in cases of extreme danger, she can grant The Nightmare control over her body, so she gets stronger, faster and can defend herself. Of course, everything has a price, so each time she does this, The Nightmare gains a bit more control over her, and she starts having trouble controlling her own body. When Elspeth is in control, she has dark, nearly black eyes. When The Nightmare is in control, her eyes are yellow.
Elspeth has stayed far away from the royal court for years, afraid that anyone will discover that she is a survivor of the fever. This Solstice, however, her uncle has finally decided to trade his very precious Nightmare card (the second one is believed to be lost – but is it?) to the King, in return for his daughter, Elspeth’s beloved cousin Ione, to be betrothed to the Crown Prince, a psychotic bully. Ione gets access to a Maiden card, which turns the user flawlessly beautiful but is rumoured to have the side effect that the user becomes cold and heartless. Obviously, with her uncle’s family suddenly guests of honour, Elspeth also has to join the festivities at the palace. She meets a number of new people, like Prince Elm, the younger prince, who doesn’t seem particularly fond of his father or brother. She also comes into contact with Elm’s cousin, Ravyn Yew, the current Captain of the King’s Destriers. He figures out that she’s a survivor of the fever, but doesn’t arrest her. Instead, he invites her to be part of a plot that can only be described as treasonous.
Raven Yew and most of his family are working with Prince Elm to locate one card of each of the ones that make up the Providence Deck. If all twelve cards of the deck can be united, the curse on Blunder will be lifted and the fog will no longer threaten the land. It is believed that those suffering aftereffects of the fever will also be cured. Elspeth obviously can’t reveal to anyone that she has The Nightmare lurking around in the back of her brain, but reveals to Ravyn and Elm that she can «see» Providence Cards. Thanks to The Nightmare, Elspeth can see the colours of the various cards, even when a person has them hidden. This makes her incredibly useful to the conspirators, and they promise to keep her safe if she agrees to help them.
It’s agreed that Elspeth come stay at the residence of the Yew family, under the pretext that Ravyn is courting her. Of course what starts out as pretense doesn’t take long before it becomes a reality, although Elspeth has to keep lying to her new friends, and the man she’s falling for about the extent of her magical abilities.
Things got really complicated after Elspeth had her wrist broken when Ravyn, Elm, and their gang of fake highwaymen tried to stage an ambush to steal another Providence Card. Elspeth came into close contact with the Crown Prince, who broke her wrist. Elspeth only got away because she let the Nightmare take over, and he clawed the Prince savagely. While everyone claims Elspeth broke her wrist falling off a horse, this cover story isn’t really very convincing to anyone, least the cruel Crown Prince. He may be a psycho, but he’s sadly not stupid. He’s suspected his brother and cousins of being up to something treasonous, and he gets his claws into Elspeth both to question her and use her as bait to capture her co-conspirators.
As a result of that rather unpleasant encounter, Elspeth has to let The Nightmare take over permanently, and the Crown Prince is found nearly torn to pieces. Elspeth is taken prisoner, but the Nightmare, now in total control, reveals to the enraged King that he knows where the Twin Alders, the only unique card in the Providence Deck is hidden. It will be impossible for anyone to unite the Deck and break the curse on Blunder without this card. Ravyn pretends to still be loyal and offers to take The Nightmare/the husk that was once Elspeth to find the card. The blood of someone afflicted by the fever will also need to be spilled to break the curse, and the King plans for that to be Elspeth, once the card is found.
Prince Elm, who hates his family, now has to step up and act as heir, as his elder brother is horribly injured and may not survive. He’s unable to accompany Ravyn to find the final Providence Card, but to make his time back at the palace more bearable, he makes a deal with Ione, his brother’s unwilling betrothed, to help her find the missing Maiden card that still has her under an enchantment. Thanks to Ione, Elm also discovers a previously unknown benefit the Maiden card grants those under its spell.
Will Ravyn manage to locate the missing Providence Card required to unite the Deck and break the curse on Blunder? Will he be able to exorcise The Nightmare from Elspeth’s body and save his beloved from being sacrificed by the king? Will Elm and Ione find the missing Maiden card, and return Ione to her former self? Will our stalwart heroes triumph over corruption and evil and live happily ever after?
While One Dark Window is told entirely from Elspeth’s POV (with little snippets from The Old Book of Alders at the start of each chapter, giving us helpful information about the magic system and the Providence Cards), Two Twisted Crowns is told through Elm, Ravyn and The Nightmare’s POVs. There are brief glimpses of Elspeth's consciousness, but she's pretty firmly stuck deep in what seems to be The Nightmare's subconscious.
One Dark Window was the November pick in my fantasy book club. For the first half of the book, it was really only the interesting magic system that kept me going. Elspeth is not the most dynamic of heroines and her romance with Ravyn really didn't grab me all that much. Her strange connection with The Nightmare helped keep me interested, and I really wouldn't have expected the first book to end the way it did. The second book is miles better, especially because all three POV characters are more interesting, especially Elm. He develops a romance with Ione, which is complicated because she's promised to his loathsome brother. Since I liked both Elm and Ione a lot more than drippy Elspeth, that storyline worked better for me than Elspeth and Ravyn's.
I'm always happy when a fantasy series can be contained in two, rather than three books. In this case, I would highly recommend readers stick with it, even if One Dark Window isn't entirely grabbing them. The world-building and magic system is very interesting, and everything develops so well in Two Twisted Crowns, finishing off the story in a really satisfying way.
Judging the books by the covers: I think the cover for One Dark Window is supposed to be a red-clad woman (most likely Elspeth) in the middle of a bridge. The black smoke is probably something to do with the Nightmare? It's not a great choice - it looks like a tiny volcano. The cover for Two Twisted Crowns is much better, with the twisty trees adding to the spooky atmosphere. If the woman on the cover is supposed to be Elspeth, her hair should really be cut short - but you can't have everything.
Crossposted on Cannonball Read
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