Merry Gentry and her cadre of men are finally back! It's been five years since the last Merry book, DIVINE MISDEMEANOURS, and so I was quite looking forward to reading A SHIVER OF LIGHT. I'd planned to re-read the series beforehand but my recent move meant that I went into A SHIVER OF LIGHT without my little refresher. Thankfully, Hamilton does a lovely job of filling in the blanks while simultaneously throwing her reader into the thick of things, as she's wont to do.
A SHIVER OF LIGHT gets to the heart of the story very quickly. I thought Hamilton might build up to the birth but we hop right into it and, as the cover copy says, it's not twins -- it's triplets. Each of the babies has a unique appearance and unique powers, which tie them to their fathers and to Faerie. The kids are unusual because they have strong powers from birth (instead of developing them later in life) and it's added an element of uncertainty to Merry's life. The kids are completely unpredictable and no one knows what to expect with them. Their arrival also reveals a new side of Queen Andais. She's still a sadistic, mad, cruel woman but we see a surprisingly gentle side to the queen in this novel. Merry-as-mom also adds a lot to the story since she's suddenly got so many more worries (not that she didn't have tons before). Merry and her main men really take to parenthood and it shows us a lot about each of them. We get some great moments with each of my favourite men in Merry's circle: Doyle, Frost, and especially Sholto. With such a large cast of characters, it's easy to push some characters aside, and I will confess that I'd completely forgotten about some of the less prominent members of Merry's group, but Hamilton has a knack for giving everyone a moment.
In terms of plot, there were definitely surprises. It starts with the number of babies and goes on from there. Merry and company have to deal with some very down-to-earth issues, like making enough money to support their ever-expanding entourage and playing politics. It's a nice touch of reality in a very supernatural world.
Since it's a LKH book, you can probably guess that sex is a major feature in the novel. The book is not for readers who want a more romantic (and less sexual) level of smooching in their books. After all, Merry is descended from several fertility goddesses and has many sexual partners, as she has throughout the series.
Truthfully, I enjoyed A SHIVER OF LIGHT but not as much as I'd hoped. It's been so long since we've had a new Merry book and maybe I've changed but A SHIVER OF LIGHT didn't deliver all of the bang that I've hoped for. It's a nice entry into the series and I'm glad to finally know what's happening with Merry and her men but it wasn't as amazing as I'd hoped. All the same, it's nice to have them back and I hope it won't ben another five years before the next instalment.
I had hoped for more too, especially after such a long wait
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you didn't love it but glad to know I'm not alone on this one. :)
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