Once Upon a Time II – The Bone Doll’s Twin
Apr 16th, 2008 by heidi
I’m surprised that the Bone Doll’s Twin doesn’t seem to be in print (or that Amazon.co.uk is out of stock, anyway) as I think it’s a fantastic book. This is why I’m including a third general fantasy review in this year’s challenge, because it’s really original, very well-written, and I’ve never seen anyone else mention having read it, so it deserves more attention!
The general plot synopsis on Amazon, rather boringly, reads:
King Thelatimos was presented with a prophecy: “So long as a daughter of Thelatimos line defends and rules, Skala shall never be subjugated”. But when Prince Erius claimed primogeniture, and seized the throne of his mad mother, plague, drought and famine spread throughout the kingdom.
Obviously a displaced queen who must retake her throne is a common enough theme, but what’s clever about this is the way that Flewelling hides her heroine and keeps her alive. A bit of necromancy, a bit of sorcery, and lot of intrigue add up to a story that I found more interesting than most new fantasy and certainly better than one of the other books I bought at the same time. This one is certainly going with us to Seattle and I’ve re-read it multiple times. Amazon.com does still have copies, so if you live in the US and haven’t read it, it’s definitely worth a read (and if you’re lucky in the UK, your local Waterstone’s might still have a copy too).
This one got on my radar during the last challenge and it is on my list to check out. I’m thinking the US version has a John Jude Palencar cover that I really liked but I could be mistaken about that.