JO SPURRIER North Star Guide Me Home: Children of the Black Sun, Book Three. Reviewed by Folly Gleeson
Through cruelty to transcendence: the third book of this powerful series delivers both.
This final instalment of the Children of the Black Sun trilogy opens with three damaged mages – Rasten, Sierra and Isidro – reeling in the aftermath of the events of Book Two, Black Sun Light My Way. Isidro is seriously wounded; he was trapped under the malevolent blood mage Kell in battle with a sword between them and has lost a great deal of blood. Sierra, who was a sympath, has now acquired unpredictable skills but has become hardened, despondent, weary and weakened; and Rasten, who had been both slave and assistant to Kell, suffers from enormous regret and psychological pain. Kell’s ruthless cruelty and training has corrupted them all. There is little trust between Rasten and Isidro but Sierra supports Rasten. He has continually been there for her.
While Rasten and Sierra try to heal Isidro with limited supplies of medicine and equipment, Prince Cammarian and Delphine, who is carrying Isidro’s child, attempt to reach them. They are now all within Arkadian Empire territory and in danger from slavers, soldiers and battle mages. They, as well as Mira, pregnant with Cammarian’s child, and her entourage, all aim to return to Ricalan. To effect this return, mage power will be very important, and Rasten in particular, pariah that he is, will be invaluable. He uses his blood mage skills to unlock the powers latent in slaves who are freed in the battles with the Arkadians, thus giving Cam an army with valuable skills.
The very real physical dangers faced by all the characters are secondary to the scars that they carry emotionally. Rasten is ravaged by guilt and regret – as well, he desires Sierra, but realises that this would be an impossible union as she is in love with Isidro and full of shame for what she inadvertently did to him. Spurrier handles this emotional maelstrom with skill and there is plenty of twisty use of mage power, which furthers the success of various battles. Because the three main characters are able to enter each other’s minds, we are able to get insight into their feelings and thoughts. This churning could all seem a little too much, but Spurrier’s elegant writing makes it seem valid and likely.
However, the main thread in the trilogy concerns the magical transfer of power through pain. Mages need power to create magic and blood mages gain it through extreme cruelty. This has meant that there have been frequent episodes of forensically described brutality. For example, Rasten is indeed the cruel monster that he is believed to be:
Rasten was not caught by its siren call. Somehow he kept his attention on the prisoner pressed into the mud. He reached into the fresh rush of power and with a bludgeon of shimmering, singing force he shattered the soldier’s femur. He did it again on the other side and then broke his arms one by one, crushing each elbow to splinters. Then with one final blow he cracked the man’s pelvis. And then rose smoothly to his feet, turning his back on the crippled mage even as he keened a low moan of pain, breathless and broken in the mud.
This emphasis on cruelty makes the trilogy a challenging read. The sadism is powerfully written and the basic idea that power and transcendence come through pain is not something easy to accept. But of course the whole story of Christianity is based on such a concept, and I was reminded of medieval worshippers whipping themselves, the murder of slaves in Viking burials, and the funerals of Egyptian and Chinese emperors. The humble hair shirt is also a little riff on the idea of pain causing transcendence. So, if the very powerfully described violence and cruelty don’t appal, then the clever and imaginative narrative and the emotional travails of the vibrantly depicted characters will intrigue, for Spurrier holds the complex and fascinating story of the struggle of the Ricalan forces together with a great deal of skill and even offers redemption in the satisfying epilogue.
Jo Spurrier North Star Guide Me Home: Children of the Black Sun Book Three HarperVoyager 2014 PB 480pp $29.99
Folly Gleeson was a lecturer in Communication Studies. At present she enjoys her book club and reading history and fiction.
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