Isaree of the Wild Isles
Series: Standalone
Author: Noor Al-Shanti
Genre: Fantasy
Book Description:
Sandwiched between the mighty High Kingdoms and the great Land of Sunsets, the Upland villages did not have much claim to greatness or power. Many of these villages did not even have names. When an army of Sorcerers from the High Kingdoms was mobilized to invade the Land of Sunsets it was these small villages, stuck in the middle, that bore the brunt of that army’s march.
In one of these villages Isaree has just discovered her own magical power, but even dreaming of what this could mean for her is made impossible by the presence of the sorcerous armies. When they hear that the Sorcerers have begun to forcibly take anyone with power, the village elders decide that those most likely to be taken must flee.
In the blink of an eye, Isaree finds herself at the head of a group of runaways, responsible for leading them to safety, with nothing to rely on except her knowledge of the nearby woods and caves and the food that their families have lovingly packed for them.
Isaree and her friends must stick together and survive in a world much bigger than any of them could have imagined. A world full of wars and empires, sorcery and power, and – tucked away in forgotten corners – impossible creatures of legend.
In this vast, frightening world, Isaree must learn not just how to survive, but who she wants to be.
Review:
Isaree of the Wild Isles is a story of a few people’s lives – mostly one – as war tears apart their little world. I’d call it cozy, except that it’s not. It’s the story of one of those zillions of people whose lives are affected just as much as “the heroes” in every epic fantasy.
The focus is very much on Isaree, on what she sees and feels, what she struggles with, and the choices she makes. The writing isn’t elaborate or poetic, and very little about it stands out, yet I found myself liking it, as it seems just right to tell Isaree’s story – the story of one person, with the focus that has, highlighting what stands out to her, moving as her thoughts move, summarizing when that communicates the feel of what’s going on with her and the emphasis.
There was a lot I really liked about it. There are moments that are heart-breakingly sad, a beautifully written poem that drips with grief and the even deeper-touching sorrow of hope. Though never described, never given in any detail at all beyond the vague mention of scars, the horror of what they suffer from the oppressors, the constant reminders of the torture some of them have endured or seen, made my skin crawl at times. So real. But I have to say it was very well-done. This is another example of one of those writers who can make their writing effortlessly dance around the details that I do not wish to know and do not further the story, while sharing what must be shared.
Yet what sings through it is a story of hope and strength that’s far stronger, I think, than most stories of the victorious heroes freeing the land. There were things I didn’t like, things some of the elders said I think are really wrong, mistakes the characters make with each other, moments I even think they were cruel – such as when a character whose name I can’t remember how to write tells a little girl who’s been separated from her mother that said character can’t send for her mother to come until the little girl behaves herself because it would make her mother sad to see her daughter so naughty. It’s just a child having an understandable tantrum. I understand it may be a problem, but that is such a cruel lie to basically tell the child her mother doesn’t love her.
So, as I said, there are a lot of choices these people are making, and some of them may be right or wrong, and I think a lot of us will disagree about which is which. I personally think there was far too much lying. But what comes through is that they’re trying. They’re humans, trying the best they see, in very trying circumstances. Maybe sometimes the choices they make out of love are made out of selfishness, too – I believe there is something one of the elders says to Isaree early in the story that opens up the question of this possibility. But who really sees their way straight through all of this?
So that’s what I liked. It’s a story of people trying, and of the things remain. Of some things that turn out poorly, and some very important things that come out perhaps much better than anyone could have dreamed. There are scars that won’t be healed, but there’s a lot of healing one sees, too.
And hope. I loved how present that was. The emphasis that some of the people Isaree meets put upon it, and that she adopts into her own life and journey.
Something Isaaree shares, half-quoting what others have shared with her and giving her reasons for her choices:
“These Sorcerers want us to be separated in our fear, but we have to stick together.”
Isaaree’s thoughts within herself:
“There were moments when she felt that this was one more person to eventually lose. To fear for. To grieve. Maybe that was another way of standing up to the Sorcerers. Knowing more of their victims and becoming bound to them, knowing their stories so she could tell them to others.”
And from a friend, comforting her when she fears her attempts to help have just caused more horror:
“They’re not suffering because of you, Isaree,” he said earnestly. “They’re suffering because the Sorcerers are brutal. They were suffering before you ever left your village in the first place and they will continue to suffer for long after. Maybe the Sorcerers have intensified their crimes now, but that is because they are afraid, and no one I know would think of that as a bad thing.”
There are other themes, too. What does responsibility really mean? What does it mean to care for others? To be friends?
“When you’re a little older,” Isaree said. “I will. And when you’re even older than that you will go have your own adventures without me. But just for a little while let me try this thing alone so that I don’t have to worry about you. So that the weight of responsibility isn’t crushing.”
There was a long silence. Finally, Leng nodded. “Just remember that the weight of waiting for you and being afraid for your safety is crushing for us too.”
And – on the other side of things, there are dragons, they are pretty cool, and I liked the nonverbal relationship they have with their riders! I also very much enjoyed the magic. It’s not well-explained, with laid-out rules, but I liked the approach to it, and I liked how people can learn their magic alone, and do best when they learn their magic instead of copying someone else’s.
It was really neat, as was the theme of ordinary people making a difference in each other’s lives – that is ultimately the greatest and most significant things.
Enthralled By Love 