The Floating Islands – Rachel Neumeier

Publisher’s Summary:
“When Trei loses his family in a tragic disaster, he must search out distant relatives in a new land. The Floating Islands are unlike anything Trei has ever seen: stunning, majestic, and graced with kajurai, men who soar the skies with wings.

Trei is instantly sky-mad, and desperate to be a kajurai himself.  The only one who fully understands his passion is Araene, his newfound cousin.  Prickly, sarcastic, and gifted, Araene has a secret of her own . . . a dream a girl cannot attain.

Trei and Araene quickly become conspirators as they pursue their individual paths.  But neither suspects that their lives will be deeply entwined, and that the fate of the Floating Islands will lie in their hands. . . .”

Who are you? If someone were to ask me that question there are books that I would go to, that I would pull down from the shelf, hold out and answer: You’ll find a piece of me in here. The Floating Islands is one of those books.

From the moment I turned the first page there was no question: I had found my way home. I was among characters I loved, in a world I wanted very badly to explore, and reading writing that painted vivid and vibrant pictures, that pulled my strings; writing that was so right to and for me.

“There were a dozen of them – no, Trei saw as they approached: fourteen. Fifteen. They flew as geese fly in the fall, in a formation like a spear point. At first the shape the winged men made was stark as a rune against the empty sky, but as they approached the ship, they broke their formation, wheeled, and circled low. The morning light caught in the feathers of their glorious wings, crimson as blood, except for one man whose wings were black as grief.” [p. 4]

The Floating Islands is told in the alternating voices of Trei and Araene. One of the many strengths of the novel is how well and skillfully it was accomplished and that each was equally captivating. As I read, I never found myself wanting to be done with a chapter, not once did I want to skim or skip ahead to get to the other character. Trei and Araene were both living lives full of heartbreak and discovery, but their individual paths were woven together tightly. What’s more, each chapter built one upon another, assuredly drawing the reader closer to the story’s resolution.

Regarding character more specifically: I wanted to hug Trei and not let him go throughout the entire book, and Araene, well, she reminded me a bit of Tamora Pierce’s Alanna, exhibiting a forthright, courageous nature that won me over in short order. There were several among the supporting cast that helped cement my love for this title in their own way, too. These were people I’d want to meet, I’d want to study with, fly with.

Another strength is the world-building and perhaps for a surprising reason: what is laid out in the story only scratches the surface of the Floating Islands. Araene walks the streets of Second and Third City, and you just know that if she were to turn down this alley rather than that one she’d find something remarkable. There was a strong dose of history and culture, and the scent of enticing foods wafted on the air; I was satisfied completely with what I found on the page, but appreciated that there was still so much I could learn about the Islands, the kajuraihi (winged fliers), and the hidden school.

So what does that leave? The pace. I raced through this novel – though not so quickly as to not enjoy each word – and only hit one small lull where the story slowed a bit. Beyond that the only thing I can say is that I loved this book, that I will re-read it over and again, and that it has found a permanent spot on my keeper shelf.

Should you read The Floating Islands and, further, Rachel Neumeier’s other novels? Yes. Wholeheartedly, yes.

Lord of the Changing Winds ~ Rachel Neumeier

Griffins lounged all around them, inscrutable as cats, brazen as summer. They turned their heads to look at Kes out of fierce, inhuman eyes. Their feathers, ruffled by the wind that came down the mountain, looked like they had been poured out of light; their lion haunches like they had been fashioned out of gold. A white griffin, close at hand, looked like it had been made of alabaster and white marble and then lit from within by white fire. Its eyes were the pitiless blue-white of the desert sky.

Little ever happens in the quiet villages of peaceful Feierabiand. The course of Kes’ life seems set: she’ll grow up to be an herb-woman and healer for the village of Minas Ford, never quite fitting in but always more or less accepted. And she’s content with that path — or she thinks she is. Until the day the griffins come down from the mountains, bringing with them the fiery wind of their desert and a desperate need for a healer. But what the griffins need is a healer who is not quite human . . . or a healer who can be made into something not quite human.

Having read – and loved – The City in the Lake, I was very much looking forward to reading Lord of the Changing Winds, the first book in the Griffin Mage trilogy. Aside from Neumeier’s writing, which captivated me completely in her YA debut, the promise of such compelling creatures as griffins lured me to the bookstore on release day.

Green pastures and arid deserts. Cool breezes and ferocious, hot winds. The first thing that smacks at you is the atmosphere, the veracity of the setting. It’s Neumeier’s writing, her ability to create fantasy landscapes that rise off the page like lines on a topographical map. And it’s not a bad way to start a novel, with the feel of green grass underfoot and the warmth of the sun overhead.

Along with the world comes a quiet girl happy to keep her own company. From the first meeting I understood who Kes was, and knew just as well that she would become more. Though I can’t say with certainty that I liked Kes, I felt for her, I think, because her timidity and introverted way struck a nerve with me.

“She didn’t say that she was not afraid, exactly. It had been a long time since she’d tried to explain to Tesme her feelings about people, about crowds, about the hard press of their expectations. From the time she had been little, everyone else had seemed to see the world from a different slant than Kes. To understand, without even trying, unspoken codes and rules that only baffled her. Talking to people, trying to shape herself into what they expected, was not exactly frightening. But it was exhausting and confusing and, in a way, the confusion itself was frightening. But Tesme did not seem able to understand any of this.”

Kes’ sister may not have understood, but I do, and so a connection was forged and I was willing to follow her into the desert alongside the mage who came for her. But after the first chapter, when I needed to know what came next for her, the narrative shifts and the reader is confronted with someone else, a man named Bertaud.

Of the human characters in this story, I had an uneasy time with most, but none so much as Bertaud. Before going further let me clarify: By uneasy, I do not mean to say that the characters were poorly done, but that their actions and intentions made me wary. Feeling so is a good thing, I’d say, as an unsettling character is often one you don’t soon forget. Bertaud pushed me and pulled me and made me unhappy a heartbeat before he made me proud. Both Bertaud and Kes are very unlikely heroes but, I suppose, in their own way and to different ends, they are.

As for the griffins, they are as I said before: compelling. Fierce, foreign, but wholly realized. Because their personalities only superficially mirror humanity’s, there is a bit of repetition when it comes to their descriptions, mostly so that the reader can differentiate between them; I found that it was necessarily done and evened out as the story moved forward. Also, the griffins have long, nearly unpronounceable names that you need to weigh in your mind before they’ll trip off the tongue. It took me some time to get used to their names, as it did the place names, but, again, this isn’t a criticism. It’s just a part of the world Neumeier created.

Lord of the Changing Winds is not fast paced; it is quiet at times, just like Kes, and casts a soft focus on being beholden to another’s will (from both sides of the leash) and one’s ability to choose how to be. And as most any story that has high fantasy leanings would, there is a fair bit of political intrigue present to up the stakes. The characters aren’t easy to enjoy, but I don’t think that’s their true purpose, though it may seem strange to say. As of now, the book is still settling in, but I know I will continue to think about it, and I’ve already purchased the second book, Land of the Burning Sands, to read as soon as I can.

Waiting On Wednesday: The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier

Trei was fourteen the first time he saw the Floating Islands.  He had made the whole long voyage from Rounn in a haze of loss and misery, not really noticing anything of the lands through which he passed.  But here, where sea and sky both lay pearl-gray in the dawn, the wonder of the Floating Islands broke at last into that haze.

A boy high in the rigging called out in a shrill voice and pointed, and after the boy’s, the deeper voice of an officer, and the ship smoothly adjusted its heading.  Before them, the Islands rose shimmering out of the dawn mist.  They stood high above the sea – too high, and set oddly against the sky even in that first mist-shrouded glimpse.  Then the early sun rose up.  It turned the air to gold and the sea to sapphire and picked the islands out of the mist like jewels.  In that light, they seemed too beautiful to hold terror or despair or anguish.  Trei could hardly bear to look at them, yet could not bring himself to look away.  He gripped the railing hard and bit his lip almost till it bled.” [Read the rest here]

Let me apologize in advance: The wait for this one is going to be long. I’m sorry. If it were up to me we would get it before 2011. But the thing is, I have no doubt it will absolutely be worth the wait.

If you’re not familiar with Rachel Neumeier’s writing, you can spend some time between now and 2011 fixing that. I’d say start with The City in the Lake (review) because, well, it’s awesome. Lord Neill (aka Lord Bastard *love*) was one of my favorite characters of 2009, and so was this book.

Or pick up Lord of the Changing Winds, the first book in her Griffin Trilogy, which you’ll find on shelves round about late April or early May. This book is one of my most anticipated of the year, and I love that on its heels will be the publication of the second book, Land of Burning Sands, in June. We’ll have to wait again for the third book, Law of the Broken Earth, but only until December. That’s not so bad. I think.

But back to Islands.  That cover – Am I the only one who sees a bit of Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky there? (Which I adore, by the way. Next to Howl’s, it’s my favorite.) Anyway, I am loving this cover. And the snippet. And…okay, yeah, the wait is going to be too long. Sigh.

Check out Rachel Neumeier’s website for the latest and for information on all of the books mentioned in this post.