Kristin Cashore’s Graceling made enough of a splash when it appeared in hardback in 2008 that I made a point to acquire the paperback when it came out last fall. It is listed as a young adult novel, and while this is entirely true, it is the sort of book that is YA only because it has nothing a younger audience “shouldn’t” read and not because it doesn’t have an equal appeal for adults. It does, unless you’re someone who requires cursing and graphic violence or sex in your fantasy books. But if you don’t need that M for mature rating, and you enjoy fantasy adventure stories, this might just be the book for you next time you’re looking for a good yarn.
The story is told through the eyes of Katsa, a young woman used as an assassin by her uncle the king. She is Graced—that is, blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with an extraordinary talent that makes her, at least to him, more valuable as a tool than a person. So it is with most people who are Graced, those known as the Gracelings, all of whom have distinct talents that range from something as minor as being able to heal cuts to as major as being able to hold an entire kingdom in thrall. They are identifiable only by their mismatched eyes…and sometimes their abilities. Katsa’s Grace manifested itself through her self-defense killing of a man when she was just a child, making Killing her apparent Grace and thus leading to her position at her uncle’s court.
The book is broken into three parts, which are all one contiguous story but have discrete sub-plots. The first act introduces us to Katsa and the seven kingdoms and the mysterious prince Greenling whose Grace may be Fighting…or may be something even more powerful. While he is visiting Katsa’s uncle, Katsa begins to awaken to her own identity as a person—not just her uncle’s attack dog—and as a young woman. She ultimately rejects her uncle’s chains of obligation and scorn, and sets off with the Lienid prince to help him on his quest to discover who had kidnapped his grandfather, and why. The second two parts of the book follow their adventure and its aftermath, and reveal a chilling truth about the power of Graces.
I really enjoyed this story, for several reasons. I thought it was well-paced, with enough time given to each of the various pieces of action to make them seem complete without dragging on too long. None of the action was really frivolous, either, as sometimes happens in quest fantasy–all of it related directly to the main plotline. There was also ample time spent inside Katsa’s head to see how she was thinking from experience to experience; you get to follow her transformation from defiant weapon to strong, independent woman. My one complaint might be that Katsa didn’t have enough darkness in her soul, despite what she had allowed her uncle to coerce her into (years of murdering and torturing). But aside from that I liked the characterization and the emotional journey she followed. I also enjoyed seeing the journey of the prince, as he learns to trust someone with the truth of his strange Grace and all that it entails.
Possibly my favorite part of the story’s plotting was Katsa’s inability to be the hero all the time. There is a task that she is literally incapable of performing, and so she has no choice but to wait behind for the prince and hope that he is successful. I thought this was an unusual touch, because most of the time fantasy hero(in)es are either able to do everything that needs doing or they make an attempt, anyway, and fail. Katsa was both not able to do it and smart enough not to try, which I really appreciated. To me it grounded the story and the characters in a way that many adventures aren’t really, as impossible odds are overcome time and time again (or patently stupid decisions are made about testing those odds). Here, when the odds are overcome, it’s not always by the designated “hero” and never without some sacrifice or repercussion.
There is an element of romance to the emotional story between Katsa and the prince, but it (1) should not be enough to put off readers who are squeamish about romance and (2) plays an integral part of the story. If Katsa did not have such strong feelings for the prince, she would not have been able to act in the one moment she is given to try and save everything she loves and believes in. The love, therefore, is not the point of the story nor a self-indulgence on the part of the writer but rather an important plot element of a larger tale, without which the story would have come to a different end.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy adventures or romantic fantasies. It’s certainly no fairy tale about a helpless princess, and it has murder and danger aplenty for those who like action. It’s well-written, quick to read, and thoroughly enjoyable.
