by Kristin Cashore
This book started exciting comment almost as soon as it was published. However, I didn’t pick it up until it made the nominee list for the Mythopoeic Award for Chidren’s Fantasy – which it then went on to win. But I did not get around to reading it until later. When I finally opened it up, I discovered that all the early comment was well-deserved.
Opening with a surreptitious rescue conducted by the main character Katsa, which shows the young woman to be a very adept fighter, Graceling unfolds the dilemna Katsa faces. She is Graced with an ability to kill swiftly. When this ability was revealed in her as a child, Katsa herself sought training as a fighter in order not to kill people inadvertently. Meanwhile, her uncle, King Randa, makes use of her as his private enforcer/assassin.
Cashore’s world-building is solid. She’s thought out the effects of the Graceing phenomena. But she has also succeeded in making Katsa an entirely engaging character. Katsa seeks to find her own way in the world, and to stop being a pawn and tool of others. Tough and determined, but also deeply principled, Katsa wins over any reader as the young woman discovers deeper aspects of her Grace and indeed all Graces.
The book has been marketed as a Young Adult fantasy, but it’s a pleasure to any reader of fantasy. Certain aspects of the story might not be appropriate for younger children, not just due to sexually charged relationships, but also for the subtleties of Katsa’s issues regarding killing. These things might go over the heads of very young readers and they are crucial to the flow of the story. They should wait a few years, in order to get the best enjoyment of the story and all its appealing characters.
