Firethorn is just a peasant, but her passion for Sire Galen (and his for her) led her to become his mistress. After she endures terrible trials following the army and assisting Sire Galen, he grants her a tract of land. But rather than live in peace and comfort, Firethorn disobeys his orders and follows him once more. Her luck is against her--she is struck by lightning, and spends the rest of the book recovering from neurological damage while slowly losing her vision. The damage is particularly terrible for Firethorn, who has always prided herself on her quick wit, on knowing the uses of plants, and healing her fellow camp followers. Not only is Firethorn's speech and much of her memory taken from her, but she soon finds herself the captive of Sire Galen's enemy, in a foreign land.

This book is awesome. Micklem has clearly considered how her world works, from top to bottom. No society has a ready analog in our world; there are no feudal McEuropes or exotic Asias in her writing. Her characters are equally well-developed and thought out. Firethorn is a complicated woman, driven by desire, pride, and a certitude in gods and magic that is never completely born out by the text. (I love that Micklem never makes it clear whether magic exists or not.)

This is one of the more class and gender conscious books I've read in quite some time, without ever being heavy-handed or pedantic. It's a nuanced examination of the power social mores and norms have on us. I really hope Micklem chooses to write more in this series! ( )

Neither as well-written nor as compelling as "Firethorn", which was at least consistent and coherent.

In this second book in a proposed trilogy, Firethiorn... is not an actor in her own story. Lots of things happen TO her; she does very little on her own, and much of that is without any clear reason, even "it seemed like a good idea at the time". She rises, she falls, she rises, she falls; she has a completely inexplicable loyalty to a man who cares nothing for her (Stockhom syndrome? but then I would have expected that to be reflected in the text); she does things that she KNOWS her One True Love will find unforgivable and doesn't even seem to THINK about that; etc.

And the society in which much of this takes place makes little sense. "Firethorn" was a grim world, and grimmer for women than men; this one is sheer fantasy, but possibly even grimmer; way past realistic, and I've given up my hopes for a peasant rebellion. I think it may have been based a bit on ancient Greece, but I think that degree of acceptance of the horrible deserved a bit of attention from the author.

Also: way too many gods. To be fair, this is why Firethorn's path here makes no sense; the gods are too meddlesome... but there's a bit of Mary Sue in there as well.And I think it's unreasonable for her to blame every bad decision she made on being god-bothered. I don't even understand the point of some of it, like the aphasia; it didn't seem to have much to do with a coherent plotline.

I'll probably read #3 if it ever comes out, but I was really disappointed in this one. Except for more mystical skillz and more being god-bothered, I don't see that this advanced the plot at all, nor that these things actually advanced it themselves. ( )