After having read this trilogy in all my free time over the last two days, and having stayed up a lot later than I should have, I guess I have to say that I liked it, much more than I expected to. This is fantasy literature, I guess, in the sense that the world is pseudo-medieval, but there is no magic.

I was initially drawn to this story by the cover blurb about a princess who serves as a menial slave in the foreign palace, but they don't know who she is. Maybe I'm jaded by reading too many fantasy stories (or reading princess stories to my kids) but I think the idea was refreshingly different and I wondered what the author could to with it. Turns out she can do quite a lot.

The story is basically an odyssey: both an inner and an outer journey. Because of the struggles along the way, the princess grows up, learns humility, and is able to become a savior for her people. Many many fantasy trilogies (e.g., Lord of the Rings) follow exactly that pattern, so that shouldn't be a real spoiler.

This is not a series of three separate stories, each with their own climax and resolution; it's a single, three-volume story (like Lord of the Rings). I bought the three-volume set electronically, and I did not even notice when I switched from the first book to the second. I don't think the first has a very satisfying conclusion on its own. You could, I suppose, stop after the second book, but that would be like chopping off the Odyssey just as Odysseus lands on the beach of Ithaca, or ending The Lord of the Rings without the scouring of the Shire: you miss everything that the story has been building up to.

Summary:
A princess on a stupid diplomatic mission is captured by brigands and sold as a slave. She conceals who she is (she has enough foresight and discipline to do that). Initially, she's not particularly lovable: she's somewhat stuck up and selfish (hard not to be, with that upbringing). But at least she and her family are not not like the horrible people she's being forced to serve. In the opening of the story, we are drawn to her through shock and pity. The princess-in-secret, however, is made of pretty stern stuff. Instead of breaking, she learns humility, and to see the world through the eyes of the servants and slaves. She tries to be faithful to her people (not her captors) in the little ways she can, but intriguingly, she learns through her attempted sabotages that even her oppressors' lives are valuable.

Because of her education, she eventually rises to serve the enemy royal family directly, and gets a direct insight into their varying characters. However, her secret cannot be kept forever, and when they discover who she really is, they do their best to take advantage of it to embarrass or compel her home kingdom.

Meanwhile, a stern, capable knight who has risen from poverty through his fearsome skills watches her closely. He's initially curious--she's not like the other slaves. Even though he serves as her jailer, he grows to trust her. And when she is manifested as a princess, he thinks she's not like the repressive royals he's been forced to serve--or is she? He's not sure, but circumstances and his choices throw them together and they escape together on a journey of many months back to her home, where they encounter cold, hunger, poverty, and betrayal, and yet also generosity and unexpected loyalty. The knight, since he is under death sentence in the tyrannical kingdom they fled, hopes that he can make a new start in the only place beyond its clutches, by bringing the princess safely home and thereby gaining a reward. Or at least that was his initial plan.

Following the Odyssey prototype, home isn't in great shape either. It's on the verge of another war with the kingdom she just escaped from, and this time they just might be conquered. Furthermore, there is significant internal unrest: although her kingdom certainly has much higher moral standards than the other one (e.g., slavery is not allowed; they royalty are not just wastrels who live to be served), it's by no means perfect. The returning princess must try to put things right, without any official position and despite all her family's well-meaning efforts. (Hence the name of the third volume, "Alone."). It is only because of who she became on the journey that she can even see the problems, let alone solve them.

What was good:
- The characterization and character development. The main characters not only growing more capable, but more morally sound. Many of the minor characters are also, by the end of the story, becoming admirable. Unlike the prototype Odyssey, the characters grow by learning to forgive (not just to take vengeance), and to be humble and disciplined. Although the characters end up being larger-than-life, they don't start out that way, and you can see how circumstances and a path of many small good decisions make them into heroes.
- The main character grows to be one of those characters like Lawrence of Arabia, who almost everyone admires and will follow to the ends of the earth. (But she most definitely doesn't start out that way.) Those characters are for me perhaps the most memorable of all characters in novels.
- This was not overly sweet or sentimental. Many fantasy novels are too saccharine to be believable; if there is a character transformation, the characters are unbelievably good in the end. This was not the case here.
- Also, the good kingdom is not totally good. It may not be an exploitative chirocracy like the other kingdom, but even the best people are people, and there are real problems, moral lapses, culpable misunderstandings, and poor choices.
- It was gritty, but only just at the level that made the plot believable. You might think that a story about degrading slavery would be truly horrifying, but the author does not seem to revel in sordid descriptions of the things that evil people do. (If she had, I would likely not have finished the book; I have certainly bounced out of other books that did.) There is physical abuse and rape but only as necessary for the story. How in a world with such huge power imbalances can you *not* have those things? Many fantasy stories lose their believability not because of magic but because of a naive view of human nature. In this way, I found the story something of a relief from the all-too-clean fantasy worlds.
- The evil people are not totally evil. In fact, they are drawn with a good deal of sympathy. Because the protagonist spends so much time serving them, we can understand them pretty well as humans, not monsters, and each of them has different flaws. Several of them repent to a greater or lesser extent (though in the climax, one of those who begins to repent still dies for his sins).
- As part of the depth of the antagonists, the author does have a good bit to say about how the corrupt systems, or poor choices by other people, have made these evil people who they are. But they still make their own evil choices as well.
- There are people who are not wholly either on the bad side or on the good side. Flawed characters, corrupted by circumstances, yet still possessing or beginning to acquire noble values--you don't know which way they will turn, and probably they don't themselves. Several of them become minor viewpoint characters, which allows us to glimpse their internal struggles. This adds a richness to the story that would be missing if we only saw their actions.
- The romance which develops gradually over the three volumes is thankfully not one of those insta-love stories, where only circumstances keep the lovers from... whatever. It's a responsible romance, I guess you could call it. Both main characters are or become physically damaged, not perfect specimens of beauty. They behave like humans, not animals; they have attraction (after being initially enemies), but they know to consider long term consequences.
- The society's attitudes toward marriage and romance don't feel anachronistic. Arranged marriages are the norm, not falling in love. In the absence of birth control, sexual mores and taboos make a lot more sense, and seem appropriate in the story (there is no feeling that somehow the standards are arbitrary and oppressive). The concern over who the father of the kid is, which presumably comes from hundreds of thousands of years of evolutionary history, can't be swept under the rug. Fantasy novels that portray a pseudo-medieval society with hippie morals feel wrong. This one did not.
- It's just a darn good story. If it were all just the character stuff, I wouldn't have lasted. But I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next, and the plot does deliver. There is no shortage of harrowing escapes, grueling treks, wounds, weakness, and misfortune. You really grow to like these characters, so their dangers keep you on the edge of your seat.

What was less good:
- Although the copy I had claims to have had a major fix-up edit in 2019, there are still notable errors--"gate" instead of "gait", etc. These aren't so frequent that they are really annoying, and they don't detract in any major way, but they caused me a bit of confusion until I realized what was wrong.
- While the plot was good and absorbing, I can't say it was the most awesome one ever.
- It is gritty. Given the plot, it has to be. But you might not like that, or might not be in a position to be able to take that.
- There is little or no charming humor. ( )