The Bone Doll's Twin

Lynn Flewelling

There oughta be a law. Really. Ending books like George Martin ended A Storm of Swords or Lynn Flewelling ended The Bone Doll's Twin is simply cruel and unusual punishment. I'm very glad I read this in 2005, when the sequel is already out and I can pick it up ASAP. (I've been gnawing my own arm off for five years waiting for the next Martin novel.)

Like most pieces of epic fantasy I've read in the past number of years, The Bone Doll's Twin gets off to something of a low start. I'm finding, however, that the slower the start, the better the book is likely to be. Odd, but true. You'll likely go through a period of confusion while acclimating yourself to Flewelling's world and the various terminology that seems mandatory in fantasy worlds. Once you get to the point where everything clicks, though, there's a story to be had, and it's a good one. It's also rather surprising, in a number of ways.

The book opens with a pair of wizards and a hedge-witch attending a royal birth. They're there because the present king, trying to get around a longstanding prophecy, has been having all the female children of the extended royal family killed. This particular birth results in twins, so the wizards and hedge-witch kill the male child and use magic to bind the male child's features to the female child. The male child's spirit, however, refuses to stay dead, and (of course) wants revenge on everyone involved, including his twin sister.

Dark enough for you yet? The rest of the book focuses on the surviving twin, named Tobin, who is raised away from court in a secluded summer house owned by his father. It also jets off every now and again to Iya and Arkoniel, the pair of wizards from the birth, whose sections serve to report to us, the readers, how things are faring in the wider world. (A nice conceit, that, and subtly done.)

If there are flaws in The Bone Doll's Twin, they are two; the slow beginning, already mentioned, and the fact that this one's mostly setup. Not surprising in the first of a trilogy, but it's a bit on the obvious side. Still, that doesn't make it any less gripping once things get off the ground, and Flewelling looks to have a winning trilogy in the wings.

Now I just hope that the third book, Oracle's Queen, comes out on time (supposedly early in 2006, as of this writing). I don't want to have to gnaw my other arm off waiting for this one.