REVIEW: Graceling, by Kristin Cashore

If you're looking for a fantasy you can sink your teeth into, try Graceling by Kristin Cashore. I admire anyone who can write fantasy that doesn't feel like a recycling of The Lord of the Rings. Graceling is imaginative and engrossing, with a love story at the center that is very involving. What I especially like is how the heroine refuses to let her love swallow up her identity. She is fiercely independent in a way that feels rather new for a literary heroine. Kudos to Cashore for writing such a great novel!

In the world of Graceling, there are seven kingdoms, all ruled by kings of varying amorality. Gracelings are people who have been "graced" with a specific gift, the mark of which is eyes of different colors. Katsa, the heroine, is graced as a born killer. Physically, Katsa is tougher and stronger than anyone else, and she is a gifted fighter. Katsa is emminently unkillable, and begins the book as a thug for her king who controls her in a way that many find themselves controlled in real life: he makes her feel badly about herself. She rebels from this king's control by running a secret counsel that seeks to bring justice to the seven kingdoms, but she soon finds that acting as a thug for a bullying king frustrates her attempts at living a just life. Katsa's new love interest, Prince Po, who is graced with fighting, is the first person in her life to suggest that she needn't bow to the authority of the king. This is when the story gets particularly interesting.

There are lots of surprises and twists in this plot, not the least of which calls into doubt the true natures of Katsa and Po's graces. I highly recommend Graceling, even to those who don't normally read fantasy. The ideas and themes in this book transcend the genre, and readers will find themselves thinking about the nature of morality, personal responsibility, and self-determination.