NETTLE & BONE by T. Kingfisher
Review by Cyndi J. (cyndij)
This is a lovely standalone fantasy from award-winning author T.Kingfisher, who also writes as Ursula Vernon. It has well-drawn characters, excellent world-building, and moves along at just the right pace to keep you glued to the page. The fairytale elements are not quite what we expect. There are fairy godmothers to be sure, and a strong warrior, but also bone-dogs and dust-wives.
Marra is the third-born princess of a very small kingdom, with a deep-water port coveted by two larger kingdoms on either side. Marra’s sister is given in marriage to the prince of one of those, thereby assuring peace. When Damia dies after only a few months, second sister Kania is sent to take her place. Marra is sent to a convent, conveniently out of the way but also held in reserve, although Marra doesn’t realize this. She’s happy at the convent.
At the birth of Kania’s daughter, Kania tells Marra something disquieting – but she’s in labor and Marra knows women say all sorts of things then. As the years pass Marra keeps getting letters saying Kania is with child, but there’s never a birth, so she knows there must be multiple miscarriages. And when the surviving daughter dies, Marra learns the awful truth at the funeral. She has to save her sister. But how? Every idea ends up with Kania dead or their little kingdom in ruins. Oh, wait… there’s one way…
Thus begins her quest to kill Prince Vorling. But he was given protection at birth by a powerful godmother’s blessing. Marra needs a powerful witch too, so she finds a dust-wife. The dust-wife sets her three impossible tasks, and after Marra accomplishes two of them, throws up her hands in exasperation. “You give someone an impossible task so they won’t be able to do it” she says, and gives Marra the third as a freebie. Then she joins Marra and Bonedog to get what they need for the task. They rescue a man from the goblin market, and find Marra’s fairy godmother. Let’s not forget the demon chicken.
This is such a good book. It really would be a grim fairy tale if not for the gentle humor that Kingfisher infuses all through the story. The dialogue is spot-on for the characters. I loved how Marra steps up to save her sister, even though they never got along as children. I loved Agnes, Marra’s fairy godmother, who is better at curses than blessings, but won’t use curses. Fenris, the dust-wife, even Bonedog are all rich characters. We can relate to Marra’s mother who we see only in a few paragraphs. The scenes are vivid – you will be repelled by the goblin market and feel yourself lost in the dark of the tombs. The ending is deeply satisfying.
I highly recommend this to any fantasy fan, adult or YA.
