Three Step Trilogy: The Poison Throne [1]

Damn. It happened again. 

I sat down to finally write my review of this book. My laptop was on and raring to go and I had fresh supplies of tea on hand. But, it's been a year since I read The Poison Throne, Book One of Celine Kiernan's Moorehawke Trilogy and I thought to myself, I better have a quick read over the first few pages, just to make sure I remember it right. 

I ended up reading the lot. Again. All 468 pages of it. Which tells you a lot about this book, I think; quite simply, it's gripping stuff. 

Premise

Wynter Moorehawke, Protector Lady and apprentice carpenter, returns with her father Lorcan to King Jonathon’s realm after five years in the Northlands. The peaceful and tolerant realm of her childhood has altered in her absence; the cages and gibbets have returned to the crossroads and all forms of resistance to the King are violently suppressed. Crown Prince Alberon is missing and the King seems determined to force his bastard son Razi to the throne. Facing threats of torture, assassination and imprisonment for herself and those she loves, Wynter must navigate the deadly world of court intrigue and decide where her loyalties lie.

In Media Res

Horace in his Ars Poetica used the term in media res (Latin: in the midde of things) to describe the qualities of the ideal epic poet. For Horace, the master poet would go straight to the heart of the poem, beginning his narration at the mid-point or climax of the story. It is a technique largely used to heighten dramatic tension and create a sense of mystery, with the earlier part of the story being filled in through flashback and retrospective narration.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the feeling of being dropped straight into the middle of the Kiernan's created world. Jonathon’s kingdom does not begin and end with the arrival of Wynter Moorehawke; it reads as a living, breathing universe only partially glimpsed from her limited perspective. The novel’s protagonists – Wynter, Razi and Christopher – find themselves caught up in decisions and events that are not of their own making, and over which they have little control.

Unlike most epic poetry, The Poison Throne is narrated chronologically in the main, with the rich backstory being skilfully woven into present events. However, the action dictates that the choices of the previous generation will stalk their offspring with malevolent intensity. The misdeeds of the past simply refuse to remain hidden. This is best realised in the whispered rumours of “The Bloody Machine.”

Characters

People talk about novels being “plot driven” or “character driven” but really, a successful novel must be both. The Poison Throne follows the twists and turns of palace life but it is the wonderful characters that the novelist creates that keeps us reading (and re-reading). 

Wynter Moorehawke is the fiesty heroine, the girl apprentice in a man's trade. Her place at court and in her trade is fully dependent on the good will of the King; the 'Protector' title is largely an honourary title granted by the king who also holds back the Moorehawke licence of work. As a woman she is physically and politically weaker than many of her opponents, though she is well schooled in court etiquette and diplomacy. 


Razi is son on a King, a reluctant heir to the throne now that his brother is left. Trained as a doctor, he has no desire to rule, though he is generally regarded as his brother's eager usurper. A hated man, Razi is subtle and politic, a victim of several assassination attempts and racial and religious prejudice. His tendency towards self-sacrifice can manifest in imperious decision making for others as well as himself.


Christopher Garron is lethal and loyal in equal parts. More worryingly for his friends, he lacks the finesse necessary to survive court life. His complex heritage weaves together the darker and lighter sides of his personality, making him a lovable and dangerous individual. His irrepressible vitality and humour make him a wonderful ally and friend.

The World of the Story

The Moorehawke Trilogy is set an alternative Renaissance Europe, marking a deviation from the typical medievalism of fantasy fare. The Poison Throne creates a plausible and sometimes graphic picture of the violence and cutthroat diplomacy of court life. Much of the drama in the novel is borne of the gap between the way the kingdom was and the way it is at the time of the story.

Wynter returns to find the kingdom’s talking cats have been poisoned. Her childhood friend – Shearing’s ghost – flees at the sight of her and she learns that talking to the palace ghosts is now a punishable offence. These new restrictions are symptomatic of the growing paranoia of the King following the Crown Prince’s departure. The ravens have returned, drawn by the promise of carrion from the bodies of tortured prisoners impaled on the trophy spikes in the Keep.

Jonathon’s increasing cruelty has a rippling effect throughout his multicultural kingdom. Old antagonisms are rekindled and religious and racial intolerance rears its ugly head. Razi the Arab “pretender to the throne” is subject to repeated assassination attempts and Hadrish boy Christopher Garron repeatedly falls foul of this nest of vipers. Wynter’s father Lorcan, who has sacrificed his own health in honour of his life-long friendship and loyalty to Jonathon, is inclined to maintain the status quo, but even he must acknowledge the cost involved:

‘If this continues – the gibbets, the repression, the mortuus in vita – everything will be ruined. We will become like all the others.’ Wynter spun her hand in a circle, indicating all the kingdoms that surrounded them, rancid with hate and self imposed ignorance and fear. ‘It will be like a candle snuffed in the depths of night.’

Lorcan pressed his head back into the pillow and looked up at the ceiling, his face hopeless. ‘I thought we could just do this,’ he whispered. ‘Just go blind and deaf and dumb, and walk through this and out to the other side.’

‘And what would there be on the other side, worth walking out to?’ she said gently.

Themes of justice and social responsibility are prominent in this novel, though thankfully the author manages not to be preachy. The insidious decline on the kingdom is enough to demonstrate what it is that is being sacrificed.

Symbol: The Library

Jonathon’s library is a potent symbol of changes in the realm. The library had once been Jonathon’s life work. In it he gathered books which were routinely burnt, condemned or outlawed across Europe. At one point in the novel the library is described as a, “tremendous shining light in the increasingly black void of ignorance.” It is in the library that master carpenter, Lorcan Moorehawke has chronicled the lives of his and Jonathon’s families and friends in innumerable carvings and friezes. The immense collection with ornately decorated shelves stood as a testament to the generosity and vision of two great men, working hand in hand.

Once a beacon of civilisation, the library now becomes a site of grave repression. The King demands that his son be erased from the library walls. Wynter and her father are forced to destroy Lorcan’s life work and deny a past that is beloved to both. Under orders from the King, they erase Alberon's existence from its walls. The end result has a scarred appearance; the carpenters have made no attempt to mask the destruction wrought upon Lorcan’s beautiful craftsmanship. Reminiscent of the Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban or the falsification of photographs in Stalin’s Russia, the destruction of the library illustrates Aeschylus’ dictum that “In war, truth is the first casualty.”

And that's it for today. If you'd like to read my interview with Celine Kiernan click here. Reviews of Part Two and Three of The Moorehawke Trilogy will be posted in the coming week.