Review: Eolyn, by Karin Rita Gastreich

Release Date: 2011 (this book is eligible for nomination for the Nebula and Hugo awards)

Genre: Fantasy

Eolyn, the debut novel by Karin Rita Gastreich, is an epic fantasy adventure with rich worldbuilding and a strong romance subplot, and the eponymous story of a girl who is the last remaining maga (trained magic-user) of a long tradition of women’s magic in a world which has brutally purged and repressed that tradition. She survives an attack on her village, takes refuge in the ancient woods with an old crone who has also survived the purges, and is trained in the arts of magic. While growing up, she meets a mysterious boy in the woods who comes and goes; he too is learning magic. They become friends and as they grow, begin to have inklings that they could be more than friends to one another. But when Eolyn undertakes her final training in High Magic, their paths must part, though both swear to see each other again.

Eolyn’s mentor dies and leaves her alone, so that she must leave the forest that has sheltered them and go out into the world. She meets and joins up with a troupe of performers led by a mage, all the while hiding who she truly is. But secrets can’t be kept forever and the forces of rebellion and civil war begin to swirl around her and her companions. Eolyn must make tough choices and stay true to herself and her commitment to her magic, even when she discovers who her childhood love has become: the powerful Mage-King of this country who has systematically destroyed women like her.

As a reader, there are certain topics or themes I really like in a book, certain tropes I particularly love no matter how many times I encounter them. Eolyn has a great many of my favorite fantasy tropes: innocent girls with good morals and big destinies, strong women surviving in and subverting an oppressive system, love of forests and the natural world, wise mentors, star-crossed lovers, dragons, circus performers, tough decisions, sacrifices for the greater good, bad guys who think they’re doing the right thing, complex magic systems...I could go on and on. The thing that made this book a joy to read and not just another familiar, commonplace fantasy novel is that each of these tropes were thoughtfully and deftly handled by Gastreich, often tweaked in satisfying and unexpected ways, and not just invoked as trite clichés that don’t offer anything new or interesting to a reader. The characters were dimensional and sometimes flawed, and they and their motivations generally felt realistic (even the villains had justifiable-to-them reasons for doing what they did, which I appreciate). Even the setting is an enjoyable, thorough, well-thought out, realistic and richly detailed version of your standard medieval European fantasy world. It made me want to explore it more and find out more about some of the things that Gastreich only offers tantalizing hints about in passing.

I especially appreciated the feminist themes and questions of this book, which echo real life themes and questions in our world. (And isn’t that precisely what good speculative fiction should do?) In the context of this particular fantasy world, Gastreich comments on sexism, sexuality, autonomy and personal choices, work vs. relationships, our relationship to our bodies and the natural world, and more. Her romance between Eolyn and the Mage-King feels true in its messiness and difficulties, and not just like a stereotypical fairytale.

The only trope/part of the book that wasn’t fabulously successful to me was the part where we discover that Eolyn’s brother—whom she thought dead—is the one leading the rebellion against the Mage-King, and the inevitable pitting of her loyalty to her brother against her loyalty to her new friends, her loyalty to her magic, and her feelings about the man she thinks she loves. To me at least, the brother, Ernan, wasn’t quite as dimensional or interesting of a character as the others, and thus I felt less engaged in Eolyn’s choices around what to do and whom to do it with. Because the whole rebellion seemed to spring up quickly and without a lot of buildup, I also felt a little rushed into the last part of the book, with its epic battle scenes and heroic trip to the underworld (even though they were beautifully written). Considering that this feels like “epic” fantasy, it’s actually a relatively short book—I would have liked to spend a little more time in this world and with these characters before getting to the big climax.

Overall Impressions: 

I very much enjoyed this book. As I said before, this book really “hit my buttons” as a fantasy reader, and if you like well written epic fantasy, romance, and the same tropes I like (innocent girls with good morals and big destinies, strong women surviving in and subverting an oppressive system, love of forests and the natural world, wise mentors, star-crossed lovers, dragons, circus performers, tough decisions, sacrifices for the greater good, bad guys who think they’re doing the right thing, complex magic systems, etc.), you’ll like it too.

Chick Points:

[We award "chick points" from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) for each book we read. Point awards are of course totally subjective, but we hope they at least give a flavor of where a book stands on specific feminist subjects.]

Strong Female Characters: @@@@@ (5 points out of 5)

In addition to Eolyn, who is a very well drawn and strong female protagonist, there were many other intriguing and powerful women in this book (I really liked Eolyn’s mentor Ghemena as well as some of Eolyn’s fellow performers in the Circle. In fact, I wish Gastreich would write a book just about the Circle so I could get some more backstory and more of the interactions between those women.)

Treatment of Women in the Book: @@@@@ (5 points out of 5)

This book explicitly took on issues of being a woman in a man’s culture, and what it felt like to have your own reality and power denied and repressed by the culture. I could have happily entertained even more explicit treatment of these issues during the book, but respect that Gastreich was balancing philosophy with plot needs and that too much philosophizing would have slowed the book down.

Appearance of Women in the Cover Art: @@@@ (4 points out of 5)

The cover features Eolyn as a young woman, pausing on her way traveling out of her woods and into the rest of her life. I like the artwork, and appreciate its realism (no impossibly-posed, big-boobed women with swords here), even down to the dirt on her bare feet. However, it is a contemplative scene, and she appears very small in relation to the rest of the artwork. I would have preferred something that showed Eolyn more active, more alive and impressive. 

BUY THIS BOOK: Eolyn, by Karin Rita Gastreich