Writers I admire, #1

Juliet Marillier is a fantasy writer from New Zealand. I got to know her years back, when her first novel, Daughter of the Forest, was translated in Dutch. By now I can proudly say that I have read all her books, most of them more than once. She distinguishes herself by a profound understanding of European folklore, which she weaves into her stories so skillfully that the magical elements appear quite as natural as breathing. Marillier describes herself as a writer of “historical fantasy”, and while her research is thorough, especially in her later works, she sometimes treats the historical parts with some flexibility in favour of the fantasy.

She has a website and a facebook page, where she is very approachable. I really like that you can actually communicate with her and receive speedy replies. She's also a regular contributor on Writer Unboxed, where she blogs about different aspects of her books and writing in general. Very insightful and fun for aspiring writers! Her most recent works are: Seer of Sevenwaters and an upcoming new series called Shadowfell.

What you should read at least:

It’s pretty hard picking just one book, especially considering that most of her works are trilogies. For everyone unfamiliar with her work, I would suggest Daughter of the Forest, the first book of the original Sevenwaters Trilogy. Though my personal favourite of the three is the second book (Son of the Shadows), Daughter of the Forest is an excellent introduction to what you might expect of every Marillier book: a rich and present sense of the Otherworld, though described in such a way that it feels less like fantasy and more like what the ancient people of Ireland might indeed have believed; a main character with a beautiful growing arc, romance that doesn’t suck, an exciting plot and most of all, feminism. But not in a butt-kicking Xena the Warrior Princess way. No, that’s not her style. Sorcha, and every other main character Marillier has created, is very much a girl of her time and culture, but that doesn’t mean she is weak. Just like in the following books, most of the time, things only work out because the heroine is strong and brave.

Ironically, one of my favourite books
should be rewared with
 Worst Cover Art Ever....

My favourite book:
Geez, that’s like deciding whether I enjoy chocolate or cheese more. For a long time I’ve considered Wolfskin to be my favourite (funnily enough one of the few books that doesn’t have a female main character and isn’t written from a first person perspective), but I am also hugely fond of Heir to Sevenwaters – which came out years after the original trilogy had concluded – and also Heart’s Blood. I think Heart’s Blood is one of the most exciting of her books, since it is so full of mystery and ghosts. I’m deducting some points because I think the title is way too cheesy. I mean, doesn’t Heart’s Blood give you the impression that you’re about to read either a Candlelight/Harlequin or a regional novel? Speaking about titles, I have to admit that I’m not always very fond of the ones used for Marillier’s novels. For example, I recently learned that the working titles for Daughter of the Forest and Son of the Shadows respectively were The Oak and the Owl and The Painted Man. Of course, publishers decide what they think sells best, but personally I like the working titles a lot more. But I digress. When it comes to my favourites, I guess it’s a tie between Son of the Shadows and Heir to Sevenwaters. Son of the Shadows is the story of the daughter of Daughter of the Forest’s main character, Liadan. Liadan is a skilled healer, and therefore rather forcibly hauled in by a band of renegade warriors, a group loosely based on the mythical Irish fianna. They want Liadan to take care of one of their mortally wounded comrades, even though the group’s leader – known as the Painted Man for his many tattoos – is initially very distrustful. I’m really not going to spoil all the things that are set into motion then, but I’ve always felt that Liadan went through a lot more growing up than characters from the other books.

...whereas the cover for Foxmask
is undoubtedly one of the most
gorgeous covers arts I've ever come across!

Heir to Sevenwaters is the story of Clodagh, the next generation of children born in the chieftaincy of Sevenwaters. When the story begins, her mother is about to give birth to the long-desired male heir. Even though the child is delivered in safety, disaster strikes soon enough when the newborn babe disappears and the family is left with a bunch of sticks vaguely resembling a baby. Only Clodagh sees how the changeling is an actual living, breathing being. The rest of the book is about her deciding to journey into the dangerous and unpredictable Otherworld to trade the changeling baby for her real brother. And also save the love of her life from eternal imprisonment, I might add.

Why she inspires me:

Throughout my own writing career (if that is not too much of an overstatement) I have been inspired and influenced by many writers, but none quite so prominently as Juliet Marillier. This influence first manifested when I was writing Moon Daughter (see my first post). Of course in retrospect I believe that I was copying Marillier’s style a little too much, but I was still trying to develop my own voice. Now I have found my own style and preferred themes, but I wonder if they had been quite the same if I had never picked up Daughter of the Forest that one day. Marillier writes about things that really work for me: folkloristic elements, especially the celtic folkore, that I have been interested in for as long as I can remember. I’m not so hot on the so-called “high fantasy” genre – with some exceptions, I usually feel that it’s a bit too much of a stretch to remain believable. Her approach is way more subtle, almost animistic in worldview. I also like it that she loosely adapts fairytales and legends. Daughter of the Forest, for example, is clearly based on the fairytale of the Seven Swans, which in turn originates from the old Irish tale The Children of Llyr.

Her main characters are another reason I favour this writer above many others. They’re always both very ordinary and domestic and at the same time quite extraordinary for their courage and willingness to plunge themselves into danger. They never seek the danger, but find that they are resourceful enough to face whatever comes their way. And of course, a theme that resonates within me very deeply: they know how to make their own choices.

In conclusion, I don’t think that Marillier’s books are always literary the deepest, artistically rendered or with the most variety, but I’ll always have a satisfactory read. And isn’t that what really matters the most, in the end?