Title: The Chronicle of Secret Riven Series: Keeper of Tales #2
Author: Ronlyn Domingue
Published: May 20, 2014
Genre(s): Fantasy
Page Count: 385
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:One thousand years after a great conflict known as The Mapmaker’s War, a daughter is born to an ambitious historian and a gifted translator. Secret Riven doesn’t speak until her seventh year but can mysteriously communicate with plants and animals. Unsettled by visions and dreams since childhood, she tries to hide her strangeness, especially from her mercurial father and cold mother. Yet gentle, watchful Secret finds acceptance from Prince Nikolas, her best friend, and Old Woman, who lives in the distant woods.
When Secret is twelve, her mother receives an arcane manuscript to translate from an anonymous owner. Zavet suffers from nightmares and withdraws into herself. Secret sickens with a fever and awakens able to speak an ancient language, one her mother knows as well. Suddenly, Zavet dies. The manuscript is missing, but a cipher has been left for Secret to find.
Years later, Secret becomes a translator’s apprentice for Fewmany, an influential magnate, who has taken an interest in her for reasons she cannot discern. Before Secret learns why, Old Woman confronts Secret with the truth of her destiny—a choice she must make that is tied to an ancient past.
Seeing that The Mapmaker’s War was one of my favorite 2013 reads, I was certainly eager to read this sequel. The world and mythology of this series is excellent, and Ronlyn Domingue tells her stories in such a way that defies specific categorization. The Chronicle of Secret Riven didn’t quite live up to the first book, but it was still a good story.
This book takes place 1,000 years after the events of book 1, so it could almost be considered a standalone, though I believe certain aspects of the book would work better if you read the first book. In either case, The Chronicle of Secret Riven deals with a young girl, named Secret Riven, who’s different from her peers, and how those differences play out in her coming of age. The book ends when she’s 16, with the expectation that the final book in the trilogy will complete her story.
A lot of the same things I liked in The Mapmaker’s War came into play with its sequel. Domingue’s writing is atmospheric and evocative, and she establishes her characters and setting in a unique way. Secret was an intriguing character, and the events of her childhood weren’t boring at all. I liked the presence of myth and fable in the story, though some things were left too ambiguous for me.
Where I was disappointed with The Chronicle of Secret Riven, though, is that I thought it ended before it truly began. Domingue spents the entirety of the book establishing who Secret is, what her goals are, who her friends are, her struggles. Then, at the very end, she is told what her “purpose” in life is…and that’s it. The meat of the story will be contained in the following installment (I assume). While Secret is an interesting character, and her overarching story is doubtless well told, this book does not stand up well individually. It’s very much a bridge book, and I somewhat question if its length is necessary, and if Domingue couldn’t have told all of Secret’s story in one volume. As it is, I’m not sure what happened in this book is deserving of its own novel.
But, in any case, The Chronicle of Secret Riven is a unique, thought-provoking sort of fantasy(?) novel that stands out from the pack, though perhaps we could compare this series to Juliet Marillier’s writing. I’m interested to see how Domingue concludes things in the trilogy’s final installment, at the very least.
