miércoles, 29 de octubre de 2014

WATERFIRE SAGA REVIEW: SETTINGS, CHARACTERS...

The Waterfire Saga, that merfolk epic by Jennifer Donnelly, has recently come up in Spain:





The story is about feuding kingdoms of merfolk coming together to face a common threat. There were a couple of places and characters that made me SQUEE, so here are the fact:

SETTINGS!!

Tsarno, a fortress town in the western Mediterranean. 
So outpostly!! So Küstrin-like!! And with a Slavic name, in a Mediterranean kingdom... also spells C-R-O-A-T-I-A!
the fortress at Tsarno.
Also, there are villages in all the kingdoms, and rural areas called Barrens...
(The only con is that the Colleggio, the in-'verse university, is located in the capital of the realm, instead of in some more provincial community... at least so I thought in Book I, the second has revealed that there IS A UNIVERSITY IN TSARNO!!!)
Ondalina, the mer realm in the Arctic waters

CHARACTERS
Each of the heroines was from a different nation and had a different power. 
There were two girls... well... merls in the team of heroines that caught my attention: Astrid, the Nordic and the warrior (a healer)



Astrid has long, white-blonde hair, icy blue eyes... she wears a long sealskin vest embroidered with silver thread and scabbard made from sealskin hanging from her waist, her hair is in two ornate braids running along the sides of her head with the rest of it loose. Astrid is rather fond of dueling. In Deep Blue she is also shown to have skills with throwing a ball as well as having a good sense of humor, despite her tough exterior.
Astrid is shown to be very brave and tough. Also, she doesn't back down from a fight. Deep inside, Astrid was afraid of the dangers and admitted that she couldn't choose how to use her magic. Astrid, unlike the other mermaids, doesn't use much magic, she prefers fighting with her sword. She is demonstrated to have great sword skills, shown when she cut off one of Abbadon's hands.
LONG STORY SHORT: CHUCK NORRIS IS SCARED STIFF OF ASTRID KOLFINNSDOTTIR.


and Ling, the clever omnivoxa or polyglot (an Asian)

Astrid comes from the North/Arctic/Scandinavia, and she's the tomboy/warrior/Rainbow Dash/Brienne of the team... 
There's also another character, Becca, who appears to be both a nerd, a bookworm tomboy... and the Applejack kind of career- and family-oriented character so rarely found in magical girl series. Becca is a firebender with nerd spectacles and a university student to whom her career is the most important thing...
Becca carries a pocketwatch around her neck. She wears a plaid dress with a high collar.When she is first introduced in the book, she wears gold-rimmed glasses, a pearl necklace, hair combs and carries a travelling case. She used to work after school at a pearl shop, where they put songspells in pearls and released them. Her full name is Rebecca Quickfin, she is an orphan, and left-handed.
She describes herself as 'nobody' and 'invisible', showing that she isn't very self-confident and is also very quiet. It is said that she often tries to please her mother. Becca is colourful and laughing, with a keen attitude for learning. 



And Ava, the visually impaired Afro-Brazilian one endowed with a prophet's sight. Rapier wit due to outsider status (both race and disability), much à la Tyrion Lannister! Due to her powers (she is a seer and a clairvoyant in spite of being visually impaired) and her sarcasm, she reminds me of Toph Beifong...




while Lin, the clever and gentle bookworm, has the power to speak and understand all languages in existence (human, animal, or even vegetable!!)

Ling is from Qin and speaks and understands all language due to her descent from Sycorax; she’s an omnivoxa, One Who Sings All Creatures’ Songs with a responsibility to speak Truth. 

Kingdom of Ondalina
Based in the Arctic. Admiral Kolfinn seems to be the ruler. Astrid is his daughter, and a descendant of Orfeo (the healer god). She was supposed to be part of the hostage exchange.
Kolfinn's sister, Sigurlin (she has got an aunt as well) is also mentioned.

Astrid, Kolfinn's daughter... She appears to gbe a real badass. You know I love Brienne of Tarth and Rainbow Dash. Well I've got another character on my hit list:

Astrid yelled, defty ducking the missile.
"Where does this crazy little tour end, anyway?", Astrid called out from the back.
Astrid had gone back to bouncing her caballabong ball.
"Nevermind. Just forget it", Astrid said. "I can't be part of this nutsy little playdate any longer. The realms are on the verge of war, in case you haven't noticed".
But Astrid didn't listen. With a warrior's roar, she swung her sword at the monster...
But instead of talking, Astrid brusquely pushed back her.
Suddenly, a blur of black and white flashed past them. It was Astrid, moving with deadly speed. "Not If I can help it", she growled.
"This is totally insane", Astrid said.
"Nothing", Astrid said brusquely. "It's been real. Good luck with it all." She tried to swim out of the study, but two armed frogs blocked her.
"Astrid, you are totally out of line!", Ava said. But Astrid didn't listen.

On Ling and her omnivoxa powers:

"I can speak Dracdemara, his language. I'm an omnivoxa"
She was born an omnivoxa, and her magical powers strenghtened her gift.
She could speak not just many languages, but every language. Not only human tongues, but those of animals, trees, and flowers.
Ling had tears in her eyes.
Ling said "Uh-oh".
A hand closed on her arm. It was Ling.
"Great", Ling said.  looking over her shoulder. 

Astrid and Ling having good chemistry?

"Astrid, you're funny", Ling said when the laughter had subsided. "Who knew?" "Don't tell anyone", Astrid said, bouncing her ball again.
- Les Opafago dévorent leurs victimes vivants, tu sais ça ? lança Astrid. Pour que leur coeur continue de battre et de faire circuler le sang. Ca rend la chair plus juteuse. 
- Astrid, tu es mon rayon de soleil, dit Ling en sautant de la table où elle était assise.

Then we’ve got Ling, who can speak almost any language underneath the sea, which I think is awesome, she’s more of the quiet type.
Astrid, Admiral Kolfin’s daughter of the Ondalina.

Ling is soft, peaceful and smart. She uses her brains and gentle nature to communicate with plants and animals.
Astrid is the oddball of the bunch. She’s bold and headstrong, but deep-rooted issues keep her from trusting the girls at first.

I could as well be Ling, who’s so smart, but I’m probably Astrid, who’s obstinate, tactless, and quick-tempered.

Ling, forte e gentile allo stesso tempo, con un acuto intelletto, non ha paura di mostrare con orgoglio la spada che porta sulla schiena. Parla fluentemente le lingue di tutte le creature, persone, animali, fiori e alberi. Sempre pronta a mettere pace e abile negoziatrice.

Becca, impetuosa e veloce con i capelli rossi e ricci, gli occhi azzurri e le lentiggini.

Ava, spiritosa, sincera, capace di prevedere il futuro, con lunghissime trecce nere e squame marroni, indossa sempre occhiali da sole e ha per animale domestico un piranha che tiene al guinzaglio, sa predire il futuro.

Astrid, testarda, coraggiosa e in possesso di poteri magici potentissimi, con lunghe trecce bionde e gelidi occhi azzurri, ha striature bianche e nere simili a quelle di un’orca. Astrid è tagliata fuori dal gruppo ma saprà riconquistarsi la loro fiducia mettendosi in gioco in prima persona per il bene del popolo marino.

Tsarno is a fortress.

GIVES ME AN IDEA FOR FANDOM (TSARNO AS SETTING, OR LING AND ASTRID AS CHARACTERS, OR SOMEONE BEING AN OMNIVOXA... Astrid captive at Tsarno, Lin arrives, what else can ensue then?)

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario