Alphabet of Thorn

Alphabet of Thorn is a 2004 fantasy novel by Patricia A. McKillip, ISBN 0441011306.

Nepenthe is a sixteen-year-old maiden who was found and raised by the Royal Librarians of Raine. During the new queen's coronation, visitors and ambassadors from the Twelve Crowns (domains) that comprise Raine gauge Queen Tessera's strength. Bourne of Seale, a junior mage from the Floating School, meets Nepenthe in the library with a book made from an animal hide unknown in the Twelve Crowns and inscribed with an unknown language.

Nepenthe plans to deliver the book to Master Librarian Croysus, but she then decides to transcribe it herself. She divides her time between her official duties and translating the book, which seems to be written in configurations of plant thorns. Both Bourne and Laidley, another transcriptor in the Royal Library, note Nepenthe's obsession with learning the book's outcome. On the surface, it appears to be an epic poem documenting the conquests of Axis and Kane, an emperor and "the Hooded One", three thousand years ago.

As Nepenthe continues reading, though, the ruler of the Second Crown(Seale) prepares to usurp the throne from Tessera, whom he views as weak. This view is borne out when Tessera disappears into the woods around the Floating School for a time and can't explain it. The Raine court mage Vevay learns of a dream Tessera had that "the Dreamer", the first ruler of Raine, awoke and said that thorns would be responsible for Raine's destruction. That's confusing enough, but Tessera reveals that "the Dreamer", whom history recorded as a man, was actually a woman.

Nepenthe reads in the mysterious book how Axis and Kane conquered the known world and expanded their kingdom. Upon reading some of the place names, Nepenthe and Laidley confirm that the story of Axis and Kane must be fiction, for it records conquests of places that didn't even exist three millennia before. Reading further as Seine's army marches (and Bourne is imprisoned for treason), Nepenthe learns that Axis and Kane traveled through time to expand the reach and strength of Axis' empire. Popular histories in Raine list the man Kane as Axis' court mage; Kane was, but the woman Kane was also his lover who opened the Gates of Time for him. Kane became pregnant with his child, but she traveled with the infant through time because Axis' queen would never let her acknowledge his illegitimate child as his heir.

Kane arrived with her and Axis' daughter by a cliffside near Raine, and in anonymity she writes a book about her life in the language of thorns. Thanks to her enchantments, no one but her daughter will be able to read it -- which at the book's climax, she has. The final words of the book open the Gates of Time that admit Axis and Kane, Nepenthe's parents, and their uncountable legions of followers near Raine, three thousand years in their future.

When Queen Tessara has learned of the planned invasion, the Floating School attempts to use magic to convince Axis and Kane's forces that Raine is a dilapidated ruin. When this fails, Nepenthe is offered the rule of Raine in her father's name, but she refuses it outright in the presence on Bourne (who escaped his prison by turning invisible), Court Mage Vevay, Laidley, and Queen Tessara because it would require Nepenthe to turn her back on the only world she's ever known; in addition, three thousand years now separate Nepenthe from her parents. The army withdraws, but Kane chooses to remain behind, effectively stopping Axis' conquests -- without her, he can't travel through the Gates of Time. The forces of Seine retreated at the army's initial appearance, thereby strengthing Tessara's claim on the throne of Raine. Kane will stay with her daughter Nepenthe in Raine and learn the local language, and Nepenthe will remain in the Royal Library, the only world she's ever known.

Collector's Notes: <P>McKillip, Patricia A. ALPHABET OF THORN. New York: Ace, [February] 2004. 314p., $22.95, ISBN 0-441-01130-6. Gem-sized (5 3/8" x 7 1/2") hardcover with paper boards in light yellow with light brown/mustard wrap to spine. Jacket art by Kinuko Y. Craft. "First edition: February 2004" stated on copyright page; number line 10-1 indicates printing. Hardcover with paper boards in light yellow with light brown/mustard wrap to spine. <P>Although acknowledged as one of the finest fantasy writers working today, and uniformly well-reviewed in both mainstream and genre forums, McKillip may not be to every fantasy reader's taste. Devotees of the more accessible, facile sort of fantasy (see: Melanie Rawn, David Eddings, et. al.) may find her more fundamental influences and slightly archaic style a bit off-putting. Perhaps this explains why, even after myriad outstanding reviews and recommendations, her work lacks the widespread popularity of certain other fantasists; possibly the strong feminine viewpoint contributes to this as well. I see these as strengths: there is a consistency of character and setting, an established and maintained atmosphere in each of her books that rings wholly true; if her perspective skews towards the feminine, well, so much much the better for the immediate and strong female characters she draws, and the better to understand how the men that surround them truly appear. <P>Alphabet of Thorn, moreso than much "traditional" fantasy, benefits from these attributes: set at either end of circumstance (and time), two women's lives unfold, drawing closer together as the intricacies of the novel compound: in our near view, a librarian, a foundling, with a passion for her work and a world only beginning to expand beyond it; at the far, a woman of great power who chooses nearly an opposite path. McKillip presents each with a clarity and depth that binds us to them, enveloping us as much in their lives and loves as in the story itself, which builds to a fine (if a trifle abrupt) conclusion. The scope of the book adds a depth that most writers have to struggle for; here, it feels near effortless. <P>Overall, this novel (with Ombria in Shadow and Song for the Basilisk) deserves to be regarded as top-tier among the fine work Patricia McKillip has produced in the years since her early masterwork, the "Riddle-Master" trilogy, was published This is one to seek out in a fine first edition, and add to the permanent collection.