Fifth Book: The Sunbird

Or, why I love Elizabeth Wein.

Well, this is the latest book in the series that started with my beloved The Winter Prince. I had to work to get this one! Her books just disappear, and I don't know why, and it frustrates me so much, because they're so good and deserve to be on the shelf always, unless they have sold out to hoards of excited readers.

It's so discouraging!

But anyway, after checking back several times to see if The Sunbird was out in paperback yet, I placed an advance order. And lo and behold, it came almost at once! This book follows the adventures of Telemakos, Medraut's son, as he tries to prevent his home country, Askum (in what is now Eithiopia) from being destroyed by plague carried by smugglers. It was very, very good and engaging, and full of surprises. I was sucked in and couldn't stop reading. (I'm having very good luck with that lately. :) ) And there was quite a bit with Medraut and Goewin, old friends. Well, let's not dissemble, I'm quite in love with Medraut. And I have to admit that however good the following books are (and they are) nothing can quite rival The Winter Prince for me. It's simply a masterpiece. And I think I am always hoping Medraut will come back and narrate again, even though I understand why he hasn't.

But anyway, to the book at hand. I was definitely very engaged by the intriguing plot and the many fascinating characters, especially people like Sofya who really developed for me for the first time I was also really quite captivated by Telemakos, who is a very immediate and engaging character, and I am really interested in the fact that not only does he remind me of Medraut, his father, and Goewin, his aunt... but also, and strongly, of Lleu. The shadowy role that Lleu plays in this story, especially in the relationships between Medraut and Goewin and Medraut and Telemakos, was as fascinating to me as the exciting plot. It seemed very real, just as the combined inheritance of Telemakos, in terms of what he is like, seemed very real. It does make me have more questions about his mother, Turunesh, though, especially with the revelation at the end of the book (trying not to give anything away!)... I feel like I have a sense of her, but I don't know her well, and I certainly don't know very much about her relationship with Medraut, and only a little more about her relationship with Telemakos... or, maybe it's just that I find it interesting that Telemakos looks so strongly to Goewin and Medraut, but less to his mother. Perhaps in books to come I will learn more about her...

There was one scene that struck a bit of a false note with me, and I don't know why, because I understood all the things happening in the scene, and I agreed with the general emotional result this would produce, and I even was on board with what happened afterwards, but... I think it was the way Goewin fell apart, maybe, or the fact that too many people fell apart... I'm not sure. This is the courtroom scene, again not to give too much away for future readers. Anyway, I'd be curious to talk with these mythical future readers about this as well.

Overall, the book was excellent. And everyone should please buy books by Elizabeth E. Wein, especially The Winter Prince, which apparently is in danger of going out of print again, or perhaps already has. It's worth it. She's a wonderful writer.