For untold generations, the People have dwelled on the far shores known as the Headland of Slaughter. They want little to do with the strange customs of the inland folk, content to live apart and peacefully, fishing and hunting as necessary, trading only for a few essentials. They are watched over by the Guardians, each of whom represents a specific classical element (earth, fire, air, water, and spirit), and they revere the Mother, who in turn is represented by an ancient oak known simply as the Great Tree.
To the woodsinger is given the task of caring for the Great Tree. She becomes one with it in many ways, responsible for singing the events of the day, both great and little, to it. For sharing her memories with the tree. For channeling the ritual and power of belief that links the People through the generations. The current woodsinger is Alana, a young woman still coming to terms with her powers and responsibilities, struggling with the weight of the ages and the fresh memory of her lost father. She possesses the power of song, the accumulated wisdom of the woodsingers before her, and an enormous sense of duty. She’s going to need every ounce of strength before her People survive the ordeal about to befall them, though.
When Duke Coren visits from the inland, trading and expressing curiosity about the ways of the People, it’s Alana who initially trusts him, and shows him around. When Duke Coren’s men treacherously turn upon the People and steal away two of their children, it’s Alana who must rise to the challenge. The People send out a healer, a tracker, and a hunter to follow the kidnapped children. Their link to the People and their past comes in the form of a magical bavin, a part of the Great Tree sung for them by Alana. They’ll journey inland, and discover a world that fears and distrusts them, betrayed by Coren’s lies, defeated by his forces. And when they fall, Alana herself will set forth to make things right.
What the People discover is that they’ve become pawns in a political conspiracy inspired by centuries-old events. The kidnapped twins are symbolic, and very important to a ceremony that could unite the land … or divide it. The fate of the kingdom rests upon the actions of a small handful of people. So what happens when the kidnapped children don’t want to be rescued after all? And when one of the People joins Duke Coren’s plot?
Alana Woodsinger will use every bit of power and skill in her possession to restore the lost children to their home, to reunite the People, and to protect the Great Tree. But it won’t be enough, and a terrible sacrifice is going to have to be made…
Season of Sacrifice is typical of Mindy Klasky. It starts off as one story, in this case an almost traditional quest story, and soon metamorphoses into a complex, multilayered tapestry of culture clash and political intrigue. The slow alienation and seduction of the kidnapped children is fascinating to witness, as they start out defiantly and slowly come around to a new way of thinking. The culture clash experienced by Duke Coren with the People, and the People as they journey into strange lands, is just as interesting.
This is one of those books where the plot is too convoluted and intricate to explain in full without revealing way too much. Suffice it to say that the levels of interaction between the People and the inlanders, between the children and their captors, between various political factions and the priesthood, and the way in which they’re all tied together create a page-turning, rollercoaster ride. Alana grows in confidence and maturity as she guides first her fellow People and then herself through the quest. And in the end, though sacrifices must be made for the good of all, it still turns out in a way that’ll satisfy.
Season of Sacrifice is a good, entertaining stand-alone novel that takes a fresh look at the way two distinctly different cultures clash, yet rely upon one another, and how they relate where it counts. My only quibble is that once you start trying to describe it, there’s a lot of generic names. The People. The Guardians. The Great Tree. The Mother. Throwing in a name like the Headlands of Slaughter goes a long way towards rectifying this, but I wouldn’t have minded seeing some more original, memorable names. There can only be so many Peoples, after all, even if each People is the one and only People.
Ultimately, I do recommend this book, and continue to look forward to more of Mindy Klasky’s writing.