Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta was published in 2009, and I remember reading it and thinking that it was one of the best fantasy books I had read in a while. But I also remember thinking that it was fantastic on its own, it didn’t really need a sequel. Yet, when I went to the house that I was house-sitting at, I found the sequel sitting in her library, Froi of the Exiles. I was kind of surprised there was a sequel, especially so long after the first one had been published. But I definitely wasn’t disappointed. Even though I didn’t really remember what happened in Finnikin of the Rock, I found that it wasn’t really necessary to remember everything that happened. Since the story followed a completely different character, it wasn’t as confusing as I thought it was going to be.
Finnikin of the Rock told the story of Finnkin and Evanjalin, who worked together to save the kingdom of Lumatere. Froi of the Exiles takes place afterwards, when it seems as though peace as been restored to the world. However, there is still one problem to be taken care of. The kingdom of Charyn is unpredictable, and known to be enemies with Lumatere. Froi was an outsider, taken in by Evanjalin and Finnikin and trained by their guard, thought to be one of their family. And he is the only one that can solve the problem between Lumatere and Charyn. But going there will unravel the mysteries of Froi’s kinship, and throw Froi into the path of the half-mad princess of Charyn. Froi will eventually realize that he has to chose between the family that he has come to know, and the one that is actually his kin.
First of all, talk about a complicated plot. Marchetta weaves so many different things into this book that, at times, it is difficult to keep track of what’s happening. And since all of the names are so strange, I found that it took me a little bit to actually figure out how everyone fit together. If I remember correctly, I think I had the same problem with Finnikin of the Rock. However, I don’t think that that takes away from the story. Marchetta has created a great piece of young adult fantasy, one that I definitely look forward to seeing the end to, as long as I don’t have to wait three years for it. Marchetta also has a fabulous writing style, one that almost seemed lyrical. It wasn’t so detailed that you would get bogged down by all of the details of the world that she created, but it included enough details that you could easily picture the world in your head. Definitely enjoyable. I hope she publishes the next one before I forget everything that happened in this one.
Well that’s it for now. Next I will be reading Fear by Michael Grant. So far, it’s proven to be quite creepy and disturbing, and I’m sure that won’t change throughout the rest of the book. Until next time, happy reading! 🙂