By Tina Connolly
Tor, 2014. 240 pages. Science fiction.
Set 10 years after Copperhead, Silverblind follows Dorie Rochart, the half-fey ward of artistic genius Edward Rochart. Finished with university and aching to put her scientific knowledge to use, Dorie starts looking for work - only to find that being a girl seriously impairs her employability. Undaunted, Dorie does the one thing she has vowed never to do - use her fey powers - in order to disguise herself as a boy. Little does she know that she'll be working with the one boy she loved the most and betrayed the most. And in addition to her emotional turmoil, Dorie begins to learn that the research she is conducting is being used to eradicate the fey completely from the land. Will Dorie be able to save the fey and find forgiveness?
In spite of - or perhaps because of - being the most complex book of the trilogy, this may have been my favorite to read. There is a lot of stuff going on, from the Victorian social norms that are the backdrop of Connolly's semi-historical land, to the human/dwarvven/fey politics that motivate a huge part of the action, to Dorie's own fears and struggles, especially with her betrayed step-cousin, Tam. But I felt at the same time that I could most connect with the characters in this book and Dorie's blatant flaws made her very easy to relate to. I also liked that in both this book and the previous book in the series, Connolly has stepped away from a strict retelling of a classic (the first book in the series being a steampunk retelling of Jane Eyre) and telling her own story instead. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read, an amazing admission from someone who doesn't read a lot of sci-fi/fantasy.
JH
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