Finnikin of the Rock

4932435Title: Finnikin of the Rock
Author: Melina Marchetta
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: It has all the elements a great epic fantasy should have without feeling cliched and the characters are impressively well developed.

Ten years ago the entire royal family of Lumatere was slain and the kingdom fell under a curse. Surrounded by an impenetrable magic barrier, half of her people remain trapped inside with an evil king and half wander the land outside as exiles. On the outside, Finnikin and his guardian Sir Topher have struggled to find a home for the Lumateren exiles, but when they meet an exile named Evanjalin who claims the heir to the throne is alive, they have to consider the possibility that they have a hope of returning home.

It could just have been too long since I’ve read an epic fantasy story, but I really reveled in all of the great but somewhat expected elements in this book. It never felt cliched to me; just like it was exactly what it should be. It struck me as the sort of story that my history-major friends who wish they lived in the middle ages would dream of living. It was epic. The actions of the characters affect the fate of countries Both great heroism and great sacrifice are called for. There were prophecies, curses, quests, missing heirs, and magic kingdoms. All of the elements a great epic fantasy needs were present and accounted for.

I think what kept all of this epicness from becoming over the top or cliched was the author’s amazing way with characters. All of the characters felt unique and three-dimensional. All had their strengths and their flaws. They didn’t always get along, but they did discuss their problems like human beings, instead of like frustrating characters in some young adult novel. They didn’t make their own problems. Even our hero is portrayed as very human and the author addresses some impressively modern gender role issues through his relationship with Evanjalin. Although this lacked some of the depth and world building you might see in a longer novel, overall I thought this was an incredibly impressive story with great characters.

This review was part of The Journey Home, a series of reviews and discussions of Finnikin of the Rock. You can find participants here. Thanks to Charlene at Bookish Whimsy and Paola at A Novel Idea for hosting!

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6 Comments

Filed under Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

6 Responses to Finnikin of the Rock

  1. Charlene @ Bookish Whimsy

    Great review, I’m so glad you liked this! That’s a good point you made about how the characters deal with their problems, they are pretty mature about it especially when compared to other YA novels. It’s another reason why I think this book is so intelligent – it’s realistic and relatable with adult relationships.

    And to answer the question you had about the schedule – there’s one posted here – http://novelideareviews.com/the-journey-home-welcome-to-lumatere/ Thank you for participating Katie!

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      I liked it a lot! It’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine when characters manufacture their own problems when they could instead just talk to each other about their concerns, so seeing the opposite always makes me happy :)

      Reply
  2. Allison @ The Book Wheel

    Wow, that is quite the plot and sounds like it has a lot going on! I’m glad it didn’t end up cliched, though. I’ll keep it on my maybe list.

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      I do kind of like cliches, so I might not be the best judge, but I thought the characters were well fleshed out enough to be unique. I would recommend it :)

      Reply
  3. Charlie

    “It struck me as the sort of story that my history-major friends who wish they lived in the middle ages would dream of living.” Sold! Though in addition I love the sound of the characterisation.

    Reply
    • DoingDewey

      Wonderful! I enjoyed it enough that I’m excited to hear that other people are interested :) The characters were definitely a strong a point of the story.

      Reply

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