Child of a Rainless Year

Child of a Rainless Year (2005) Jane Lindskold

Although I have Jane Lindskold’s series starting with Through a Wolf’s Eyes I’ve never read it, because I simply haven’t been in the mood for a long series. However, I picked up and read Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls which I thought was absolutely marvelous. So I picked up Child of a Rainless Year which also looked interesting.

Mira is the only daughter of Colette Bogatyr. They live in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and Colette is very much the town eccentric, although in a seemingly harmless way: She dresses in a style more fitting to a previous century. Mira also has an unusual childhood, dressed in a style similar to her mother, and not starting school until quite late, where she discovers that her upbringing is quite different to that of the other girls in her class. Then her mother disappears and her life changes completely.

I loved almost everything about this book, from the easy pace, to the mystery of Mira’s life and the disappearance of her mother, to the different characters that surround Mira. Essentially, I found the book to be deeply satisfying on almost all levels.

Mira is fascinating for many reasons. She’s a single, fifty-something woman who is described as just that: aged and carrying a little extra weight. She sounds exactly like a middle-aged woman. This was a delightful change to see such an normal looking character in fantasy. Normally in fantasy, all women are thin and gorgeous and under the age of 40. I love reading about characters who seem like someone you’d know. It’s a nice change of pace from thinking that the magic in a fantasy comes from how a woman manages to stay thin and beautiful despite her lifestyle. (Not that I dislike those kinds of books, it’s just that I found Mira to be a very welcome change.)

There were a few weaknesses–I would have liked to have read more of Aunt May’s journals, and how reading those journals affected Mira. I also had some difficulty with the explanation of magic–I simply wasn’t sure how the magic explained achieved the results achieved.

But for the most part I loved the novel and the character and the story. I found the ending to be very satisfying, and as usual, I love an author who can write a complete story in a single book.

If you like Charles de Lint or Sharon Shinn, then you will definitely want to check out Child of a Rainless Year. It’s a little different from much of what you find of the fantasy shelves, but very satisfying and enjoyable.
Rating: 8.5/10

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