Stormlord's Exhile by Glenda Larke

Stormlord's Exile was everything I was hoping for.

This finale to the Watergivers trilogy pays off on existing storylines and while following the usual form of fantasy novels, managed to do a lot that was new and different. It's one of the things I can always count on Glenda Larke for, to give me a traditional fantasy with non-traditional elements. (For an example on how to bore me to tears, see Eregon).

One positive aspect I mentioned in my review of the first novel was the world-building, and that hasn't changed. I love this world's distinctive culture and priorities. It's definitely not the usual medieval-style world. In fact, I believe it's meant to be futuristic Australia, which is probably why it resonates so deeply with me. If I were a mad genius that could engineer humans to have a super-power to survive the fall of the civilization, the ability to manipulate water would be top of the list. (That or immunity to any kind of venom - the number of times I came close to being bitten as a kid kind of freaks me out in retrospect...)

Moving on, the characters are straightforward while losing none of their complexity. Jasper's feud with his brother ended in an unexpected way that was oddly satisfying, and I enjoyed the twist in the storyline involving Laisa and Senya. Laisa is the most perfect villain ever, because she's not really a villain; she's a survivor. At one point in the book, someone muses that while Taquar has no true moral code, Laisa does, but is perfectly capable of putting it aside when it conflicts with her self-interest. Senya could be taken as a deconstruction and reconstruction of the annoying two-dimensional love-rival cliche. No spoilers, but a lot of things I found previously irritating about her are explained here.

I can't go into much more details without ruining the plot, but I was very happy with how this trilogy turned out. It's the kind I'd love to see turned into a movie or mini-series. George Miller would direct, Claudia Black would be Laisa, Rose McIver would be Ryka. I give this book a big red stamp of approval.

One thing I should note is that Stormlord's Exhile was rather hard to find. I eventually hard to order in from Pulp Fiction in the city (FYI, they are amazing. Very friendly and very reasonable prices). Apparently there were only 11 copies left with Harper-Collins and it's no longer in print, so if you want a brand new edition, you'd better hop to it.

"We have lived too long attached to our past, a past that should mean nothing anymore."