A Riddle of Roses

It was sheer luck that a local bookstore happened to be carrying a copy of this book, and that I was intrigued by the description of it. What I found was a delightful fantasy story, with some intelligent lessons to teach (lightly, not heavy-handedly), a brave and realistic heroine, a band of fun sidekicks, heavy Celtic influence and a dash of Arthurian presence.Meryl is a mabinog (bard-in-training) who is currently being punished for what she sees as a minor transgression: taking a peek into the book of Taliesin, the first bard. Now she lives with an old woman away from the hall where the Bards live, unable to study or interact with the others. Frustrated by her punishment and still grieving for her mother, Meryl decides that she will become a bard by going on a quest, to the mystical isle of Avalon. (There is also supposed to be a magical cauldron -- if you drink from it, you either go mad or become a great bard)But she rapidly finds that it's not as easy as she assumed. After a humiliating experience in a village, she meets a grumpy draoi (think a very tiny "ent") named Halstatt, who blames the ancient bard Taliesin for taking his magical rose. And when she and Halstatt venture onto a Twlwyth Teg (fairy) Way -- Meryl wearing an iron brooch -- they are in serious trouble, ordered by the King to go to Avalon and either be punished or rewarded, as the Queen says. He sends a flighty little Twlwyth Teg, Leaflighter, along with them just in case.But when one of Leaflighter's jokes goes wrong, they end up delayed with a healer-woman, whose son is a trained king's fool. Heini comes along as well, as the troubles of the little band grow worse -- and Meryl must learn what it truly is to be a bard.It's kind of surprising that this delightful fantasy wasn't snapped up by a larger publisher. This story is somewhat reminiscent of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, with the easy-to-comprehend Celtic mythos (much of it real legend -- something I noticed and enjoyed greatly) and the band of mildly idiosyncratic characters on a journey. The writing is also somewhat similar to Alexander's, though less of it is devoted to dialogue than to very evocative descriptions. The scenes in Avalon fairly chime with magic and beauty, without losing the real edge of the rest of the book. There's also a good dollop of humor: Leaflighter less so than you'd imagine, in favor of Halstatt's blunt observations about humans (and Meryl in particular). And the scene where they "transform" as a practical joke is pretty hilarious.However, like all good fantasy, we have a few lessons sprinkled throughout it -- the cauldron of Ceridwen is one. Another is the judge's conversation with Meryl about Taliesin: That if he did take Halstatt's rose, "Would that make his achievements less great, or his ideals less worthy?" The adjustment of ideals is skilfully written. As is the poetry -- many authors stink at writing poetry within the confines of a novel, but Mullin does it very well. Kasia Ch