The Brides of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire

"Cossy didn't know much about memory. 

All existence measures itself in creeps and ticks, as far as she knew."

The seven brides of Maracoor Spot, a small island off the coast of the greater Maracoor Abiding, are left in isolation to safeguard an ancient relic. There can only ever be seven brides and when one dies, the overseer will bring another. They hold tight to their rules and ceremonial obligations until a strange woman washes ashore, increasing their population to eight.

This is the continuation of Rain's story; Rain who flew from Oz on her grandmother's broomstick, to find herself trapped on an island of bickering brides. Helia, leader of the brides, and Cossy, the youngest, wish to keep Rain on the island and want to hide her existence from the overseer. Mirka, second in command, wants to be rid of Rain by any way possible.

Unbeknownst to Rain, on the same day she washes ashore, strange things begin to happen across Maracoor. Spirits revealing themselves, an attack on the mainland by a foreign navy, flying monkeys on a quest... Is Rain the cause or is it all just coincidence? 

So the first thing I noticed was the attention to detail. The settings were so vividly described, I felt securely transported to Maracoor, but not so long winded as to leave me in a coma of boredom. A feature of fantasy is to convince readers that the impossible is possible and a big key to doing that is making a world feel as real as possible.

The characters were also well described, each one having a personality that did not overlap the others. Sometimes in fantasy there is a compulsion to make groupings of characters have similar personality traits to compensate for the fact that there are so many... And on the subject of characters there aren't so many characters as to make it hard to keep track of them.

I think a lot of thought went into this plot. If The Wicked Years examined the difference between good and evil, I feel like this book examined the difference between life and death, freedom and captivity. Cossy has an obsession with death, wanting to bear witness to it so she can know what it is like. Rain is not so fussed with it, her focus on what it means to live. She tries to convince herself that she is free from her past to do as she pleases like the brides who have no desire to leave the island where they've been stationed. But even as she tries to claim her freedom, doubt creeps in... Can she truly be free on an island she's not allowed to leave?

I also loved how the ending was constructed. It was somehow both open and closed at the same time. It's a series, you know the story didn't end with book one. And the book sets Rain up for another adventure. But the last few pages are worded with a sense of closure. My life won't be less for not continuing the series, but I certainly liked the book enough to continue. (I've already ordered the books from B&N)