The Sweet Far Thing

WARNING: Do not read this if you don't want to see overt references to the events in The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray.

I have a problem. Readers will know it well. You've just finished an absolutely fantastic book and now you need something new to read....only, nothing will compare to what you just read. You could chose a perfectly good book to follow up the great read, but it will suffer a fate worse than a fate worse than death because it pales in comparison to the book you just finished.

The reason I have this problem is Libba Bray's The Sweet Far Thing. TSFT is the third installment in her brilliant Gemma Doyle trilogy. If you haven't read either A Great and Terrible Beauty or Rebel Angels, go out and buy all three books right now. Much like one of my all time favorite books, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, the Gemma Doyle books are confections of magic set in bygone eras of England. For those of you unfamiliar with Gemma and her pals, here's a primer: Girl living in India during the reign of Queen Victoria. Girl's mother is hunted down by a mysterious magic baddie. After Mum's death, Girl gets sent to spooky finishing school in England full of catty girls and long buried secrets. Girl discovers magical realms that she and her friends can enter, but all is not as it seems in this world and danger abounds.

TSFT, the long awaited finale to Bray's trilogy, was incredibly satisfying. As the novel opens, Gemma and her friends Felicity and Ann have returned to Spence after Christmas. Having defeated the big bad in Rebel Angels, all should be peachy for the girls as they head towards their debuts, or in Ann's case, a position as a governess. But Gemma is having doubts about the success of their victory and she cannot enter the Realms, much to Felicity and Ann's dismay. Time is quickly approaching for Gemma to make an alliance with the creatures of the Realms and return the magic that she bound to herself. The East Wing, which has long lain in ruin after the fateful fire during Gemma's mother's days at Spence, is being rebuilt.

Finding a hidden doorway in the ruins of the wing, the girls are once again able to enter the Realms and see their friend Pippa. Soon, however, Gemma finds herself in a struggle for the magic, the Realms, and her sanity as The Order, The Rakshana, and the inhabitants of the Realms grapple for control. As Gemma's tolerance and ability to fend off all threats and advances starts to wear, the girls hear whispers about the Tree of All Souls hidden deep in the dangerous Winterlands. This may be the answer they need - or their very undoing.

Publisher's Weekly called TSFT "a huge work of massive ambition," and at 819 pages, it is. Bray's masterfully crafted worlds and vibrant characters live up to all your hopes and fears for Gemma & co's adieu. Structured like a five act play - Bray, a theater major, was inspired by Shakespeare's tragedies (specifically Macbeth) - TSFT unfolds like those prize balls where you unwrap and unwrap uncovering little treasures on the way to a kick ass present in the center. As the suspense builds slowly and tantalizingly, Ms. Bray's genius emerges. Much like Gemma, who senses something is rotten in the state of Denmark but is unable to act, the reader is desperate for their suspicions to be confirmed as their thumbs start pricking faster than the speed of light.

With the corset metaphors, the heartbreak, and the kick ass girls, TSFT is pitch perfect. Gemma's confusion and isolation surround the reader and the horror comes on such quiet feet that you're terrified long before the climatic battle. All the characters played their roles with charisma, but it was Felicity, who I had been suspecting would betray Gemma, who was truly dazzling. Her acidic tongue and habit of prancing around the Realms in chain mail stole my heart. Fee is far and away my favorite character (sorry, Gemma!), and I am glad I was wrong about her.

As the final installment in a trilogy, TSFT could have been the weakest link. Often, I've been disappointed by authors who start off brilliantly, but succumb to the need for a neat ending. Bray was true to her characters and world in TSFT, and the result is a strong finale that surpasses the promise of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Rebel Angels. Had she gone with a more 'traditional' ending, TSFT would not have worked so well. In fact, Bray discovered that scores of her fans were a bit upset with the resolution to Kartik and Gemma's relationship. Many wanted Gemma to have a happily ever after, but that would have ruined the entire book. I'm thrilled that there is a gorgeous trilogy with tough heroine that isn't going to end up with the guy. While she deserves some happiness after all she's gone through, the end to Gemma's story is rightfully bittersweet, much like the feeling of finishing TSFT.

Finally, I have a moment of pure book geekdom to share. Among the many people thanked in Liba Bray's acknowledgements for TSFT are two authors I've had the pleasure of meeting - Jo Knowles and Cecil Castellucci. Not only was I chuffed to actually know two people in an author's acknowledgements, but I was the one who broke the news to Ms. Knowles. Moments like that remind me how much I love my job. Now, I'm off to read Ms. Austen's Northanger Abbey in hopes Catherine Morland can help me recover from TSFT. I think that if Catherine read Libba Bray's books, she'd die of imagination overload...