Voigt, Cynthia - On Fortune's Wheel

[oyceter]

I reread this because I was in the mood for a quiet, deep love story. I may have misremembered how important the love story is in the book, but it's slow and quiet, which perfectly suited my mood.

On Fortune's Wheel is set two generations after Jackaroo (which I also love) in a land simply called the Kingdom. It's vaguely reminiscent of your standard medieval-European fantasy setting, but instead of focusing on place and worldbuilding, Voight uses the Kingdom more as a backdrop for her characters. As a result, it feels somewhat like a fairy tale, roughly sketched out, but leaving detail to the reader's imagination.

Birle, the Innkeeper's daughter, manages to head off on a long journey with Orien, a stranger she finds stealing their boat. She has her own reasons for leaving; she feels confined by her life at the inn, and she wants to escape a hasty engagement that she got herself into.

I like Birle a lot. She actually reminded me a great deal of Gwyn in Jackaroo; both women are looking for something larger out there, pushing boundaries in their own ways while not being "spunky" or "spirited." And I love Birle's practicality, despite her weakness for blue eyes.

I especially like how Voigt shows how limited Birle's options sometimes are; it's unflinching but not depressing, and it feels realistic.

Despite Birle and Orien's journey to different places and assorted unpleasant circumstances, this is a small book at heart, centered on Birle and how she changes. I found that I rather liked that, even though me ten years ago would probably be bored by it.

Comments

[rilina.livejournal.com]

Have you read the other books in the Kingdom series? I thought it went downhill after On Fortune's Wheel, which I love.

[oyceter]

I think I've read all of them... I love this one and Jackaroo, I sort of liked the one about the falcon and the Earl of Sutherland, and I was very bored by Elske.

[sovay]

Yeah. I love Jackaroo and I remember being very fond of On Fortune's Wheel, but given that I cannot remember much about The Wings of the Falcon or Elske except their most basic plot outlines . . .

[oyceter]

Yeahh.... I actually remember more of the plot of The Wings of the Falcon largely because I was entirely traumatized by the ending, but I don't remember anything of Elske at all.

The Kingdom series by Cynthia Voight

[saraliz78.livejournal.com]

Hi,

I wanted to comment because I love the books you were talking about. I've looked for information about them - other fans, etc. online and have never found anything of interest. I'm very glad to see that I'm not the only person out there who read and loved those books. Elske wasn't the best of them, but I love the first three. On Falcon' s Wing just did something to me when I read it. I felt that I wasn't the same after having read that book. It made me cry, and cry, and sometimes I wasn't even really sure why I was crying. Just a turn of phrase could do it to me. And, Jackaroo and On Fortune's Wheel were beautiful as well. I have all four books and I'm always trying to get people I know to read the series so I'll have someone to talk about them with, but so far, no one has.

Just thought I'd drop you a comment in appreciation of mentioning that series.

Saraliz78

Re: The Kingdom series by Cynthia Voight

[oyceter]

Oh! Someone else who loves the Kingdom books! Yay! Yeah, they never seemed to be recced all that much, but most people I know who've read them love them. Well, with the exception of one of my friends, but she kept reccing me Robert Jordan, so... YMMV.

I haven't been able to reread The Wings of a Falcon because it completely broke my heart the first time around, but I reread Jackaroo quite a bit.