Nettle & Bone by T Kingfisher

Nettle & Bone that released last year, is my first book by T Kingfisher. And I am so thrilled to have discovered her amongst the many other new authors, I am slowly discovering. [ On an aside, having made a conscious decision to make sure I go back and pick up acclaimed books that I missed out on from last two years, I can claim this has turned out to be such a liberating and happy coincidence for me!] 

There are at least 2 more T Kingfisher books in my back-burner list that I am immediately bumping to the top of my TBR, after the marvellous find that Nettle & Bone turned out to be. This turned out to be an epic fantasy that mixed up dark fairy tale with your typical hero quest, albeit with a nice twist. Nettle & Bone is an adult dark fantasy book I never knew I wanted. 

Told from the first person point of view of Marra, an unassuming thirty-year old who has spent the majority of her formative years in a monastery, away from the politicking mess that is her own minor royal family - who rule a minor kingdom, in the shadow of being yoked and subjugated by the larger kingdom in the North. Marra's mother, the shrewd queen has bargained her daughters ( Marra's elder sisters) lives in return for peace. But when Marra finds out that her second sister life's relegated to being just a brood-mare to get the rightful heir for this Kingdom, she senses something is wrong. Especially coming on the heels of the mysterious death of her first sister, who was earlier wed to the Prince of this North. Her journey to meet her pregnant sister reveals more sinister secrets - namely that her sister is trapped in a loveless abusive marriage with this Prince. 

And Marra vows to kill him. 

But killing a prince isn't going to be easy. And Marra needs her tricks, her set of allies and dark magic to aid her in this dark quest. And that's what the book is about - her quest to rid the world of this tyrant, save her own sister and in the process, discover magic, love and herself. 

It's such a wonderful book that I cannot praise enough. It's a slow-burn, but the side-quests of Marra as she ties together a wonderful alliance of friends and found family who can aid her in this perilous task is an absolute delight. Kingfisher (Pen name for Ursula Vernon) gives us some wonderfully wrought characters in the Dust Mother, the Bone Dog, her demon possessed hen, the former knight-warrior named Fenris rescued from a fairy market and her bumbling Godmother Agnes. It's thier unlikely camaraderie that really puts the spin in the wheels for this narrative. I mean, a hen possessed by a demon?  Or a resurrected dog, made of bones who is goofy and loyal to a fault? And an absolutely adorable god-mother who is determined to dole out blessings, despite the fact that she's a lot better at curses. The centre-pin for this whole mad circus is Marra herself. Mostly naive about the worldly affairs but blessed with an amazing sense of righteousness, a lot of patience and dogged determination. Were it not for Marra's insistence of righting the wrongs being done to her sister in the name of politics, this whole found family would never have come together. She is steadfast in her beliefs and this belief sees her through the worst of the storms. Beautifully subverting some of the expected fairy-tale tropes, Kingfisher systematically builds up this world that definitely reminds us of "Once-upon-a-time" and uses a non-linear time based narrative, frequently switching through hoops to set the premise in the beginning. 

Skilfully balancing the humour with darker elements, Kingfisher navigates us through myriad adventures set in the unlikeliest of places like a Fairy Market or the Underground crypt of the vengeful dead that are an absolute hoot to read. Not many authors have I read who can infuse such humour into such dark subjects. It almost reads like a fairy-tale you have read in the past, but that's the mastercraft of the author at work as she deftly picks up threads from tales you have possibly heard and castes them in her own style into a wild, funny and dark story that charms you to Oz and beyond. This is a weird book at its best, the styles reminding one of original fairy tales, the best of Terry Pratchet and prime material for a Tim Burton movie. Think about that bone-dog! I am hoping he picks this up soon for the big screen. Highly recommended.