RFAK No. 5, Dark Breaks the Dawn, by Sara B. Larson

We might have a winner, folks.

If I can have my way come judging time for the YA fantasy nominees at the upcoming Whitney Awards, Sara B. Larson’s “Dark Breaks the Dawn” will be the winner.

I was told this story was a retelling of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake.” Which probably shows how unfamiliar I am with the story in Swan Lake – though I’ve long loved the music.

So I don’t know how faithful the basic storyline is – I assume it is fairly connected – but what makes Larson’s novel work is the crisp – often too spare – storytelling, and the little twist at the end astute readers will see coming yet it comes as somewhat of a surprise nonetheless.

And there’s very little smooching in this book. And the betrothed is apparently (spoilers) dead at the end. And the lady’s a swan. So I could have my daughter read this book and not have to explain anything. That’s a good sign in my book, as this is the first entrant in this category that has met this qualification for what you’d think would be a given for LDS-written YA fantasy.

I wonder if part of Larson’s success with this book is due to her maturity as a writer. This isn’t her first go-around with fantasy, nether her first start at a trilogy. So she knows the ins and outs of YA fantasy and is able to avoid some of the pitfalls I’ve read in other entrants.

Not that there aren’t a few.

The battles are short. The visit with the giant spider, anticlimactic. And as the fra’as were busy guarding the farmlings with theirkrytoses a lot in this book, I had a hard time keeping up with the jargon. (I know Tolkien set a high standard when it comes to inventive language in fantasy – as does Shakespeare – but Tolkien was a linguist at heart and Shakespeare was a genius, so they get a pass.) Writers generally fall into two camps with creative language – they either get it right and don’t let it get in the way of the story, or they get it almost right and the reader has to stumble around a lot trying to remember what ALL THESE WORDS MEAN. This book falls into the latter camp.

None of the characters in this book are standouts – they’re pretty typical fantasy fare: the menacing baddie, the brooding baddie’s son who might be a closeted good guy, the evil queen, the good queen, the spunky heroine, the spunky heroine’s lady-in-waiting, the main love interest, the love interest of the spunky heroine’s lady-in-waiting, etc. We get glimpses of them enough to know what role they play in the story, but little else. And Larson’s world is pretty devoid of anything but humanoids. Which I know reveals I like much messier books (though not "Little,Big" messy).

Check out Walter Wangerin Jr’s “Book of the Dun Cow” and “The Book of Sorrows,” if you want an idea of the kinds of messy books I like.