The Duchess of the Shallows by Neil McGarry and Daniel Ravipinto reviewed by fellow author David Meredith.
If you had but one chance at greatness, would you take it?
That is the question young Duchess must answer for herself. Despite her grandiose name, she is little more than an orphaned baker’s assistant living among a family of strangers in an ill-reputed corner of the capitol city known inauspiciously as “The Shallows”. She lives on the margins of a corrupt society, the friend of beggars and thieves, prostitutes and gigolos, the victim of brutal street brigands, lecherous nobles, and corrupt politicians. When a mysterious letter and enigmatic token thrust her from her home, she is forced to decide – will she continue her poverty stricken existence of quiet desperation or will she risk everything in a single daring attempt to better her station? On the one hand is the paltry monotony of backbreaking if reliable subsistence, on the other near certain death. However, if she can brave the dark currents swirling seductively at her feet and persevere over the great and powerful to whom she is naught but a pawn in their fathomless game not only will she achieve the wealth and status she yearns for, but also discover the long kept secrets of her own difficult past.
I came to this tale knowing little more about it than the title, but must admit being blown away. Duchess of the Shallows is a masterful example of dystopian world building and political intrigue at its finest. The City of Rodaas is gritty, dirty, dangerous and unsavory – no stranger to desperation, murder, and betrayal, but also unquestionably exudes an aura of homeliness and familiarity to the characters who reside within its dark and foggy walls. One is struck quite starkly by both feelings of profound disgust and simultaneous affection for this nearly lawless ghetto of a city where the privileged sequester themselves high upon their hilltops and spies and thieves rule the streets.
The characters in general and Duchess in particular are believable, engaging and the dialog natural and masterfully written as was all of the prose. The delineations of disparate factions, convoluted political alliances and rivalries of the city, along with the resulting intrigue were very well portrayed. One definitely gets the sense that there is a much bigger game being played than is revealed in the scope of this single novel. Rodaas is a city with secrets, but the authors do not fall into the trap of revealing too much too quickly. The reader is left satisfied in the end, but also with a slue of unresolved questions demanding answers and wanting more. I had planned to read this novel over the course of several days, but instead was so engrossed and enthralled by the expert storytelling that I finished it in a matter of hours. The Duchess of the Shallows is a wonderfully complete tale begging for a sequel and I would be most pleased to spend a little more time in the strangely affecting den of sin and villainy that is Rodaas. I have long been a fan of the fantastic political intrigue and courtly espionage of Robin Hobb and now, in much the same way, I am a fan of Neil McGarry and Daniel Ravipinto as well.
