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Waifs of Duldred #3
Nigma
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 27, 2020
Great character descriptions. The story is sad, happy, rewarding, joyful with relatable events in a world which some children are bound to find enthralling.
October 25, 2024
Finally got around to finishing the Waifs of Duldred trilogy. Oy Yew is still my favourite, but Nigma is a very enjoyable final installment to the series.
October 6, 2019
Nigma is the final book in the Waifs of Duldred trilogy, published by Mother’s Milk Books, which celebrates nurturing and empathy through words and images. Ture to the mission statement of the publisher, this series follows a set of disparate children fleeing from cruelty and looking for their place in a world of healers, dreamers and slave-drivers. Oy, the gentle hero, is looking for the plant that will make his sick friend well; Lil is looking for the Cracnazy; Gerty is forced into an adventure that could bring the downfall of the terrible Felluns. Their travels bring them back to Duldred Hall, where the fate of the friends they left behind rests on the outcome of a corrupted trial.
I’d strongly recommend reading the trilogy without large gaps between each book. It’s been a year since I read the second boo, and I’d forgotten who or what many of the characters and situations are. At moments I was lost, but Ana Salote’s prose, never condescending, flows on, and in the end I worked out who was who and what was what.
I’m not the target audience, and my own children are now grown. I’d love to know what a child makes of the style. It’s very pared down. Some discussions are summarised in reported speech. There are few indications of how someone says something, either with adverbs or gestures – but you can work it out from their words. For a reader who wants the action, not descriptions and conversations, this is ideal. For a reader like me, used to more descriptive writing, it takes a little while to get into the flow; but there is something beguiling about a story that takes the features of its alternative e world, with its alternative gods and curious creatures, without question.
For me, the biggest attraction is the trilogy’s ethos. To call it gentle is misleading – some horrific events or threats are referred to side-on (never gratuitously) but the waifs are brave and loyal, learning to accept their differences and themselves. Oy, the mystic of the group, ought to be annoying because he is so good – and yet his tolerance and understanding is inspiring. And if we feel unable to emulate him, there are plenty of imperfect characters who have a vital role to play: impatient Alas, timid Gerty, or the wonderfully prickly Lil.
Part fantasy, part Gothic horror, part adventure, wholly original, this is an intriguing trilogy well worth the read.
I’d strongly recommend reading the trilogy without large gaps between each book. It’s been a year since I read the second boo, and I’d forgotten who or what many of the characters and situations are. At moments I was lost, but Ana Salote’s prose, never condescending, flows on, and in the end I worked out who was who and what was what.
I’m not the target audience, and my own children are now grown. I’d love to know what a child makes of the style. It’s very pared down. Some discussions are summarised in reported speech. There are few indications of how someone says something, either with adverbs or gestures – but you can work it out from their words. For a reader who wants the action, not descriptions and conversations, this is ideal. For a reader like me, used to more descriptive writing, it takes a little while to get into the flow; but there is something beguiling about a story that takes the features of its alternative e world, with its alternative gods and curious creatures, without question.
For me, the biggest attraction is the trilogy’s ethos. To call it gentle is misleading – some horrific events or threats are referred to side-on (never gratuitously) but the waifs are brave and loyal, learning to accept their differences and themselves. Oy, the mystic of the group, ought to be annoying because he is so good – and yet his tolerance and understanding is inspiring. And if we feel unable to emulate him, there are plenty of imperfect characters who have a vital role to play: impatient Alas, timid Gerty, or the wonderfully prickly Lil.
Part fantasy, part Gothic horror, part adventure, wholly original, this is an intriguing trilogy well worth the read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews