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Finnikin of the Rock
by Melina Marchetta
- Read by: Scott
- Date read: 2010-06-26
This radar plot is meant to give a graphical representation of the book in question. For a better idea of what each spoke means, see the table below. Also, keep in mind that higher numbers are not necessarily better. Depending on your taste, a 0 may be just as appealing as a 10 (or a 5, etc) in a particular category. (Click to close)
| Category | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maturity | 18+ | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 |
| Violence | Excessive Violence | Violent acts (no blood-gore) | No Violence | ||||||||
| Action | Constant Action | Even mix of action-drama | No Action | ||||||||
| Epic | Lord of the Rings Epic | Large scope, less detailed | Limited scope | ||||||||
| World | Completely unique | Half real/half unique | Set in our world | ||||||||
| Realism | Focus outside the realm of accepted science | Focus evenly split between explainable-unexplainable | Nothing unexplainable - not the focus | ||||||||
| Modernity | Present Day (or beyond) | 1980-1999 | 1960-1979 | 1930-1959 | 1870-1929 | 1800-1869 | 1700-1799 | 1400-1699 | 200-1399 | (1000)-199 | Ancient |
| Humor | Laugh out loud throughout | Funny (but not primary focus) | Intentionally not funny |
10 years ago, assassins invaded the country of Lumatere and murdered the royal family. Only Balthazar, the prince, was believed to survive. Finnikin, the son of the captain of the guard, along with numerous other Lumaterans were exiled from their country. A curse was placed upon the nation by a forest dweller, preventing anyone from entering or leaving Lumatere.
Now, Finnikin has worked with Sir Topher, the King’s First Man, to try to negotiate land for the exiles. Finnikin and Sir Topher travel to a convent where they meet a novice named Evanjalin who claims to be able to lead them to Balthazar. On the journey across the land, they have a run in with a thief named Froi, and they are forced to bring him along.
Upon arriving in Sorel, Evanjalin turns Finnikin in to the authorities by saying he claims to be Balthazar. Trevanion, Finnikin’s father, is in the same prison. She meets with Trevanion to tell him he must escape with his son. They do escape, and the group then heads to Yutlind, where Trevanion’s guard is rumored to be hiding.
When they arrive they are attacked and Finnikin is wounded by an arrow. His wound gets infected, and Evanjalin risks her life to seek the help of the Yuts (she can speak their language). She succeeds and Finnikin begins to heal. They journey on, and find the guard in Pietrodore. They remain with them for some time, training and preparing.
After they leave, they head north. Finnikin and Evanjalin have a fight, and she goes off to a nearby exile camp. Finnikin follows, even into the fever camp. There they find the Lumateran religious leader, the priest king. The priest king joins them and they travel north to Lumatere. They gather exiles along the way with the intention of re-entering their kingdom.
Evanjalin, who can walk the sleep of those still in Lumatere, reveals some of the horrors that are happening inside. However, she is also caught in a lie about when she last walked the sleep (it is only supposed to happen when she menstruates). They also then question if she was telling the truth about Balthazar being alive. He is, in fact, dead.
Evanjalin and Froi leave, but the rest of the group continues on to Lumatere. Finnikin turns back to find Evanjalin. He is able to, but Froi has been kidnapped. With the help of the Monts (Lumaterans who live in the mountains) and Lucius (his childhood Mont friend) they are able to rescue Froi. Finnikin then learns that Evanjalin is actually Isaboe, the youngest princess who was thought to be dead. They all return to Lumatere.
With Finnikin’s help, Evanjalin is able to break the curse and enter Lumatere. The impostor king, however, has set everything on fire. After much fighting, the impostor is overthrown. Isaboe wants to make Finnikin her king, but he is afraid to rule. He eventually comes around, and they decide to wed. Trevanion is reacquainted with Lady Beatriss, his lover who he thought was dead. They must begin their relationship again because she was so poorly treated by the impostor and his men, making her afraid of the touch of a man.
There were times when I really enjoyed the story that was being told in Finnikin of the Rock. Unfortunately, the lack of consistency among the world and characters that Marchetta created made this, ultimately, a negative reading experience.
First, let’s discuss the inconsistency of the world. Marchetta was generous enough to provide the reader with detailed maps of the world she created. I did find myself referencing these maps frequently, and as a result I did develop a clear geographical picture of this world in my head. Surprisingly, this actually ended up being detrimental for my enjoyment of the book. At some points, the characters would be able to travel across the entire continent in a matter of a day or just a little more (such as when they leave the cloister, having just met Evanjalin for the first time). At other times, however, traversing a much smaller distance (such as the journey to the rock villages after leaving the boat) would take 4 or 5 days. This kind of inconsistency really frustrated me while reading it, and I couldn’t help but notice it each time it happened.
The characters were also inconsistent in the sense that they didn’t behave in believable ways. For example, just before Evanjalin turned Finnikin into the authorities, they had their first semi-romantic moment (page 69). This came out of nowhere, though, with no relationship development leading up to it. It was almost as though we were just expected to accept this because they were obviously going to have a relationship at some point, so why not start now? Their relationship became continuously more annoying as Finnikin or Evanjalin would get annoyed at the other, leave for a ridiculously short period of time, and then magically no longer be upset with each other. Finally, the whole idea that Finnikin would not want to be king so much that he would refuse to marry Evanjalin as utterly ridiculous. How could we believe he loved Evanjalin so much, but not enough to overcome his fear of being king? You can’t have it both ways, either he was madly in love with Evanjalin, or he wasn’t, and the kingship wouldn’t even be an issue.
As I alluded to above, the story itself was a redeeming part of this novel. As much as the characters and the geography of the world suffered from inconsistencies, the story did not. There was a clear plot, that moved along nicely. There was one big problem for me, though, and that was the idea that it took 10 years for people to find Trevanion and the others. This world is extremely small, and the book moves so quickly from place to place that it feels like there are only about 10 places these people could be hiding. So why was this not all done years before? It wasn’t difficult for them to find everyone they wanted, once they started trying, so it’s hard to believe it would take so long for these events to transpire.
The most redeeming quality of this book was, surprisingly, the thief Froi. He is the only character to show consistent, believable growth, and to develop in a natural, meaningful way. His decision to follow Evanjalin after her lie about Balthazar was actually meaningful. Similarly, his insight into how he needed to get to know about and care for the land of Lumatere before he could be asked to protect it was probably my favorite moment because it was the most intellectually satisfying as a reader. You actually felt like you were beginning to understand how this exiled thief who knew nothing for his homeland was growing and maturing. It was actually quite great.
Ultimately, there are just too many flaws in Finnikin to let me recommend it. I wouldn’t be opposed to giving another novel by Marchetta a chance, because she definitely shows promise, but this one should be a pass for most readers.
17 - some foul language and sexuality
No
Read ID (use for comment below): 56
