Doppelganger
by Marie Brennan
This may have been Marie Brennan’s introductory novel but Ms. Brennan has made a powerful statement for herself and has established herself as a fantasy writer capable of holding her own with some of the genre’s A-list authors. The story has two main protagonists, Mirage and Miryo, this in itself is not a common occurrence and switching between two point of views is quite a feat for most authors. Marie Brennan never once falters.
A good majority of fantasy writers borrow concepts and ideas from their fellow fantasy writers who have paved the way; J.R.R Tolkein being one of the most referenced authors. It’s not unusual to see some ideas or concepts rehashed or re-worked into new stories, in fact there are some general concepts and ideas that have become almost sacred to fantasy writers and to go against the grain is akin to heresy. Ms. Brennan has instead opted to pioneer a brand new world that is operated by a rather unique governing system and the cast of characters are in no way your stereotypical “fantasy crew”. The true hallmark of this writer’s attempt to establish her own world and her own style is the unique take on the mechanics of magic [and its price] in her world.
While any good author will tell you that for every boon a system or character receives there should always be a sort of pitfall not only to maintain balance but also that there is a sense of believability as well. Few seem capable of creating their own original set of checks and balances when it comes to the creation of a magical system. Indeed many authors, such as Laurell K. Hamilton, have a nasty habit of forgetting the rules and guidelines they established for their system and characters and far too often midway through a book a reader finds themselves saying: but I thought it wasn’t possible to do that because of the price that this exacts? When these inaccuracies are brought to the author’s attention we the readers often get fed an elaborate tale of how it is a necessary plot device and all will be explained shortly. Are these inaccuracies by an author every really answered to our satisfaction? Well, that’s a question for another day. Getting back to the subject, in order to keep this sort of thing from happening many authors enjoy basing their magical systems, religions, and rituals on modern day pagan practices. This gives them a foundation to build upon and the general framework to keep them functioning properly in all parameters. Ms. Brennan decided the easy path was not for her and created her own unique system to govern the laws of magic in her world.
That is not to say that her system has no basis on popular myths and beliefs, rather to say that she took the very basics, tossed them into her bubbling pot of inspiration, added a healthy dose of originality and creativity then served the reader a tasty dish that is like no other. In Ms. Brennan’s world magic users are always females who then pass on this ability to their daughters. The catch, however, is that before the child receives their soul, by being presented to the Goddess under the moonlight, a special ritual must occur that splits the child in two and creates the medium by which that child may be able to call upon and control magic. Without this medium it matters not that they are the daughter of a witch, the ability is lost to them. When the child is split by the ritual the mother takes the second child, the doppelganger, and kills it. The doppleganger is killed before it is presented to the moonlight thus it has no soul yet. If this were not done then when their daughter comes into her power her magic will be uncontrollable and rebound on the caster.
This is the tradition of the witches and it has been done thus so since their founder first discovered the way to pass on her abilities to her children. Why then are some doppelgangers surviving and living their lives unaware of their origins, as is Mirage’s case? That is the question that this book poses and it is the question that Mirage and Miryo must answer together. Is this practice outdated and antiquated? How is it possible that five aspects of the Goddess exist, yet the witches honor only the four believing that the fifth [the Void] is beyond control, yet the religious temples honor all five, and the Hunter schools honor the fifth? Why do the priestesses and priests look upon the witches with pity and call them unbalanced? So many questions and the author does an excellent job of moving both protagonists down the road together to solve them one by one.
Another interesting aspect of this book that I loved was the lack of focus on a romantic relationship. Many authors seem to believe that a story is just not the same without some sort of romantic relationship to toss a wrench in the gears. Brennan proves, without a doubt, that an author can still tell a good story without having to resort to tossing in torrid love affairs and violent love triangles in order to keep a story going.
Doppelganger is a suspense filled read that will keep the reader turning pages and guessing at the political motives behind each character’s actions. There is no doubt in my mind that all fiction readers will find this book to be an excellent read and will, no doubt, stay up long past their bedtimes to finish this enthralling novel.
Joana’s rating: 
