Synopsis: The evil shape-shifter Kullervo’s plan to raise an army of mythological creatures and overthrow the rule of humanity proceeds apace and the Society seems powerless to resist him. At the centre of the fight is the Universal; Connie Lionheart, the only human alive who can bond with any creature, both natural animals and sentient mythologicals. She has the potential to defeat Kullervo, or to complete his power. The Society need her, but many of them fear her, and that fear may push her into Kullervo’s clutches.

Review: The third volume of The Companions Quartet develops the world of the Society for the Protection of Mythological Creatures, as established in the previous books. The hitherto simple line between the Society’s allies and Kullervo’s is complicated by Connie’s contact with the unaffiliated outsiders in the mines. It also addresses and resolves many ongoing plot threads, such as the machinations of Ivor Coddrington and the Society’s corporate fear of the Universal.

At the heart of the book is the conflict between Connie’s allegiance to her friends and her bond to Kullervo, inverted in the contrast between the Society’s corporate hostility and Kullervo’s willingness to embrace her. In many ways, her choice to support the ones who hate her against the one who needs her seems to go against her own interests, but serve a higher morality. The choice between right and rules is another key theme, with Connie’s cosmic-level decisions mirrored in the conflict between Col and Rat over the latter’s loose tongue.

The Companion Quartet continues to be a superior eco-fantasy, with an appealing cast and a real sense of dilemma in its ethical and ecological conflicts. The right path is not always easy to see, for the reader as much as for the characters.

2008-06-07