The plot is as simple as it is intriguing – the young prince, who is about to take the throne from the hands of his terminally ill and dying father, is unexpectedly poisoned. His sworn bodyguard joins forces with a local herbalist and perfumer to discover the antidote recipe together and prepare it before the would-be ruler breathes his last. The clock is ticking, and the two protagonists must quickly find a common language and learn to trust each other, because no one else can help them.
A tale for two voices
As I mentioned at the very beginning, the story is quite intimate, due to the limited number of characters important to the plot. Those mentioned by name and appearing in more than one scene can, in principle, be counted on the fingers of both hands, while the protagonists from the perspective of which we will see the presented world are exactly two. The point of view jumps between them quite often, especially in the closer parts of the book.
First we meet Rakel, a country girl taking care of a terminally ill veteran father. The man is suffering from the most severe disease known to the empire, officially known as the Disease, and colloquially – Rot. Its origin and exact principles of operation remain a mystery, but it is known that it causes decomposition of the infected tissues, most often affecting one of the limbs first, and then spreading to the rest of the body, which is fatal and can be contagious. While it is incurable, there are ways to slow its development and thus extend patients’ lives, but they are costly. As a result, Rakel lives poor and tries to get money for the next doses of medicine for his father at all costs. When the action begins, the girl sees her only hope in the career of a professional urban perfumer.
The second protagonist is Ashradinoran – or simply Ash, as he prefers to be called – sworn Shield of Prince Nisai, i.e. his trusted companion and personal guardian, ready to give his life to defend his ruler. A perfectly trained warrior shares a sincere and deep friendship with the prince, and their fates remain tied, since the then few-year-old Ash, who lived in the slums at the time, saved the stray heir from an attempted kidnapping by inexplicably killing three sectarians known in a poor neighborhood for hunting lonely children.
At first, this double-voice works quite well, showing us clearly different ways of looking at the world, and at the same time allowing us to follow events in two separate places and social groups. Rakel is our plebeian guide through the realities and intrigues of provincial Aphorai, who eventually ends up near Nisaia as a result of a series of unlikely and not very fortunate events, while Ash constantly accompanies the prince, thanks to which we view the palace in the imperial capital with his eyes and learn this and that about life high society, such as nobility or scholars.
However, when their fates intertwine for good, the skipping perspective loses its relevance. We follow the same chain of events all the time, and the thoughts and reactions of both of them do not seem to be significantly different from each other. The purpose of the continuous “handing over the stick” is mainly to continue exposing the past and the character of each of them, without having to do it in a dialogue that would seem forced and unnatural – after all, we rarely tell a story of our entire life to a person we meet a few days or weeks earlier. In addition, we also observe the deepening relationship between Rakel and Ash, wondering in which direction it will eventually develop, and the narrative maintained in this convention allows us to get acquainted with their feelings and thoughts about the other person, even when they are not ready yet with them. to divide each other.
Culture of sensitive noses
As the title of the novel tells us along with the description on its reverse, in the world of Shadowscentsmells play a significant role, much more important than it actually is. We learn this in the first chapters – Rakel wants to become a perfumery, seeing this profession as an opportunity to climb the social ladder and secure a source of constant, high income. The sense of smell is useful to her at every step: thanks to it, she flawlessly recognizes the ingredients of all substances, from cosmetics to medicines, ointments and drinks; knows what composition to use to effectively mask the stench of father’s illness at home; In this way, in the city, he can find out which shopkeeper sells higher-quality items or who belongs to the upper classes. Proper selection of incense is necessary not only in the case of religious rituals, but even everyday etiquette – e.g.faux pas .
Similar information is also provided in Ash’s introductory fragments. We will quickly find out that each of the gods worshiped in the empire has its own fragrance composition, reflecting its essence, and the devotees who are especially attached to one of them have the habit of including a special strip of material in their clothing, sprinkled with this mixture. The most zealous of the faithful – that is, for example, Ash himself – even carry a weave of many such stripes, each of which carries the scent of a different deity.
Also during Ash and Nisa’s journey to Aphorai, we will learn, for example, that by joining a group of pilgrims, both of them are able to recognize these high-born precisely by exquisite perfumes, even in a crowd of identically dressed and shaven people. Another scene, in turn, will reveal that a sensitive nose is useful even in shady city dives, where local gamblers play a specific variant of Russian roulette, which consists in drinking one of several cups filled with unknown liquids, recognizable only by their smell, knowing that at least one of them contains deadly poison.
Different thoughts, different language
A particularly interesting – and often amusing – aspect of the novel is the very way of thinking of the inhabitants of this world, as well as the language they use, both inherent in smells. The very first sentences reveal that Rakel perceives the surroundings to a large extent … with his nose. Even when it comes to recognizing specific people, a girl does not pay particular attention to their posture, hair color or other visual impressions, what are not. Higher priority is the fact that my father now smells of disease and bergamot used to mask it and repel insects, while his childhood friend Barden always smells of thyme, amber oil and sweat. Similarly, she also distinguishes between places – the house is smoke from kitchen hearths, a desert rose and fresh, country air from outside the window,
This way of perceiving reality – as it happens in the real world – also affects the construction of language. The author admits in the afterword that she used the help of Lauren Gawne, a doctor of linguistics, when creating a speech focused on the sense of smell. And it was a bull’s eye! Numerous phrases, proverbs and sayings in the Aramtesh empire refer to specific aromas, but also to the nose, incense, perfumes and other things and phenomena related to fragrances. Likewise, insults and curses are based on foul odors or substances that emit them. In a caressing mockery, we will not call someone a fool, but a “stench”, and when we want to throw meat in a fit of emotions, the shout will be “oh, for the hideous stench!” or “the stench on a smelly stick!”Shadowscent of color and allows you to make the specific culture of this exotic country even more credible.
The map! Kingdom for the map!
Speaking of the country, I very much regret the fact that the novel does not contain a map of Aramtesh, not having the tradition of the fantasy series. It would be very useful here, because Ash and Rakel come to visit all provinces of the Empire on their journey. Unfortunately, these visits are short, and travel descriptions tend to be sketchy and imprecise, which makes it very difficult to imagine the distances traveled and the relative position of different places in relation to each other. Sometimes, even some details seem contradictory, such as the fact that the movement of the heroes from the deserts surrounding Aphorai to the area of the Hagmir Mountains takes only a few days of horseback riding, and on the spot we learn that Rakel is experiencing a culture shock, seeing the numerous houses built of wood, which is a luxury commodity in her home region.
As The Flower of Darkness is only the first part of the series (the second one has even been released, although not in Poland so far), I hope that such a map may appear in the future, and if not, at least the geography of the world will be outlined in more detail in the text itself. Anyway, I will be on the lookout for the next volume, because Shadowscent is a pleasant, uncomplicated and original story that is easy to read and fast. In addition, it balances on the border between the categoryyoung adult a standardem „dorosłej” powieści fantasy, dzięki czemu powinna okazać się przystępna dla czytelników o niemal każdym wieku i guście.
