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published 1994; hardback 1994; paperback 1995, DAW
I wanted to like this book, but I didn't. After reading and enjoying Melanie Rawn's first two series, Dragon Prince and Dragon Star, The Ruins of Ambrai, first in the Exiles series, turned out to be a disappointing letdown.
The story centers around the destinies of three sisters: Glenin, Sarra, and Cailet, who are raised in very different circumstances. The three are the heirs of Ambrai, a realm destroyed by their own father to gain the favor of tyrannical First Councillor Anniyas and secretly serve the Lords of Malerris, the enemies of Lenfell. Sarra and Cailet are hidden away in separate locations and raised ignorant of each other's existence, and Glenin is raised by her father and trained in magic by the Lords of Malerris.
I found it difficult to care much about any of these people or their circumstances. Ambrai is already destroyed when the story starts, so it's hard to get worked up about its betrayal and loss. Rawn aims to make her characters well-rounded by giving them both positive and negative traits, but even the good guys come up a little short in the likeability department. The only character I found intriguing was Auvry Feiran, father of the three sisters. He's betrayed just about everyone and everything, yet he still has a sense of honor and struggles with feelings of inadequacy because he wasn't talented enough to become a full mage. Unfortunately, his presence is counterbalanced by irritating characters such as Gornyel Desse, a mage who is supposed to be powerful but who seems rather inept to me, and Collan Rosvenir, a spy for the underground who is an unmitigated pain in the tuckus for most of the book.
One of Rawn's main themes in this book is the balance of power between the sexes, which in this world is skewed socially and politically toward women. While I believe that a society dominated by women in the same way our society is dominated by men would be every bit as unegalitarian and repressive, I don't think it would be simply a mirror image, as she seems to be saying. (For a more well thought out novel dealing with this premise, I recommend David Brin's Glory Season.)
The Ruins of Ambrai failed to gain my interest, and perhaps it was just as well, since the second book in the Exiles series, The Mageborn Traitor, won't be out until this winter or next spring, according to different sources. Despite my complaints, however, I will take a look at the second book in this series, to see if the three-year hiatus has resulted in a more engaging story. I've liked Rawn's earlier work too much not to.
Review by Sara Lipowitz
Reviewed October 22, 1996
ISBN 0-88677-619-8
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