Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

The His Fair Assassin trilogy is a set of books that details the adventures of some of the assassins trained by the convent of Saint Mortain. In the first book of the series, Grave Mercy, the reader follows the journey of Ismae Rienne. On the eve of her arranged marriage, Ismae is whisked away by the local hedgewitch and a few others to the convent of Saint Mortain. Once at the convent, she is given the choice to join them to become a handmaiden of death. She accepts. From then on, Ismae spends her time training to become an assassin. For her third mission away from the convent, Ismae is given the task to infiltrate the duchess of Brittany's court with the aid of one of the noblemen close to the duchess. Ismae is to be the eyes and ears of her convent within the court. And to eliminate any who bear the mark of Mortain.

The convent of Saint Mortain is an abbey located on the Ile de Sein. The women of the convent are daughters of Mortain, the saint of death. They dedicate their lives to learning the art of death and mastering the various gifts given to them by their sire. Though we do not see much of the convent besides some interactions between a handful of characters, it is easy to get a general idea of the ideals of the convent. The convent is rigid in their beliefs; they do not tolerate failure or treachery kindly. Due to the seclusion of the abbey and the strict rules of the convent, the convent seems to be more of a gilded cage than a chance of freedom from a different life. The abbess comes across as arrogant at times, but overall she gives the air of a woman with many secrets and webs of deceit. I did not read enough of the teachers to form much of an opinion of them. Saint Mortain seems to not have a direct involvement with the convent dedicated to him besides the visions that are given to the seeress. The information we get on Mortain implies that he is based in Celtic lore with some Greek influences, which is also implied by the fact the abbey is set on the Ile de Sein. Honestly, the convent reminds me of the Dark Brotherhood questline from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and not in a good way.

Ismae spends a good portion of the book with members of the duchess’s court. As such, we learn a great deal of the political games being played within the court. The duchy is filled with nobles vying for positions of favor through political allegiance and masterful deceit. Trapped by the politics of it all is the young duchess who has yet to be crowned. She has few choices and fewer allies. The fascinating, and tragic, part of it all is that the situation and the political games the author lays down for us in the story actually took place. The author has made some changes, but the events are mostly accurate. I am always content to find historical fiction books that stay fairly true to real events, but are able to spin the fiction in a somewhat realistic way.

This was not a book I was in a race to finish. In fact, I had to put the book down for two weeks in order to finish reading it. The writing is formal and can be a bit dry to read at times. I do not enjoy Ismae as a character; for the most part I find myself annoyed with her decisions. The plot is interesting, but the pacing is not perfect. With the exception of the court politics, the story just plods along at a slow steady pace for the bulk of the book. The pace picks up close to the end of the book; the last 100 or so pages of the ebook are quite enthralling.

While I will probably read the other two books in the trilogy, I can’t say I am overly enthused by this book. I don’t enjoy the main character or the pacing of the book. The political events are well done; the author manages a nice balance of fiction and history. All in all, I can safely say I am not in the group of people who love this book.