The Myth & Lore in the World of The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson

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Hi Bookworms! You've probably seen that I've been talking a lot about the fantastic world of The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson this past week! I've updated and re-posted my reviews of both KISS OF DECEPTION (The first in the original trilogy that introduced the world of the Remnant to us) and MORRIGHAN (The e-novella that takes place generations before both series and helps introduce the foundation that will become the later world). I'll be reviewing the companion duology, DANCE OF THIEVES and VOW OF THIEVES next.

To celebrate the fact that VOW OF THIEVES came out earlier this week, I'm honored to be on Macmillan Fierce Reads' blog tour for the title! I thought today was the perfect time to put together my own post with a unique spin on the series that ties into my weekly feature A Twist in the Tail. For newcomers to the blog, the feature spotlights mythology, fairy tales, and lore from various cultures. 

One of the things that has always intrigued me the most about this world is its lore and its history. The world of the Remnant is built on the past -- a past so far away that nobody remembers anything other than lore. As readers go through both the trilogy and the duology, they uncover bits of that world through various written documents -- and they all conflict with one another because people experience the same things very differently. Even in the prequel novella MORRIGHAN, Morrighan  wasn't even alive when the world she knew was devastated, but hears the stories through her Ama, who was a young child at the time and has minimal knowledge. Unfortunately, Ama is one of the oldest survivors, so much of the history was lost. 

I never would have predicted that the world I fell in love with was built on the back of a collapsed modern-day civilization, but all the hints across all the books hint that this is so. There are no modern contraptions like cars or electricities, and the setting feels older, as much of fantasy does -- horses and kings and long journeys. When I first read MORRIGHAN and saw the passage about a "cloud of death rolled across the land" (pg. 25, nook edition),  I assumed that there was some sort of nuclear fallout because of how rare clear skies were. After reading it again, and seeing all the lore about the Ancients and the Gods, and the angel Aster who through down between one and seven stars that lead to the devastation (depending on whose history you read), I'm now wondering if maybe some sort of meteor struck the earth and destroyed everything so thoroughly. (Or if it wasn't the entire world, maybe missiles, but the scope seems much too vast if there is a country in the world that still has modern technology). Whenever I saw passages with ruins such as bridge ruins or what may have once been a colossal monument with a face, I analyze it and try to see if I can recognize what it may have once been if the world was in fact once the one we're living in today. When I read about pantry stockpiles in MORRIGHAN and the description of a vault that my modern-day mind visualizes as a bunker, it makes me even more curious. What WAS once in this realm, and what happened? I wish we had more novellas from the past that uncover more of this forgotten history. I'd love one during the devastation or its immediate aftermath, even if it's a tragic, star-crossed tale. I'd also love one featuring the Ballenger clan in its earliest days as a companion to the current duology, though I can see how it would be harder to do in a short format due to the time jump and ages of the characters if romance is to be an included factor.

Because so much history is forgotten, all that remains is lore, and even religion. Was it an angel throwing stars? Was it something else? What happened leads to the Remnant's faith. What creates a religion? Where do those stories come from? The Greeks believed in myths and we eat up the mythological tales that still exist to this day. Many different cultures have many different mythologies, and they are fascinating to read. In modern times, we have the Bible. As a people, when we are so removed from the past, all we have are these living histories that were recorded from one point of view. Sometimes, things are not truth, but making sense of the world around us so that we can accept its strangeness. How then, are we to separate truth from fiction? All of this ran through my head on this latest re-read and made me really wonder about the origins of this world. The histories and stories of the past are one of the things I like the best about this series, and I always stop and over-analyze these passages, and often bookmark them to come back to later.

So this week's Twist is a little different than normal, but I've been very reflective this past week and wanted to share my thoughts on this series and elements that I love so much in a way that I can't really do in a shorter, review-like format.

Have you read this series? What are your thoughts on the world of the Ancients and how it fits into the world of today's Remnant remains from Morrighan, Venda, and all of the Lesser Kingdoms?

VOW OF THIEVES is available now at retailers everywhere!

Below, you'll find a summary for THE KISS OF  DECEPTIONthe first book in the original trilogy 

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O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: THE KISS OF DECEPTION

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: July 8, 2014

Publisher: Henry Holt // Macmillan
Received: For Review

SUMMARY:

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

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O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: MORRIGHAN

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: Jan. 12, 2016

Publisher: Henry Holt // Macmillan
Received: Purchased

SUMMARY:

Before borders were drawn, before treaties were signed, before wars were waged anew, before the great kingdoms of the Remnant were even born and the world of old was only a hazy slate of memory told in story and legend, a girl and her family fought to survive. 

And that girl’s name was Morrighan. 

In this prequel novella to the Remnant Chronicles, a girl and a boy from enemy camps meet, fall in love--and set history in motion.

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O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: DANCE OF THIEVES

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: Aug. 7, 2018

Publisher: Henry Holt // Macmillan

Received: Purchased

SUMMARY:

A new novel in the New York Times–bestselling Remnant Chronicles universe, in which a reformed thief and the young leader of an outlaw dynasty lock wits in a battle that may cost them their lives—and their hearts.

When the patriarch of the Ballenger empire dies, his son, Jase, becomes its new leader. Even nearby kingdoms bow to the strength of this outlaw family, who have always governed by their own rules. But a new era looms on the horizon, set in motion by a young queen, which makes her the target of the dynasty's resentment and anger.

At the same time, Kazi, a legendary former street thief, is sent by the queen to investigate transgressions against the new settlements. When Kazi arrives in the forbidding land of the Ballengers, she learns that there is more to Jase than she thought. As unexpected events spiral out of their control, bringing them intimately together, they continue to play a cat and mouse game of false moves and motives in order to fulfill their own secret missions.