The Ill-Made Mute: Special Edition (The Bitterbynde Trilogy) - Hardcover

Dart-Thornton, Cecilia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0987575406 ISBN 13: 9780987575401

Publisher: Leaves of Gold Press, 2021

THE ILL-MADE MUTE - SPECIAL EDITION
The Bitterbynde Trilogy #1

Revised and extended, with extras never before published, including information about Ms Dart-Thornton's life as an author and fragments of her unpublished juvenilia.

'The Stormriders land their splendid winged stallions on the airy battlements of Isse Tower. Far below, the superstitious servants who dwell in the fortress's lower depths tell tales of wicked creatures inhabiting the world outside, a world they have only glimpsed.
'Yet it is the least of the lowly - a mute, scarred, and utterly despised foundling - who dares to scale the Tower, sneak aboard a Windship, and then dive from the sky.
'The fugitive is rescued by an adventurer who gives it a name, the gift of communicating by handspeak, and an amazing truth, never guessed. Now Imrhien begins a journey to distant Caermelor, seeking a wise woman whose skills may be lifechanging. Along the way Imrhien must survive a wilderness of endless danger. For the hearthside tales are all true. The unhuman wights are real in all their legions. They haunt every pool, every turn in the road, and threaten and torment all travelers.'

Author Cecilia Dart-Thornton was discovered on the Internet. She had written the three books of the Bitterbynde Trilogy before she uploaded the first chapter to a Writers' Workshop, where her work was spotted by an editor. Shortly afterwards Time-Warner's publishing department (New York) offered her a contract. They published her books in hardcover, the first time they had ever done so with a new author. The Bitterbynde Trilogy hit the best-seller lists world-wide and has been translated into five languages.

Review:

This first novel by Australian writer Cecilia Dart-Thornton begins the Bitterbynde series, the saga of a young woman's search for her past as well as her destiny. An orphaned refugee taken in as a servant of powerful Isse Tower, a prominent Relay Station in the world's communications network, the main character is a nameless, badly scarred mute with little hope for better--until he escapes by stowing away on a magical Windship and is befriended by cheerful Sianadh, a self-professed madman and adventurer. Sianadh gives his companion two precious gifts: a name, Imrhien, and the knowledge that he is really she, raised as a boy to protect her from even worse treatment. Together, the two journey into the deep green heart of a great forest, defeat the tricky magics of various eldritch wights, and discover a vast treasure that will change their lives forever. When Imrhien learns of Maeve One-Eye, a healer who may be able to repair her scars and restore her memory, the girl is determined to seek her out. On the dangerous trip west, Imrhien meets and falls in love with the Dainnan ranger Thorn, but doubts he could ever return her affections. While this novel doesn't stand well alone, readers who crave long and detailed journeys through fantastic lands filled with magical creatures will enjoy Imrhien's travels. Dart-Thornton's world takes many traditional elements of epic fantasy and manages to stir them into something charming and new. --Charlene Brusso

From the Author:

THE ILL-MADE MUTE has attracted wonderful reviews from such well-known authors as Andre Norton, Jennifer Roberson, Elizabeth Hand, Susan Krinard and Rosemary Edghill, as well as Kirkus Reviews.

The story draws deeply on the genuine folklore of the British Isles. I delight in weaving these tales throughout my novels, bringing them out of the dusty archives of the 19th century into the light of the third millennium. Some of my favourite species of fairies, or “eldritch wights”, are the handsome ganconers, who lure mortal maidens to their doom. The female version of the ganconers are the baobhan sith; beauteous, lethal damsels. There are also swan-maidens, spriggans, wicked water-horses, fuaths and duergars. British folklore collectors have given us a fascinating multitude of immortal wights - some good, some evil, others mischievous practical jokers.

The other titles in the trilogy are "The Lady of the Sorrows (2002) and "The Battle of Evernight" (2003).