Feminism in Aerthlan

I finally got my hands on Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon by Kerrelyn Sparks. It's the 3rd book in The Embraced series, set in the fantasy world of Aerthlan. The series follows the five orphans/adopted sisters, Luciana (How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days,The Embraced #1), Brigitta (So I Married a Sorcerer, The Embraced #2), Gwennore (The Embraced #3), Sorcha, and Maeve as they find love and adventure across the five kingdoms of Aerthlan.

I enjoyed the first two books and was curious enough about the kingdoms to continue on with the series. So far, I think it gets better with each book. My favorite is Gwennore's story, the most recent one. Followed by Brigitta's, then Luciana's. 

I struggled with writing my thoughts on this series when I first read it late last year because I had mixed feelings. On Goodreads, I gave 3/5 stars to Book 1 and Book 2. The romance in the series is a guilty pleasure for me because they all feature women who are helpless and men who seem to have no flaws. That, along with some non-organic plot twists, bugged me. Really bugged me. But, like I said, I still enjoyed the book and still wanted to read more.    

After reading Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon, I finally got it. Reading a lot of urban fantasy and paranormal romance books, I got used to heroines who are feisty, kickass, and independent. Women who know what they want and go after it. The heroines in this series are not like that AT ALL. So, in this post, I want to ruminate about feminism in Aerthlan. 

Haven’t read The Embraced series yet? Get them on Book Depository!

1. How to Tame a Beast in Seven Days
2. So I Married a Sorcerer
3. Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon

The Premise & Some Caveats

In this storyworld, there are five kingdoms: Eberon, Tourin, Norveshka, and Woodwyn are in the mainland and they're all at war. The fifth territory is the Isle of Moon & Isle of Mist where the nuns and a recluse Seer are. 

Children born at the two moon's embrace have special powers. They're called "The Embraced". But because the dominant religion in the mainland think they're abominations, the babies get sent to a convent at the Isle of Moon to be raised as orphans. The heroines all grew up in the convent so they consider themselves sisters.

For the purposes of this rumination, I'm only going to talk about Luciana, Brigitta, and Gwennore because they already have their completed stories.

I also want to say that I'm not an expert/well versed in feminism and the history thereof. But, I do have a basic understanding of it so that what I'm going to discuss.

Okay, let's start!

Map of Aerthlan

The heroines are "Weak"

Something I noticed immediately is that none of the heroines have active powers like the heroes. Leo, Luciana's man, has the power to shoot lighting from his hands. Rupert, Brigitta's man, can harness the power of the wind. And Silas, Gwennore's man, is a freaking dragon who can literally breathe fire. Meanwhile, Luciana can see ghosts. Brigitta can find lost things. And Gwennore can decipher the health of anyone she touches. It's no competition- the men are way more powerful.

Apart from this, these women are quite content with their simple lives at the Isle of Moon. They don't really aspire to have a great destiny or an exciting adventure outside of their convent. The books always start with something external event forcing them to an adventure. In the first book, it was Luciana's father showing up at the convent that gets the story going. For Brigitta, she was kidnapped by a pirate. And for Gwennore, a dragon abducted the child she was babysitting and was forced to follow. In other words, they are passive characters. Things happen to them as opposed to them making things happen.

Finally, the only game they entertain themselves with at the Isle of Moon is The Telling Stones which is basically a game that foretells the future. The predictions they playfully make are always about finding a tall, handsome man to come and sweep them off their feet. These women do not have any personal goals, only that of finding love and romance.

But they're kinda strong in their own way

Even if they have un-exciting powers, they make good use of them. The men are obviously their protectors. But the women use their powers to actually solve the problem. Without Luciana's ability to see ghosts, they wouldn't have figured out the plans of those plotting against them. Without Brigitta's ability to find lost things, no one would've ever found the lost orb. And if Gwennore hadn't detected the poison wreaking havoc on the queen's health, the curse of the Norveshka royalty would've still raged on. 

On being passive characters- I guess this is because I'm personally not a passive person. I dislike people who just wait for things to happen to them. But, in thinking about how they grew as characters, I have to admit that while they were passive at first. Once they were on their adventure, they made their own decisions and made up their own minds and took action. Sure, they were emotional and dramatic and vulnerable-- but at least they choose to do what they did of their own free will. Which is what matters right?

Sorcha's book is next!

The next book is going to be about Sorcha and an elf, a royal elf. I don't know when it's going to be published, but I'm super excited. Probably because Woodwyn, the elf kingdom, is so mysterious. Nobody knows their motivations for warring with the other kingdoms. Plus, we already know that they're Tolkien-like elves in terms of appearance (i.e. GORGEOUS). Unlike the other heroines, Sorcha is actually a feisty one- finally!