Ombria in Shadow – a review
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Ombria in Shadow review
by Kevan Manwaring
Ombria in Shadow is a fantasy novel by American writer Patricia A. McKillip, first published by Ace Books in 2002. It won the 2003 World Fantasy Award and Mythopoeic Award. This is a retro review.
Patricia A. McKillip has created an exquisitely-wrought baroque Fantasy in Ombria in Shadow, one that builds upon the foundations laid by the Gothic Tradition, as well as that of medieval Fantasy. A tale of changelings, enchantresses, tragic princes, and dastardly deeds, at the heart of Ombria in Shadow is the dark tower of the palace, the centre of all intrigue, tragedy, and magic. There is a tangible sense of place – indeed, the palace is a character in itself, dominating the novel in the way that Domina, the ‘Black Pearl’ regent dominates the court, city, and country with her Machiavellian machinations. The claustrophobic effect of larger-than-life characters in such a confined space is Gormenghastian. This is compounded by the unusual prose style – McKillip deploys syntactical circumlocutions that curl back on themselves like tangled briars. This could easily be stifling, combining with the Piranesian setting to evoke a density redolent of Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose, or of a Borgesian labyrinth. Yet the effect is more fey and dream-like, perhaps with a dash of Diane Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle. The social hierarchies are certainly codified by the architecture, a pecking order set in stone, but what breathes life into this highly ornate affair (which could easily become a recherché exercise in style) are the great characters – the fallen-from-grace royal consort Lydea, the amoral sorcereress Faey and her ‘waxling’ Mag, the black-hearted regent Domina, and the haunted artist, Ducon. Between them is a tangled web of love, hate, and deception. The court descends into knife-edged chaos when its ruler dies, leaving the only acknowledged heir – a young boy, Kyel – vulnerable and at the mercy of the smothering attentions of Domina. The doubling and mistaken identities that occur throughout are mirrored by the shadow castle which exists, hidden behind walls, secret doors, and beneath the city. This is the demi-monde into which the cast out consort Lydea is plunged – and we follow her down its rabbit hole as she jettisons her courtly attire (or is ‘relieved’ of it). This foreshadows the stripping away of illusion which must occur for the truth to be revealed, like layers of peeling décor in a mansion of decaying grandeur. McKillip revels in the aesthetic of clutter, squalor, and decrepitude – it is as though the whole city-state is a diseased body which needs purging, a cathartic spring clean to blast away its corruption. However the strength of this novel is less in the plot, than in the manner in which it is carried off. There is a febrile energy here, and it is in her depiction of altered states that the author excels. One needs to merely surrender to it and by swept along by its fever dream.
Ombria in Shadow (Fantasy Masterworks), published by Gateway, 2014, is available here
