The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy

The Hollow Kingdom (Book I), by Clare Dunkle

Kate and her younger sister, Emily, are orphans, sent to live with great aunts at remote and mysterious Hallow Hill. Hugh Roberts, their guardian, is a surly and somewhat sinister cousin. One afternoon, the girls come upon some strange people and an abnormally huge cat in a clearing. One of these folk, Marak, is a goblin king. He needs Kate to be his human bride, for goblins may not marry their own kind. When Emily disappears, Kate assumes that he is responsible and agrees to marry him in exchange for her sister's freedom.

This is a pretty fascinating book - this is a lot darker than normal fairy tales or romances. The underground kingdom, over which Marak rules, is not forgiving to new brides. The first section of the book is taken up with Marak's pursuit of Kate, and with the introduction of the world of goblins, as Dunkle imagines them. This book is, I think, the best of the trilogy, since although we are told that Marak is quite grotesque, we are still presented with his actions regarding Kate and Em, which redeem some of his flaws in character and appearance. The romance is, of course, problematic: he's an older goblin, whose first (captive) wife died insane, she's a young (late teens) girl with a sketchy guardian and a brash younger sister. Marak makes no bones about the fact that Kate is, basically, an unwilling captive, the latest in a long line of abducted young women and elves. Luckily, Dunkle doesn't ask us to suspend belief that Kate will be easily reconciled to her lot. However, the last section of the book deals with events about a year and a half after the beginning of the book, and I think that one of the greatest weaknesses of the story is that (for length purposes, I assume) we're not given a glance at how Kate's opinion has slowly undergone alteration, as it so clearly must have. This is a vastly gripping story, and has the power to both disgust and unsettle, while still maintaining sympathy for all characters - not an easy feat.

Close Kin (Book II)


As a human who has always thought of goblins as exciting and exotic creatures, Emily enjoys spending her days with the many goblin children in her care. She has no thought of marriage until she unintentionally rejects the awkward proposal of her best friend, Seylin. Devastated, he decides to leave the kingdom to search for his elf ancestors. Once Emily realizes that she is the cause of his departure, and how much she cares for him, she sets out to find him, accompanied by the curmudgeonly goblin, Ruby.

This book takes place seven years after the first, a time jump necessary to the plot of the story, although it does make one wistful for a more in-depth take on the intervening years for Kate. Both sisters have settled in more or less happily, until Em accidentally sets in motion several quests: her friend Seylin's quest to find elves (from who he gets his vast good looks), and Em's quest to find him. I hope it won't ruin too much of the story to say that both succeed. The elves that Seylin finds are unlike any elves that I've ever read about in fiction though - Dunkle's elves are desperate remnants, stealing food and living in filth and abject misery. This middle book has a lot less action in it - through most of it, the two lovebirds are simply wandering the wilds of England. This book feels like, and is, a set-up for the third in the trilogy. There is just not a lot to this book, although we are presented with the very deep mistrust and hatred that the elves have for goblins.



In the Coils of the Snake (Book III)

Marak, the goblin king, is dying, and his son, Marak Catspaw, is taking over the throne. Miranda, the human girl whom Marak has raised to be Catspaw's wife, has come to the underground goblin lands eager to start her role as King's Wife. When a new elf leader arrives and offers Catspaw an elven wife, Miranda's destiny disappears. She escapes the goblin kingdom and is captured by the elf leader, Nir. Meanwhile, elven Arianna, Catspaw's new Wife, is deeply unhappy with her underground life. In the end, both girls play a role in choosing a new life for both elves and goblins.

This one takes place about thirty years after the second book. I have to say that had they all been like this third book, I may not have finished the trilogy. There is a lot of subjugation of women in this one - both of the brides in itCofS are forced into marriage (literally - although there is less force in Miranda's case, probably because she was half out of her mind at the time) without warning or consultation. Unlike The Hollow Kingdom, the focus of this book is not on the relationship between the King and his bride, but rather on the coming war between goblins and elves (and I'm relieved to see that the elves in CotS have shaped up their personal hygiene habits). Thus, the readers are presented with a very ugly side of each race - both believe that the other is a barbarian, a fact of which, after itCotS, I had no doubt is true in both cases. Each king is domineering and suppressive, all in the name of protection and best interests, and it finally finally, just rubbed me the wrong way. I suppose, for Victorian England, the girls have actually done alright for themselves, but having to see what each bride endured didn't leave me with much sympathy for any of the characters - neither the kings, for being so crazy and harsh, nor the brides, for being so passive and accepting. Kate was a much more sympathetic protagonist, if only for the reason that she didn't stand around like a dumb tree while an elf put her through the marriage rites.


SO, my final verdict on these would have to be: excellently started, poorly finished. To be fair, the series stays true to the character of the world, which is never glossed over, nor prettied up. It is a harsh world in which every generation a horribly disfigured goblin kidnaps some young girl. And yet, the first book is so enjoyable because it does force Kate (and the reader) to evaluate Marak on more than simply the capture of his bride. The later books tread too close to Stockholm Syndrome for comfort. Although each husband is solicitous of his bride, there is very little to admire in the relationships that Dunkle presents at the end. The books are worth a read, if only to provoke thoughts along these and other lines - there certainly is a good deal about instinctual mistrust and prejudice of other races, which is played to good effect in both the second and third books - the second, by turning the common conception of elves on it's head, and the third by allowing us to see how little misunderstandings could result in larger wars. My only wish is that the later two books made me feel as torn about the forced marriages as the first book did - Kate and Marak's union had both positive and negative sides, while I saw only negatives for Miranda and Arriana. The fight between goblins and elves, although interesting, is resolved pretty quickly (also a problem in the second book) and neatly, leaving little to savor, since the personal relationships are given short shrift in exchange. I'm glad I read this series, since it's given me some new perspectives, and made me question some beliefs, but I feel like it could have been better - a longer, slower pace to give equal attention to personal as well as cultural battles would have done the trick.