I heard you. Sometimes, in silence, at night, I hear the voices of things beyond eyesight, like echoes of ancient songs. I heard your voice, lonely in my dreams—it woke me, so I came. You see, I know how it is when you speak a name into an empty room with no one on earth to answer to it.
–Coren of Sirle, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
Young Sybel, the heiress of powerful wizards, needs the company of no-one outside her gates. In her exquisite stone mansion, she is attended by exotic, magical beasts: Riddle-master Cyrin the boar; the treasure-starved dragon Gyld; Gules the Lyon, tawny master of the Southern Deserts; Ter, the fiercely vengeful falcon; Moriah, feline Lady of the Night. Sybel only lacks the exquisite and mysterious Liralen, which continues to elude her most powerful enchantments.
But Sybel’s solitude is to be shattered when a desperate soldier arrives bearing a mysterious child. Soon Sybel will discover that the world of men is full of love, deceit, and the temptations of vast power.
–Amazon Summary
Despite it being published over 30 years ago, I just read this sophisticated, lyrical, romantic but unsentimental, thematically compelling YA novel for the first time. Not gonna lie, I did get some Reylo vibes here–it’s a coming of age story centered on an isolated heroine, Sybel, with tremendous but untested power. Furthermore, this book portrays an attempted “mind rape”, and I have to say, it could not be further from what went on in the Reylo interrogation scene. As the above quote suggests, there are also themes of loneliness and neglect that fuel the relationship between the protagonist and her love interest, much like Rey and Kylo.
Thematically, the novel explores how and why one so powerful (and even ones not so powerful) could be used and abused to further the machinations of man. It also does not shy away from pointing out how even the best of intentions can be interpreted as abusive and does not back down from portraying a heroine capable of the very real human failing of holding others to a double standard. Against a really simple but beautiful metaphor, Sybel ultimately learns that one cannot merely survive one’s fears by staring them in the face, but also must accept them as part of herself. It’s also some of the best feminist YA fiction I’ve read in recent years and deals considerably (though not overtly) with the role of consent and choice as well as puts forth thoughtful ideas about captivity and free will.
Anyway, it was a terrific read and if you like lyrical, nuanced prose and dialogue that is by turns delicate and unsentimental, romantic but fierce, ambiguous while also direct, then this is highly recommended.
I love Patricia A. McKillip and often thought that her books have that dark fairy tale vibe which always reminds me of the reylo dynamic.
I haven’t read this one yet but I can wholeheartedly recommend this author. Her writing is pure magic.
Further recommendations by this author:
The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy
Ombria in Shadow
In the Forests of Serre
Alphabet of Thorn
The Changeling Sea (This one had the most reylo vibes for me.)
I’m guessing Winter Rose should have a strong reylo vibe as well. I’ve yet to read it but I know it’s an adaption of the Tam Lin tale which also may have been an inspiration for the dynamic between Rey and Kylo/Ben.
OMG @fuck-yeah-monsters-and-villains, if you love this author you have got to read Forgotten Beasts soon! Apart from anything Reylo, it’s just a splendid and emotional read.
The Changeling Sea was a book on my reading list for awhile, so I’m reading that now, and I strongly second your “most Reylo” comparison thus far, especially at times when Peri, the female protagonist, hopes to “give the sea indigestion” by throwing a jagged ball of glass and metal junk into it. That’s so Scavenger Rey to me lol.
Ha, yes that part was great. I’ve almost forgotten about that bcause it’s been a while since I last read a book by her. I best remember the bittersweet and yet uplifting ending of the Changeling Sea.
The forgotten Beasts of Eld has been on my reading list for a while and this post has definitely been a incentive to pick it up soon.☺
I heard you. Sometimes, in silence, at night, I hear the voices of things beyond eyesight, like echoes of ancient songs. I heard your voice, lonely in my dreams—it woke me, so I came. You see, I know how it is when you speak a name into an empty room with no one on earth to answer to it.
–Coren of Sirle, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
Young Sybel, the heiress of powerful wizards, needs the company of no-one outside her gates. In her exquisite stone mansion, she is attended by exotic, magical beasts: Riddle-master Cyrin the boar; the treasure-starved dragon Gyld; Gules the Lyon, tawny master of the Southern Deserts; Ter, the fiercely vengeful falcon; Moriah, feline Lady of the Night. Sybel only lacks the exquisite and mysterious Liralen, which continues to elude her most powerful enchantments.
But Sybel’s solitude is to be shattered when a desperate soldier arrives bearing a mysterious child. Soon Sybel will discover that the world of men is full of love, deceit, and the temptations of vast power.
–Amazon Summary
Despite it being published over 30 years ago, I just read this sophisticated, lyrical, romantic but unsentimental, thematically compelling YA novel for the first time. Not gonna lie, I did get some Reylo vibes here–it’s a coming of age story centered on an isolated heroine, Sybel, with tremendous but untested power. Furthermore, this book portrays an attempted “mind rape”, and I have to say, it could not be further from what went on in the Reylo interrogation scene. As the above quote suggests, there are also themes of loneliness and neglect that fuel the relationship between the protagonist and her love interest, much like Rey and Kylo.
Thematically, the novel explores how and why one so powerful (and even ones not so powerful) could be used and abused to further the machinations of man. It also does not shy away from pointing out how even the best of intentions can be interpreted as abusive and does not back down from portraying a heroine capable of the very real human failing of holding others to a double standard. Against a really simple but beautiful metaphor, Sybel ultimately learns that one cannot merely survive one’s fears by staring them in the face, but also must accept them as part of herself. It’s also some of the best feminist YA fiction I’ve read in recent years and deals considerably (though not overtly) with the role of consent and choice as well as puts forth thoughtful ideas about captivity and free will.
Anyway, it was a terrific read and if you like lyrical, nuanced prose and dialogue that is by turns delicate and unsentimental, romantic but fierce, ambiguous while also direct, then this is highly recommended.
I love Patricia A. McKillip and often thought that her books have that dark fairy tale vibe which always reminds me of the reylo dynamic.
I haven’t read this one yet but I can wholeheartedly recommend this author. Her writing is pure magic.
Further recommendations by this author:
The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy
Ombria in Shadow
In the Forests of Serre
Alphabet of Thorn
The Changeling Sea (This one had the most reylo vibes for me.)
I’m guessing Winter Rose should have a strong reylo vibe as well. I’ve yet to read it but I know it’s an adaption of the Tam Lin tale which also may have been an inspiration for the dynamic between Rey and Kylo/Ben.
NIGHT’S MASTER (Tales from the Flat Earth # 1) by Tanith Lee
NIGHT’S MASTER is the first book of the stunning arabesque high fantasy series Tales from the Flat Earth, which, in the manner of The One Thousand and One Nights, portrays an ancient world in mythic grandeur via connected tales.
Long time ago when the Earth was Flat, beautiful indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above, curious passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below, and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle. Azhrarn, Lord of the Demons and the Darkness, was the one who ruled the Night, and many mortal lives were changed because of his cruel whimsy. And yet, Azhrarn held inside his demon heart a profound mystery which would change the very fabric of the Flat Earth forever…
Come within this ancient world of brilliant darkness and beauty, of glittering palaces and wondrous elegant beings, of cruel passions and undying love.
Discover the exotic wonder that is the Flat Earth.
Check out this book on Goodreads: Night’s Master (Tales from the Flat Earth #1)
Reylo vibe recommendation by @k10c2
I strongly second this recommendation. 😍 I’ve decided that each of the ‘Tales from the Flat Earth’ books will get it’s own post.
Very sensual, reminiscent of 1001 nights, featuring a wide cast of characters over the course of 5 books but always returning to beautiful and casually cruel Azhrarn, Lord of Demons who occasionally has a soft spot for humanity.
While the reylo vibe is not as strong in the first of this series it will still make you fall in love with Tanith Lee’s creation and her characters.
Do you have a REYLO VIBE recommendation? Submit or contact me!💙💙💙
Many are called…
She alone can save the world and become Death’s bride.
Cobweb Bride is a history-flavored fantasy novel with romantic elements of the Persephone myth, about Death’s ultimatum to the world.
What if you killed someone and then fell in love with them?
In an alternate Renaissance world, somewhere in an imaginary “pocket” of Europe called the Kingdom of Lethe, Death comes, in the form of a grim Spaniard, to claim his Bride. Until she is found, in a single time-stopping moment all dying stops. There is no relief for the mortally wounded and the terminally ill….
Covered in white cobwebs of a thousand snow spiders she lies in the darkness… Her skin is cold as snow… Her eyes frozen… Her gaze, fiercely alive…
While kings and emperors send expeditions to search for a suitable Bride for Death, armies of the undead wage an endless war… A black knight roams the forest at the command of his undead father … Spies and political treacheries abound at the imperial Silver Court…. Murdered lovers find themselves locked in the realm of the living…
Look closer — through the cobweb filaments of her hair and along each strand shine stars…
And one small village girl, Percy—an unwanted, ungainly middle daughter—is faced with the responsibility of granting her dying grandmother the desperate release she needs.
As a result, Percy joins the crowds of other young women of the land in a desperate quest to Death’s own mysterious holding in the deepest forests of the North…
A determined young woman and a dark knight who will redeem himself try to save their world from total annihilation.
A dead princess and her murderer may find happiness together.
A many-faced Hades will try to win his twisted, mad Persephone back.
Three couples, many reylo feels…
Do you have a REYLO VIBE recommendation? Submit or contact me!💙💙💙
I recently rewatched my all time favourite movie as a child, Ronja Rövardotter (for the english speakers: Ronia, the Robber’s Daughter), and noticed some parallels that can be drawn to Reylo.
For those who haven’t watched the film or read the book by (awesome!) Astrid Lindgren:
Ronja is the daughter of Mattis, chief of a robbers clan, and his wife Lovis. She grows up in her parents’ castle in the woods with the robbers as her only company, until a rival robber group (led by their chief Borka) moves into the other half of the castle, exacerbating the longstanding rivalry between the two bands. When she meets Birk Borkason, the only son of Borka, the two start out as enemies, but once they get to know each other they become very close friends – but know that they cannot tell their families. When Birk is captured by Ronja’s father, she gives herself to the Borkas so she must be exchanged, but as a result her father disowns her and refuses to acknowledge her as his daughter. Birk and Ronja run away to the woods, where they live in a cave and experience several adventures. Ultimately their families repent of their feuding, and everyone is reunited, but the story concludes with both Ronia and Birk deciding that the robber’s life is not for them.
Character parallels
Both Ronja and Birk grow up quite lonely, as the only children among adults and find themselves on opposing sides of rivalling forces, namely their opposing clans of robbers.
After being abandoned by her parents, Rey grows up alone on Jakku amongst other scavengers. While Ben is surrounded by other children, he is singled out and different from a very young age, due to both his bloodline as well as his unique powers, and also ultimately alone. They also find themselves on opposing sides of a war, in their case the Resistance and the First Order respectively.
Ronja & Rey
There are obvious parallels between scavenger Rey and Ronja: She, as well as Rey, is self-reliant, spirited, kind, but a fighter who stands her ground and is not afraid to speak her mind and question authority. She cusses and insults Birk a lot. She also is very impulsive and often lashes out before thinking, she even bites him in the cheek at one point by mistake (but refuses to apologise).
Birk & Kylo Ren
Birk is born into (robbers’) royalty and very aware of that. When he is first introduced he comes off as a little arrogant and smug. He insults Ronja and mocks both her origin and her abilities. (To be fair, she does as well)
The First meeting
The first time Ronja and Birk meet is at the rift that separates both halves of the castle (fittingly called “the gorge of hell”). They immediately start to throw insults at each other. Birk jumps over the rift after Ronja tells him to “come over if you dare, I will punch you in the face so hard your nose falls off!”. To keep face she starts jumping as well. Birk is quite impressed. They then both start competitively leaping back and forth across the abyss. Finally, Birk slips and almost falls to his death, but is ultimately saved by Ronja, who pulls him back over the edge. When Birk tries to thank her and suggest that maybe now they belong together, she slaps him and tells him to go to hell.
Now, where might we have seen two antagonists insulting each other, then fighting on the edge of a cliff before… followed by an impressed boy offering a union and the girl rejecting him…
(I realise this post might be interesting only to a niche readership – assuming that most of your aren’t Swedish or German, where I know this book/movie is most popular – and this is pretty long already, so I’m putting the rest under a cut.)
I loved this movie as a kid (still do). It’s dark, creepy and magical. It’s definitely not the typical cutesy stuff Hollywood pumps out.
You are not the only one who saw parallels with reylo. Some time ago I also made a (very short) post about that movie. Of course this meta is something else. Thank you for taking the time to do this awasome in-depth analysis.
Monsters and Villains 