The Sweet Far Thing (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy) | Libba Bray

The Sweet Far Thing (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy) | Libba Bray | Fantastic.

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The Sweet Far Thin...

	The Sweet Far Thing (The Gemma Doyle Trilogy) Libba Bray Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 2007 - 832 pages average customer review:based on 96 reviews view larger image
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IT HAS BEEN A YEAR OF CHANGE since Gemma Doyle arrived at the foreboding Spence Academy. Her mother murdered, her father a
laudanum addict, Gemma has relied on an unsuspected strength and has discovered an ability to travel to an enchanted world called the realms, where dark magic runs wild. Despite certain peril, Gemma has bound the magic to herself and forged unlikely new alliances. Now, as Gemma approaches her London debut, the time has come to test these bonds.

The Order - the mysterious group her mother was once part of - is grappling for control of the realms, as is the Rakshana. Spence's burned East Wing is being rebuilt, but why now? Gemma and her friends see Pippa, but she is not the same. And their friendship faces its gravest trial as Gemma must decide once and for all what role she is meant for.

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Maybe it's not REALLY Over...

I do understand the fact that people of different stations and races were expected to strictly adhere to 'their own kind', but this is a book, where anything can happen. That is what artistic license and imagination are for. Even with these stipulations, Gemma and Kartik may have possibly been able to get married in India, as Gemma had grown up there and could have been viewed as being one of 'them.' If that wouldn't have worked, then why not in America, the land of the free? Yes, these rules were pretty much the standard no matter what part of the world you lived in during that era, but it wasn't nearly as bad in America as elsewhere, and they could have forged a life together in a brand new, wild and unexplored country where the inhabitants make their own rules.

I will have to go back and look for it in the book, because I don't recall Kartik saying exactly where he planned on going when he told Gemma he was leaving so as not to endanger her after having the dream about his brother, but I do remember him saying the name of the ship was the HMS Orlando. When Gemma's father went back to India, it was on the HMS Victoria. If it was the Orlando headed for America, Gemma most likely made her decision to start her new life in which she had to do the unthinkable (for a woman) and work to supplement her small monthly allowance there, based on that. She could have chose America in the hopes that she would have a better chance of being accepted there while going to university as a liberated woman, which was virtually unheard of back then, and in a way, following in what would have been Kartik's footsteps.

I also was extremely disappointed that Gemma and Kartik didn't at least get to outright TELL each other that they loved each other before their untimely separation. I know that Kartik was being valiant, and ultimately showing his love by sacrificing himself for Gemma, but I, as a few other readers expressed in their reviews, was more expecting Mr. Fowlson to take her place for the reason that he was attached to Miss McCleethy as her Rakshana protector and lover, and by becoming the tree, spending eternity with her.

Maybe--just maybe, it's not REALLY over. Just because the series was entitled the Gemma Doyle Trilogy doesn't mean there can't now be one about Kartik that begins where he switches places with Gemma. There are many ways the story could go on from here--It could tell how love transcends and overcomes all obstacles, and about the tree being purified by his selfless act and no longer needing a human soul to exist, thus releasing him once the land begins to start the process of healing. He could have some sort of dream or revelation while being connected to the tree, telling him his true destiny is to be by Gemma's side as her other half, and protector while she helps the different creatures of the realms learn how to start anew with the shared power they all have now. OR since the trilogy really only talked about the garden, Borderlands, and Winterlands doesn't mean those were the whole of the realms. There could be many other places they never discovered. Someone from another part of that world, who has special powers could run across the tree, and realizing Kartik is trapped inside may find a way to save him from it. Not to mention that there will always be greedy people wanting power over all, whether it be someone who already lives in the realms, or an unwary person from our world who somehow stumbles upon a previously unknown doorway (who says the only one has to be the one the girls found, and not one in another totally different part of the world), who will try to tip the balance and take over....

(Edited to add the following 6/04/08) I flipped through the book and found on page 151, Kartik tells Gemma he is going to sea on the HMS Orlando, which leaves Bristol in 6 weeks time, but does not say where it is going to. Also on page 220, he says that as soon as his debt to the gypsies is paid, he will be on his way to Bristol to join the Orlando, but no mention of where it is headed. Page 362 he tells her he's leaving after he takes her to meet with the Rakshana, but no new info on where the destination is. When Gemma goes to America, it doesn't say the name of the ship she is on. I could've sworn that someone said something about going to New York at some earlier part of the story, though. Since it doesn't tell which ship Gemma embarked upon to seek her fortune, all we can do is hope that something plants a seed in the author's mind about continuing Kartik's story where it left off, and somehow he is sprung from his trap to achieve a different destiny if she doesn't already have one in full bloom.

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Fantastic.

Completely adore this series. Beautifully written. Smooth flowing plot. Strange but enthralling ending. Leaves you wanting more.

A sad ending

The last book in the Gemma Doyle Trilogy brings a bittersweet ending. It has been a year and Gemma is still stuggling with the magic which is now bound to her. She has to decide who should she make an alliance with and when is the right time to make it. But when she starts to think she is going crazy and her friends start to turn on her along with the creatures of the realms, Gemma can only turn to Kartik when he is not distancing himself from her and an enemy she thought dead. With the rebuilding of the East Wing at Spence and some of the workers and Gypsies going missing, Gemma has no idea what to expect. Are her visions helping her or leading her into more danger? The beginning of this book seems to drag on and makes you want to skip to a more interesting part, but it does get better. All the questions that have been asked in the previous two books get answered in a good but sad ending.

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