Welcome to the Chameln

I'd never heard of A Princess of the Chameln or Cherry Wilder until I was given this book to read for my internship. Before I sat down to read it, I looked it up to get some background information. Published in 1984, it's a high fantasy with a female lead written by a New Zealand author. I love high fantasy and books with leading ladies, but I'd never heard of the author. So I went into this book interested to see what kind of fantasy Cherry Wilder had crafted.

The thing that I noticed most about this book is something I've wanted for a while: a cast that included a diverse bunch of strong female characters. Aidris, the princess of the title, had been taught to rule when she was a child, but the loss of her parents and years in exile halted that training. She is a princess who becomes a queen and assumes the responsibilities of the rank, including leading her people through wartime and rebuilding her kingdom after years under military occupation. As a main character, Aidris is an active player in the story. She goes from being a princess to an exile and remains for years as a kedran soldier, “kedran” being the term for the all-female group who serve as guards and peacekeepers. Despite missing her homeland, family, and her betrothed, Aidris flourishes in exile. She grows wiser and more confident during her time as a kedran. That is evident when she launches a military campaign to retake her kingdom.

While I was disappointed she didn't take a more active role once she had her armies assembled, her caution made sense. Aidris is the last heir to her family's throne. Her people helped hide her for almost a decade. They don't want to risk their queen falling in battle. I loved Aidris as a character. The nuanced characterization of those who surrounded her, including her best friend, added to the depth of the story.

Aidris' best friend interested me, partly because she was so different from anyone else in the novel. When I first read about Sabeth of Delbin, she seemed to be a fluffy, overly feminine character I wouldn't like. She was beautiful, slender and graceful, and an entertainer by trade. I was set to hate her but Sabeth grew on me. Her loyalty to Aidris and the genuine love and friendship between the two is something I haven’t seen much in fiction lately. So it was nice to see Aidris with a friend who wasn't catty or who merely served as a source of information rather than being a well defined character in her own right.

While Sabeth doesn't play a large role, Cherry Wilder never writes her as a lesser character in comparison to Aidris. Her character has the, “fall in love, get married, and have babies” arc, and I think that suits her as it's something she wanted. After a rough and tumble life as an entertainer she yearned for stability and to marry a man who loved her. Also, even as a wife and mother, Sabeth never forgets her friendship with Aidris. Sabeth confides in Aidris about her fears of marriage and Aidris saves Sabeth when she almost dies in childbirth. I was surprised at how much I liked Sabeth and how grateful I was that Aidris had a friend like her. Sabeth was just a small sample of how different and interesting the female cast is in A Princess of the Chameln.

There are so many other amazing female characters that I can't describe them all here. There are noble ladies, common working women, soldiers, entertainers, innkeepers: women of many shapes, sizes, colors, and ages. Lady Maren is an older woman who acts as an adviser to Aidris and takes her into her home when Aidris flees the armies of Mel'Nir. Megan Brock is a scarred soldier who still has a sense of humor, and is loyal to a fault, such as when she followed Aidris to retake the Chameln lands. Ortwen Cash is a farmer's daughter working for her dowry, but she's also a friend and comrade to Aidris.

Women of the Chameln are described as being short and dark, with darker hair and skin, and Aidris herself is barely over five feet tall. Women of a nearby realm, Lien, like Aidris's mother and aunt, tend to be tall and pale, with golden hair, and are attractive in a more northern European way. Thanks to Cherry Wilder's attention to detail, her characters are vivid and colorful in their portrayal. Her keenly observed detail is also evident in how she established the kedran and their group dynamic.

The kedran are a fascinating aspect of Hylor's culture. Their male counterparts, known as kern, work alongside the kedran. What makes the kedran unique is “kedran love.” This is reminiscent of ancient Roman soldiers who would have a partner in the army, one they would fight to the death to protect, and sometimes formed romantic relationships with. Yep, there's lesbians in this book. It's not explicit, but in the New Moon Company of kedran, which Aidris joins, all the kedran are in paired relationships, except for Aidris and Sergeant Yeo. However, Sergeant Yeo is linked to Megan Brock, the captain of Kerrick Hall's kedran. Some women remain kedran all their lives, while others marry and leave the service, seeing it as temporary. The kedran culture is fascinating and I wish there had been more information about the relationships.

I think this book was ahead of its time in terms of how it treats women. There was a balance, because while women are treated well in the Chameln and Athron lands, in Lien it's different. Women in Lien can be whipped, but that's about all we know of Lien's attitudes towards women. There are also some groups, such as the Brothers of Inokoi, who don't treat women well, but don’t act in ways what contemporary standards would consider shocking or blatant. The brothers are polite, but they make it clear they don't like interacting with women. There is also a moment in which we learn Aidris' betrothed fathered a child while Aidris was in exile. This mention brief and brushed over, but it highlights that there are gender differences even in Chameln lands. It's these small instances that keep the book from being too idyllic in terms of gender and gender roles. These are minor issues in comparison to how Cherry Wilder treats her characters with respect. I'll touch on her writing style in another post, because it deserves an analysis all its own.