A Word on Rutkoski’s The Winner’s Trilogy

Ussie of Marie and Caragh.

When I try to pick one favorite thing about Marie Rutkoski’s Winner’s trilogy, it’s impossible for me to separate the novels from my friendship with the author. I feel like the world she has created comes to me in her thoughtful, precise voice, which I hear clearly from beside me, as if we were sharing another panel. She’s the only one I’ve ever known who says “Pyrrhic victory” in conversation, and though this may say something about the company I keep, I think it says more about how wise and nuanced Marie is herself.

I’ll pick one thing, and that is the dissolving spoon of spun sugar in the first chapter of The Winner’s Crime. I choose the spoon because it is perfect as a sensory detail I can both taste and feel between my lips, and because it is crucial to the power play between Kestrel and her host, who attempts to control her. I choose the spoon because it invokes a distant, fully realized world that I love to visit, and it proves I’m in the hands of a master storyteller.

Fabulous book.

The Winner’s Crime, sequel to The Winner’s Curse, comes out tomorrow, March 3rd. I happily recommend that you read them both, pronto, and if you happen to live in the Boston area, drop in to see Marie and Kristin Cashore at Harvard Book Store Tuesday night at 7:00.

Congrats, Marie!