Review: Meridian, by Amber Kizer

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Meridian Sozu kills things. At least that's what she believes. For as long as she can remember, she's been a kind of miniature grim reaper, her path littered with the corpses of living creatures who have died in her presence. She is something of a pariah among other children her age, and understandably so, but even her parents seem to hold back around her. Only her baby brother accepts her completely and seems to love her unreservedly. On her sixteenth birthday, her world changes forever.

Meridian is a Fenestra. She doesn't kill, rather she is a kind of window. She facilitates the passage of souls into the afterlife. Unfortunately her parents, who have known this all along (Fenestras come from hereditary Fenestra lines.)have never told her what she is or that when she comes into her full power on her sixteenth birthday, she will have to leave them, perhaps forever, and be trained to do what she was born to do without it killing her.

I have to say that I was captivated by this story; in spite of the teenage protagonist and a storyline that remains a little simplistic, the book is still sophisticated enough to be enjoyed by adult readers. It's quite dark in many ways, a touch political, and it presents a mythology which meshes nicely with a number of spiritual beliefs. The story flows smoothly, making it fodder for a marathon read. I began it around midnight and, had I not had to get up early the next morning, I probably would have read straight through.

That doesn't mean I don't have some quibbles with it. I found the portraits of her family sketchy, and disappointing particularly in terms of how they dealt with Meridian. They let her go sixteen years thinking that she kills living things by her very presence, not just by not reassuring her that the constant parade of dead things is not her fault, but apparently by withholding the sort of physical contact Meridian craves. They keep her utterly ignorant of the fact that there are agents of dark forces who will try to kill her or worse. They never bother to tell her that one day they will have to give her up, perhaps forever. Instead, on the morning of her sixteenth birthday, knowing that these dark forces are getting closer, they still send her off to school with a promise that they'll explain everything when she gets home. You have to know that's not going to end well.

I really don't know why Kizer made the choices she did in terms of Meridian's parents, but they come across as ciphers at best and at worst, terrible parents without whom she is much better off. Unfortunately it also robs the book of some of its emotional impact. I have a suspicion that this is the first of a series of books about Meridian -- I hope I'm correct about this, but there's no indication either in the book's blurbs or that I've found on Kizer's website -- and I hope that if I'm right, Kizer will allow Meridian to deal with her upbringing at some point.

The story of Meridian's training with Auntie and Tens, and the situation in the town where she's been sent is still satisfying enough that I was willing to overlook any shortcomings in terms of characterization. Along with a decent coming-of-age story, Kizer gives us a Big Bad who is frightening, particularly in terms of the current state of world politics, and a sweet, if low-key, love story. Its conclusion works for me, which is the ultimate test of a story.

Meridian