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As mentioned last month, with completion of The Wall of Night (WALL) series I've been giving some thought to heroines in Fantasy -- all of which has prompted me to focus on them as m'theme for 2026! Each month, I'll take a heroine (or two!) from a favorite book and contrast-and-compare with a 'leading lady' from the WALL series.
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This month, I'm checking in on Yeine Darr from NK Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, along with Rowan Birchmoon from WALL -- chiefly The Heir of Night, although her influence is felt throughout the series.
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Yeine Darr and Rowan Birchmoon
Don't get me wrong, these are two very different characters with very different story arcs -- for starters, Yeine Darr is the main character in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, while Rowan Birchmoon is a "best supporting" player.
Both, though, come from outlying lands (considered barbarian by some) but are forced by a mix of circumstance and choice to dwell among strangers who are, at best, reserved, and at worst, outright hostile.
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| Kindle Edition |
Yeine is her people's representative to Sky, the palace of the world-ruling Arameri (who are also her estranged kin), and although summoned there by her grandfather, she also seeks to resolve the murder of her exiled Arameri mother. Soon after her arrival, however, she is precipitated into a three-way contest to become the Arameri heir, which involves not only family and cultural politics, but a long-smoldering civil war between the gods -- quite a few of whom also reside in Sky.
Rowan Birchmoon is also an outsider, a woman of the Winter steppe residing in the alien Derai's Keep of Winds, on the bleak and inhospitable Wall of Night. In Rowan's case, it is love that has brought her there, as lover and consort (but not wife) to the Earl of Night. The Derai, however, dislike what they call "outsiders", and believe she must have bewitched the Earl into loving her, so Rowan's life is also fraught with danger.
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| US edition |
In The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the Arameri hold sway through magic, and both serve the gods that favor them, while binding others to their own service. Consequently, in Yeine's quest to survive the contest to become Arameri heir (and so the future ruler of the world, effectively) and uncover her mother's murder, she also becomes the central piece in a game of power between the gods -- a game that is soon complicated by romantic entanglement with Nahadoth, one of the most powerful and enigmatic of the gods that serve the Aramieri.
The stakes in this latter game are even higher than the contest for the Arameri heirdom. In order to survive both, Yeine must discover the source of her own magic and use it to win a game of power that involves both heaven and earth.
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| Audio edition |
On the surface, Rowan Birchmoon's path through The Heir of Night is a quieter one. She also differs from Yeine in knowing the core of her power from the outset. So although the Derai see her as their Earl's unwelcome consort first, and a huntress second, she is also a shaman of the Winter People, with the power to shape the seasons, and a seer. A hidden power, but one, along with love for the Earl of Night, that has brought her to the Wall -- and also to Malian, the prophesied champion (of February's post.)
So when the chips are down, and Malian must flee for her life, Rowan Birchmoon will step into the game -- and what follows, at that point, will play as big a part as Yeine's in Sky, in shaping the course of her world.
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| UK edition |
Prior Posts: A Year of Heroines
February: Aerin, Elfrid, & Malian of Night
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About Helen Lowe
Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she has recently completed the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series, which is now with its publisher,
Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.
