The Birthgrave

Tanith Lee 1977 Buy from Amazon.com

The Birthgrave is one of my favourite novels. I was surprised to discover that it was Tanith Lee’s first novel, as it is complex and rich, and very mature. To my mind it is clearly the work of a well practised author. There are some books that you go back to over and over, and rediscover the little nuances and details that you have forgotten since you last read it. This is one of those, and although it has an outstanding plot, knowing where the story is going never lessens the experience of reading it through again.

It is set in a barbarian society, full of classic sword and sorcery. The main character remains nameless through the story, but is referred to with various nicknames and titles. One of them is Uastis. She fights like a man, with skill and strength, yet spends much of the book overpowered by men. She has terrifying powers, which she cannot use to help her or which desert her at the wrong times.

Uastis is one of the Lost Ones, a powerful race that enslaved humans years before. But the curse of humanity came home, dissolving their fast-healing flesh off the bone until they were all dead. Except for Uastis, who grew from childhood to adulthood sleeping under a volcano.

Uastis is a fascinating character, old and young, cruel and compassionate, she encompasses all potential aspects of herself at some point in the book. She is a product of the society where she lives, and yet she views their innate beliefs about her place as a woman with contempt, even if the woman they see is a Goddess.

After emerging from her sleep, her memories of her earlier life are vague and she knows only that she must search for her soul-kin, the jade. Until then, she cannot claim the power of the Lost Ones, nor will she be able to heal herself, and she is cursed by extreme hideousness.

Yet she doesn’t seem to search for the jade except when goaded. Seeing a jade necklace, she wants it, even though it is not the jade she seeks. Instead she is thrown about on the whim of others and by circumstance, unable to grasp control long enough to search thoroughly.

Over the course of the story, she is disempowered and dragged along by a series of men. The first is Darrak, the bandit, who is her lover and who she fears and loves. He sees her face without a mask and does not recoil, so she is bound to him even through his most bizarre adventures.

Tanith Lee has managed to explore the inner heart of the powerful. In many fantasy novels, the magical and the strong are only visible to us from the outside, their motives incomprehensible. Here Lee has shown the confusion and the despair of Uastis, and her ultimate triumph.

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