The Chosen One

Sister Light, Sister Dark - Jane Yolen

When I first saw the movie Willow, I enjoyed it. As I got older, however, my view got a little more jaded. It's true, you have some really good aspects in it - Jean Marsh's acting is great, the character of Sorsha, a young Val Kilmer, a father who wants to be more than that for a bit, a female Gandalf - and the chosen one is female.

And that's the rub - for the chosen one is a baby thoughout the whole damn movie, and the ones that do the major getting rid of baddies are male. The Chosen One just looks cute (until the sequel novel which wasn't very good). Compare that to say, Luke Skywalker. Skywalker has agency. So does Harry Potter.

In many ways, it is difficult to not think of reading Willow when reading this book.

This book is in many ways what Willow could have been.

The concept is interesting -and does with questions of self duality.

And we have a girl chosen one who does things.

There are aspects that could have used more development, but they might get ironed out later.

The use of comparison between myth, legend, and the real story is really cool.