Strange Horizons review of Stacey McEwan’s Ledge

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Ledge Cover (an abstract pattern of white ice crystals frame this novel's title)
(Cover Artist: Kate Cromwell)
Strange Horizons has posted a review I wrote about Stacey McEwan's novel Ledge. This book is a fantasy story with a pretty unique premise. The story starts out in an isolated village whose residents are forced to make regular human sacrifices to mysterious winged beings called Glacians. The main plot begins when the book's protagonist, a woman named Dawsyn, is selected as the next sacrifice, only to be rescued by a Glacian named Ryon. The story on the whole follows Dawsyn and Ryon as they struggle to complete a dangerous voyage to a distant kingdom called Therrsaw whose residents were at war with the Glacians generations prior.

In all, Ledge turned out to be a book I was pretty conflicted about. While the story's setup and plot were intriguing, much of the book's first half was occupied by a romantic relationship developing between Dawsyn and Ryon. Yet there's a coercive subtext to this relationship which Ledge neglects to ever directly confront, and that makes this particular aspect of the story deeply uncomfortable to follow. An excerpt from my review is below.

There are many elements of this setup which could have proven intriguing if properly handled. Both Dawsyn and Ryon represent individuals who are forced to work together so as to ensure their mutual survival, even though their respective backgrounds have led them to view one another as enemies. Dawsyn for her part clearly sees Ryon with a natural fear and hostility, since not only has she been raised all her life to view Glacians as human-eating monsters, but also now finds herself in a situation where one such “monster” has effectively captured her. Likewise, despite his motive of ensuring that Dawsyn reaches Therrsaw unharmed, Ryon’s moment-to-moment interactions with her illuminate a cold arrogance and vested disregard for her personal agency—qualities which reveal him to be far less than the heroic figure he sees himself as. Over and over again, Ryon casually insults Dawsyn at almost every opportunity, gloatingly pointing out how quickly she will die if he decides to abandon her, while also ridiculing her the instant she questions his judgment.

My general impression of Ledge is that it's a novel that functions very differently from how I suspect McEwan intended. While the relationship between Dawsyn and Ryon is placed very much at the center of this story, there are also additional political themes regarding the history between the Glacians and Therrsaw which are introduced later on that bring an unexpected layer of depth and intrigue to the story's world. I was ultimately left with the sense that Ledge was a book that was actively being torn between two conflicting narratives.

The full review which I wrote for Strange Horizons can be found here.

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