The Sea Star continues where The Earthstone left off, though there's a small time gap. Rana, Frederic, and Julian all share equal time in the story and have equally important converging subplots. This book introduces Ardra, Frederic's love interest, as one of the bad guys--in this case, the leader of sea bandits.

What did I like? Diana L. Paxson clearly has a great love for California. It comes through in the vivid descriptions of the varied landscapes, the local foods, and the seasonal calendar of rituals. I liked the descriptions of the metaphysical landscape as well--interactions with the anthropomorphic Kindreds--the spirit essence of each type of organism. I liked how she portrayed each element so vividly. I liked all of the story that didn't involve plot or characters. And the characters weren't bad, just not particularly noteworthy.

I also liked the retrospective analysis of past events by the older characters of the previous generation reflecting on the people and events in Mistress of the Jewels. That is probably the most nuanced aspect of the series--each person recognizing how he or she, as well as the idolized king and queen, contributed to the disaster and how the circumstances helped shaped Caolin rather than dismissing him as a bad apple with no one to blame but himself. This is clearly an important theme of the series. It isn't about good vanquishing and destroying evil, it's about the limitations of evil and the need for forgiveness and healing. Which is why Caolin keeps turning up and why he's not quite as irritating in later books.

I found the themes and imagery interesting enough to make the effort to mooch the next in the series (The Wind Crystal). I was motivated in part by a desire to see the resolution to some of the issues raised in The Sea Star, such as Rana's fear and loathing of men engendered by her rape really confounding the romance with Prince Julian who finally realizes he loves her. Both Paxson's and Julian's handling of the situation have been fairly sensitive and reasonable. I haven't decided about The Jewel of Fire yet. Definitely not going to bother with The Golden Hills of Westria, which follows the THIRD generation.

This fantasy series is basically a post-apocalyptic neo-pagan utopia set largely in California. I am not particularly familiar with pagan traditions such as Wicca, so it's hard for me to pick out what aspects she invented and which ones she lifted straight from the source material. The underlying premise is that after too much abuse by human society, the forces of Nature rose up in rebellion during the Cataclysm, wiping out most of humanity and the traces of its technological society about 800 years before the events in the novels. Only those people who had some connection to Nature survived into the new age. And in the kingdom of Westria, they formed a Covenant with the Elements and the Kindreds of all the different living things to live in harmony without seeking to conquer or control. And yet, the royalty of Westria have the four jewels that allow them to control the elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Go figure. The royals also basically become avatars.

Anyway, this is another fantasy series where the divine is real, palpable, omnipresent to those who have the psychic sensitivity to connect to the spiritual (read: astral) plane of existence. Similarly, people with that kind of empathic ability can connect with other people and even other organisms. Must be nice to not be hampered by the limitations of the spoken word or to never experience some sort of existential crisis of faith. I think this concept of divine, anthropomorphic forces that are tangible is one of the all-time favorite tropes of the fantasy genre. ( )