Jared is extremely resilient he has been through a lot in his short life, including physical abuse, substance abuse, criminal activity, and some supernatural stuff. Staring down his future, Jared knew he had rotten luck and nothing backing him up but snark. What a mess poor Jared is in at the end of Trickster Drift. The third, Return of the Trickster, is already out and I hope to read it soon.

I read the first, Son of A Trickster, a couple of years ago when it was shortlisted for the Giller prize.

It’s not his dream, but “‘It’ll pay the bills.’”ĭespite his planning, Jared ends up living with his mother’s estranged sister Mave, a poet and activist who has created a community - a family - around herself, which grows to include Jared.Trickster Drift is the second in the series about a young man named Jared who is trying to get through life with a hard-core mom and a trickster for a dad. Jared has a plan: he’s going to spend a year upgrading at BCIT, then take a diagnostic medical sonography program. Trickster Drift takes Jared away from Kitimat, the only home he’s ever really known, to the crowded streets of Vancouver. He’s broken up with his girlfriend (and aspiring witch) Sarah, and is struggling to remain on good terms with his mother, who is difficult and violent. So what does Robinson do? She reframes the narrative, changes the terms of the series, and delivers a book which is at least as good as Son of a Trickster, and likely better.Īs Trickster Drift begins, seventeen-year-old Jared is sober and off drugs, attending meetings regularly, and trying to distance himself from the weirdness that comes with being a son of Wee’git, the Trickster. Readers knew it was part of a trilogy, but it worked - brilliantly - on its own.

The first book was wildly successful, a long-term bestseller, critically lauded, and shortlisted for the Giller Prize. Such is the situation faced by Haisla/Heiltsuk writer Eden Robinson’s new novel Trickster Drift, the follow-up to last year’s Son of a Trickster. As a result, when there are enough sales to continue a trilogy, the second book must connect explicitly to the first, but it must start anew, reframing and rebooting the story. Writers embarking on a trilogy are often advised that the first book should stand alone, providing a satisfying and ‘complete’ reading experience, in case there isn’t enough demand to merit the publication of two additional books.

In part, this is due to contemporary publishing wisdom. The second novel in a trilogy can be difficult.

Eden robinson trickster drift