Erin A. Craig; The Thirteenth Child

Title:	The Thirteenth Child
Author:	Erin A. Craig
Category:	Fantasy / Science Fiction
Rating:
Date Reviewed:	August 3, 2025

was really enjoying The Thirteenth Child until about the last quarter of the novel. Then suddenly the plotting went haywire and the story took all sorts of turns for the worse. The Thirteenth Child is 494 pages in the hardcover edition - did Craig realize that all of her intricate plot lines needed to be wrapped up in a hurry, or else the novel would be well over 600 pages, and she so abandoned a better ending for the disjointed published version? I would have preferred the longer version rather than this rush to the finish line.

The Thirteenth Child is told in first person by the heroine, Hazel. She is the thirteenth child born to a very foolish woodcutter and his equally foolish wife. Amazingly, all twelve of Hazel's older siblings are still alive, making her a special child - because in this world, thirteenth children have magic abilities. On the night of her birth, the new parents are first visited by the god Holy Fire, who offers to take the newborn away, but they decline. Next comes the sinister god The Divide Ones, and the parents also reject its offer to take Hazel. But when the Death god appears and offers to become Hazel's godfather, they relent and Hazel is pledged to him.

Hazel learns that the Death god's name is Merrick, and despite his fearsome appearance, he has only her best interests at heart. On her twelfth birthday, Merrick whisks Hazel to a magical cottage in the Between. This location has everything Hazel could possibly need while she studies the pile of medical books that she is required to read. It turns out, Merrick wants Hazel to become the best healer in the land, capable of curing almost anything. (I had a hard time believing that a twelve year old, however bright and diligent, could become a great physician simply by reading books - especially since Hazel lives in a land where the current technology is candles and horse drawn carriages - wouldn't those medical books be full of cures like leeches, bleeding, and eye-of-newt remedies?)

Hazel completes her studies, and receives a magic gift - she can determine what the cure is for any sick person simply by putting her hands upon their head. However, if the patient is too far gone, rather than seeing a cure, Hazel will see their skull. A death head. Her training complete, Merrick transfers Hazel back to the real world where, despite her youth, she quickly becomes a renown healer.

Soldiers arrive from the capital. The king is deathly ill, and the royal seer has said that Hazel is the best healer in the kingdom. Hazel is transported to the capital and discovers that King Marnaigne is deathly ill with The Shivers. Can she cure him?

All of this story was interesting. Hazel is a likeable character, and I love the idea of someone with the super-power of healing (though I think that her reputation would quickly have led to an overwhelming workload as desperate people tramped to her cottage). There is intrigue at the capital, the powerful seer, Margaux, turns out to have also been a thirteenth child. Hazel meets the king's three children: Prince Leopold and the Princesses Euphemia and Bellatrice, and must learn how to deal with personalities of spoiled royalty.

But then came the end of the book, and I was quite disappointed with the direction Craig took this story. It is clear she has good ideas, can do excellent worldbuilding and character development, so the turn the novel into an unlikely Romantasy was a let down.

*** Warning - Spoilers below ***

Do not read the following unless you have already finished the novel

Here is a list of plot points that bothered me.

Suddenly Margaux is revealed as the evil plotter who is the source of all strife in the kingdom, including the concoction of the Shivers plague. And for some reason, Margaux blurts out every criminal detail in a confession in front of witnesses?!

Calamite, the evil half of the Divided Ones, appears and explains his sinister intentions (he loves chaos and has employed Margaux to fuel the strife in the kingdom) - and then suddenly, and very conveniently, Felicite (the other half of the Divided Ones) is no longer incapacitated and wakes up and blocks him. I did not like that extremely fortunate development.

Did Euphemia's candle get lit at the end, or did she perish from the Shivers? It was ambiguous.

What happened to Bertie, Hazel's beloved brother? He decapitates Baudouin's wife and son - and then disappears completely from the narrative.

Also, what happened to Merrick, the Death god? He too vanishes from the story until the epilogue.

It is never explained why the Holy Fire god wanted Hazel to be a healer - what was her plan? She gives Merrick three candles so Hazel will have a triple long life span, and return demands that Hazel must become a healer. But why?

When Hazel tries to save the life of her first love, Kieron, Merrick warns her that there are dire consequences for subverting the death-head mark that Hazel sees when she touches Kieron's head. Yet when Hazel defies the death-head and saves the life of King Marnaigne - shouldn't the consequences have been even more severe? But it seemed like there was nothing (other than her losing her magical ability to diagnose all illnesses with a touch).

I did not like the sudden Leopold / Hazel romance that suddenly bloomed in the final quarter of the book, it seemed like Craig tired of her original story and went off in another direction to tell a tale of romance. I grew tired hearing about Hazel's freckles.