Number 5 is Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey.
So this is the 3rd and final book of the Imriel Trilogy. And I think with this one I'm pretty much done with the world of Terre D'Ange. Not that I didn't enjoy my time there, but I'm also not attatched enough to it to continue on.
That said, this was my favourite of the Imriel books. I'm not sure if this is because Imriel spends a lot of his time not being himself, but that might have had something to do with it.
I liked the overall plot of this book with it's big, awful magical spell and the race to unravel it. I'm still not buying the relationship between Imriel and Sidonie, which yes means I shouldn't then buy much of the resolution of this book, but whatever. I guess I'm invested enough in the world by now to make a go of it. The bad guys were more villainous then the last ones as well, which also gives this book more weight. Funny enough, it was the last of the Phedre books that I liked best as well, and that was also the one that had a really really bad bad guy.
Yeah, don't have a lot to say about this book. It's enjoyable on a pop corn level. There's still a lot of sex (which actually does get boring after awhile) and violence and unhappiness, but there's also pretty good resolution and a happy ending. Which, when I think about it, Imriel does kind of deserve. Over the course of three and a half books, he definitely worked for it.
Showing posts with label Jacqueline Carey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacqueline Carey. Show all posts
Friday, February 14, 2014
Thursday, January 02, 2014
The last of 2013
As I type this, it's already 2014, but the last two books of 2013 were finished on NYE, and then we were out of town for a few days, so the write ups are only arriving now. So how did I round out a spectacularly shitty 2013? With some decent short stories and another Kushiel pop-corn book.
#38 is Dangerous Women, a collection of short stories written by numerous authors of different genres, but all female-centric. There were offerings by some authors I really enjoy, Joe Abercrombie, Lev Grossman, and of course, the crowning glory of this collection, a story detailing the history of the period of civil war in Westeros called the Dance of the Dragons by GRRM. It was written as a history and I loved it. The story I liked best though was actually by Brandon Sanderson, who I've actually managed to never read yet. I may finally have to change that.
#39 is Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey. Another of the Imriel books... I'm not buying the relationship between him and his (slightly distantly related) cousin. But I liked a lot of the celtic-themed stuff going on when Imriel lived in Alba, and I liked his revenge journey too. I've only got one more Imriel book to go, so guess I should just keep going at this point.
#38 is Dangerous Women, a collection of short stories written by numerous authors of different genres, but all female-centric. There were offerings by some authors I really enjoy, Joe Abercrombie, Lev Grossman, and of course, the crowning glory of this collection, a story detailing the history of the period of civil war in Westeros called the Dance of the Dragons by GRRM. It was written as a history and I loved it. The story I liked best though was actually by Brandon Sanderson, who I've actually managed to never read yet. I may finally have to change that.
#39 is Kushiel's Justice by Jacqueline Carey. Another of the Imriel books... I'm not buying the relationship between him and his (slightly distantly related) cousin. But I liked a lot of the celtic-themed stuff going on when Imriel lived in Alba, and I liked his revenge journey too. I've only got one more Imriel book to go, so guess I should just keep going at this point.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
And some more Kushiel...
Yup, still on these. I can knock 'em off rather quickly it seems. So book number 37 this year is Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey.
This is interesting as with this book, we switch PoV characters and are now continuing the story of Imriel no Montreve de la Courcel; adopted son of Phedre and Joscelin, blood son of the traitor Melisande. This book is basically Imriel's coming of age. We start off with him as a 13 year old boy and end with him being around 19 I think? He basically goes off to the equivalent of Rome to study and find himself. And of course, there's a lot of sex, intrigue and a few battles along the way. Imriel broods a lot, but this is a noted thing, and the other characters even call him on it. Sometimes I find such a thing in books annoying, other times it works, and here I didn't mind that the brooding teenager is called on it.
It was also interesting to see Phedre and Joscelin through someone else's eyes. Someone who unequivocally loves them, but can actually also see their shortcomings. But loves them anyway.
I'm willing to keep going with Imriel's take on things. I'm not completely fond of him yet, but I also don't mind him.
This is interesting as with this book, we switch PoV characters and are now continuing the story of Imriel no Montreve de la Courcel; adopted son of Phedre and Joscelin, blood son of the traitor Melisande. This book is basically Imriel's coming of age. We start off with him as a 13 year old boy and end with him being around 19 I think? He basically goes off to the equivalent of Rome to study and find himself. And of course, there's a lot of sex, intrigue and a few battles along the way. Imriel broods a lot, but this is a noted thing, and the other characters even call him on it. Sometimes I find such a thing in books annoying, other times it works, and here I didn't mind that the brooding teenager is called on it.
It was also interesting to see Phedre and Joscelin through someone else's eyes. Someone who unequivocally loves them, but can actually also see their shortcomings. But loves them anyway.
I'm willing to keep going with Imriel's take on things. I'm not completely fond of him yet, but I also don't mind him.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Another Crop!
Book # 33- Those Terrible Middle Ages by Regine Pernoud - This was an interesting book, written in the mid 70s because Regine Pernoud, a French medivalist, was sick and tired of how the Middle Ages were portrayed constantly (and wrongly) as backwards and violent and barbaric. General perception lumped 1000 years together and neglected to actually examine the changes over the times, in social mobility and advances in art and politics and law... all of it. No of course, the Middle Ages weren't great, but they also gave us a lot of good things that the Renaissance, and it's desire to go back to the Classics took away from us (more rights for women were definitely a part of that). Enjoyable book.
Book # 34- Dear Life by Alice Munro - This could quite possibly be Alice's last book, and a magnificent one as always.
Book # 35- Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey - So looks like I found my popcorn books for the end of the year. As with Kushiel's Dart, I still find Phedre quite... passive as she chases after Melisande and plays her game and nearly dies numerous times. She's a shit to poor, besotted Joscelin most of the time (yes, I know, he can be a prat, but lets face it, hot, blonde, peerless swordsmen who are also a bit of a prat are kind of a weakness of mine...), so yeah, the romantic in me was actually kinda happy the two of them reconciled at the end.
Book # 36 - Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey - Ok, this one, this one was pretty good. Pretty epic and damn dark in some areas, Phedre was definitely, finally, anything but passive and yeah, I ended up liking this one the best so far.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Fantasy with a side of court politics and BDSM
Number 32 is Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey.
Sometimes there is a certain convention in fantasy where the writing comes across as pretty darn overblown. In their world building, the author settles upon a style of writing that is incredibly stylized, flowery, precise, or what have you. Sometimes this is needed. Sometimes not. Sometimes this comes across sounding archaic or old fashioned. Sometimes it's just annoying. I'm pretty sure that the more blunt, realistic styles of a GRRM, Joe Abercrombie or Scott Lynch is a direct reaction against this sort of prose in fantasy literature.
So yes, this means that I found the prose in Kushiel's Dart to be hugely overblown. Blowsy even. I'm not saying it's bad writing, because it certainly fits with the setting and tone Carey is trying to create, but it can be a bit much to chew on.
But the society Carey is trying to create is overblown, a little decadent, and definitely stylized. Her analogue for a medieval-esque France is Terre D'Ange, a country founded by the illegitmate son of Christ (not called that though) and Earth herself. This child, Elua, was pretty much the ultimate hippy wanderer, and he had some companions, one of whom, Naamah, is like the ultimate free-love hippy. So there are Houses, devoted to her service, that basically churn out high-class escorts, all of whom have been tutored in various things, many of them sex related. And y'know, this is good. It means, for the most part, we're dealing with a very sex positive atmosphere.
Except for where the main character, Phedre, is sold to one of these houses by her parents, then the House sells her to a patron, who in turn basically acts like her pimp. Yes, I know, I know, the Houses would've acted like pimps too, as this is what happens when you're in the service of Naamah, but... I admit, I didn't like all that as much because it made, for a good chunk of the book, for a very passive main character, and I find that pretty boring.
The whole thing about her being an anguissette, a person who is marked by Kushiel (one of Elua's companions) as someone who truly enjoys the twining of sex and pain, actually felt kinda like... yeah, ok, that's cool. Lot's of people enjoy that. But no, it wasn't really lots of people, because here, she's so special that she's been marked by a godling or something for it. I dunno... I admit, I had a hard time thinking of her as special.
About half way through the book, Phedre's circumstances change and I found her to be way less passive and actually started enjoying the book more. She made more decisions on her own and actually participated. That was needed.
Despite all this, I enjoyed the book enough to continue on till at least the next book. Carey's world building is rather interesting, she's given a lot of thought on the religions and cultures (although I found it annoying that both the Germanic and British analogues were basically nowhere near as advanced as Terre D'Ange. I don't know if she was going more for a Roman Empire feel, but the inequality here did bug me for some reason). And she did court intrigue quite well, which is something I always appreciate.
Sometimes there is a certain convention in fantasy where the writing comes across as pretty darn overblown. In their world building, the author settles upon a style of writing that is incredibly stylized, flowery, precise, or what have you. Sometimes this is needed. Sometimes not. Sometimes this comes across sounding archaic or old fashioned. Sometimes it's just annoying. I'm pretty sure that the more blunt, realistic styles of a GRRM, Joe Abercrombie or Scott Lynch is a direct reaction against this sort of prose in fantasy literature.
So yes, this means that I found the prose in Kushiel's Dart to be hugely overblown. Blowsy even. I'm not saying it's bad writing, because it certainly fits with the setting and tone Carey is trying to create, but it can be a bit much to chew on.
But the society Carey is trying to create is overblown, a little decadent, and definitely stylized. Her analogue for a medieval-esque France is Terre D'Ange, a country founded by the illegitmate son of Christ (not called that though) and Earth herself. This child, Elua, was pretty much the ultimate hippy wanderer, and he had some companions, one of whom, Naamah, is like the ultimate free-love hippy. So there are Houses, devoted to her service, that basically churn out high-class escorts, all of whom have been tutored in various things, many of them sex related. And y'know, this is good. It means, for the most part, we're dealing with a very sex positive atmosphere.
Except for where the main character, Phedre, is sold to one of these houses by her parents, then the House sells her to a patron, who in turn basically acts like her pimp. Yes, I know, I know, the Houses would've acted like pimps too, as this is what happens when you're in the service of Naamah, but... I admit, I didn't like all that as much because it made, for a good chunk of the book, for a very passive main character, and I find that pretty boring.
The whole thing about her being an anguissette, a person who is marked by Kushiel (one of Elua's companions) as someone who truly enjoys the twining of sex and pain, actually felt kinda like... yeah, ok, that's cool. Lot's of people enjoy that. But no, it wasn't really lots of people, because here, she's so special that she's been marked by a godling or something for it. I dunno... I admit, I had a hard time thinking of her as special.
About half way through the book, Phedre's circumstances change and I found her to be way less passive and actually started enjoying the book more. She made more decisions on her own and actually participated. That was needed.
Despite all this, I enjoyed the book enough to continue on till at least the next book. Carey's world building is rather interesting, she's given a lot of thought on the religions and cultures (although I found it annoying that both the Germanic and British analogues were basically nowhere near as advanced as Terre D'Ange. I don't know if she was going more for a Roman Empire feel, but the inequality here did bug me for some reason). And she did court intrigue quite well, which is something I always appreciate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)