Books, The Saga Continues
Apr. 5th, 2010 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
effexCurrently Reading:
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
To-Read Pile:
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Jingo by Terry Pratchett
The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
Just-Read Pile:
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
Still working through that Pratchett phase - I skipped Interesting Times because Rincewind bores me (I don't have a reason for this and will probably come back when I run out of non-Rincewind!Pratchett). Technically Jingo is next, I think, but I don't have a physical copy to hand (WOE) so I might have to skip that one too.
This was my first time Kushiel's Dart (despite everyone and their dog telling me I should read it for years) - we picked it as the first book to be read by the Dallas Bookaneers bookclub and I'm glad we did.
The parts I liked:
* The characters: I loved Phèdre, Hyacinthe, and Joscelin fiercely and unexpectedly, along with a host of others, and am thoroughly satisfied with Carey's ability to create (a ton of) characters that are interesting and fully realized.
* The world building: The world of Kushiel's Dart is an AU of our own, diverging at the death of Jesus (Yeshua), and keeping track of the cultures, countries, religions and languages was a blast and a half - it's mostly the same except for the places it really, really isn't. #descriptionfail
* The storytelling: I'm not much one for complicated politics in my fantasy, but Carey managed to keep things interesting, moving (mostly), and I never got really confused by the multitude of players.
* 'Love as thou wilt': I'm not totally sold on the way D'Angeline culture is shaped by their religion, but Elua himself seems like he was a pretty groovy dude.
The parts I didn't like:
* The way that, despite our protagonist being a trained courtesan raised in the night court, Carey never once addresses contraception, unwanted pregnancies, or STDs. I mean, Phèdre having a lot of obviously unprotected sex in the AU equivalent of the early 1100s, you'd think it'd come up.
* The (roughly) last 100 pages: I'm not a big fan of long, drawn out scenes of war, (especially when told by an observer instead of a participant) and apparently Carey isn't either - the last big battle felt like an info dump and was followed by an excruciatingly slow wrap up/set up for the next book.
The parts I'm not sure about:
* The length: this book could easily been two. Easily. And breaking it up might have let the vast amount of information we're given, idk, breathe a bit. Or I've gotten out of the habit of reading Epic Fantasy (or not - going back to check, even Feist's Apprentice was only 500 pages long).
* Consent: there are a lot of consent issues in this book and, while the author was obviously aware of them, I'm not convinced she handled them well. Requires more thought.
* Phèdre's desire: we're told over and over that Phèdre is an anguissette - someone chosen by Kushiel to find pleasure in pain. But I never really felt that in her narration - she *tells* us that's the case but the descriptions seem... detached. Anyone know if Carey worked with any actual masochists and/or subs to get this bit right?
* Other things: Elua laid down an edict to 'love as thou wilst', the adapts who serve Namaah are enacting a sacred duty, and they're still called 'whores' in a derogatory manner? Really? And I'm not really sure what's going on with the status of women in D'Angeline society. And what's up with Phèdre's narration of the story? All those little asides indicate she's writing from some point in the future (and are occasionally annoying), but when? And why?
Overall I enjoyed the book, but I don't think I'll be reading the sequel anytime soon - reading this one felt like running a marathon (to be fair, I did push myself to finish it in two days because I am a bad, bad procrastinator) and I need some time to recover.
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
To-Read Pile:
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Jingo by Terry Pratchett
The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett
Just-Read Pile:
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Maskerade by Terry Pratchett
Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
Still working through that Pratchett phase - I skipped Interesting Times because Rincewind bores me (I don't have a reason for this and will probably come back when I run out of non-Rincewind!Pratchett). Technically Jingo is next, I think, but I don't have a physical copy to hand (WOE) so I might have to skip that one too.
This was my first time Kushiel's Dart (despite everyone and their dog telling me I should read it for years) - we picked it as the first book to be read by the Dallas Bookaneers bookclub and I'm glad we did.
The parts I liked:
* The characters: I loved Phèdre, Hyacinthe, and Joscelin fiercely and unexpectedly, along with a host of others, and am thoroughly satisfied with Carey's ability to create (a ton of) characters that are interesting and fully realized.
* The world building: The world of Kushiel's Dart is an AU of our own, diverging at the death of Jesus (Yeshua), and keeping track of the cultures, countries, religions and languages was a blast and a half - it's mostly the same except for the places it really, really isn't. #descriptionfail
* The storytelling: I'm not much one for complicated politics in my fantasy, but Carey managed to keep things interesting, moving (mostly), and I never got really confused by the multitude of players.
* 'Love as thou wilt': I'm not totally sold on the way D'Angeline culture is shaped by their religion, but Elua himself seems like he was a pretty groovy dude.
The parts I didn't like:
* The way that, despite our protagonist being a trained courtesan raised in the night court, Carey never once addresses contraception, unwanted pregnancies, or STDs. I mean, Phèdre having a lot of obviously unprotected sex in the AU equivalent of the early 1100s, you'd think it'd come up.
* The (roughly) last 100 pages: I'm not a big fan of long, drawn out scenes of war, (especially when told by an observer instead of a participant) and apparently Carey isn't either - the last big battle felt like an info dump and was followed by an excruciatingly slow wrap up/set up for the next book.
The parts I'm not sure about:
* The length: this book could easily been two. Easily. And breaking it up might have let the vast amount of information we're given, idk, breathe a bit. Or I've gotten out of the habit of reading Epic Fantasy (or not - going back to check, even Feist's Apprentice was only 500 pages long).
* Consent: there are a lot of consent issues in this book and, while the author was obviously aware of them, I'm not convinced she handled them well. Requires more thought.
* Phèdre's desire: we're told over and over that Phèdre is an anguissette - someone chosen by Kushiel to find pleasure in pain. But I never really felt that in her narration - she *tells* us that's the case but the descriptions seem... detached. Anyone know if Carey worked with any actual masochists and/or subs to get this bit right?
* Other things: Elua laid down an edict to 'love as thou wilst', the adapts who serve Namaah are enacting a sacred duty, and they're still called 'whores' in a derogatory manner? Really? And I'm not really sure what's going on with the status of women in D'Angeline society. And what's up with Phèdre's narration of the story? All those little asides indicate she's writing from some point in the future (and are occasionally annoying), but when? And why?
Overall I enjoyed the book, but I don't think I'll be reading the sequel anytime soon - reading this one felt like running a marathon (to be fair, I did push myself to finish it in two days because I am a bad, bad procrastinator) and I need some time to recover.
