breaking my "no review" policy yet again
May. 6th, 2008 12:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ewein2412I guess there are enough people on this list waiting for my reaction to Pawn in Frankincense that I owe you a post.
WAAHHH! Definitely the most readable of the Dunnett books so far, but what an emotional roller-coaster. I got kind of fed up at the end of Lymond's complete lack of resource against his enemy... It just all seemed so damn pointless and unfair. And actually, having finished it, I'm still not sure what the *point* of the whole search was, apart from turning Our Hero into an emotional and physical cripple. OK, so he gets to kill Gabriel, but even the Mean Old Omniscient Narrator says that the killing meant nothing, given the state of mental collapse that Lymond's in by the time he gets to do it.
Philippa is wonderful. I love the way she gets to mature, and blossom, and manages to be heroic while maintaining her own femininity and character (and, despite the seraglio and the marriage, even her virginity!!!). It just about kills me who she ends up married to. I kind of toyed with the idea myself while reading, but never imagined Dunnett would entertain it as well--nay, even EFFECT it by the end of the book.
I have to say, people accuse me of needlessly tormenting my own fictional characters, but at least I don't go around cutting babies' throats. And I do try to land my favorites in situations they have a chance of recovering from eventually.
Marthe... hermaphrodite or woman??? Lymond... Did he sleep with Dragut or not? Khaireddin... How far does he take his clients? Oonagh... murder or suicide? Man, I don't know why I keep reading this stuff, it's so ultimately UNFULFILLING. A bit like being an opium addict, I suppose.
I loved it.
Today, LJ is not showing any of my paragraph divisions. Apologies for the ensuing incoherence. I am bored with trying to fix it.
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Date: 2008-05-06 11:42 am (UTC)I liked the Lymond books until that one, but ultimately preferred the Nicolo books and found them much more satisfying.
And, oh by the way, hi! It's been a while. . . !
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Date: 2008-05-06 12:06 pm (UTC)hi yourself!
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Date: 2008-05-06 05:18 pm (UTC)p.s. The Boy(11)is thoroughly enjoying Demigod and Monsters and even decided to give a copy to a friend! He's also making notes of the authors he likes best (including you) for the weekly library stop. Thanks for the heads up!
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Date: 2008-05-06 08:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 01:21 pm (UTC)just all seemed so damn pointless and unfair.
not sure what the *point* [...] was, apart from turning Our Hero into an emotional and physical cripple.
Yeah, welcome to the Chronicles of Lymond. It's not really a series for people who want to avoid being emotionally manipulated.
I loved the books, but I also went through the whole series thinking, "Dunnett is so jerking me around right now. And I don't even care!"
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Date: 2008-05-06 01:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 01:27 pm (UTC)Though I am one of those rare and bizarre birds who loves the Johnson Johnson books more than anything else I've read by Dunnett, so you may or may not want to take my opinions into account.
BTW, when it comes to reading your work I have so far only been able to lay hands on A Coalition of Lions, but as soon as I finished it I went and changed my Facebook status to "...wants all the rest of Elizabeth Wein's books NOW."
I mean, the whole thing was great and I can't wait to find out more about Telemakos and all these other fantastic characters, but -- how did you make me fall for Priamos in practically the first paragraph he appeared? Genius.
Dear Local Independent Bookseller: If you do not deliver the rest of these books to me soon, I will DIE and leave my rotting corpse on your doorstep with a reproachful placard. Love, Loyal Customer.
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Date: 2008-05-06 02:09 pm (UTC)having said that, people who fall for Priamos end up dissatisfied too, just cause he goes off to Britain and we don't see him again for nine years. When I was writing as Goewin I was just... just smitten, and it happened kind of accidentally; I wanted her to fall in love, for sheer plot convenience, but it didn't become convincing until I was suddenly whacked upside the head myself.
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Date: 2008-05-06 02:29 pm (UTC)Anyway, you've given me enough other characters to love and/or be fascinated by that I think I shall reconcile myself to Priamos's absence fairly well. I'll just be that much happier if/when he does show up again...
*clearly needs more Fictional Boyfriend icons, but uses this one in the meantime*
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Date: 2008-05-06 02:42 pm (UTC)hee.
I have been obsessed with Mordred since before the first publication of The Wicked Day, which makes me feel rather ancient.
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Date: 2008-05-06 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 02:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 02:50 pm (UTC)I suspected as much all along.
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Date: 2008-05-06 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 08:15 pm (UTC)MorgauseMrs. Robinsonsome hypothetical author lady three times his age.no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 08:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 08:45 pm (UTC)the twins were my age when I made them up.
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Date: 2008-05-06 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-06 06:12 pm (UTC)I plead guilty to not being over Medraut, but honestly, just watching him do his Protective Daddy thing is enough to mollify me. :D
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Date: 2008-05-06 08:16 pm (UTC)well done
Date: 2008-05-08 11:59 am (UTC)