Reviews: fantasy

[rivkat]

Patricia Briggs, Moon Called: I really liked Briggs’s first Ward Hurog book.  Her other fantasy efforts I’ve found less successful.  This is a new direction for her: modern urban fantasy in the early Laurell K. Hamilton style, which is to say – magical female protagonist holding her own against a lot of hot supernatural guys, but no sexual gymnastics.  It feels as if Briggs looked at Anita Blake’s sales and said “I can do that,” using a skinwalker instead of a necromancer.  And she really can – the setup and payoff are both well-executed; the protagonist has limited powers and uses her brains to make up the difference; the men are relatively interesting and distinct.  It’s just that I didn’t feel she was tapping her own vein of kink the way Hamilton did, so it’s not quite as sexy.  Nonetheless, and despite the awful cheesecake cover, I will probably pick up the sequel for a quick diversion.

Jim Butcher, Academ’s Fury: Butcher, by contrast, has written that he really wants to be writing this epic fantasy, now that he’s made enough of a name with Harry Dresden.  In the country of Alera, where people control elemental spirits, political machinations are afoot, with the ailing leader heirless and factions lining up to replace him.  There are also external magical threats, appreciated fully only by the barbarians who are Alera’s traditional enemies.  It’s perfectly competent stuff, and the treatment of women is a lot less problematic than it was in the first volume, but (and this is probably what Briggs was thinking) I like Harry better.

Jim Butcher, Proven Guilty: This paperback has “As seen on SciFi” on it, which is a little misleading.  SciFi’s version has taken away a lot of Harry’s tortured and baroque backstory, though maybe it will be reintroduced.  I’m really glad Butcher’s done so well, but I’m just not enjoying the show very much; I would have watched James Marsters run through the very standard plots, but this other guy hasn’t grabbed me.  Anyway, the book involves the hot, young, rebellious daughter of Harry’s avenging-angel-type friend Michael, who is somehow connected to a series of vicious attacks carried out in the style of famous movie killers.  There’s a fan convention (of course!), further angst about Harry’s relationship with the demon now resident in his head, and some setup for the next iterations of Harry’s conflict with the fairy courts.  Butcher’s hit his stride with this series, and he seems to have ideas for further complications, including deepening Harry’s involvement with Chicago cop Karin Murphy and giving him a wizardly mentoring role, so I’m looking forward to the next book.

Diana Gabaldon, Outlander: Okay, I think I get why many people adore this 850-page doorstop of a book.  Gabaldon did a bunch of research, then put in everything that did it for her (cf. Id Vortex).  WWII nurse?  Cute seventeenth-century Scottish highlander in a kilt?  Mysterious time warp?  Forced marriage?  Experienced woman/virginal man?  Domestic discipline?  Meaningful jewelry?  All there and more.  Apparently written with visceral joy verging on glee, I can see that this could be a lot of fun for fans of more conventional historicals.  Since I’m not one, by the end I was just reading to see what else would come out of Aladdin’s cave.  And Aladdin’s cave would not have been all that surprising – the only reason there’s no kitchen sink in the book is that Gabaldon’s protagonist rarely visits a kitchen.

Comments

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I was very favorably impressed by Moon Called (http://buymeaclue.livejournal.com/248835.html). Blood Bound has me a little worried, though (http://buymeaclue.livejournal.com/346561.html).

I was just reading Outlander last week--grabbed it a while back at a used bookstore to see what the fuss was all about, and finally picked it up as a walking-around book. It had me utterly baffled in that amused so-that's-what-the-fuss-is-all-about sort of way, where what the fuss is all about is not so much my kind of thing. I like your kitchen sink theory.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

That's exactly why I bought Outlander too. I see the passion, though it's not mine, and I almost always give credit for deeply felt passion.

[iamza.livejournal.com]

The Dresden Files had two episodes in which to grab my interest, and failed. I guess I just prefer the version of Harry Dresden that Jim Butcher's words magicked up in my head.

I thoroughly enjoyed Moon Called, and am very much looking forward to reading the sequel. I've never really been able to get into Laurel K Hamilton's books. Don't really know why--I mean, based on subject matter and content, they should appeal to me, but they just don't. I guess one of the reasons I liked Moon Called so much was that it offers for me the chance to read LKH-like stories without actually reading LKH. :-)

Strangely, outside of the Ward Hurog duology and Moon Called, I find I have no interest in Patricia Briggs' books. Odd.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Briggs has quite a range within fantasy; I think it's perfectly reasonable to go for one or two types instead of the whole lot, and I think the Hurog books are her best. I'm hoping the Mercy books will also sustain my interest.

[chase820.livejournal.com]

I liked the first Outlander, but my God does Gabaldon go to the well too many times with her personal kinks. What would have been a fine stand-alone historical fantasy has become a bloated behemoth after the nineteenth sequel. (Okay, I think it's more like five. But it feels like nineteen. Actually, I only read the first two sequels and skimmed the rest, but still.)

Glad to see you back! Congratulations on surmounting the tenure hurdle.

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Suddenly I have free time, at least for the next few days of spring break, and all sorts of things to do to catch up with life.

I have no interest in the sequels to Outlander. I respect people who honor their kinks, but unfortunately they tend to get out of control precisely to the extent that they work well at tapping the initial vein. This is why Joss Whedon says you should give the audience what they need, not what they want -- it's almost impossible to avoid leaving the audience behind as you go ever more deeply into your own personal language of kink.

[chase820.livejournal.com]

It's almost impossible to avoid leaving the audience behind as you go ever more deeply into your own personal language of kink.

Otherwise known as Laurell K. Hamilton syndrome.

Though her kinks must also be the kinks of others, because her books still sell. Either that, or she's sold her soul to Satan. That would certainly explain the spiral perm.

[jack-pride.livejournal.com]

I'll admit to an unhealthy love for Diana Gabaldon's writing, but then again I started reading it when I was thirteen, and it's head and shoulders above the other romance dreck out there. A great deal of the enjoyment comes from anticipating the kitchen sink - I was always just waiting to see who would pop back up (or turn out to be related to someone else) in the next twist. Kind of like a soap opera, but better written. *g*

As for the time-travel shenanigans, you may find it interesting to know that she actually set out to write a straight historical adventure story... she just couldn't get Claire to fit in with that century, so she retrofitted the plot. Her writing style is not at *all* linear; she writes chunks all over the place then fits them together onto her vague outline, going where the research quirks she uncovers take her. Some of the historical info is downright cool. *g*

Maybe you can explain it to me, then...

[(Anonymous)]

Because, I really didn't get the appeal of Outlander at all. I tried, I really did. I wanted to like this book because so many other people I know LOVE it. I feel like some unenlightened cretin or something, because I thought it was a huge snooze-fest. I didn't even think the sex scenes were all that hot. I'm willing to forgive just about anything if the book has hot sex scenes, but they just weren't good enough to keep me interested. Now, admittedly, I was so over this book by the last few chapters that I couldn't bring myself to read anymore, so maybe the last few chapters made everything come together and made the book...I don't know. As for the other books in the series...no thanks.

As for Moon Called, I definitely enjoyed that one WAY more than Outlander, but again, that could be because I'm an unenlightened cretin. Here's one book where, it had no sex at all, but I was still interested by the end. It probably won't end up in my "Keeper" pile, and I'm not sure if I'm interested enough to buy the next in the series, but I just might, you never know.

Re: Maybe you can explain it to me, then...

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I'm probably not a good source of explanation for Outlander, because it didn't work for me that way either -- I wasn't into the characters, especially once the "domestic discipline for your own good" entered the picture, and relatedly I didn't get all that into the sex. I usually have to be in deep sympathy with at least one character before I enjoy sex scenes. The reason that I think I see why other people love it is just that every page seems to drip with emotional investment. It feels like it was written because Gabaldon loved this story -- loved it sexually and emotionally -- and wanted to share it. It had juice, and while it was papaya juice from my perspective (that is, I didn't like it), it still felt passionately done.