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

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.