Sarah Monette: The Doctrine of Labyrinths
Okay, this isn't quite a review, but more of a recommendation.
The "Doctrine of Labyrinths" series by Sarah Monette (truepenny) are among the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing books I've ever read. You might even call the second volume of the series, The Virtu, my favourite book. However, Mrs Monette's booksales are, it seems, going slow - don't ask me why, I seriously fail to understand it - and her current publisher, Ace Books, wants nothing to do with her anymore.
So! Because I love those books and it breaks my heart to see they're appreciated so little, and because they're good and Sarah Monette an author who holds my absolute respect: Go, buy them, read them; recommend them to friends if you've read them already, give them to people for their birthdays!
If you like character-centred fantasy novels, with the sort of rich setting that seems so real that you want to reach through the page and touch that ancient mosaic floor or join in the game of Long Tiffany, then for heaven's sake DO READ Mélusine.
Then read The Virtu, The Mirador and Corambis.
To give you a bit of an idea of what it's all about...
~The Story~
Okay, first of all, there's Felix Harrowgate. Wizard extraordinaire, ex-child-prostitute, as scandalous and arrogant and sharp-tongued as they come -- you'll hate him and you'll love him. At first, however, you won't get to see much of his complex and very interesting personality, because Felix is about to take a fall: Due to severe physical and magical abuse by his former mentor, Malkar, Felix goes mad a dozen pages or so into the book. This madness is written hauntingly, and at the same time it has just a tiny pinch of something that you'll recognise if you've ever been in a bit of a depression (who hasn't?). This makes it at the same time more uncanny and more... understandable. You'll understand mad Felix, and be a little scared because you do.
Then, in the same city but about as far from the rich and powerful as you can get, there's Mildmay the Fox. Cat-burglar, ex-assassin, and endowed with an honest, good heart beneath the facade of the foul-mouthed lower-city criminal. You'll like him. Mildmay takes a job that looks like a routine thing at first, but which ultimately gets him knee-deep into not only a complicated love-affair, but also the dealings of Mélusine's necromancers... and they're pissed. From then on, Mildmay's life starts to change, and for a whole while it looks like it's by no means a change for the better.
Of course, Felix and Mildmay meet at some point and their stories become one story, one long journey (both literally and figuratively), told from different angles. I'm not going to talk about that, though... go find out yourself, I'm not going to spoil anything.
~Commentary~
Mildmay and Felix are the first-person narrators of Mélusine, each with a unique voice and a compelling story. I could rave about the intelligence of the whole thing, the dialogue, the world-building, the magic, the philosophy, the underlying wisdom and the elegant language. The realistic, beautiful and beautifully flawed characters. But, as you might be able to tell from that list, it would soon devolve into fangirlish gibberish - which, clinging to the shreds of what claims to have once been my dignity, I'll try to avoid. Long story short: Mélusine and The Virtu are absolutely fantastic, amazing books. The Mirador and Corambis are not quite as brilliant, but perfectly decent follow-ups that bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. So... yeah. Go read them already!
The "Doctrine of Labyrinths" series by Sarah Monette (truepenny) are among the most beautiful, intelligent, amazing books I've ever read. You might even call the second volume of the series, The Virtu, my favourite book. However, Mrs Monette's booksales are, it seems, going slow - don't ask me why, I seriously fail to understand it - and her current publisher, Ace Books, wants nothing to do with her anymore.
So! Because I love those books and it breaks my heart to see they're appreciated so little, and because they're good and Sarah Monette an author who holds my absolute respect: Go, buy them, read them; recommend them to friends if you've read them already, give them to people for their birthdays!
If you like character-centred fantasy novels, with the sort of rich setting that seems so real that you want to reach through the page and touch that ancient mosaic floor or join in the game of Long Tiffany, then for heaven's sake DO READ Mélusine.
Then read The Virtu, The Mirador and Corambis.
To give you a bit of an idea of what it's all about...
~The Story~
Okay, first of all, there's Felix Harrowgate. Wizard extraordinaire, ex-child-prostitute, as scandalous and arrogant and sharp-tongued as they come -- you'll hate him and you'll love him. At first, however, you won't get to see much of his complex and very interesting personality, because Felix is about to take a fall: Due to severe physical and magical abuse by his former mentor, Malkar, Felix goes mad a dozen pages or so into the book. This madness is written hauntingly, and at the same time it has just a tiny pinch of something that you'll recognise if you've ever been in a bit of a depression (who hasn't?). This makes it at the same time more uncanny and more... understandable. You'll understand mad Felix, and be a little scared because you do.
Then, in the same city but about as far from the rich and powerful as you can get, there's Mildmay the Fox. Cat-burglar, ex-assassin, and endowed with an honest, good heart beneath the facade of the foul-mouthed lower-city criminal. You'll like him. Mildmay takes a job that looks like a routine thing at first, but which ultimately gets him knee-deep into not only a complicated love-affair, but also the dealings of Mélusine's necromancers... and they're pissed. From then on, Mildmay's life starts to change, and for a whole while it looks like it's by no means a change for the better.
Of course, Felix and Mildmay meet at some point and their stories become one story, one long journey (both literally and figuratively), told from different angles. I'm not going to talk about that, though... go find out yourself, I'm not going to spoil anything.
~Commentary~
Mildmay and Felix are the first-person narrators of Mélusine, each with a unique voice and a compelling story. I could rave about the intelligence of the whole thing, the dialogue, the world-building, the magic, the philosophy, the underlying wisdom and the elegant language. The realistic, beautiful and beautifully flawed characters. But, as you might be able to tell from that list, it would soon devolve into fangirlish gibberish - which, clinging to the shreds of what claims to have once been my dignity, I'll try to avoid. Long story short: Mélusine and The Virtu are absolutely fantastic, amazing books. The Mirador and Corambis are not quite as brilliant, but perfectly decent follow-ups that bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. So... yeah. Go read them already!