YAY Ravus!
If you have not read Holly Black's Tithe trilogy, well I simply feel sorry for you. It is one of the sharpest and most engaging series of urban fairy tales I've read. In fact, I believe Black helped redefine the Urban Fairy Tale genre after the publication of Tithe. While this now means a lot of crap novels with fey in them, it at least broadened YA fantasy to include such stories. In this world of sparkly vampire novels with lackluster characters, Black's universe is dark and slightly menacing, as it should be anytime the fairy courts are involved. I had written before about my favorite aspect of this new breed of novels - strong female leads (take that, Bella!). But Black brings another quality to her writing that many of the other novels I mentioned in that piece do not - equally strong secondary characters. Valiant, the second novel of the Tithe trilogy, is a novel that deals strongly with drug addiction and teen homelessness. But it's not an issues novel. I hate those. Here, those are simply factors of the novel without overwhelming it.
But this isn't even about that.
This is about Ravus. He's a troll. He is the sexiest troll I think I've ever encountered in words. Or ever, considering I have yet to meet a troll in any venue. But if I do, I hope he teaches me some slammin' swordplay skills so I can go up against the baddest Fairy Queen motherfucker of them all. I'm just sayin'. Yes, the focus of the novel is Val and her quest for identity and inner strength. Important stuff. But the scenes between her and Ravus are swoon inducing without being one bit schmoopy. Oh, and he's green. And hideous (shades of Beauty and the Beast, anyone? Do you know how much I love that tale?). Which, for some reason, makes him hotter.
But this isn't even about the books. Because you have all read them. Right?
Black was recently at FaerieCon (why do I never go?!?) and ran into a cosplay make-up artist who does a whole series based on Black's Tithe characters. I don't cosplay. I don't even costume anymore. But I was curious when told she did a version of Ravus. And maybe I'm confused by this concept of cosplay. Because I thought maybe there would be more. It is apparently a form called "masking" and I'm not saying it doesn't look way cool. And...green. But I wouldn't see that and think, OMG OMG OMG, it's Ravus!
Which is probably good. Because Val would so totally kick my ass if I went near her man. Um...troll.
But this isn't even about that.
This is about Ravus. He's a troll. He is the sexiest troll I think I've ever encountered in words. Or ever, considering I have yet to meet a troll in any venue. But if I do, I hope he teaches me some slammin' swordplay skills so I can go up against the baddest Fairy Queen motherfucker of them all. I'm just sayin'. Yes, the focus of the novel is Val and her quest for identity and inner strength. Important stuff. But the scenes between her and Ravus are swoon inducing without being one bit schmoopy. Oh, and he's green. And hideous (shades of Beauty and the Beast, anyone? Do you know how much I love that tale?). Which, for some reason, makes him hotter.
But this isn't even about the books. Because you have all read them. Right?
Black was recently at FaerieCon (why do I never go?!?) and ran into a cosplay make-up artist who does a whole series based on Black's Tithe characters. I don't cosplay. I don't even costume anymore. But I was curious when told she did a version of Ravus. And maybe I'm confused by this concept of cosplay. Because I thought maybe there would be more. It is apparently a form called "masking" and I'm not saying it doesn't look way cool. And...green. But I wouldn't see that and think, OMG OMG OMG, it's Ravus!
Which is probably good. Because Val would so totally kick my ass if I went near her man. Um...troll.