Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassins series
So, that was not the most fun three days ever. We thought on Sunday that I had food poisoning - it may instead have been an intestinal bug; Ed's got it now.
BUT I SHALL NOT DWELL.
Yesterday I got out of bed and we went to go vote. Florida, Florida, I have no words, only hand-wringing. Actually, I think this is closer than we have been in previous elections. And that is all I can bring myself to say about that.
I SHALL NOT DWELL ON THAT EITHER.
The first two days I was sick, it was the kind of sick where reading doesn't work because your brain is too snowed under with miserable. But yesterday, I managed a bit of it. And so I shall discuss:
The Elemental Assassins series by Jennifer Estep
Earlier in the year, we borrowed a HUUUUUUUUUGE stack of books from Ed's mom. As an aside: *GASP* Yes, I have a Kindle and still read books in print! How is this possible?! It's dogs and cats, living together. *ahem* The first book of the Elemental Assassins series (Spider's Bite) was part of the bunch. I read it back in September and thought, huh, that was fun, I shall read the next book in the series (Web of Lies) - so I did (on my Kindle). The third book was not yet out and then I got distracted with some other stuff. That's why it wasn't until yesterday that I read the third book (Venom).
There's another book (Tangled Threads) due out in, I think, April, which seems like it will wrap the whole thing up.
So, basically, there's this woman named Gin Blanco. She's an assasin - her name is the Spider because of her patience. But also because, in this world's magic system, people who can tap into elemental forces (Air, Stone, Fire, Ice) (there are secondary forces as well, like Metal, but they aren't generally as strong) have runes to identify themselves. Gin's rune has always been the Spider - a circle with 8 rays around it.
We know this because we are told many, many, many, many times.
These books are a little reminiscent of Jim Butcher in that there's a lot of action: plenty of running, jumping, and even some climbing of trees. Gin takes plenty of beatings - she is not invincible - and she does not work alone. Her chosen family is small but meaningful to her and they are just as interesting (in some cases more interesting) as she is when it comes to character development.
The ensemble cast is actually one of the things I really consider a strong point fo this series - Gin is a lone operative in many ways but she could not function without her support network; Finn, Sophia, Jo Jo, and a cast of regularly appearing other characters. She has to ask for help, and she has to trust other people to be competent. Sometimes they are. Sometimes they are not. Either way, she has to deal with the consequences of that.
There's a real awareness of the muddy morality going on here as well - Gin herself doesn't spend a lot of time angsting but she IS an assassin and that's not always easy for people to accept.
There's the added bonus of a couple of well-written sex scenes. The characters use condoms! This is a step in the right direction!
Each book has been both nicely self-contained AND a step further along toward the resolution of the over-arching plot. The reading is smooth and easy, for the most part.
Here's the thing, well, at least one of the things: Jennifer Estep repeats herself. A lot. Every few pages. If I have to read about how silverstone works (kind of like magical batteries) one more time....
revena thinks it might be because Estep has a journalism background. MAYBE SO. Either way, it drives me batshit. I've taken to skimming decent chunks because I do not need yet another recap of what Elementals are - especially not once I've reached the third book.
Look, I get that you have to recap on first appearance. But not first appearance in each chapter.
It leaves me with the impression that Estep doesn't think her readers are capable of remembering basic details of her worldbuilding. Which... really just makes me question her confidence in her worldbuilding skills.
The other problem is that this is supposed to be a Southern city. But... I have no idea, really, WHERE. As much as she repeats some basic details, her city is curiously blank; it is Every City with a few touches that give some nod to it being in the South. It isn't until you get out of the city and into the hills that you really remember where you are supposed to be. And since you don't spend a whole bunch of time not in the city....
Other things are curiously garbled. The landscape isn't really clear to me. I'm not great at creating mental location maps (lemme tell you about my quest pains, okay), but I'm totally lost on this one other than knowing the difference between Northtown and Southtown. I'm still not clear on the visual differences between dwarves and humans since the two main dwarves in the narrative are both about five feet tall. (Dwarves are, it should be noted, very strong. So are giants.) Relationships are pretty clear, though, and since I read for character more than anything, I can stomach it okay.
I mentioned Jim Butcher earlier - this isn't as grim a world. Even though Ashland is crime-riddled and basically ruled by the underworld bosses, it just doesn't seem as dark. There's very little noir to this series; it reads as a lot more action-adventure mystery to me, even with all the skulking around. Like, it's not a straight up Bond movie but it's totally something The Rock would star in.
If The Rock were, you know, female. Or suitable for any other part.
Another thing that isn't clear: character descriptions. I know that Gin is white - probably. I know that Finn is white. Sophia and Jo Jo are both dwarves but they also read as white (especially Sophia, who, it is constantly mentioned, is goth). Rosalyn is probably the most obviously NOT white but we don't ever really get more of a description than toffee skin and black hair - though a lot of time is spent discussing her beauty. I think the trend of describing skin tones in terms of foods, especially dessert foods, is pretty overplayed and if she really IS the only woman of color, well, it's kind of bogus that she's the prostitute/madame. It isn't that I don't think she's a fantastic character - Rosalyn has a lot of nuance, especially for a vampire (the vampire thing is kind of poorly handled, alas - I have no idea if vampires are stronger than humans or why, when injured, Rosalyn doesn't just drink some damn blood) - it's that if she is the ONLY woman of color in the entire book then it's kind of skeevy to cast her as the sex worker. I guess I don't feel like Rosalyn is the problem so much as the complete lack of other characters of color is the problem. It's like Estep tried - really wanted to include an interesting nonwhite character - and then fell down on populating the rest of her world.
I gripe, but I HAVE read all the way to the third book. I'll read the fourth, especially if it's the conclusion of the story arc. I read quickly, so these books are not a significant investment of time. They're good sitting-in-the-bathtub-reading material. It's not a swoon, but Estep is trying. I want to know what happens next.
This entry was originally posted at http://onceupon.dreamwidth.org/1275404.html.
BUT I SHALL NOT DWELL.
Yesterday I got out of bed and we went to go vote. Florida, Florida, I have no words, only hand-wringing. Actually, I think this is closer than we have been in previous elections. And that is all I can bring myself to say about that.
I SHALL NOT DWELL ON THAT EITHER.
The first two days I was sick, it was the kind of sick where reading doesn't work because your brain is too snowed under with miserable. But yesterday, I managed a bit of it. And so I shall discuss:
The Elemental Assassins series by Jennifer Estep
Earlier in the year, we borrowed a HUUUUUUUUUGE stack of books from Ed's mom. As an aside: *GASP* Yes, I have a Kindle and still read books in print! How is this possible?! It's dogs and cats, living together. *ahem* The first book of the Elemental Assassins series (Spider's Bite) was part of the bunch. I read it back in September and thought, huh, that was fun, I shall read the next book in the series (Web of Lies) - so I did (on my Kindle). The third book was not yet out and then I got distracted with some other stuff. That's why it wasn't until yesterday that I read the third book (Venom).
There's another book (Tangled Threads) due out in, I think, April, which seems like it will wrap the whole thing up.
So, basically, there's this woman named Gin Blanco. She's an assasin - her name is the Spider because of her patience. But also because, in this world's magic system, people who can tap into elemental forces (Air, Stone, Fire, Ice) (there are secondary forces as well, like Metal, but they aren't generally as strong) have runes to identify themselves. Gin's rune has always been the Spider - a circle with 8 rays around it.
We know this because we are told many, many, many, many times.
These books are a little reminiscent of Jim Butcher in that there's a lot of action: plenty of running, jumping, and even some climbing of trees. Gin takes plenty of beatings - she is not invincible - and she does not work alone. Her chosen family is small but meaningful to her and they are just as interesting (in some cases more interesting) as she is when it comes to character development.
The ensemble cast is actually one of the things I really consider a strong point fo this series - Gin is a lone operative in many ways but she could not function without her support network; Finn, Sophia, Jo Jo, and a cast of regularly appearing other characters. She has to ask for help, and she has to trust other people to be competent. Sometimes they are. Sometimes they are not. Either way, she has to deal with the consequences of that.
There's a real awareness of the muddy morality going on here as well - Gin herself doesn't spend a lot of time angsting but she IS an assassin and that's not always easy for people to accept.
There's the added bonus of a couple of well-written sex scenes. The characters use condoms! This is a step in the right direction!
Each book has been both nicely self-contained AND a step further along toward the resolution of the over-arching plot. The reading is smooth and easy, for the most part.
Here's the thing, well, at least one of the things: Jennifer Estep repeats herself. A lot. Every few pages. If I have to read about how silverstone works (kind of like magical batteries) one more time....
revena thinks it might be because Estep has a journalism background. MAYBE SO. Either way, it drives me batshit. I've taken to skimming decent chunks because I do not need yet another recap of what Elementals are - especially not once I've reached the third book.
Look, I get that you have to recap on first appearance. But not first appearance in each chapter.
It leaves me with the impression that Estep doesn't think her readers are capable of remembering basic details of her worldbuilding. Which... really just makes me question her confidence in her worldbuilding skills.
The other problem is that this is supposed to be a Southern city. But... I have no idea, really, WHERE. As much as she repeats some basic details, her city is curiously blank; it is Every City with a few touches that give some nod to it being in the South. It isn't until you get out of the city and into the hills that you really remember where you are supposed to be. And since you don't spend a whole bunch of time not in the city....
Other things are curiously garbled. The landscape isn't really clear to me. I'm not great at creating mental location maps (lemme tell you about my quest pains, okay), but I'm totally lost on this one other than knowing the difference between Northtown and Southtown. I'm still not clear on the visual differences between dwarves and humans since the two main dwarves in the narrative are both about five feet tall. (Dwarves are, it should be noted, very strong. So are giants.) Relationships are pretty clear, though, and since I read for character more than anything, I can stomach it okay.
I mentioned Jim Butcher earlier - this isn't as grim a world. Even though Ashland is crime-riddled and basically ruled by the underworld bosses, it just doesn't seem as dark. There's very little noir to this series; it reads as a lot more action-adventure mystery to me, even with all the skulking around. Like, it's not a straight up Bond movie but it's totally something The Rock would star in.
If The Rock were, you know, female. Or suitable for any other part.
Another thing that isn't clear: character descriptions. I know that Gin is white - probably. I know that Finn is white. Sophia and Jo Jo are both dwarves but they also read as white (especially Sophia, who, it is constantly mentioned, is goth). Rosalyn is probably the most obviously NOT white but we don't ever really get more of a description than toffee skin and black hair - though a lot of time is spent discussing her beauty. I think the trend of describing skin tones in terms of foods, especially dessert foods, is pretty overplayed and if she really IS the only woman of color, well, it's kind of bogus that she's the prostitute/madame. It isn't that I don't think she's a fantastic character - Rosalyn has a lot of nuance, especially for a vampire (the vampire thing is kind of poorly handled, alas - I have no idea if vampires are stronger than humans or why, when injured, Rosalyn doesn't just drink some damn blood) - it's that if she is the ONLY woman of color in the entire book then it's kind of skeevy to cast her as the sex worker. I guess I don't feel like Rosalyn is the problem so much as the complete lack of other characters of color is the problem. It's like Estep tried - really wanted to include an interesting nonwhite character - and then fell down on populating the rest of her world.
I gripe, but I HAVE read all the way to the third book. I'll read the fourth, especially if it's the conclusion of the story arc. I read quickly, so these books are not a significant investment of time. They're good sitting-in-the-bathtub-reading material. It's not a swoon, but Estep is trying. I want to know what happens next.
This entry was originally posted at http://onceupon.dreamwidth.org/1275404.html.