FF Friday: Roz Kaveney's Rhapsody of Blood sequence
This sequence, published by Plus One Press and available as trade paperbacks and on Kindle, so far consists of Rituals (2012), Reflections (2013), Resurrections (2014) and Realities (2018), each subtitled A Novel of the Fantastic. (I say so far because although this was originally said to be going to be a tetralogy, Realities ends on the sort of note that makes one hope that was just an interim stopping point, and not actually The End.)
There are two intertwined narratives. One deals with Mara, the Huntress, an Immortal but not omnipotent Power from the dawn of time, whose mission is to defend the weak against the strong, and in particular to stop those who would use the Rituals of Blood to give them supernatural powers. Her great love is Sof, who she meets and loses in various guises over the course of history.
The more contemporary narrative, starting in the 1990s, is that of Emma Jones, who becomes a Chosen One dealing with various supernatural menaces at the instigation of a mysterious 'Boss' who communicates via her girlfriend Caroline, who is a ghost. Emma, at least at first, has no superpowers except ingenuity, quick thinking, and fast talking.
There are gods, monsters, heroes and mythical creatures and historical figures from various cultural traditions. There is an subversive and irreverent take on the patriarchal traditions.
There'a a fair amount of horror.
Also humour and snark.
Also a lot of surprise revelations as the narrative proceeds (there's a certain 'Secret History' element).
It's gripping, it's fun, and besides the fact that the primary relationships of the protags of both strands are with women, there are lots of other connections between women. This entry was originally posted at https://oursin.dreamwidth.org/2875570.html. Please comment there using OpenID. View
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