Some thoughts on Shalador's Lady
Now that I have read it twice, I feel I can discuss Anne Bishop's latest novel, Shalador's Lady. A direct sequel to The Shadow Queen, review here, (okay, less of a review and more just me squealing like a crazy squealing thing), Shalador's Lady is primarily set in Terreille, two years after Jaenelle unleashed the Witchstorm that eradicated the tainted Blood (Queen of the Darkness). This book follows Cassidy as she continues to try to be the Queen Dena Nehele needs after losing half the Blood to the Witchstorm and half of what remained to a violent landen uprising. (Go landens!)
I loved this book for lots of reasons, most of which will have to go under a cut to spare those who haven't read the book yet (hurry up!), but first I have to get out some non-cut squeeing:
OMG!!! THERE'S MORE KARLA! KARLA MAKES AN APPEARANCE AND SHE'S AWESOME AND SHE'S BITCHY TO PEOPLE AND HEALS AND CAUSES AN EXPLOSION AND IT'S KARLA YAYZ!!!
Ahem. As per usual, Karla only gets a slight mention. She shows up for a few pages in the beginning when Cassidy accidentally does something stupid, is referenced several pages later, and then comes towards the end for a brief meeting after accidentally dyeing KaeAskavi bright pink and blue. The explosion comes a few pages later, after she, Jaenelle, Morghann, and Sabrina leave the meeting and try to fix KaeAskavi. We don't quite know what caused the explosion, as Bishop keeps the narrative focused on the males (Khary, Aaron, Lucivar, Daemon, and Saetan), who wisely go with discretion over valor.
Sabrina also gets a little bit of face time, which is new. She's one of the coven who get mentioned at the party in Heir and again during the creation of the Dark Court and are never really seen or heard from again, like Astor and Katrina and Grezande. Yay! Though I'm still more thrilled about Karla.
Lessee. Karla's awesomeness in snapshots:
*She's picked up a habit of calling people 'darling.' Darling was used by a lot of people in the book (Saetan's always used it and Daemon did in QotD), but I really noticed it with Karla. I'm going to say it's a habit she picked up from Emma when I start incorporating it.
*Best. Line. Evar. Karla bared her teeth in what might have been a smile and said, "Kiss kiss." Ranon blinked. He'd never heard anyone say that and have it mean 'shove a knife up your ass.'
*It's confirmed that Karla won't be able to keep her legs--at least, not keep using them anyway. Surreal asks Lucivar if Karla's legs are getting weaker (of course, Surreal gets more time than Karla. Sigh.) and he says that they aren't, but "the day will come when they won't support her." For now, Karla simply looks about a decade older than her true age and walks with a cane, but the reprieve against the witchblood won't last forever.
Which reminds me, I really need to figure out how I'm going to handle that scene when it comes. I mean, I literally have years before I'll get that far in canon at FH, but I like thinking about these things anyway.
*Later, when Surreal is talking to Daemon back in Kaeleer (I told you she got more face time!) they're talking about Surreal's relationship with Ranier, the only openly gay character I think Bishop has. Surreal wants Ranier to move in with her, and says, "Relax. I know he'd rather flirt with you than with me, except he doesn't have a death wish. But he's a friend unlike any other. And love isn't always about sex. Talking to Karla about the family she formed with her adopted daughter and her Master of the Guard helped me to see that."
*record scratch*
Jigga-what? Adopted daughter? Master of the Guard? Huh? Did I miss something?
And, of course, that's the ONLY information provided about a major secondary/tertiary character (more room for fanfic?), because why would we possibly want any more information? So, I'm assuming that the daughter is Della, the little she-kitten who was orphaned in QotD and rescued by Kaelas and KaeAskavi. And her Master of the Guard is briefly mentioned fighting off other attackers right after Karla gets poisoned. We only know he's a Warlord Prince--not his name or his Jewels.
Still, from what I know about Bishop (namely, subtlety not being her strong point), I think that's an answer about her sexuality. Not the answer, perhaps, but an answer. She's still too scarred from her past to take the man into her bed, but she does have some kind of romantic bond with him. That's okay. My Karla's going to be less traumatized than canon.
I think I should lay out my reasoning for this beyond a nebulous feeling of "I'm pretty sure Anne Bishop would have given us more concrete clues about Karla's sexuality than what we've gotten if she were meant to be coded as liking women either romantically or sexually." Though that is a big one; as I've said, Bishop isn't subtle. There's not a whole lot left to context clues--she'll come out and tell you what she wants you to know. We know Ranier is gay because she said so. We know Daemon kisses other males sometimes but isn't gay--because she said so. We know that Queens and Warlord Princes have a bond that is physical but not sexual because she said so. And we know which bonds usually are sexual, because she tells us so.
Part of it is that I truly believe that Surreal is (to be continued)
Still, I read that and was, BWA? WTF? DAUGHTER?
I also spent a lot of time kicking the car door and squealing because shogunhb wasn't around for me to hit. How can I tell how much I liked the book if I can't count the number of bruises he has?
That's mostly it, Karla-wise. I shouldn't get this excited over her involvement when it amounts to less than ten pages in a 500 page book, but, dammit, I'll take what I can get.
I'm really loving these books. Mostly, they're giving me a really good idea of what it's like for a Queen and her Court. Jaenelle never really had to do much with Court-stuff, because they were busy trying to save the world and everything, so you couldn't really see how it was set up or anything. The coven is the coven and the boyos are the boyos and the fact that they all happen to First Circle is just kind of like a happy coincidence. There's no actual ruling that we see in the original trilogy. Here, Cassidy is building a Court from the ground up, so we get a good idea of what her life as a Queen is like. And while she has a lot of stuff to deal with, it's all related to her being Queen, so we get to see her in action, as it were. Jaenelle would have done the same thing she did in QotD if she'd never accepted the throne of Ebon Askavi, and the coven, the boyos, and the kindred would have obeyed her regardless because of who and what she is. Cassidy, on the other hand, is a Queen and has to prove her worth as Queen while attempting to save Dena Nehele from dying completely. Her caste is inextricably linked to the plot and I enjoy that.
There are also more kindred and landens in this novel, which earns it a solid Yay. It seems that Bishop has finished her story of THE TITANIC STRUGGLE OF GOOD VERSUS EVIL and is now just telling stories about the people who got caught up in that struggle through no fault of their own. Daemon, Jaenelle, Lucivar, and Saetan all play very major roles in the books, of course, but it's more their day-to-day lives than anything else. They're very aware of what's going on with Cassidy and around her, but they're also focused on Marian's miscarriage and helping Gray woo Cassie.
There is an enemy this time, but she's not actually a villain. Kermilla, the Queen who broke Cassie's old Court back in Dharo, shows up in Dana Nehele to try to convince Cassie to give her money via the Queen's Gift. Theran bonds with her (and we get a good description of what that bonding is like, for both her and him and I intend to use that) and countermands Cassie's order for Kermilla and her Court (including Cassie's old Consort, who had been an utter bastard to her as soon as he served out his contract), inviting them to stay at Greyhaven. He plans to make Kermilla Queen once Cassie's year-long contract is up and Cassie, heartsick over losing her last Court to the bitch, ends up nearly running back to Kaeleer. A member of her Court convinces her to go to the Shalador Reserves (think like our Native American Reserves now) and set up Court there.
Now, don't get me wrong, Kermilla is an unrepentant, spoiled, selfish bitch, but, at the same time, I don't see her as a villain. Definitely an antagonist and she says and does horrible things, but she's set up more as opposition and juxtaposition for Cassie than as a true villain. And I vacillated between being pissy at Theran and feeling bad for him. He's so blinded by bonding with Kermilla and disliking Cassie that you can just watch everything fall down around him and he has no idea why, never mind how to stop it. However, he did bring it upon himself, so I very rarely feel too sorry for him.
As expected, the book was fun and good. Bishop manages to weave the old, familiar, and beloved characters in with the new story with new people, so we never feel cheated (except for the lack of Karla). I love the sides of society that she's showing us, because her world just keeps getting richer and deeper and I love that. At the end, I end up really wanting to follow what happens to Kermilla, so kudos to her on that, too.
Unsurprisingly, 5/5 stars
I loved this book for lots of reasons, most of which will have to go under a cut to spare those who haven't read the book yet (hurry up!), but first I have to get out some non-cut squeeing:
OMG!!! THERE'S MORE KARLA! KARLA MAKES AN APPEARANCE AND SHE'S AWESOME AND SHE'S BITCHY TO PEOPLE AND HEALS AND CAUSES AN EXPLOSION AND IT'S KARLA YAYZ!!!
Ahem. As per usual, Karla only gets a slight mention. She shows up for a few pages in the beginning when Cassidy accidentally does something stupid, is referenced several pages later, and then comes towards the end for a brief meeting after accidentally dyeing KaeAskavi bright pink and blue. The explosion comes a few pages later, after she, Jaenelle, Morghann, and Sabrina leave the meeting and try to fix KaeAskavi. We don't quite know what caused the explosion, as Bishop keeps the narrative focused on the males (Khary, Aaron, Lucivar, Daemon, and Saetan), who wisely go with discretion over valor.
Sabrina also gets a little bit of face time, which is new. She's one of the coven who get mentioned at the party in Heir and again during the creation of the Dark Court and are never really seen or heard from again, like Astor and Katrina and Grezande. Yay! Though I'm still more thrilled about Karla.
Lessee. Karla's awesomeness in snapshots:
*She's picked up a habit of calling people 'darling.' Darling was used by a lot of people in the book (Saetan's always used it and Daemon did in QotD), but I really noticed it with Karla. I'm going to say it's a habit she picked up from Emma when I start incorporating it.
*Best. Line. Evar. Karla bared her teeth in what might have been a smile and said, "Kiss kiss." Ranon blinked. He'd never heard anyone say that and have it mean 'shove a knife up your ass.'
*It's confirmed that Karla won't be able to keep her legs--at least, not keep using them anyway. Surreal asks Lucivar if Karla's legs are getting weaker (of course, Surreal gets more time than Karla. Sigh.) and he says that they aren't, but "the day will come when they won't support her." For now, Karla simply looks about a decade older than her true age and walks with a cane, but the reprieve against the witchblood won't last forever.
Which reminds me, I really need to figure out how I'm going to handle that scene when it comes. I mean, I literally have years before I'll get that far in canon at FH, but I like thinking about these things anyway.
*Later, when Surreal is talking to Daemon back in Kaeleer (I told you she got more face time!) they're talking about Surreal's relationship with Ranier, the only openly gay character I think Bishop has. Surreal wants Ranier to move in with her, and says, "Relax. I know he'd rather flirt with you than with me, except he doesn't have a death wish. But he's a friend unlike any other. And love isn't always about sex. Talking to Karla about the family she formed with her adopted daughter and her Master of the Guard helped me to see that."
*record scratch*
Jigga-what? Adopted daughter? Master of the Guard? Huh? Did I miss something?
And, of course, that's the ONLY information provided about a major secondary/tertiary character (more room for fanfic?), because why would we possibly want any more information? So, I'm assuming that the daughter is Della, the little she-kitten who was orphaned in QotD and rescued by Kaelas and KaeAskavi. And her Master of the Guard is briefly mentioned fighting off other attackers right after Karla gets poisoned. We only know he's a Warlord Prince--not his name or his Jewels.
Still, from what I know about Bishop (namely, subtlety not being her strong point), I think that's an answer about her sexuality. Not the answer, perhaps, but an answer. She's still too scarred from her past to take the man into her bed, but she does have some kind of romantic bond with him. That's okay. My Karla's going to be less traumatized than canon.
I think I should lay out my reasoning for this beyond a nebulous feeling of "I'm pretty sure Anne Bishop would have given us more concrete clues about Karla's sexuality than what we've gotten if she were meant to be coded as liking women either romantically or sexually." Though that is a big one; as I've said, Bishop isn't subtle. There's not a whole lot left to context clues--she'll come out and tell you what she wants you to know. We know Ranier is gay because she said so. We know Daemon kisses other males sometimes but isn't gay--because she said so. We know that Queens and Warlord Princes have a bond that is physical but not sexual because she said so. And we know which bonds usually are sexual, because she tells us so.
Part of it is that I truly believe that Surreal is (to be continued)
Still, I read that and was, BWA? WTF? DAUGHTER?
I also spent a lot of time kicking the car door and squealing because shogunhb wasn't around for me to hit. How can I tell how much I liked the book if I can't count the number of bruises he has?
That's mostly it, Karla-wise. I shouldn't get this excited over her involvement when it amounts to less than ten pages in a 500 page book, but, dammit, I'll take what I can get.
I'm really loving these books. Mostly, they're giving me a really good idea of what it's like for a Queen and her Court. Jaenelle never really had to do much with Court-stuff, because they were busy trying to save the world and everything, so you couldn't really see how it was set up or anything. The coven is the coven and the boyos are the boyos and the fact that they all happen to First Circle is just kind of like a happy coincidence. There's no actual ruling that we see in the original trilogy. Here, Cassidy is building a Court from the ground up, so we get a good idea of what her life as a Queen is like. And while she has a lot of stuff to deal with, it's all related to her being Queen, so we get to see her in action, as it were. Jaenelle would have done the same thing she did in QotD if she'd never accepted the throne of Ebon Askavi, and the coven, the boyos, and the kindred would have obeyed her regardless because of who and what she is. Cassidy, on the other hand, is a Queen and has to prove her worth as Queen while attempting to save Dena Nehele from dying completely. Her caste is inextricably linked to the plot and I enjoy that.
There are also more kindred and landens in this novel, which earns it a solid Yay. It seems that Bishop has finished her story of THE TITANIC STRUGGLE OF GOOD VERSUS EVIL and is now just telling stories about the people who got caught up in that struggle through no fault of their own. Daemon, Jaenelle, Lucivar, and Saetan all play very major roles in the books, of course, but it's more their day-to-day lives than anything else. They're very aware of what's going on with Cassidy and around her, but they're also focused on Marian's miscarriage and helping Gray woo Cassie.
There is an enemy this time, but she's not actually a villain. Kermilla, the Queen who broke Cassie's old Court back in Dharo, shows up in Dana Nehele to try to convince Cassie to give her money via the Queen's Gift. Theran bonds with her (and we get a good description of what that bonding is like, for both her and him and I intend to use that) and countermands Cassie's order for Kermilla and her Court (including Cassie's old Consort, who had been an utter bastard to her as soon as he served out his contract), inviting them to stay at Greyhaven. He plans to make Kermilla Queen once Cassie's year-long contract is up and Cassie, heartsick over losing her last Court to the bitch, ends up nearly running back to Kaeleer. A member of her Court convinces her to go to the Shalador Reserves (think like our Native American Reserves now) and set up Court there.
Now, don't get me wrong, Kermilla is an unrepentant, spoiled, selfish bitch, but, at the same time, I don't see her as a villain. Definitely an antagonist and she says and does horrible things, but she's set up more as opposition and juxtaposition for Cassie than as a true villain. And I vacillated between being pissy at Theran and feeling bad for him. He's so blinded by bonding with Kermilla and disliking Cassie that you can just watch everything fall down around him and he has no idea why, never mind how to stop it. However, he did bring it upon himself, so I very rarely feel too sorry for him.
As expected, the book was fun and good. Bishop manages to weave the old, familiar, and beloved characters in with the new story with new people, so we never feel cheated (except for the lack of Karla). I love the sides of society that she's showing us, because her world just keeps getting richer and deeper and I love that. At the end, I end up really wanting to follow what happens to Kermilla, so kudos to her on that, too.
Unsurprisingly, 5/5 stars