I really, really liked how the villain worked. Truly terrifying!
I too think the prince is totes gay for his science buddy. I'm ok with Cashore not obviously "outing" him, however, because I think his sexuality would be a big enough deal that it would take up a lot of the book. Graceling was entirely about Katsa and coming to terms with her Grace, and what it actually entailed--the court wasn't the focus, and neither was the prince or his relationship with ruling, his father, his loved ones. That said, Cashore seemed to have done enough set-up for the prince having a boyfriend that it will be a plot point sometime down the line.
FWIW, I think most of Armstrong's werewolves are not exactly ideal romantic partners. Karl's something of an ass, but Clay makes him look like Prince Charming, eh? The ninth book does continue to increase the tension in the supernatural world, to the point where a narrator comments on such. I like too that she seems to be expanding the world to touch on those who are less powerful. I went to a signing she had in Naperville Tuesday, and she mentioned that after the next Elena book there will be two with Savannah as narrator. Have you read her recent short story about Zoe, the vamp living in Toronto?
I don't think I've read the Zoe short story--do you remember what collection it was in?
Of all the supernatural creatures, I am by far the least intrigued by the werewolves. Usually I think they get a bad rap (poor guys will never be as sleek and sparkly as vampires), but their rage issues and territories and strict adherence to hierarchies based on strength really rub me the wrong way. I liked Elena at first, when she was resisting the werewolf society, but I don't like her much now that she's embraced it fully. Ugh, and her stupid brood of werewolf children annoys me. There was an Elena/Clay short story in, I think, My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon, and it was like nails on a chalkboard to me.
But I'm fine with the weres as support or background characters--they really do contribute to the feel Armstrong seems to be going for in her world.
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I too think the prince is totes gay for his science buddy. I'm ok with Cashore not obviously "outing" him, however, because I think his sexuality would be a big enough deal that it would take up a lot of the book. Graceling was entirely about Katsa and coming to terms with her Grace, and what it actually entailed--the court wasn't the focus, and neither was the prince or his relationship with ruling, his father, his loved ones. That said, Cashore seemed to have done enough set-up for the prince having a boyfriend that it will be a plot point sometime down the line.
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Of all the supernatural creatures, I am by far the least intrigued by the werewolves. Usually I think they get a bad rap (poor guys will never be as sleek and sparkly as vampires), but their rage issues and territories and strict adherence to hierarchies based on strength really rub me the wrong way. I liked Elena at first, when she was resisting the werewolf society, but I don't like her much now that she's embraced it fully. Ugh, and her stupid brood of werewolf children annoys me. There was an Elena/Clay short story in, I think, My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon, and it was like nails on a chalkboard to me.
But I'm fine with the weres as support or background characters--they really do contribute to the feel Armstrong seems to be going for in her world.
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