Reading roundup: Kushiel's Legacy

[hamsterwoman]

Been to Oregon, seen snow, came back home.

And now, to wrap up 2006 reading and kick off 2007:

41. Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Dart
1. Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Chosen -- I started reading these books because, in the course of ASOIAF discussion, adelynne mentioned Jacqueline Carey, and I had no idea who that was, so I looked her up on Wikipedia, and

Comments

[adelynne]

FINALLY! Someone who feels the same way and can explain it eloquently.

Except that my love of Joscelin wore off after he broke his Cassiline vows in the cave. He would have been so much a cooler character if he did play the Cassiel to her Elua. And his mental regression (and hers) in book 2 does nothing to win me back. Character development? What character development?

The Yeshuite thing gets either much worse or somewhat better in the third book, should you bother to go that far. It made all the worse because at least in the first book, the Yeshuites are portrayed as Jews (when they've gotten back into Terre d'Ange), which confused the hell out of me, given the whole Yeshua part of the equation.

But my love for The Lions of Al-Rassan knows very few bounds.

[hamsterwoman]

Yay! and thanks for the compliment :)

Except that my love of Joscelin wore off after he broke his Cassiline vows in the cave.

I agree it would've been better (from a character coolness standpoint) if he hadn't succumbed. But I can kind of accept that, in the way it's presented as one of those liminal things, not really of this world, until the end of the first book. And, heck, if the first book were the end of it, I could even -- grudgingly -- accept the 'girl gets boy' or whatever as an archetypally dictated sort of ending, though it wouldn't be doing his character any service.

What really annoyed me is that in the beginning of the second book everything must be reset to status quo -- the character regression you mention -- so that they can essentially live out the same romance arc again with minor modifications. And I might be totally wrong about this, but I read the first few pages of book 3 (the little promo sample included at the end of Chosen), and it really (unbelievably) looks like there's a romantic conflict being set up

[adelynne]

"Literature" of course, is relative. If 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is Literature, why can't Lions be? ;)

There are a few moments when he annoys me by telegraphing something misleading (the beginning and the end, mostly), but once he hits the story he runs like hell and it's gorgeous. It's totally my favorite, by far above both A Song for Arbonne (wherein I spent most of the book looking at Bertram and going "You're so smart. And hot. And you fell for that piece of shit? Whyyyyyy?") and Tigana.

It also occurs to me that I need an icon from it.

[hamsterwoman]

Lions is definitely my favorite of the GGK that I've read. I think I've read A Song for Arbonne, but I don't actually remember much of it, and didn't read Tigana -- though possibly it was the other way around? I don't remember being particularly impressed with either, in any case. I also read the Sarantine Mosaic, and while I liked aspects of it, it certainly didn't feel as exquisitely crafted as Lions.

And I was checking the Wikipedia entry on Lions, and apparently they're making a movie of that? (Wow, they're making movies out of *everything* these days...) That's got to be... interesting.

[aome]

I will go there, I.

That's how ASL works, too. I'm thinking it's a means for them to remind the listener who the subject was. Or, at least, in ASL that's what it's for. ;)

Btw, speaking of books - here's something I observed the other day, and I don't think too many other people will have read both these books, so I'll share it with you, here.

The Lackey "Joust" series and LotR. Both have a reluctant king (Ari/Aragorn) who has spent his adult years hiding his birth and taking a 'service/protection' job. But once he becomes king, or, at least, embraces his leadership role, he does very well. Hadn't really thought about it until I was reading Aerie (and then re-reading bits of Sanctuary to remember where Ari was pressed into admitting his royal bloodline) recently.

[hamsterwoman]

That's how ASL works, too.

Oh, neat! I didn't know that about ASL. I wonder if something about it being a visual language requires greater reinforcement? Because I'm not aware of any (real) spoken languages that work that way... except if the verb forms can be said to work as reinforcement in that fashion... which, I guess they actually do.

The Lackey "Joust" series and LotR. re: Ari // Aragorn

You're right! I never noticed that before, but there's definitely a parallel. There's actually even more of one -- I think this is only revealed in the Appendices, or possibly Silmarillion, but Aragorn actually spent some time serving as a soldier in Gondor (as Thorongil, who was considered one of their best soldiers), back in the days when Denethor was young.

Oh, and they both also marry a princess of non-hidden birth, right? (I've forgotten so much of Sanctuary that I'm no longer sure of anything that I think happened there...)

[aome]

Yes, Ari (Tian) marries an Altan princess - the one who, with her twin sister, was supposed to rule in Alta under the prior (corrupted) regime.

[hamsterwoman]

Oh, right! I had forgotten about the two pairs of twins thing...

[ceilidh]

I just recently read the Kushiel's books, and while I do like them, I kind of agree with some of the stuff you pointed out. (The 'somewhat' thing I just took for an oddity, the way GRRM will say 'half a hundred' instead of fifty, or 'mislike' instead of dislike. Kind of quirky, but overlook-able.)

I guess I bought the whole "everyone-loves-Phedre" deal because these D'Angelines seem to be so sex-crazed. :)) You're right; she pretty much is a Mary Sue, but I can deal with it because there's so much going on. In another kind of world? Phedre would be far, far more annoying.

I admit I liked Hyacinthe and Joscelin way more than I did Phedre. I found them more three-dimensional and interesting than her. And Joscelin's vow-breaking thing... well, to me, since I'd read it after ASoIaF so to me it was very Jon-Snow-ish (except that Jon was doing it so he wouldn't get busted as a spy, and Joscelin was doing it... because). Since I'm such a Jon fangirl, that comparison did not bother me at all. :)