I totally missed the Alleras stuff. Which was sad. Did you follow the link in my entry?
Imri is a much better (read: less self-absorbed) narrator than Phedre, and he feels no need to save the world and impact everyone with his mere presence. I actually liked what I've read of Kushiel's Scion a great deal, though it in no way mitigates the fact that I had to put up with Chosen and Avatar to get to that point - and they were almost entirely built to introduce Imri. The next generation of d'Angelines is a lot less self-absorbed (I think it helps that many of the significant players are half-breeds, spent significant amount of time being tortured, and other such things). And though some things about Imri's sexual prowess are... improbable to say the least? his PTSD is believable.
I missed Alleras and false Arya and the alchemist :( In my defense, it's been *ages* since I read the earlier books, so there's no way I would've recognized the "alchemist," assuming it's indeed him. But that did mean that I was probably rather more confused in the prologue and epilogue than I should have been, though the overall nature of the happenings was, of course, pretty clear. I also simply assumed fake!Arya wasn't anyone we'd seen before, though, of course, GRRM doesn't do throwaway lines very often, so that was silly of me. And Alleras... well, that explains where the awesome comes from, I guess. (Not that there's been a lot of explicit awesome so far -- you just know it's there. And now I know why :)
(I did follow the link in your entry and then poked around a bit, but actually got to the FAQ first via a parallel path, through a questions somebody asked in the asoiaf.)
The next generation of d'Angelines is a lot less self-absorbed (I think it helps that many of the significant players are half-breeds, spent significant amount
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Heh, I meant to comment here and not on the earlier post. Oops!
The Name of God thing really bugged me, because - why Phedre? Why whywhywhywhy? I mean, I liked how it happened, but I don't get how *she* could get the Name of God and not someone else, I mean, even Joscelin!
I guess I bought the whole "everyone-loves-Phedre" deal because these D'Angelines seem to be so sex-crazed. :))
I hadn't thought of it that way, but... that actually works! It's a D'Angeline character flaw -- now it all makes sense! :D
I admit I liked Hyacinthe and Joscelin way more than I did Phedre. I found them more three-dimensional and interesting than her.I definitely agree that Joscelin is a more interesting and three-dimensional character. Hyacinthe -- at the time of his introduction, I was expecting to like him more than I did in the end, maybe because it felt like his arc/sacrifice was given disproportionate weight -- yes, giving up his birthright to reassure Phedre was very noble, and 12 years on a godforsaken island with an eternity more to look forward to is quite tragic -- but I felt like I would have liked him more if he appeared more in person and less in Phedre's memories and if Phedre didn't keep pushing him at me with her constant "my one true friend, sacrifice that should
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Imri is a much better (read: less self-absorbed) narrator than Phedre, and he feels no need to save the world and impact everyone with his mere presence. I actually liked what I've read of Kushiel's Scion a great deal, though it in no way mitigates the fact that I had to put up with Chosen and Avatar to get to that point - and they were almost entirely built to introduce Imri. The next generation of d'Angelines is a lot less self-absorbed (I think it helps that many of the significant players are half-breeds, spent significant amount of time being tortured, and other such things). And though some things about Imri's sexual prowess are... improbable to say the least? his PTSD is believable.
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(I did follow the link in your entry and then poked around a bit, but actually got to the FAQ first via a parallel path, through a questions somebody asked in the asoiaf.)
The next generation of d'Angelines is a lot less self-absorbed (I think it helps that many of the significant players are half-breeds, spent significant amount ( ... )
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The Name of God thing really bugged me, because - why Phedre? Why whywhywhywhy? I mean, I liked how it happened, but I don't get how *she* could get the Name of God and not someone else, I mean, even Joscelin!
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I guess I bought the whole "everyone-loves-Phedre" deal because these D'Angelines seem to be so sex-crazed. :))
I hadn't thought of it that way, but... that actually works! It's a D'Angeline character flaw -- now it all makes sense! :D
I admit I liked Hyacinthe and Joscelin way more than I did Phedre. I found them more three-dimensional and interesting than her.I definitely agree that Joscelin is a more interesting and three-dimensional character. Hyacinthe -- at the time of his introduction, I was expecting to like him more than I did in the end, maybe because it felt like his arc/sacrifice was given disproportionate weight -- yes, giving up his birthright to reassure Phedre was very noble, and 12 years on a godforsaken island with an eternity more to look forward to is quite tragic -- but I felt like I would have liked him more if he appeared more in person and less in Phedre's memories and if Phedre didn't keep pushing him at me with her constant "my one true friend, sacrifice that should ( ... )
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