Comments | mystickeeper: Protector of the Small

mystickeeper

Protector of the Small

Feb 26, 2009 08:58

This quartet seems to have mixed reviews....I remember someone telling me that they were bad, and not as good as the Song of the Lioness Quartet. Yet, sasha_feather was adamant that these were her favorite ones, being more realistic. Having acquired them for free at Bookmooch.com, I decided to go for it ( Read more... )

race, cultural appropriation, books: ya, books, books: fantasy, a: pierce tamora

Comments 8

were_duck February 26 2009, 15:16:02 UTC

I liked these books, too! I think I would have liked them more if they'd been around when I was younger--I would have imprinted on Kel as much if not more than I did with Alanna. Coming at them in my late teens, they felt like they followed the same prescription as SotL, and that's probably why you heard meh things about them. I agree they're more well-done than the Alanna ones were, for all the reasons you mention ( ... )

mystickeeper February 27 2009, 04:06:13 UTC

Yeah, I wish I had read them when I was younger.

I felt like The Woman Who Rides Like a Man was pretty "these people need a honky," too. I agree with your assessment: trust her on feminist stuff but definitely not race!

purplefrog26 February 26 2009, 16:21:14 UTC

I loved Terrier. And the Trickster books. The Trickster books are my bedtime comfort set.

mystickeeper February 27 2009, 04:06:37 UTC

I'm looking forward to Terrier, but am pretty wary about this Trickster business!

sasha_feather February 26 2009, 16:32:55 UTC

Terrier is pretty awesome! But as for Trickster-- yeah no. The CA is awful, and other aspects of the books didn't really do it for me either. At first I loved the magical weird romance angle, but then I didn't. But! Read them anyway, I'm curious to hear what you think!

I *love* the Circle of Magic books, and it's really best to start at the beginning with those. I haven't read Melting Stones yet, but I liked all the others. they are fantastic; about 4 kids who are this found family and have unusual magical abilities.

I read all of Pierce's book in grad school or beyond, and not as a teenager, which is why I didn't really go for the Alanna books and liked Kel a lot better. She's openly pursuing knighthood as a woman and doing it the hard way. She doesn't have magic. She doesn't have weird romantic entanglements or a ridiculous magic cat. So yeah, they are my favorite.

Agree with were_duck re issues of race and ethnicity.

edit-- angle, not angel

mystickeeper February 27 2009, 04:07:18 UTC

Wahhh, I fear Trickster now!

I'll be sure to read Circle of Magic in order.

(The comment has been removed)

mystickeeper February 27 2009, 04:07:42 UTC

It seems we have similar Pierce tastes, at least of what I've read so far!

lavendersleeves February 27 2009, 13:24:02 UTC

::snort:: You'd be surprised at how Japanese the Japanese consider themselves. There are a lot of compound words that use "wa" in them, very much like Pierce's use of the world "Yamani". Sometimes the Japanese take such pride in their culture that it's as if they're constantly reaffirming it for themselves. "budo" comes to mind. Not that I've read this series by Pierce, so I can't evaluate her actual usage. Still, that's what your description sounds like to me.
(did you know that there is a correct way, and an incorrect way, to eat your school lunch?)

But actually, the US is just as adamant about reaffirming its culture, only its done in a different way--for one thing, I've never been in a country quite so obsessed with flags as the US.