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Jan. 5th, 2010 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
i_paint_the_skyBoo, missed book club (the date sort of snuck up on me and so I wasn't able to re-arrange my schedule). So instead of dicussing uh...the second book in the Farseer Trilogy (that one's Royal Assassin, right?) I will discuss Naamah's Kiss, that latest by my absolute favourite writer in the world, Jacqueline Carey.
So, first off, I guess we just have to touch on the character of Moirin herself, great great (I think) granddaughter of Alais de la Courcel and a member of the uh, bear tribe, I can't remember how to spell their name. Anyway, Moirin is, well...she's a sweet girl but I think she toys with the "canon Sue" line more than Phedre ever did (I don't personally see Phedre as being a Sue but I have seen the complaint raised). I find her a bit oversexed at times and it didn't quite work, though I do like that at least one or two of the people bedding her were using her for other reasons than finding her OMG so desirable. But yeah, Moirin is the book's weak point because she is not the most interesting character, something Phedre and Imriel always were (well, Phedre may be overshadowed by Melisande at points but...who wouldn't be?).
When I first heard about this book, I was really excited to see more of Alba because it is an interesting place. Well, we saw a bit of it, for a bit...and then off to Terre D'Ange. And then off to Ch'in. The latter part was pretty fascinating but I sort of felt like overall the plot had too much magic, not enough intrigue. That was always the part I liked best about Kushiel's Legacy and here there was just not enough mystery.
Also the pacing could be a bit insane at times, though by the end it levelled out a bit. Of course, on my re-read of Kushiel's Justice I realized the pacing there was pretty fast too so it might not be that much more than Carey's usual but it seemed like it.
Great supporting cast of characters. I like Bao quite a bit and I do feel that, while there are obvious parallels between Bao/Moirin and Phedre/Joscelin, the male counterparts are different enough to keep it interesting. But, as said before, Moirin doesn't hold up to Phedre in the SLIGHTEST. But I do quite love Jehanne and Snow Tiger and a lot of the other supporting roles there. Too bad one of them wasn't the narrator XD
So yeah, all and all it was an okay book but Carey has written much better. I think the most telling part is that, while there are many scenes I go back to in Kushiel's Legacy to re-read, there aren't any in this book that I really have the desire to look at again.
Oh, though I will say one thing...it is nice to see a female/female sex scene that isn't cut short, which is what happened in Phedre's trilogy (she uses the signale with Melisande and starts laughing at Nicola). Carey is at least pushing the bounderies there, though I still feel like some of the sex scenes were a bit gratuitous and put in there because that's what the series is known for (arguably true but anything that happened to Phedre and Imriel seemed to have more purpose behind it).
Overall, non-spoilery summary! The book was okay but not great like Kushiel's Legacy, mainly because the main character/narrator wasn't half as compelling as the narrators in those two trilogies. But it picked up at the end and I will probably be picking up the next book in the series pretty much as soon as it comes out.
Also, GIP!
So, first off, I guess we just have to touch on the character of Moirin herself, great great (I think) granddaughter of Alais de la Courcel and a member of the uh, bear tribe, I can't remember how to spell their name. Anyway, Moirin is, well...she's a sweet girl but I think she toys with the "canon Sue" line more than Phedre ever did (I don't personally see Phedre as being a Sue but I have seen the complaint raised). I find her a bit oversexed at times and it didn't quite work, though I do like that at least one or two of the people bedding her were using her for other reasons than finding her OMG so desirable. But yeah, Moirin is the book's weak point because she is not the most interesting character, something Phedre and Imriel always were (well, Phedre may be overshadowed by Melisande at points but...who wouldn't be?).
When I first heard about this book, I was really excited to see more of Alba because it is an interesting place. Well, we saw a bit of it, for a bit...and then off to Terre D'Ange. And then off to Ch'in. The latter part was pretty fascinating but I sort of felt like overall the plot had too much magic, not enough intrigue. That was always the part I liked best about Kushiel's Legacy and here there was just not enough mystery.
Also the pacing could be a bit insane at times, though by the end it levelled out a bit. Of course, on my re-read of Kushiel's Justice I realized the pacing there was pretty fast too so it might not be that much more than Carey's usual but it seemed like it.
Great supporting cast of characters. I like Bao quite a bit and I do feel that, while there are obvious parallels between Bao/Moirin and Phedre/Joscelin, the male counterparts are different enough to keep it interesting. But, as said before, Moirin doesn't hold up to Phedre in the SLIGHTEST. But I do quite love Jehanne and Snow Tiger and a lot of the other supporting roles there. Too bad one of them wasn't the narrator XD
So yeah, all and all it was an okay book but Carey has written much better. I think the most telling part is that, while there are many scenes I go back to in Kushiel's Legacy to re-read, there aren't any in this book that I really have the desire to look at again.
Oh, though I will say one thing...it is nice to see a female/female sex scene that isn't cut short, which is what happened in Phedre's trilogy (she uses the signale with Melisande and starts laughing at Nicola). Carey is at least pushing the bounderies there, though I still feel like some of the sex scenes were a bit gratuitous and put in there because that's what the series is known for (arguably true but anything that happened to Phedre and Imriel seemed to have more purpose behind it).
Overall, non-spoilery summary! The book was okay but not great like Kushiel's Legacy, mainly because the main character/narrator wasn't half as compelling as the narrators in those two trilogies. But it picked up at the end and I will probably be picking up the next book in the series pretty much as soon as it comes out.
Also, GIP!
