Books read, uh, recently

[swan_tower]

Over the last few months I seriously fell off the horse when it came to keeping track of my reading. So this covers December and January, but only the things I can recall reading — which isn’t very much.

The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu. I know this one ate quite a lot of December, because BRICK.

I . . . really, really wanted to like it. Epic fantasy, drawing on Chinese epic tradition! Sign me up. I was totally there for the worldbuilding and the character archetypes and the nature of the plot. And, courtesy of comments I’d seen elsewhere on the internet, I was prepared for (though not pleased by) the fact that the first half of the book has virtually no women playing significant roles, because I knew that there would be more showing up in the remaining pages. As indeed there are! But anybody without that advance warning would be justified in thinking that the only women in the story would be helpful wives, distant goddesses, or deeply problematic seductresses, so I can’t really say the second half justifies the first.

But the real problem for me was the style. It read a lot like an old epic — too much so. I fundamentally did not care about any of the characters, because the text never let me get close enough to any of them to form an emotional attachment. The style is incredibly distant, telling instead of showing, often spending more time narrating to you what is happening than letting you experience it. Let me give an example — it’ll be a spoiler, but (for reasons I’ll explain in a moment) not much of one. If you’d prefer to avoid it, though, just skip the next paragraph.

So there’s a plot thread involving one of the few early female characters, who has been blackmailed by an enemy general into working for him. We don’t see her arrive in the lands of the rebels — that part I’m okay with, since it isn’t as important as what she does when she gets there. Once established among the rebels, she manipulates two men into falling in love with her: an uncle and a nephew, who have been inseparable for the nephew’s entire life. (These are major characters in the book; the nephew is essentially co-protagonist with another guy.) Once both of them are besotted with her, she plays off their jealousy, using it to create a rift between them, until they become wholly estranged and the uncle sends the nephew away at a critical moment when he needed to be present. Then she murders the uncle and commits suicide.

From beginning to end, this entire thing takes about sixteen pages.

Fully a quarter of which is spent on that last sentence, actually; the rest gets crammed into twelve pages, where it shares space with other things going on in the plot. We the readers are told that both of these guys have fallen in love with her. We’re told that they’re jealous. We get little snippets of actual interaction, a few paragraphs here and there, which present us with emotion (love! jealousy! anger!) the narrative hasn’t actually earned. I don’t consider this to be a spoiler because I don’t feel like there’s an experience to spoil; it feels more like me giving away the ending to a historical account of the Duke of Buckingham’s assassination. I majored in folklore; I’ve read a great many epics from different parts of the world, and can deal with that kind of arm’s-length approach. It is not, however, what I’m looking for in a novel. The sweeping scope of The Grace of Kings is impressive, but it only fits into one book because so many of the elements of modern fiction have been squeezed out. The result is that I found myself pronouncing the Eight Fatal Words: “I don’t care what happens to these people.” I finished the book, but have no motivation to pick up the sequel. Which is a pity, because I was so excited for the first one.

Daughter of Mystery, Heather Rose Jones. I don’t remember where I heard of this one; it’s an ebook that’s been sitting on my tablet for ages. Normally when I call something “Ruritanian fantasy,” what I mean is that it’s set in a secondary world, but has no magic (e.g. Lloyd Alexander’s Westmark books). In this case, however, I mean that it’s set in the fictional European country of Alpennia, but has magic. I suspect that Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint and The Privilege of the Sword are among its literary ancestors, as one of the two protagonists, Barbara, is a woman trained as an armin (bodyguard) and duelist for an eccentric Baron. The other heroine, Margerit, unexpectedly inherits the Baron’s estate upon his demise — including Barbara, who was his property. The plot is moderately complex, involving the question of why he named his goddaughter his heir and why he failed to free Barbara as he promised (and why he owned her and trained her in the first place), running alongside a strand wherein Margerit begins to study the “mysteries” (sacred magic) and investigate why they no longer work the way they should. Overall it came together in a reasonably satisfying way, and Jones has a pleasingly solid grasp of the social politics of a nineteenth-century-type world: Margerit can’t just go “la, who cares” and blow off her obligations without consequence, however much she may want to. Plus, lesbian romance, which I know would be a selling point for many of my blog readers. :-)

Phoenix, Stephen Brust. Still working my way slowly through these. I liked Vlad’s interactions with the Empress: they struck a nice balance between the formal ceremony that accompanies such a role, and showing the Empress as a human being (well, for the contested values of “human” that apply in this setting). I’m also pleased, though not surprised, to see Brust follow through on what he began in an earlier book, with Vlad questioning his role in the Jhereg and his chosen livelihood of murdering people for money. I have no idea whether that was planned from the start, or whether Brust got a couple of books in, looked at his assassin hero, and reconsidered how good of an idea that really was, but either way it’s nice to watch the change percolate through the narrative. Where it goes in the long run . . . well, that will be interesting to see. “Phoenix stone” felt like a bit of handwavium to me, but I’d love to see more exploration of what pre-Empire sorcery was like, and how the Interregnum changed the way sorcery worked.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[cgbookcat1.livejournal.com]

I fundamentally did not care about any of the characters, because the text never let me get close enough to any of them to form an emotional attachment.

[cgbookcat1.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I was trying to quote.

This was the main problem I had with the Liu book, and I could not get more than 60 pages in.

Re Interregnum: Some of the magical backstory is dealt with in Brust's 5-book historical series starting with The Phoenix Guards, but you have to enjoy flowery language.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

"looked at his assassin hero, and reconsidered how good of an idea that really was"

Dim memory is of rumors or maybe Brust statements of a friend being killed in a mob hit, thus prompting reconsideration.
Relatedly, _Teckla_ may have overlapped with a messy divorce.

Unrelatedly, _Phoenix_ is the Taltos book I ever read! I saw it in a bookstore and went 'ooh, phoenix'. It is #5 in its series and basically a direct sequel to Teckla; I enjoyed it anyway. Only one of many experiences leading me to not care much about "proper reading order".

Vlad's Phoenix stone sticks around, but is both helpful and hindrance, so there's that. Some magical background clues show up, but aren't always consistent, especially between the Vlad and Paarfi books. I don't know if you've cottoned on to Brust's love for the unreliable narrator yet; Vlad and Paarfi certainly have different perspectives.

If you're going in publishing order you've got _Athyra_ next, which should be an experience!

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I am afraid I do not understand the insinuation that you seem to be attempting to make. My language is the epitome of brevity and concise wit, befitting a work which, though seeking to not do violence to the plain facts of history, the abridgment of which is ill for the soul of historian and reader alike, nonetheless aims to be, rather than a work of dry academic conventions, one that can both appeal to and educate the populace, for their simultaneous amusement and edification.
--P

[carbonel]

I feel much the same way about The Grace of Kings. Plus the horrific body count on all sides. No matter the good intentions of the various people fighting on various sides, the results suck for the common people. I had thought it was going to be a standalone novel until I got about 10 pages from the end, when I realized I was being set up for a sequel. No, thank you. I like Ken Liu's short fiction, but this one is definitely a curate's egg.

[ckd]

Unreliable narrator? Oh, does Brust ever have fun with that one. Just wait until hitting Orca.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Edit: Unrelatedly, _Phoenix_ is the *first* Taltos book I ever read!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I could not get more than 60 pages in.

If the source material hadn't interested me, I probably wouldn't have persisted past that, either.

I tried the Phoenix Guards books once when somebody proposed them as a better entry point than Jhereg (which I bounced off the first time I tried it), but it didn't work. Not so much because of the language as, I didn't connect to the characters (it's a common problem with me). I'll probably try them again later.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

see icon :-)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Dim memory is of rumors or maybe Brust statements of a friend being killed in a mob hit, thus prompting reconsideration.

I could see that changing your perspective, yes. From the standpoint of the victim's nearest and dearest, there is nothing sexy about an assassin.

Relatedly, _Teckla_ may have overlapped with a messy divorce.

If it reflects any such thing, then it's an interesting reflection -- most breakups in fiction tend to be way more dramatic. Vlad and Cawti drifting apart feels remarkably realistic.

Vlad's Phoenix stone sticks around, but is both helpful and hindrance, so there's that.

It isn't so much that I think it's uber-helpful as, really? There's this rock that negates stuff, and in the thousands of years Dragaerans have been around, nobody has identified it before? (Possibly I was misreading, but Morrolan seemed to be very surprised by the stuff; it wasn't clear whether "Phoenix stone" was a name he made up for it, or him attaching a label he'd read about elsewhere.)

I actually started Athyra, on the erroneous belief that I had finished the previous omnibus. Backtracked for Phoenix, and now I've returned to where I left off. So far I'm not a huge fan of it, mostly because I don't really care about Savn as a pov character, and I haven't really gotten to the meat of the story yet.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I'll be there soon!

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

The narrative at least mostly acknowledges that, yeah, when the big important people go to war, it suuuuuuuucks to be an ordinary peasant. But because I felt no emotional attachment to anything, that acknowledgement felt mostly like lip service, rather than actual sympathy for the plight of those people.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

My recollection (which is informed by later books as well) is that Morrolan was familiar with it but hadn't seen it, as it is fairly rare. Before the Interregnum the sorcery-blocking kind would have been much less interesting as sorcery wasn't as powerful, and from a Dragaeran's viewpoint the Interregnum wasn't that long ago; there are probably a number of wizards who plan to get around to experimenting with Phoenix stone any century now.

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

I think that The Phoenix Guards still has the honor of being the only book that has ever made me laugh so hard that I fell off the couch. It does help if you're a fan of The Three Musketeers, though.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

Thankee!

I've noticed the style rubs off on me quickly. I first read The Phoenix Guards in college, and wrote at least the title of a paper or two, if not an entire paper, influenced by the style. Got away with it, too.

(Also tried writing my Okcupid profile in the style for a while, but no one bit.)

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

The notions of progress and the timeline don't mesh very well, really... FWIW, the stone seems to be only from Elde Island, not part of the Empire (and probably part of why).

_Athyra_ seems controversial, probably in large part because the narrative shift from first person Zelaznian smartass to third person peasant teen is such a shock. But I appreciated him mixing things up, and ended up liking the book. It's also interesting to get a outside view of Vlad; I can point something out when you're done.

I'll add, if you haven't noticed already, there's the question of whether book titles reflect interaction with that House or Vlad's behavior in that book. Probably one can usually answer "both", e.g. Vlad interacting with the Phoenix Empress and also being reborn, or being pretty thoroughly Jhereg in _Jhereg_, etc. Here we've got more Teckla than in _Teckla_, so to balance that...

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I have an odd relationship with The Three Musketeers, which is that by the time I read it the things I really detested about the characters kept getting in the way of the things I enjoyed about them. So it's hard to guess which side of that divide The Phoenix Guards will fall on.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I like him mixing things up, but some kinds of mixing fly more easily than others: in this case, the problem is less that Brust changed povs and more that so far, I find Savn boring.

I usually figure the title is less about interaction with the House or Vlad's behavior specifically and more about the book's thematic weight, which could encompass either or both of those. But I honestly don't have a good enough sense of what the Athyra are like to really know what to expect in this one.

[wshaffer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Brust's characters are more analogues than direct copies of Dumas's, and I think on the whole they'd be less objectionable, but whether they'd be less objectionable enough is an interesting question.

I read The Three Musketeers young enough to more or less uncritically accept the whole, "Scrappy protagonist without much in the way of resources, credentials, or connections succeeds through sheer chutzpah and just enough competence" thing. It's still a trope that I like, although its failure mode does tend to be, "Wow, this guy is a real dick."

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I almost said "I think I didn't read it young enough," but I know there are people who encountered it as an adult and loved it. And actually, I did try to read it when I was much younger, but bounced off for totally different reasons. (What's a pistole? Or a Gascon? I am so confused. Good-bye.)

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I think you've just summed up why I kind of stopped reading the books. I don't have access to all of them, and I hate reading books in the wrong order because that makes me a bad person and I'm doing it wrong (yeah, I know), and I feel like everyone talks about the books in a way that makes it clear casual reading is not rewarded in the same way (see also doing it wrong). Even though no one means to do it.

I mean, the first time I stopped reading the series was when I realized that I had missed a bunch of books when I read Orca, the next one on the shelf. Clearly I had ruined everything and was a horrible person (argh, this part of me, why.)

So I guess for me, Brust is a should-have-gotten-in-on-ground-floor kind of thing.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

How did my saying I discovered the series out of order sum up why you stopped reading the books?

IMO the books totally reward casual reading. They'll *also* reward remembering the series as a whole and making connections; like Bujold or Discworld or Narnia, they're in between "Book N of the M-Book Song of Overtime saga" and "the totally unrelated adventures of Conan Holmes".

As for order, I think Brust has said he wrote _Dragon_ to mess with people who want to read the books in chronological order, though _Taltos_ already does some work there.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

It's probably more socially aware than Dumas, what with Brust being a Trotskyist, and Dragaeran women get to have roles other than femme fatale or pillar of virtue. Even more so in the sequel, where Sethra Lavode and Aliera get roles.

Also, barely a spoiler but I'll be pure:
Lbh trg gb tvttyr nf lbh ernyvmr Qriren naabhaprq gur ovegu bs ure zbgure.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

You're right, and you beat me to it. I'm sorry I snapped at you.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Brust's social awareness is one of the things that makes me optimistic.

[xahra99.livejournal.com]

YES. I've really enjoyed Liu's short stories on the escape artists podcasts and I've found a lot of great authors that way. So went in expecting epicness and what I got, was plot. No character development. That one guy and his wife got a bit (can't even recall his name) but I didn't finish it. Sad.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

There is character development over the long term, but . . . it's like hearing about the character development of a historical person in a nonfiction book. It's there, but you don't feel it on a visceral level.