Musings on the Written Word

Monday, February 26, 2007

Sanctuary

Book 4/25

Mercedes Lackey's Sanctuary

This is the third book in the Dragon Jouster's series, and I won't discuss how long it's been since I read the second book (Alta), given my previous rant. On reflection, I should have backtracked and re-read the second book before tackling this one, as it took me several chapters to remember who some of the characters were (i.e., if you haven't read the previous books, you will be sorely lost attempting to start with this book - it doesn't have as much backstory as you need to understand what's going on).

I was a little disappointed because this book focused more on the human characters, with the dragons taking a backseat. The dragons have never been the main characters, but they were always the driving force of the story, and a lot of attention was paid to their descriptions and naming, etc. This time, they were kind of just there. They were useful in the rescues to the Temple of the Twins and the Healers, but they really seemed to be almost inanimate objects - useful, but not particularly interesting. I recognize that, when debating politics, humans are needed, but the book was lacking, I think. The dragons were what caught my attention before, and why I fell in love with this series; I could really care less about political statements couched in fantasy.

That said, none of the characters really grew or changed, which was a kind of double-blow. They were the focus of this story, particularly Kiron and Aket-ten, and they stagnated. There's been some passage of time, and more time passes through the book, but no one really changed. Kiron, to me, still appears to be a very young child, which makes the romantic aspect of his relationship with Aket-ten very uncomfortable to read. It just doesn't feel like he's old enough to be contemplating marriage - regardless of the ancient Egyptian theme being utilized - much less sex. Previously, their stumbling affection was cute, but now it feels very awkward. I mean, Kiron was only about 10(?) when the series started! Whether he's aged or not, his character is still presented as very young. There's just no evidence that he's grown, gained adult knowledge, etc. He's smart, and he's learning, but he's still a kid. It just felt very off, to me.

The story itself was a little heavy-handed on the political messages, and I think the world lost a lot of its charm and magic because of it. Had this been written at a different time, maybe it wouldn't seem so glaring, but for someone who still knows people stationed in Iraq, it was blatant. I read fantasy as an escape from the real world, not to read someone else's political leanings - whether I agree with them or not. Ms. Lackey really should have narrowed her focus to the Magi and left out the lengthy paragraphs on corruption and pointless wars. That said, the Magi didn't come off as being all that bright. They made errors all over the place, and they didn't appear to learn from them. And how convenient for them to all perish in that mess at the end - deus ex machina anyone? A little hard to carry on a series when you dumped all of the antagonists into the ocean, especially when they've been controlling things for a couple of books now.

In comparison to Joust and Alta, this really paled. It just didn't acheive the level the previous books managed in terms of characters you wanted to learn about, the dragons themselves, and the world. Whether it was the intent or not, it just came off as a political statement, and that isn't what fantasy should be used for, in my opinion.

Posted by Andria :: 2:40 PM :: 0 comments

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Beyond Varallan

Book 3/25

S.L. Viehl's Beyond Varallan

There is nothing more annoying that attempting to read a series with huge gaps of non-series books sandwiched between each read. Alas, such is the fate of the person who just stacks books on a To Be Read pile without thinking. *-* Well, perhaps not that dramatic - it just took me until December to pick up the second StarDoc book (the first was previously reviewed back in July: StarDoc)...and will likely take me that long to pick up Shockball.

To begin, I don't know who did the copy editing on this book, but they should be fired. The typos were obnoxious, easily visible, and more prolific than I've seen in any book read to date. I don't recall there being this many problems in StarDoc, and it really jarred me out of the story each time. I was tempted to take a red pen to the book and fix everything, which was one reason it took me longer to finish this book than I anticipated. As soon as I hit more than one error in five pages, I just gave up; I couldn't stick with the story.

That said, it was still enjoyable. Squilyp was a great addition, as were the Jorenians aboard the Sunlace. Duncan Reever was less irritating in this book, though he still seemed to serve no functional part (save, of course, as a would-be bed warmer). There was one brief moment where I thought Ms. Viehl might begin to delve into his past, but it never came about - which made that moment really confusing. I understand that, in a series, you need to lay down seeds for future books, but they should at least have some relation to what's occurring in the present story. It doesn't take a genius to figure out there's a sordid past to Reever, and the continual blank walls is beginning to grate. For him to become a remotely useful character, he needs to develop a third dimension.

The story itself...well, it was interesting, but it paled in comparison to StarDoc. The plot jumped around almost aimlessly, and people/creatures fell in and out of character (and I'm not referring to the druggings). One moment, Cherijo is horrified at the destruction on NessNevat and questioning her motives in delivering the Hskskt brood back on K-2, the next, she's threatening Xonea in his full warrior's glory. The weakness she displayed, at times, was so out of character for her that I wondered if I actually had the second book, if I'd missed something crucial. I understand that all medical professionals experience a crises of faith now and then, but NessNevat seemed to just destroy her. Then, as the book closes, she's calmly orchestrating the capture of sixty League ships for the Hskskt and trying to kill Joseph Grey Veil. She might as well have been two people - not a trait I believe Ms. Viehl is going for.

After the discovery of the traitor's plans, things seemed to wobble around for a while, and that was irritating. I can appreciate wanting to end on a cliff, but do you have to drag people through a monotonous desert first? And, of course, the League's "ability" to guess where she would be was very dry; if you're aboard a Jorenian vessel, the odds are very good you'll pop up on Joren, at some point. The attack as a surprise just didn't work for me. Nor did the double betrayal at the end (which, I have to admit, I had a clue into based on a comment Ms. Viehl made on her blog). I'm all for abusing your characters, but this...I don't know. It just wasn't convincing to me; Cherijo wasn't destroyed by the knowledge that people close to her had sabotaged her. If she was as broken up over the NessNevat as was described, the betrayal should have turned her catatonic, not vengeful. As I said, characters just didn't behave as expected, based on previous knowledge. I don't mind characters changing, but swapping out new personalities entirely for no good reason...nope, I just don't buy it.

I do enjoy Ms. Viehl's writing, though, as well as her creatures, and I plan to continue reading the series - if nothing else, in the hopes that problems will be answered/solved. *-* For now, though, it's back to the To Be Read stack threatening to topple off my desk, which, currently, means a return to fantasy and Mercedes Lackey.

Posted by Andria :: 1:34 PM :: 0 comments