Sunday, May 04, 2008

The Gates of Sleep

Book 8/25

Mercedes Lackey's The Gates of Sleep

This is the third in the Elemental Masters series (second, depending on the source you check, as The Fire Rose frequently gets missed); this particular book retells the tale of "Sleeping Beauty." As usual, Ms. Lackey manages to add a new finish to the story, taking it in a new direction. Unfortunately, it wasn't as new of a finish as I had originally hoped, and it was a little bit of a let-down after my enjoyment of The Serpent's Shadow.

Marina is a change from what I've come to recognize as Ms. Lackey's leading lady - rather than striking out as an individual, bucking tradition, challenging the social norms, etc., Marina is a stereotypical girly-girl fascinated by the latest fashions and trends. That was a disappointment, for me, because it made her seem - to my mind - more helpless. When you throw in her hysterics on being sent to Arachne, she diminished a lot as a primary character, in my opinion. She wanted to rebel against her cousin's perception of her as just another flighty female, but, honestly, she met most of his expectations. Yes, she could be pronounced a "bore" for her time spent with the Pastor, but she was still thrilled with a shopping trip. To change from Maya, who was a feminist doctor, to Marina, who is little more than a backwards teenage girl was a dramatic shift, and I wish that Ms. Lackey had done more to bolster Marina's character as something - anything - more than cardboard.

The story was still well-told, though the final battle was a severe anti-climax for me; there is nothing so horribly cliched as good and evil battling - literally. I had hoped for a little more out of the final confrontation, but the handful of paragraphs left to the matter of releasing Marina and rescuing Dr. Pike...it was droll. It was also expected, once Arachne's source of power had been revealed, which is always a disappointment. The romantic angle of the story felt very thrown-on, as well; it was as if Ms. Lackey suddenly realized she'd forgotten an important aspect of the original fairy tale and tried to tack it on. There was no justification, at least on Marina's part, for the sudden romance. While I acknowledge that a number of fairy tales believe in such spontaneous love, it felt very out of place in this story. I just wish more attention had been granted to that sub-plot, or that, at the very least, it had been allowed to grow more before the Epilogue. Speaking of which, I was pleased to see Ms. Lackey stick to a normal narration, and I found the Epilogue to be appropriate and beautiful. It closed the story nicely, tying up all of the loose ends, without leaving a single question or element of confusion.

It is still a beautiful story, but it didn't measure up, in my opinion, to the first two books in the series.
Posted by Andria :: 9:51 AM :: 0 comments

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