Reviews - The Ki and Vandien Quartet
Mar. 2nd, 2010 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wilderthanHarpy's Flight (Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb)
Harpy's Flight was written before the books that Lindholm wrote as Robin Hobb. This is evident in several ways -- the quality of the writing and plotting, the less rich characterisation, the fact that some characters seem almost like test runs for later ones (Rhesus from this book for Restart in Liveships, for example). Her potential also shows in the brightly described world, in the descriptions of cultures and rites, in the quality of the writing and the way it can grip you even when the first seven pages are just about climbing up a cliff (not the most gripping stuff). There's a lot of physicality in Hobb's writing -- when Ki is sore and raw and exhausted, it really comes through, which is something she did as well, probably better, in Farseers, with the various poison/torture/agony scenes of poor Fitz.
I like the ideas in this book, and some of the writing is wonderful. I felt like the way it's structured is a little clunky: too much diving around between past and present with the clumsy little 'going to sleep'/'waking up' transitions.
Enjoyable, and worth reading, especially if you want to see Hobb's earlier work, but not up to the standard of Farseers.
The Windsingers (Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb)
This book is better structured than Harpy's Flight, and I love it quite a lot. It continues everything I like so much from the first book, and builds on it -- developing the rich world-building, developing the undemanding partnership between Ki and Vandien, drawing the two of them into deeper plots.
Dresh is a horrible character, slimy as hell and rude and crude and, well, an attempted rapist. Having read this book before, it's hard to sympathise with him at all -- so much easier to like Rebeke and her kind, even if they're strange.
I wish, in a way, that the topic of Vandien's scar really was so futile, that Rebeke didn't help at all, that no one could help. I understand how important magic is to fantasy writing, and how odd it would be if there was no magic, but I hate the way disability/disfigurement is so often wished away in fantasy. The magic in this particular fantasy world doesn't seem necessarily like it could do healing... Still, that's a very small quibble.
The Limbreth Gate (Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb)
Not really my favourite of the quartet. I find it somewhat wince-worthy, somehow -- I don't like seeing Ki the way she is in this book, really. Still, the world-building that I love continues, hinting at some larger events, and also filling in parts of Ki's past with the deftest touches -- filling in about her mother, explaining why the harpies attacked her family...
Ki and Vandien are an awesome couple, strong both together and alone. In fact, the way they seem to have to be separated before the plot kicks off, in this book and the second book, suggests that together they're a lot stronger, because they temper each other -- Ki's caution tempers Vandien's impulsiveness, but he pushes/tugs her on to do things she wouldn't otherwise do.
I have to pause for a second to appreciate again how strong Ki's character is while also being feminine -- not really conforming to any stereotypes.
Luck of the Wheels (Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb)
There's something about this quartet that bothers me, and I don't know what it is. I like the characters, I like the world-building, but each time I read them, despite wanting to re-experience them, I'm also hesitant and reluctant. Probably because of the pain Lindholm puts them through, I suppose, and this last book has plenty and to spare of that.
My main problem with this book is Gotheris -- he's just so hard to sympathise with, and you probably should, but you can't... much like Ki and Vandien themselves, so I suppose it's not surprising. But it's hard to enjoy the ending, since it involves him so prominently, since it involves him being considered a bit like Vandien's son.
It's also difficult to enjoy the way Vandien behaves in this book -- totally unlike himself, after a certain point.
Still, it is nice that Ki accepts Vandien into her life wholly, after so long.
Harpy's Flight was written before the books that Lindholm wrote as Robin Hobb. This is evident in several ways -- the quality of the writing and plotting, the less rich characterisation, the fact that some characters seem almost like test runs for later ones (Rhesus from this book for Restart in Liveships, for example). Her potential also shows in the brightly described world, in the descriptions of cultures and rites, in the quality of the writing and the way it can grip you even when the first seven pages are just about climbing up a cliff (not the most gripping stuff). There's a lot of physicality in Hobb's writing -- when Ki is sore and raw and exhausted, it really comes through, which is something she did as well, probably better, in Farseers, with the various poison/torture/agony scenes of poor Fitz.
I like the ideas in this book, and some of the writing is wonderful. I felt like the way it's structured is a little clunky: too much diving around between past and present with the clumsy little 'going to sleep'/'waking up' transitions.
Enjoyable, and worth reading, especially if you want to see Hobb's earlier work, but not up to the standard of Farseers.
The Windsingers (Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb)
This book is better structured than Harpy's Flight, and I love it quite a lot. It continues everything I like so much from the first book, and builds on it -- developing the rich world-building, developing the undemanding partnership between Ki and Vandien, drawing the two of them into deeper plots.
Dresh is a horrible character, slimy as hell and rude and crude and, well, an attempted rapist. Having read this book before, it's hard to sympathise with him at all -- so much easier to like Rebeke and her kind, even if they're strange.
I wish, in a way, that the topic of Vandien's scar really was so futile, that Rebeke didn't help at all, that no one could help. I understand how important magic is to fantasy writing, and how odd it would be if there was no magic, but I hate the way disability/disfigurement is so often wished away in fantasy. The magic in this particular fantasy world doesn't seem necessarily like it could do healing... Still, that's a very small quibble.
The Limbreth Gate (Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb)
Not really my favourite of the quartet. I find it somewhat wince-worthy, somehow -- I don't like seeing Ki the way she is in this book, really. Still, the world-building that I love continues, hinting at some larger events, and also filling in parts of Ki's past with the deftest touches -- filling in about her mother, explaining why the harpies attacked her family...
Ki and Vandien are an awesome couple, strong both together and alone. In fact, the way they seem to have to be separated before the plot kicks off, in this book and the second book, suggests that together they're a lot stronger, because they temper each other -- Ki's caution tempers Vandien's impulsiveness, but he pushes/tugs her on to do things she wouldn't otherwise do.
I have to pause for a second to appreciate again how strong Ki's character is while also being feminine -- not really conforming to any stereotypes.
Luck of the Wheels (Megan Lindholm/Robin Hobb)
There's something about this quartet that bothers me, and I don't know what it is. I like the characters, I like the world-building, but each time I read them, despite wanting to re-experience them, I'm also hesitant and reluctant. Probably because of the pain Lindholm puts them through, I suppose, and this last book has plenty and to spare of that.
My main problem with this book is Gotheris -- he's just so hard to sympathise with, and you probably should, but you can't... much like Ki and Vandien themselves, so I suppose it's not surprising. But it's hard to enjoy the ending, since it involves him so prominently, since it involves him being considered a bit like Vandien's son.
It's also difficult to enjoy the way Vandien behaves in this book -- totally unlike himself, after a certain point.
Still, it is nice that Ki accepts Vandien into her life wholly, after so long.
