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wilderthanApparently I feel wordy lately! All three of these reviews are under cuts because they got long. I tried to avoid specific spoilers, but if you don't want to know anything about the books at all, avoid!
Spindle's End (Robin McKinley)
I really like all the world-building in this. There's such a lot of it, right from the first few pages. The problem with it is that there's too much of it -- it's very vivid, but it weighs down the story. The story of Sleeping Beauty is usually fairly unadorned, and the elements of the original story seemed bogged down in all this detail.
It's delightful to read, in some ways, but it did take me a long time to finish reading, and it didn't grip me or become compulsive. I loved the tongue-in-cheek element to some of the details, like the way the fairy godmothers' gifts went awry, and absent-minded fairies getting burnt on their kettles.
I did care about the characters -- especially, though slowly, Narl -- but there wasn't enough happening. It's an awkward cross between a thick fantasy novel and a delicate little fairytale that doesn't quite work. It doesn't help that you start with Katriona, and get close to her as a narrator, but then she's supplanted by Rosie as she grows up. It's a bit like a bait-and-switch: I don't know how else the story could have been the way it is, but I liked Katriona and was quite happy to settle down in her POV.
I do like the ending. I was wondering, all through it, how various things were going to work out, and I like that they did work out... not perfectly, but as well as they could possibly do. I was almost surprised by how much I cared about the happy ending for Narl, but considering I haven't stopped grinning yet... I liked the way the traditional elements were all present, although not in quite the expected way -- in the kiss to wake the princess, for example. I liked the way that Rosie had to go out and fix things herself, that she didn't have to wait for any prince to come and save her.
I still feel oddly ambivalent about the whole thing, though. It's not a book I can see myself reading again because it took so long to read, and didn't grab hold of me in the way I liked.
The Dragon Keeper (Robin Hobb)
The Dragon Keeper is a return to the Realm of the Elderlings 'verse. I love the first trilogy of books in it dearly, struggled through the second, and enjoyed the return to form in the third. I've detailed what I found difficult about the Liveships trilogy in my review of those, here. Some of those problems are repeated here: I find Hobb's writing stronger, in general, in the first person, because of her tendency to go off on long, long pages of exposition. At least when it's in the voice of a character, like Fitz, it becomes a part of the character. She does get into her characters' heads, even in third person, but there's so many of them. As with Liveships, it's hard to judge who are the real protagonists, because she hops between the minds of all of the different points of view. It does enrich the world of the story, but at the same time, it's awkward seeing characters from so many different points of views. What Fitz (and therefore the reader) didn't know was as important as what he did, if not more, in Farseers; here, I think the reader is told a bit too much.
The characters are somewhat more likeable than the Liveships characters. As with that, some of the non-POV characters (Ronica in Liveships, for example; Tats in this book) seem a bit more sympathetic, but perhaps that's because Hobb doesn't write from their POV. If she did, then perhaps we'd see the unpleasant side of them, too. It's hard to sympathise, though, especially with Sedric. I can't even really believe in his supposedly loving and intense relationship with Hest, because Hest just reminds me of Kyle in Liveships, and is pretty awful even without that. Alise is probably the character I'm most attached to, and I'm going to ache a lot for her if she doesn't get the love she deserves. I'd be more contemptuous of the more Mills & Boon ish parts of her relationship with the barge captain if I didn't want her to be happy.
It feels like nothing very much has happened, overall, for the dragons. This book was all set-up, and I dread to think how long the journey might drag on. I think the ambivalence to the dragons -- their beauty on the one hand, their arrogance on the other -- is interesting to read about, especially because a lot of fantasy writers assume that any other intelligent races would be more like us than not. It's interesting to have them be different, to think in a different way; it's both alluring and frustrating, because it's hard to relate to. For me, anyway, soft-hearted little human as I am.
Reserving final judgement until I've read the other book, of course, but I think this bodes well. It doesn't match Farseers for me, but it's way better than the Soldier Son trilogy, which I just found inpenetrable and discomforting. And it's better than Liveships, even if it shares some flaws with it. I finished this book in a single day, despite fearing it would take me ages: that's usually a good sign.
Dragon Haven (Robin Hobb)
I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I've read this duology. I stalled for a long time with Liveships and with the Soldier Son trilogy: this was much closer to what I hoped for. It isn't perfect, but I definitely enjoyed it. It's been a while since I read so much of a single book/series so quickly, and it was wonderful to immerse myself so thoroughly in Robin Hobb's world again.
A lot of the flaws from my review of The Dragon Keeper remain. On the whole, I thought it was better in this book, whether because I already had ties to the characters or not, I don't know. It's still relatively slow in pace, when I think about the sheer amount that happens in the earlier books from this world compared to this: all that happens is that a bunch of dragons and some misfit humans travel upriver to find an ancient Elderling city. Of course, there's personal developments, but the main jist of the plot is that.
I found the characters less frustrating than in some of Robin Hobb's other books because they communicate with each other. Not so much Thymara, perhaps, but Alise and Leftrin, for example, and Serdic grows up and begins to do so. I loved the relationship between Carson and Serdic: it seemed like it could be such a good thing for both of them, a healthy thing, something that helps Serdic grow as a person. I wish there'd been more of it, because it's glorious to see a male/male romance grow throughout a mainstream fantasy book. That's why I 'shelved' this book as LGBT -- I could read it, and while it wasn't a perfect fluffy relationship, I could relate to it and enjoy it and look forward to it, and I smiled at the end. It felt natural.
I'm sure there are people who've been offended by it, and who felt it was shoving homosexuality in their face, and I had been worried by the portrayal of Hest and Serdic's relationship, initially. It was unhealthy and horrible and I didn't want to feel that Robin Hobb felt that was the way all gay relationships would be. But clearly she doesn't: Carson and Serdic are not perfect, but they feel more real than I'd hoped for. I actually wish we'd had more of Carson in the book, rather than seeing him through other characters' eyes. He was refreshingly straightforward, unconflicted, unashamed.
I enjoyed Alise and Leftrin's relationship, too. I love the way it gave depth to Leftrin's character: I'd been willing to dismiss him as a slightly rascally captain, when he first appeared. I think Alise's changes happened perhaps a bit too swiftly in the beginning, but I was happy when they got together. Another relationship handled relatively well.
Thymara's story was the most unsatisfying for me. I wanted to like her -- a strong, capable female character, who could make her own decisions! But the way the men bickered over her, reduced her to an object... it gave all the characters their worst sides. And it never felt resolved.
The dragons are... Well, in the same way that the humans find them something of a disappointment, I think, so do I. You want creatures like them to be noble and beautiful and intelligent and compassionate, and yet these are selfish and belligerent, unconcerned with humanity. I like it for how different it is, though.
Overall, the duology just feels like the beginning of something. Whether it's a story we'll be told by Hobb, I don't know, but there's a bit of disappointment at the end because it doesn't seem like much has really been achieved. Of course, the dragons grow and mature and begin to become real dragons, but... And the relationships all work out, but... And they reach Kelsingra, but... I don't know exactly what I want, but I want more! I wanted to see the beginnings of a new city in Kelsingra, I think.
Spindle's End (Robin McKinley)
I really like all the world-building in this. There's such a lot of it, right from the first few pages. The problem with it is that there's too much of it -- it's very vivid, but it weighs down the story. The story of Sleeping Beauty is usually fairly unadorned, and the elements of the original story seemed bogged down in all this detail.
It's delightful to read, in some ways, but it did take me a long time to finish reading, and it didn't grip me or become compulsive. I loved the tongue-in-cheek element to some of the details, like the way the fairy godmothers' gifts went awry, and absent-minded fairies getting burnt on their kettles.
I did care about the characters -- especially, though slowly, Narl -- but there wasn't enough happening. It's an awkward cross between a thick fantasy novel and a delicate little fairytale that doesn't quite work. It doesn't help that you start with Katriona, and get close to her as a narrator, but then she's supplanted by Rosie as she grows up. It's a bit like a bait-and-switch: I don't know how else the story could have been the way it is, but I liked Katriona and was quite happy to settle down in her POV.
I do like the ending. I was wondering, all through it, how various things were going to work out, and I like that they did work out... not perfectly, but as well as they could possibly do. I was almost surprised by how much I cared about the happy ending for Narl, but considering I haven't stopped grinning yet... I liked the way the traditional elements were all present, although not in quite the expected way -- in the kiss to wake the princess, for example. I liked the way that Rosie had to go out and fix things herself, that she didn't have to wait for any prince to come and save her.
I still feel oddly ambivalent about the whole thing, though. It's not a book I can see myself reading again because it took so long to read, and didn't grab hold of me in the way I liked.
The Dragon Keeper (Robin Hobb)
The Dragon Keeper is a return to the Realm of the Elderlings 'verse. I love the first trilogy of books in it dearly, struggled through the second, and enjoyed the return to form in the third. I've detailed what I found difficult about the Liveships trilogy in my review of those, here. Some of those problems are repeated here: I find Hobb's writing stronger, in general, in the first person, because of her tendency to go off on long, long pages of exposition. At least when it's in the voice of a character, like Fitz, it becomes a part of the character. She does get into her characters' heads, even in third person, but there's so many of them. As with Liveships, it's hard to judge who are the real protagonists, because she hops between the minds of all of the different points of view. It does enrich the world of the story, but at the same time, it's awkward seeing characters from so many different points of views. What Fitz (and therefore the reader) didn't know was as important as what he did, if not more, in Farseers; here, I think the reader is told a bit too much.
The characters are somewhat more likeable than the Liveships characters. As with that, some of the non-POV characters (Ronica in Liveships, for example; Tats in this book) seem a bit more sympathetic, but perhaps that's because Hobb doesn't write from their POV. If she did, then perhaps we'd see the unpleasant side of them, too. It's hard to sympathise, though, especially with Sedric. I can't even really believe in his supposedly loving and intense relationship with Hest, because Hest just reminds me of Kyle in Liveships, and is pretty awful even without that. Alise is probably the character I'm most attached to, and I'm going to ache a lot for her if she doesn't get the love she deserves. I'd be more contemptuous of the more Mills & Boon ish parts of her relationship with the barge captain if I didn't want her to be happy.
It feels like nothing very much has happened, overall, for the dragons. This book was all set-up, and I dread to think how long the journey might drag on. I think the ambivalence to the dragons -- their beauty on the one hand, their arrogance on the other -- is interesting to read about, especially because a lot of fantasy writers assume that any other intelligent races would be more like us than not. It's interesting to have them be different, to think in a different way; it's both alluring and frustrating, because it's hard to relate to. For me, anyway, soft-hearted little human as I am.
Reserving final judgement until I've read the other book, of course, but I think this bodes well. It doesn't match Farseers for me, but it's way better than the Soldier Son trilogy, which I just found inpenetrable and discomforting. And it's better than Liveships, even if it shares some flaws with it. I finished this book in a single day, despite fearing it would take me ages: that's usually a good sign.
Dragon Haven (Robin Hobb)
I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly I've read this duology. I stalled for a long time with Liveships and with the Soldier Son trilogy: this was much closer to what I hoped for. It isn't perfect, but I definitely enjoyed it. It's been a while since I read so much of a single book/series so quickly, and it was wonderful to immerse myself so thoroughly in Robin Hobb's world again.
A lot of the flaws from my review of The Dragon Keeper remain. On the whole, I thought it was better in this book, whether because I already had ties to the characters or not, I don't know. It's still relatively slow in pace, when I think about the sheer amount that happens in the earlier books from this world compared to this: all that happens is that a bunch of dragons and some misfit humans travel upriver to find an ancient Elderling city. Of course, there's personal developments, but the main jist of the plot is that.
I found the characters less frustrating than in some of Robin Hobb's other books because they communicate with each other. Not so much Thymara, perhaps, but Alise and Leftrin, for example, and Serdic grows up and begins to do so. I loved the relationship between Carson and Serdic: it seemed like it could be such a good thing for both of them, a healthy thing, something that helps Serdic grow as a person. I wish there'd been more of it, because it's glorious to see a male/male romance grow throughout a mainstream fantasy book. That's why I 'shelved' this book as LGBT -- I could read it, and while it wasn't a perfect fluffy relationship, I could relate to it and enjoy it and look forward to it, and I smiled at the end. It felt natural.
I'm sure there are people who've been offended by it, and who felt it was shoving homosexuality in their face, and I had been worried by the portrayal of Hest and Serdic's relationship, initially. It was unhealthy and horrible and I didn't want to feel that Robin Hobb felt that was the way all gay relationships would be. But clearly she doesn't: Carson and Serdic are not perfect, but they feel more real than I'd hoped for. I actually wish we'd had more of Carson in the book, rather than seeing him through other characters' eyes. He was refreshingly straightforward, unconflicted, unashamed.
I enjoyed Alise and Leftrin's relationship, too. I love the way it gave depth to Leftrin's character: I'd been willing to dismiss him as a slightly rascally captain, when he first appeared. I think Alise's changes happened perhaps a bit too swiftly in the beginning, but I was happy when they got together. Another relationship handled relatively well.
Thymara's story was the most unsatisfying for me. I wanted to like her -- a strong, capable female character, who could make her own decisions! But the way the men bickered over her, reduced her to an object... it gave all the characters their worst sides. And it never felt resolved.
The dragons are... Well, in the same way that the humans find them something of a disappointment, I think, so do I. You want creatures like them to be noble and beautiful and intelligent and compassionate, and yet these are selfish and belligerent, unconcerned with humanity. I like it for how different it is, though.
Overall, the duology just feels like the beginning of something. Whether it's a story we'll be told by Hobb, I don't know, but there's a bit of disappointment at the end because it doesn't seem like much has really been achieved. Of course, the dragons grow and mature and begin to become real dragons, but... And the relationships all work out, but... And they reach Kelsingra, but... I don't know exactly what I want, but I want more! I wanted to see the beginnings of a new city in Kelsingra, I think.
