Review - Kushiel's Avatar

I suppose it goes without saying that I loved the final book of this trilogy. The trilogy has its flaws, I'll admit. For one thing, pages on pages could have been cut in the interests of getting to the point faster and dazzling prose. Still, for me, I quite enjoyed the leisurely pace in some parts of it, and the careful and detailed world building that ensued. Yes, it's kind of ridiculous the way what is essentially France is idolised, and the idea of a land where everyone is beautiful seems like a bit of blatant wish-fulfilment, and the heroine is unlikely and, yes, maybe a little too perfect and prepared for whatever comes. And there's the sex -- plenty of it in each and every book, and some of it rather more kinky than your average person is interested in reading about. Oh, and there's what other people would probably consider to be blasphemy, too. But accept all of that -- and it isn't as hard as it may sound, I think, as long as you have the mental power to skip parts you know you're not going to like -- and there's a brilliant story shining out at you. Or so it seems to me! I do understand why some people don't like it. Now that I've articulated that, I'm going to get back to adoring it, though.

This final book was not quite so much about politics, I think. I mean, that was there -- couldn't really not be, considering. But this book was more about love, what with the various subplots finally playing out: Hyacinthe, Melisande's son, what Kushiel wants of Phèdre, etc, etc. A lot of the things in this book were connected to love, which is appropriate to the world it's set in, really, given that the central precept of the religion is "love as thou wilt".

The thing that most excited me about this book was the quest for the secret name. I loved the character of Hyacinthe from the start, and was sad when he barely appeared in the second book, so I was very glad at how much of the book was dedicated to this quest. At first it seemed a bit backward, since the overthrow of Drujan would seem to be more dramatic and yet came long before the climax of the book, but the way it played out was very good. I was pleased at the way the breaking of the geis was handled, and Hyacinthe's return to life. It would have seemed too good to be true if he'd just got back what he had before he became Master of the Straits.

Imriel's subplot was interesting, too. It was good to see a more tender side of Melisande, the love for her son, and was interesting to get to know Imriel -- how different he turns out. I didn't care for that plot very much at first, but it grew on me a lot, until I cheered at the relationship between him, Phèdre and Joscelin.

Joscelin is, by far, my favourite character of these books. It has to do with his absolute loyalty, which is one of those things I find very appealing in a character. It was very very hard to read how he was tested in Drujan, but it was well-written. I love the peace he and Phèdre make with it all: it's appropriate, and good to see them finding a balance.

All in all, I really wish I had the Imriel trilogy right now. Unfortunately, unless someone loves me very much and buys me the hardbacks, I'm going to have to wait until all three books are out in paperback in the UK. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait.

Review - Hero

Perry Moore's Hero was actually kind of disappointing. Quite a few people I know had fangirled about it, so maybe I just expected too much from it. It's not a bad story, and I have absolutely no objections to young adult lit with gay characters -- my thoughts are yes please on that score. Writing-wise, though, the book just isn't that good. To me, it went by very very fast, despite the four hundred pages, and it didn't give me all that much to grab onto. That was kind of good when it came to the action scenes, but... Stuff like Ruth's death almost slipped by me because the story hurtles along at breakneck speed. The casualness with which Scarlett announces she might be pregnant makes me wince. Serious, important things just get skipped over.

It wasn't all that original, really: all the superhero characters were basically the ones we all know, but with their names changed; I've read the same situations when it comes to coming out and being gay in a million stories online; and saving the world is saving the world is saving the world. The only really new thing was that Thom Creed is gay. That part actually kind of bothered me. Everyone in this book seems to know about Thom's sexuality even before he admits it aloud, and nearly everyone hates him for it. Neither of those things are even remotely realistic. I mean, I've known for five years at least that I'm bisexual, but in all that time, no one has ever just guessed my sexuality. It's not like we have it stencilled on our foreheads. And, strangely enough, not everyone in the world is homophobic. Okay, it's a book, it's fiction, it's not meant to be realistic, but... Perry Moore is gay himself, right? I can imagine that since he's openly so, he's had some of that experience, but I can't imagine that everyone in his world immediately condemned him because he's gay, because that's just not what happens.

It also kind of made me wince when Thom's mother said that her career didn't matter because she had the man she wanted, and also at the way she dismissed any idea that Hal might be biased in thinking that she should give up her career because she's the woman and "second rate". I have no idea if Perry Moore realised how that scene would come across, but ouch.

One thing I did like a lot was the relationship between Hal and Thom. I had no trouble believing in the way Hal treated his son and reacted to his various secrets, and I actually hurt for them both in a lot of their interactions.

All in all, though, I wasn't really impressed. It's fun enough to read, and I hope it sets a precedent for books about gay characters, but I really didn't enjoy it as much as I was hoping to. I'm giving it three stars ("liked it") on goodreads, but I don't think, if I was basing that purely on how good the book is, it should get that much.

Snippet - The kettle just boiled

Fandom: The Dark Is Rising
For: eventual Will/Bran untitled WIP, snippeted before here
Quality: Briefly checked
Character: Bran, Will

( The kettle just boiled )