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Review - Demon's Law
Jul. 24th, 2009 01:00 pmThe main thing I've noticed, which is annoying me very, very much right now, is that in this trilogy, all the bad guys have servants who are "more than a servant to them". Implication: gay. None of the good guys are gay, but there's just this hint that all the bad guys (Thanos, in the first book; Barthus, in this book) are gay. Do Not Want. There's also a lot of bestiality, but only amongst the "evil" ones, and I get the sense that there isn't too much of a difference between the two, at least in the minds of the characters.
Which, uh, no thanks, Michael Scott. Really. No thanks.
It isn't too intrusive to the reading experience, particularly as I know I love the books in other respects, but if I was reading it for the first time now... hmm. I'm not sure I'd stick with it. It irritates me a lot.
In terms of plot, a lot of the threads from the previous book continue. Tuan and Cliona are barely more than an excuse for Paedur to end up in Death's domain, and while the bard says he loves them and wants to return them to life, that's obviously not the driving force of the book. Stories and references from the first book are used again, like the Onelord Churon, and other gods like Buiva play more of a part. Kutor is supposedly particularly important in this book, but his feeling that he's pretty much a figurehead is more or less true. Owen and Tien have a bit more of a role to play, and two awesome warrior-women, Fodla and Katani, are introduced. I like that the women are equally good fighters to men, in this world: at least Michael Scott doesn't fail at absolutely everything regarding discrimination.
Character-wise, though, they're not really all that deep. Kutor had doubts and gets annoyed and so on, but it doesn't really ring true. He annoys me a little with it, and I think that's because it isn't properly grounded in a complex character. Same, for example, with Churon. He goes from apparently evil and terrible to being the benevolent overlord of the dead. Hmmmm.
Still, Paedur's character and transformation is still interesting. He seems even less human, once again, at the end of this book. It's interesting to have a main character who is really quite hard to sympathise with.
Which, uh, no thanks, Michael Scott. Really. No thanks.
It isn't too intrusive to the reading experience, particularly as I know I love the books in other respects, but if I was reading it for the first time now... hmm. I'm not sure I'd stick with it. It irritates me a lot.
In terms of plot, a lot of the threads from the previous book continue. Tuan and Cliona are barely more than an excuse for Paedur to end up in Death's domain, and while the bard says he loves them and wants to return them to life, that's obviously not the driving force of the book. Stories and references from the first book are used again, like the Onelord Churon, and other gods like Buiva play more of a part. Kutor is supposedly particularly important in this book, but his feeling that he's pretty much a figurehead is more or less true. Owen and Tien have a bit more of a role to play, and two awesome warrior-women, Fodla and Katani, are introduced. I like that the women are equally good fighters to men, in this world: at least Michael Scott doesn't fail at absolutely everything regarding discrimination.
Character-wise, though, they're not really all that deep. Kutor had doubts and gets annoyed and so on, but it doesn't really ring true. He annoys me a little with it, and I think that's because it isn't properly grounded in a complex character. Same, for example, with Churon. He goes from apparently evil and terrible to being the benevolent overlord of the dead. Hmmmm.
Still, Paedur's character and transformation is still interesting. He seems even less human, once again, at the end of this book. It's interesting to have a main character who is really quite hard to sympathise with.
