Wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey
Nov. 12th, 2005 06:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyThe latest in her Elemental Masters series. Book five, I believe.
I was able to see immediately that this was partly adapted from a short story of Lackey's I read in Murder by Magic earlier this year - "Gray Eminence." I winced when I realized that, because I didn't particularly like the short story. However, the book was okay.
About on par with her previous title Phoenix and Ashes, or a bit below.
Lackey recently seems to have a major vendetta against private schools. I kind of wonder why that is. Also, over time, she seems to be less and less forgiving of her characters' "indulgence" in giving in to negative emotions, which I find a little disappointing. She wrote in this one, "Not forgiving someone, even if they don't deserve it, is like refusing to pull a thorn out of your foot because you're not the one who put it there." Be that as it may - sometimes it is unwise to forgive people. A major plot point of this book was, "Someone who doesn't deserve forgiveness for their actions needs our help! And if we don't help them, it will be the End of Life As We Know It!" Well, sure, 'cause you set it up that way. But even with the plot as stated, there could have been other solutions. And what about when you try to help someone who doesn't deserve your forgiveness, and they screw you because they're manipulative? The ending was too easy, I felt. Also, Lackey doesn't write young children very convincingly. I mean, they were basically adults in small, cute bodies, who occaisionally miss their mommies.
The most interesting thing about the book was that it was set in a previous generation of Elemental Masters - the plot-turning character was a young man in this book and an old man in The Serpent's Shadow.
Three stars.
Then I needed to re-read Local Custom, because I couldn't get a part of it out of my mind. That book leaves one with less of a warm, fuzzy feeling than most Liaden books. I like it better when the characters are standing back-to-back, fighting off the Bad Guys, then when their own errors set them against each other. That's just how I am, I find the latter kind of book a bit distressing. But still, it's Korval, and thus delicious. Lee and Miller's new book Crystal Dragon is coming out in a few weeks - huzzah huzzah.
I'm still in the midst of an embarassing number of books. I'd like to drop the number this weekend and finally finish some of them, especially since I have six more to pick up at the library on Monday.
I was able to see immediately that this was partly adapted from a short story of Lackey's I read in Murder by Magic earlier this year - "Gray Eminence." I winced when I realized that, because I didn't particularly like the short story. However, the book was okay.
About on par with her previous title Phoenix and Ashes, or a bit below.
Lackey recently seems to have a major vendetta against private schools. I kind of wonder why that is. Also, over time, she seems to be less and less forgiving of her characters' "indulgence" in giving in to negative emotions, which I find a little disappointing. She wrote in this one, "Not forgiving someone, even if they don't deserve it, is like refusing to pull a thorn out of your foot because you're not the one who put it there." Be that as it may - sometimes it is unwise to forgive people. A major plot point of this book was, "Someone who doesn't deserve forgiveness for their actions needs our help! And if we don't help them, it will be the End of Life As We Know It!" Well, sure, 'cause you set it up that way. But even with the plot as stated, there could have been other solutions. And what about when you try to help someone who doesn't deserve your forgiveness, and they screw you because they're manipulative? The ending was too easy, I felt. Also, Lackey doesn't write young children very convincingly. I mean, they were basically adults in small, cute bodies, who occaisionally miss their mommies.
The most interesting thing about the book was that it was set in a previous generation of Elemental Masters - the plot-turning character was a young man in this book and an old man in The Serpent's Shadow.
Three stars.
Then I needed to re-read Local Custom, because I couldn't get a part of it out of my mind. That book leaves one with less of a warm, fuzzy feeling than most Liaden books. I like it better when the characters are standing back-to-back, fighting off the Bad Guys, then when their own errors set them against each other. That's just how I am, I find the latter kind of book a bit distressing. But still, it's Korval, and thus delicious. Lee and Miller's new book Crystal Dragon is coming out in a few weeks - huzzah huzzah.
I'm still in the midst of an embarassing number of books. I'd like to drop the number this weekend and finally finish some of them, especially since I have six more to pick up at the library on Monday.
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see...
Date: 2005-11-12 09:27 pm (UTC)Re: see...
Date: 2005-11-12 09:28 pm (UTC)