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snugglekittyMelanie Rawn fans over the globe have made this observation, but I am getting in line to make it as well. Spellbinder is not The Captal's Tower. Okay, so Melanie Rawn writes epic fantasy. She first became known with the Dragon Prince trilogy. It begat a sequel trilogy. She also wrote this really cool book called Exiles of the Rinth about a family of noble sorcerors at odds with each other. A few years later, she followed it with a sequel, The Mage-Born Traitor, which, while not quite a cliffhanger, clearly was intended to be followed by another sequel. Which we are all still waiting for. Unfortunately, though, that's not the worst of it. In Spellbinder, Rawn has abandoned the field of fantasy for the genre of sexy-women-and-pentacles. I don't know what happened. Did her publisher push for her to write something like Laurell K. Hamilton and make a lot of money? Did she get lazy? Was it ghost-written? I have no idea. But the sad fact of the matter is that Spellbinder just isn't that good, even for what it is.
WARNING: CLICHES AHEAD! The witch who's also a famous writer falls for an Irish cop from a dysfunctional, alcoholic family. She can't keep from confessing her secret to him. The next thing we know, they're up against an evil Satanist mastermind who wants to do a ritual so he can become a god. Stay tuned for premonitions of doom, a case of mistaken identity, desperate messages in code, and harebrained plans that only serve to get the main characters into even more hot water. But possibly the thing that bugged me about it the most? Near the beginning of the book, a character who is only somewhat evil puts a curse on the main characters. The curse, in theory, is responsible for their mishaps, mistakes, and suspicion of each other. THEY NEVER BREAK THE CURSE. They never even find out about it, but they still manage to live happily ever after. Just, presumably, bickering and losing their keys for fun and variety. Now that's a plothole you can drive a truck through. Unless of course Rawn is planning a sequel, where the curse is discovered, but please, Goddess, protect us from that fate. Two measly little stars. Rawn is capable of so much better.
I followed this book with The Price of Blood and Honor, third in Elizabeth Willey's fantasy trilogy, which began with The Well-Favored Man: The Tale of the Sorcerer's Nephew. I feel I should warn you, these books are a little tough. The language is very formal - lots of thous and privilys. You have to concentrate to know what's going on. If you can get past that, though, they're very funny in places, and moving in others. Here's an example, from the last book.
"There are few choices open to a person believed dead, no matter how powerful or insignificant one is. All of them sum to one of two ends: to continue as dead, cut off from those living, be they loathed or beloved, who are familiar with one's countenance and manner; or to reveal the optimistic or embarassing error, either as soon as the error is apparent or later at one's leisure, perhaps after other business more conveniently accomplished dead than alive is brought to fruition. Allowing oneself the luxury of attending one's own funeral and revealing oneself there is stressful for loved ones and enemies alike; the latter may seize the moment and attempt to rectify one's condition to confirm with popular report. On one's reappearance, no matter when it occurs, one's friends assume the uncomfortable onus of having to return small keepsakes from among one's belongings and are burdened further by uncertainty as to whether their eulogies or jeremiads on one's departed, now revanant, character will find their way to one's ear.
If one is believed dead as a result of a suicide attempt, the situation becomes more complex, because one has clearly, if ineptly, expressed a preference for a state, and one has not quite succeeded in attaining it. This is why it is best not to leave a note." (p 283)
If it makes you laugh, then read the book. If it makes you yawn, skip it. Three stars - it was fairly engrossing once I got into it, and I appreciated the way the characters developed.
My other book this week was Bobbi Brown's Beauty. I recommend this book to anyone who's interested in getting better at doing makeup. I will talk more about it on the femme filter. Four stars.
WARNING: CLICHES AHEAD! The witch who's also a famous writer falls for an Irish cop from a dysfunctional, alcoholic family. She can't keep from confessing her secret to him. The next thing we know, they're up against an evil Satanist mastermind who wants to do a ritual so he can become a god. Stay tuned for premonitions of doom, a case of mistaken identity, desperate messages in code, and harebrained plans that only serve to get the main characters into even more hot water. But possibly the thing that bugged me about it the most? Near the beginning of the book, a character who is only somewhat evil puts a curse on the main characters. The curse, in theory, is responsible for their mishaps, mistakes, and suspicion of each other. THEY NEVER BREAK THE CURSE. They never even find out about it, but they still manage to live happily ever after. Just, presumably, bickering and losing their keys for fun and variety. Now that's a plothole you can drive a truck through. Unless of course Rawn is planning a sequel, where the curse is discovered, but please, Goddess, protect us from that fate. Two measly little stars. Rawn is capable of so much better.
I followed this book with The Price of Blood and Honor, third in Elizabeth Willey's fantasy trilogy, which began with The Well-Favored Man: The Tale of the Sorcerer's Nephew. I feel I should warn you, these books are a little tough. The language is very formal - lots of thous and privilys. You have to concentrate to know what's going on. If you can get past that, though, they're very funny in places, and moving in others. Here's an example, from the last book.
"There are few choices open to a person believed dead, no matter how powerful or insignificant one is. All of them sum to one of two ends: to continue as dead, cut off from those living, be they loathed or beloved, who are familiar with one's countenance and manner; or to reveal the optimistic or embarassing error, either as soon as the error is apparent or later at one's leisure, perhaps after other business more conveniently accomplished dead than alive is brought to fruition. Allowing oneself the luxury of attending one's own funeral and revealing oneself there is stressful for loved ones and enemies alike; the latter may seize the moment and attempt to rectify one's condition to confirm with popular report. On one's reappearance, no matter when it occurs, one's friends assume the uncomfortable onus of having to return small keepsakes from among one's belongings and are burdened further by uncertainty as to whether their eulogies or jeremiads on one's departed, now revanant, character will find their way to one's ear.
If one is believed dead as a result of a suicide attempt, the situation becomes more complex, because one has clearly, if ineptly, expressed a preference for a state, and one has not quite succeeded in attaining it. This is why it is best not to leave a note." (p 283)
If it makes you laugh, then read the book. If it makes you yawn, skip it. Three stars - it was fairly engrossing once I got into it, and I appreciated the way the characters developed.
My other book this week was Bobbi Brown's Beauty. I recommend this book to anyone who's interested in getting better at doing makeup. I will talk more about it on the femme filter. Four stars.
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curses
Date: 2006-12-04 05:53 pm (UTC)can we look at the bobbie brown book together so you can translate femme-to-butch for me?
Re: curses
Date: 2006-12-04 06:08 pm (UTC)And sure. I will hang on to the beauty book until we can peruse it together.
no subject
Date: 2006-12-05 03:42 am (UTC)i don't think i'm on the femme filter, can you add me?