The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay

Mortification Scale: 1 Tomato Face

• 1 TF for being shelved in the SciFi section

Mitigating Features:

• an excellent account of Viking, Anglo-Saxon and Welsh history as it might have been
• great research on Celtic mythology
• a fairly good story

Synopsis:


A young Viking boy steals a horse that had been dedicated to the funeral pyre of the governor of his island. This leads him to become a member of a band of Viking mercenaries. Another boy goes on a cattle raid with his brother, cousin, and a few friends. This leads to his brother's death and his involvement with the politics of the day. 20 years in the past, another boy hides in the marshes, battling both fever and Viking invaders, until he succeeds in defeating the invaders and reclaiming his kingdom.

Set in the same world as the Byzantine Mosaic and the Lions of al-Rassan, The Last Light of the Sun is set in the barbaric North among the Vikings, the Welsh, and the Anglo-Saxons. It is another epic story involving about 8 main characters with opposing cultures, histories, and goals. This is also one of the more fantasy oriented of Kay's books. Here there are fairies, and ghosts and a great Celtic beast of the forest that reminded me of Michelle West's Hunter Duology.

I didn't like this book as much as the Lions of al-Rassan (which I LOVED), but it was a good book with a great deal of careful research. I'd recommend it!

The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay

Mortification Factors: Null

• This is the first book that evened out as to whether it was a book to brag about or a book that I'm ashamed to be seen with. Its sorting into the SciFi/Fantasy section in both bookstore and library forced its inclusion on this blog, but I am by no means ashamed of it.

Mitigating Features:

• Amazing, in-depth recreation of Moorish Spain
• Examines the question of religion and identity from a fresh perspective
• Overriding theme: the ephemeral nature of life and power
• Amazing poetry; use of language
• Fantastic array of characters, many of whom are in opposition
• Set in the same world as the Byzantine Mosaic
• Historically accurate description of early medical practices
  
• Absolutely fabulous!

Synopsis:

Set in Moorish Spain after the collapse of the Caliphate and shortly before the reconquest of the peninsula by the Jaddites (Christians), this magical-realism historical novel focuses on the lives of three main characters and a host of others. The three central figures are Jehane bet Ishak, a Kindath (Jewish) physician; Ammar ibn Khairan, a Asharite (Muslim) warrior-poet; and Rodrigo Belmonte, a Jaddite mercenary captain and lord. These three people meet on a day that becomes a turning point in all of their lives, and in the history of the Peninsula. They spend time in exile together and through the political maneuverings that ensue, they learn to love each other. The central tragedy is that there is no place in the world for people of intellect and tolerance at this point in time: the Kindath are feared and hated universally; the Jaddites long to reconquer the land; and the Asharites are so busy fighting amongst themselves that they are crumbling internally even without the external pressure from the Jaddites.

This book also is written from the perspective of the various kings and leaders of the age and presents them all from their own perspective without an author bias which would label any of them "villain". They strive against each other because it is their nature and the nature of the world in which we live. The political intrigue is gripping and entirely realistic and accurate historically. The religious subtext is fascinating: the Kindath worship the sun and his two sisters, the two moons; the Jaddites worship the sun; and the Asharites worship the stars. By presenting his versions of the three major Mediterranean religions in this format, Kay manages to divorce the reader from his preconceived ideas of what it means to be Christian, Muslim or Jewish. At points in the book, I would stop and make a mental shift to think of Jehane as Jewish rather than as Kindath. The fact that this was a mental shift made me aware of my own preconceived ideas about religion as identity. Also, by re-sorting the religions in this way, Kay makes it clear to the reader that these are all just people who by reason of their geography and upbringing, worship three equally ridiculous celestial bodies. Wonderful.

I love love loved this book. I adore the thoughts that Kay inspired after I read this book. I'm still absorbing it and plan to read the other book set in this same world, The Last Light of the Sun. I highly recommend this book to any thinking individual. Enjoy!

A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear

Mortification Scale: 4 Tomato Faces

• 1 for SciFi/Fantasy
• 2nd for being yet another human-animal psychic bond book (think Mercedes Lackey, Jane Lindskold, etc.)
• 3rd for being gay porn
• 4th for being gay porn!!!!! Do NOT read this in public!!!

Mitigating Features:

• Very well-written
• Excellent take on Norse culture (think Mickey Zucker Reichart)
• Doesn't seem like it can be the first book in a series

Synopsis:

Njall defies his father, the Jarl, in order not to bring dishonor down on their family by failing to respond to the call for young men to join the Wolfheall. Rather than continue on as the heir to his steading, Njall goes to the Wolfheall as a prospective brother to a newborn trellwolf. These trellwolves are pony-sized wolves with psychic powers that pick amongst the available boys around age 16 for a brother. It doesn't matter if the wolf is male or female, they pick a teenage boy to bond with. These boys/men are rejected by mainstream society due to the homosexual perversions that they practice. When I first read this, I was thinking that the authors were alluding to the Knights Templar and the unsubstantiated rumors surrounding them. I was waiting to find out that while some men might be lovers, the whole perversion thing was just a fear-based rumor. Nope. Definitely not just a rumor.

Njall, who is renamed Isolfr (they all take new names that have the root "olf" somewhere in there), has bonded to a konigenwolf, a dominant bitch. This means that Isolfr gets to be gang raped by the men who are bonded to the wolves that mate with Isolfr's wolf each time she's in season. Despite being told that "she's worth it", I can't say that I agreed after reading some very very disturbing scenes involving copious amounts of salve, multiple positions, and some intense emotion. Yes, I said scenes, plural. The two female authors really seemed to enjoy the gay sex scenes. I'm not sure why that is, and would prefer not to speculate. There was a "teaching" scene between Njall and a 40 year old man; an allusion to circle-jerks among the tithe-boys; a second heat mating scene with a good friend; a gang-bang scene with 6-8 participants, watched by about 30 other people. Then there was the "choosing a wolf-jarl" three-way. This would be quite educational for any teenager wanting to explore alternate sexuality. I'm not sure if that's evident from the cover art and the back cover, which makes this book sound like what it is...a coming of age story. It's just that the coming of age is more a triple x rated cumming of age. Sorry, I couldn't resist. :)

Overall, this was an excellent book. The story was engaging. The moral themes were good. The heroes were heroic and the villains villainous with just enough humanizing of both to keep it interesting. There was multilevel conflict to overcome and overall, the story was a story, not just something to fill the time between the sex scenes. Very odd. It's more like a book for teenagers mixed with gay porn. I wouldn't know where to shelve this one at a library.

Marianne, The Magus, & the Manticore by Sheri S. Tepper

Mortification Scale: 3 Tomato Faces

• 1 for SciFi/Fantasy
• 2nd for the cover
• 3rd for the extremely beat up copy that I got from the library

Mitigating Features:

• Really cool cover!!!
• Interesting dreamscape
• Fun to see Sheri Tepper's development as an author

Synopsis:

Marianne lives in a constant struggle for balance. She keeps a careful tally of order vs. disorder, and disorder is winning. Then, she meets a distant kinsman from a magical country who gifts her with one thousand points of order. With one battle being won, she feels safe to confront her older half-brother at a weekend party at her kinsman's estate. This is a mistake. Her brother and his shamanic aunt succeed in sending Marianne into a false reality and from there into one of her internal worlds.

The whole thing is full of crazy imagery: paper cutouts, embassy visas, monsters, books, tea, clothing, etc. etc. As a story, it's extremely jumbled. However, as a trip into the fantastic, it's quite original and refreshing. I don't think that this book is terribly representative of Ms. Tepper's work, but it does show some of her deepest concerns: that of the plight of women in society, and of male-female interaction. I especially liked the part when the hero's sister chides him for spending too much time trying to impress Marianne rather than listening to her and learning who she is. We can all take a lesson from that. Rather than using a conversation as an opportunity to display knowledge, use it to gain knowledge of your conversational partner. Lecture done. :)

Confidence Game by Michelle Welch

Mortification Scale: 3 Tomato Faces

• 1 for SciFi/Fantasy
• 2nd for having a semi-nude woman on the cover
• 3rd for having finished this book

Mitigating Features:

• None
  

Synopsis:

This is an extremely boring book. The back cover tells of disillusioned spies and games of treachery and illusion. The reality is a plodding, dusty pair of BORING people who I actually would like to see die, just for some excitement. Unfortunately, I am constitutionally unable to not finish a book after I've reached a certain point in the story. I waited too long for the book to get exciting, before realizing that it never would and that the two main characters really were the two main characters. Yes, I meant that the way that it sounded. I really couldn't tell that the main characters weren't just bit players until halfway through the book. It seemed unbelievable that this book and its characters really would be this boring. Do NOT get this book. Don't even get it from the library. I'm considering writing the author to demand a refund of the three hours of my life that she just stole from me. Don't be mislead by the cover, that was my mistake. You'd almost think that it's an axiom...not to judge a book by its cover. :) The art imitates Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, and the storyline sounds slightly similar. However, if this book was intended as a faint homage, it fell short. Sorry. I hate to be so disparaging of a book, but this was really bad.

Wrath of a Mad God by Raymond E. Feist

Mortification Scale: 3 Tomato Faces

• 1 for SciFi/Fantasy
• 2 for embarrassing title
• 3rd for being later Feist

Mitigating Features:

• An imaginative new "explanation for it all" - there's a new one every book or so
• Introduction of the Quor - I sense a future series
• Actually, a fairly gripping plotline. Good pacing, interesting development. Not bad
• Kills off a main character, always fun

Synopsis:

Pug & Pals are still in the Dasati realm and are finding out more about their society and history. I don't want to spoil the surprise (which is heavily hinted at), but the Dark God of the Dasati is not what he appears to be. Meanwhile, Miranda is busily trying to run the Conclave of Shadows in Pug's absence while helping to plan the evacuation of all of Kelewan. She drops a few balls and Kelewan is invaded by the Dasati before an evacuation has begun. Whoops! My mistakes rarely result in the death of at least 10 million people.

There are some nice story threads of some beloved older characters as well as a few who are clearly in development for future books. We have the engaging youngish man James Dasher, the great-great-grandson of Jimmy the Hand and Gamina (Pug's adopted daughter). Nice to see the continuity. Not to mention, Feist has an excuse for using the same character notes, after all Jimmy and James are related. James is just the latest incarnation of the streetwise man darting hither and yon on behalf of the crown.

There's also some interesting developments in the theological underpinning of the whole Fantasy Universe. It actually annoys me that every couple of books, Feist rewrites his explanation as to the history of the universe and how things came to be so screwed up. Also, there were a couple of bloopers in this one that showed a failure in editing. For example, speaking of Eric von Darkmoor, this book states that he never married and lived a lonely life in service to the crown. Does no one remember Kitty? Hello?

That's it. These three books were back to Feist's usual formula and away from the (in my opinion) failure of the Talon of the SilverHawk style. Ugh. It's a relief to get the Feist I expect, but I would mind another collaboration with Janny Wurts to get something about New Kelewan. Wouldn't that be fun? I would cautiously recommend this book to a long-time Feist fan.

Into a Dark Realm by Raymond E. Feist

Mortification Scale: 3 Tomato Faces

• 1 for SciFi/Fantasy
• 2nd for embarrassing cover
• 3rd for being one of Feist's recent, not as good work

Mitigating Features:

• For anyone who loved his earlier work, you just have to keep reading. It's like a soap opera. More Pug!
• Love the reintroduction of Macros the Black

Synopsis:

Something is wrong in Midkemia. I know, this is shocking news for those of us long used to a series of greater and greater crises in Midkemia. Remember back when the Tsurani were going to end life as we knew it? Then, the moredhel, followed by the Pantathians and the Saur. Then there was the Nameless One. Now, we've got beings from another realm of reality. Not just otherworldly beings, but beings from the first hell, the Dasati, are the current threat facing Pug & Pals on Midkemia and Kelewan.

To find out more about the new threat, Pug, Nakor, Magnus & Ralan Bek all travel to the Dasati realm in search of answers. This realm is a collection of 12 worlds ruled by a culture so obsessed with death that they hunt down and kill their own children. They are violent and crazed and find nothing funnier than someone else's pain and death. Interesting. It's a nice twist, as far as I know, this is an original fantasy culture. This book ends with the 4 humans meeting a reincarnated Macros the Black. Hmm. During this time, there has also been 3 other main plotlines running through the book, including Miranda on Kelewan searching for a mad magician; the 3 boys off at school in Roldem; and the story of a Dasati warrior just emerged from the Hiding -all children must hide until puberty, otherwise any male would kill them.

Overall, this is not anywhere close to as good as his original 5 or so books, plus the 3 Kelewan books (Daughter, Servant, & Mistress of the Empire). However, it's better than nothing, and does drag out my immersion in the storyline. I'd recommend it to fans, but would hesitate to recommend it to anyone new to Feist. I think that they'd be lost.