Sperring, Kari - Living with Ghosts
Wed, Jul. 1st, 2009 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterThe city of Merafi has traditionally been impervious to magic, but lately, the ghost of six-years-dead Valdarrien has been haunting his brother-in-law and best friend Thiercelin. Thiercelin seeks out failed priest-assassin-turned-courtesan Gracielis for help, and soon, they're enmeshed in intrigue and a plot to tear down the city.
This is a terrible summary of the book, which is less plot and more atmosphere and tangled character relationships. The city seems perpetually shrouded with fog and ghosts that people cannot see. Character-wise, Thiercelin is married to Yvelliane, workaholic advisor to the dying queen and sister of the dead Valdarrien; Gracielis is the unwilling tool of Tarnaroqi sorceress Quenfrida; dead Valdarrien is still seeking out his lost love, the Lunedithin Iareth Yscoithi who is currently in Merafi serving the Lunedithin prince Kenan; Iareth is protected by Merafien soldier Joyain.
I loved the prose and the characters and the overall atmosphere of the book. I loved the men who are driven by love and the women who are driven by duty; I loved the tangled politics and intrigue; I loved the feeling of the age of Merafi, of cobblestones and mist off the river and flickering lights; I loved Gracielis and his foppish veneer over his vulnerable core; I loved the ghosts and the weight of the dead and the way history, personal and institutional, oppresses and limits and constrains.
I loathed the ending so much that I chucked the book across the room.
Book-destroying spoilers
I was all right with the book's focus on four men: Gracielis the courtesan, Thiercelin the husband of a politician, Valdarrien the ghost, and Joyain the footsoldier. There were a lot of women in the book, all with varying roles—stateswoman, society's darling as informer, older tradeswoman, sorceress, guard and warrior. I especially liked how Gracielis and Thiercelin are entangled in the action specifically because they lack power; Thiercelin loves his wife but isn't sure she returns the favor, and Gracielis is under the thumb of the sorceress Quenfrida. I was also okay with Quenfrida, whom by the way I love and want fic about, because even though she's the villain, she's incredibly compelling and I'm a big fan of amoral sorceresses.
And then Gracielis realizes he is in love with Thiercelin.
I felt guilty about narrowing my eyes at this; I'm very much for GLBT romances. But it reminded me a lot of slash between sexy guys that ignores the women, so I was hesitant.
And then. AND THEN. First, Sperring kills off Iareth for what I can see as no reason whatsoever, save to give the now-resurrected Valdarrien angst. Iareth, whom, by the way, I liked much better than Valdarrien and felt much more connected to, as we see much more of her POV than Valdarrien's! But then I realized that ghost-Valdarrien was basically given more weight as a character, despite having less page time than Yvelliane and Iareth, of course. And then they realize that the only way for the city to be saved is for Yvelliane to sacrifice herself, which she does. This handily provides more angst for Thiercelin, along with an offer at the end of the book to take her place as a politician. And then Gracielis frees himself from Quenfrida's influence, which I was completely expecting although not looking forward to, with a note that she's finally not sexy to him: he can see the wrinkles in her face and the gilt in her hair. Yes, it's offset by the fact that he has another older lover, but dude. Given that older lover has much less page time, did we really have to get the evil older sorceress with the sexually enthralled younger man thing?
Basically, almost all the awesome women in the book are removed and killed off, with the exception of Miraude and Amalie, both of whom have much less power and much less page time. And I can't shake off the sense that even though Gracielis and Thiercelin do not end up together, it's basically done to free the male characters from their bonds to the women, and I HATE IT. HATE. HATE. Not only that, but when they're killed off, we basically only see the effects the deaths have on the men, even though the women did have tangled relationships with each other. But no!
I mean seriously. Couldn't Sperring just have had the bittersweet ending with Thiercelin and Gracielis without killing off all the women with power?
In conclusion: gorgeous prose and atmosphere, characters I adored, and I cannot recommend it because I am still so mad at it.
This is a terrible summary of the book, which is less plot and more atmosphere and tangled character relationships. The city seems perpetually shrouded with fog and ghosts that people cannot see. Character-wise, Thiercelin is married to Yvelliane, workaholic advisor to the dying queen and sister of the dead Valdarrien; Gracielis is the unwilling tool of Tarnaroqi sorceress Quenfrida; dead Valdarrien is still seeking out his lost love, the Lunedithin Iareth Yscoithi who is currently in Merafi serving the Lunedithin prince Kenan; Iareth is protected by Merafien soldier Joyain.
I loved the prose and the characters and the overall atmosphere of the book. I loved the men who are driven by love and the women who are driven by duty; I loved the tangled politics and intrigue; I loved the feeling of the age of Merafi, of cobblestones and mist off the river and flickering lights; I loved Gracielis and his foppish veneer over his vulnerable core; I loved the ghosts and the weight of the dead and the way history, personal and institutional, oppresses and limits and constrains.
I loathed the ending so much that I chucked the book across the room.
Book-destroying spoilers
I was all right with the book's focus on four men: Gracielis the courtesan, Thiercelin the husband of a politician, Valdarrien the ghost, and Joyain the footsoldier. There were a lot of women in the book, all with varying roles—stateswoman, society's darling as informer, older tradeswoman, sorceress, guard and warrior. I especially liked how Gracielis and Thiercelin are entangled in the action specifically because they lack power; Thiercelin loves his wife but isn't sure she returns the favor, and Gracielis is under the thumb of the sorceress Quenfrida. I was also okay with Quenfrida, whom by the way I love and want fic about, because even though she's the villain, she's incredibly compelling and I'm a big fan of amoral sorceresses.
And then Gracielis realizes he is in love with Thiercelin.
I felt guilty about narrowing my eyes at this; I'm very much for GLBT romances. But it reminded me a lot of slash between sexy guys that ignores the women, so I was hesitant.
And then. AND THEN. First, Sperring kills off Iareth for what I can see as no reason whatsoever, save to give the now-resurrected Valdarrien angst. Iareth, whom, by the way, I liked much better than Valdarrien and felt much more connected to, as we see much more of her POV than Valdarrien's! But then I realized that ghost-Valdarrien was basically given more weight as a character, despite having less page time than Yvelliane and Iareth, of course. And then they realize that the only way for the city to be saved is for Yvelliane to sacrifice herself, which she does. This handily provides more angst for Thiercelin, along with an offer at the end of the book to take her place as a politician. And then Gracielis frees himself from Quenfrida's influence, which I was completely expecting although not looking forward to, with a note that she's finally not sexy to him: he can see the wrinkles in her face and the gilt in her hair. Yes, it's offset by the fact that he has another older lover, but dude. Given that older lover has much less page time, did we really have to get the evil older sorceress with the sexually enthralled younger man thing?
Basically, almost all the awesome women in the book are removed and killed off, with the exception of Miraude and Amalie, both of whom have much less power and much less page time. And I can't shake off the sense that even though Gracielis and Thiercelin do not end up together, it's basically done to free the male characters from their bonds to the women, and I HATE IT. HATE. HATE. Not only that, but when they're killed off, we basically only see the effects the deaths have on the men, even though the women did have tangled relationships with each other. But no!
I mean seriously. Couldn't Sperring just have had the bittersweet ending with Thiercelin and Gracielis without killing off all the women with power?
In conclusion: gorgeous prose and atmosphere, characters I adored, and I cannot recommend it because I am still so mad at it.
(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 1st, 2009 11:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 1st, 2009 11:49 pm (UTC)And then.... yeah. And I feel bad about having that mental kick against the slashiness, because yay to non-evil GLBT characters! But BOOOOOOOO killing off all the women. I would have been SO MUCH happier had all the genders been swapped. Or if there were more femslash. Or something.
(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 1st, 2009 11:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 1st, 2009 11:49 pm (UTC)I was so happy while reading it and it hit so many buttons, and then... NO.
(no subject)
Wed, Jul. 1st, 2009 11:52 pm (UTC)Also, I am sort of frustrated that Kenan and Quenfrida are so two-dimensional, given the sophistication of the rest of the characterization.
So, I like the atmosphere and characterization and setup, and will check out her next book, but man I hope the next one's about the women.
(no subject)
Mon, Jul. 6th, 2009 10:14 pm (UTC)Haha, I will make you report back to me on her next book to see if it is worth reading or wall-throwing.
(no subject)
Thu, Jul. 2nd, 2009 04:03 am (UTC)I am fine with a 2D Kenan, but the women dying and Valdarrien's swagger did tick me off.
(no subject)
Mon, Jul. 6th, 2009 10:15 pm (UTC)Sigh, so agreed about trying to pretend the ending doesn't exist...
(no subject)
Thu, Jul. 2nd, 2009 11:33 am (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Jul. 6th, 2009 10:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Thu, Jul. 2nd, 2009 09:41 pm (UTC)However, I was specifically put off by the number of people who got slaughtered to provide offscreen angst. I had, pardon the cliche, Sam Vimes in the back of my head: "Oh, so nobody *important* is dying of the plague? I see."
(no subject)
Mon, Jul. 6th, 2009 10:16 pm (UTC)