McKillip, Patricia A. - Song for the Basilisk

In the first chapter of the book, we're introduced to Rook Caladrius, the sole survivor of a horrific fire that has obliterated Tormalyne Palace and, thus, Tormalyne House. He is subsequently spirited away to become a bard on far away Luly, his only clue of his heritage being half-remembered nightmares of fire. In the end, he decides to make a trip to the hinterlands in order to unearth his own past.

However, he returns to the island without a clue, settles down with the woman he loves, has a son. He stays on the island for another decade or so, deciding that what's buried is best buried.

From this, I pinpointed part of why I love McKillip -- she doesn't write stories of young, adolescent male heroes with an unknown heritage going out to find said heritage and conquer countries or Undefeatable Evil. Her people have families and pasts, they are connected to the world they live in, rather than trampling heroically through and rescuing it without ever forming ties. I had thought from the opening chapter that the book would be on Rook Caladrius discovering his destiny and avenging his family, and while it is, it is also about his son, about his music, and in the end, about the futility of vengeance. I think this book is the anti-quest-fantasy; it has all the trappings, but McKillip very delicately sidesteps all the normal pitstops, which I why I love the ending as much as I do.

The struggle of Tormalyne House reminds me a little of Tigana, actually, except the part played by Alessan and his band of musician rebels is taken by a group of very inexperienced and idealistic musicians with no experience in war or rebellion. They're untried, like the students in Les Miserables. Meanwhile, the lost heir meanders about and is never really invested in restoring the broken house to its former glory. Then, of course, there is the music, which I loved (particularly Damiet's colored songs), and the lives of the musicians intersecting with the larger than life drama playing out in center stage.

( Spoilers for the ending )

Links:
- sophia_helix's review

Joan of Arcadia 2x05 The Election (and sundry RL things)

( Spoilers for JoA )

Alas, I overslept both days this weekend and missed the book/prints/whatnot fair in Oakland. Sigh. I also don't want to go to work tomorrow. Does anyone ever want to go to work on Monday? It's sort of stupid, considering that I just got a new job, but now I'm trying to think of a job that will make me want to go to work on Monday. Probably it's the Job Holy Grail or something.

We went to Andronico's today for lunch, and they had samples of twenty different kinds of cheese, I swear. I read in a book once that places do this because people feel guilty about sampling a lot and end up buying the things. I must have somehow missed this memo, because my first reaction is "Free food! Must take!" and go on shopping without a backward glance. Unless, of course, the sample is so yummy that I go back for another one, in which case I figure it may be worth buying the actual thing. I really love cheese, despite issues with lactose. However, Alton Brown said that the harder, older cheeses have less lactose, yay.

I think I need to set up a book buying budget. I have tons of books that I've bought that are lying about unread in the house... I'm not quite as worried about the fiction, given the rate I go through fiction. Plus, now that I can't borrow books from the bookstore, there will be more chances to read books I own. It's the non-fiction pile that I'm a little worried about, given my last two very large EAS buys. Also, it takes me forever to get through academic non-fiction, mostly because I keep getting distracted by fiction.

I haven't read very much romance of late. It's interesting... I was on a huge romance streak the first half of this year, but it seems to have died down a bit. I blame this entire on Dunnett. It's sort of hard to go back to your average romance after having been immersed in the romance and the history and the overall drama of the Lymond Chronicles. It's not that the romances are bad, it's just that Dunnett had six books to do it in. So my regular genre diet of much fantasy and the occasional SF continues.

I saw the updated Bright Shiny Objects and smacked myself on the head after I realized I have never pimped minnow1212's Things Left Undone, a series of shorts taking place after "Not Fade Away." It's very, very good. And it makes me cry every single time I read it. It's bizarrely funny, morbid, and heart-breaking at the same time, and some parts have already become a part of my own personal canon. So go and read and praise it better and more articulately than I do.

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You know you've been in fandom too long when you watch Good Eats and start thinking of Alton Brown/W.

I'm going to go scrub my brain out now.