Monette, Sarah - The Mirador

Hrm, I'm not quite sure how to write about this. I feel I won't be able to judge several things very well until the next book comes out; contrary to most of the reviews I've read on this, I didn't really feel it stood well by itself.

Mildmay and Felix are back narrating, this time accompanied by Mehitabel's POV, which I greatly enjoyed. I continue to be impressed with Monette's handling of voice. My favorite is still Mildmay's, but I very much like Mehitabel's as well, particularly how theater manages to work its way into almost everything. It's two indictions (2 years, roughly) after the events of The Virtu, but both Felix and Mildmay are suffering the aftereffects. While Felix does his court stuff and worries about Malkar's legacies, Mildmay attempts to resolve a mystery from his past, and Mehitabel gets caught up in intrigue.

I wasn't as emotionally caught up in this book as I was in the first two; part of that may be because I was very grumpy while reading it (didn't have to do with the book), but part of it is also because the characters don't feel like they're in danger. Sure, there's some emotional stress, but none of it compares with the stakes of the first two books. Er, I suppose Mehitabel has fairly high emotional stakes, but even though she referred to them frequently, I never felt the urgency.

Also, while Felix and Mildmay do get some emotional growth in the book (yay!! especially since the first two basically just tears them down), it's amidst a whole lot of personal misery. It's not as angstful as the first two, but watching Felix in particular fuck up all his relationships (I hope this is not a spoiler, given Felix) was still irritating. And it got to a point in which I was reading and thinking that things might just be hopeless for both Felix and Mildmay, that their defenses were too ingrained, that Felix's selfishness and self-centeredness and Mildmay's difficulty expressing himself would never be able to change. It was a realistic portrayal of traits and a nice change from the usual wave a magic wand and suddenly realize the Error of Your Ways! But still difficult to read.

I had a hard time pinning down the personalities of people outside of the POV characters, with the exception of Stephen and Shannon, both of whom I was surprised to like. I suspect some of this was because of their interactions with Mehitabel, who is much better at conveying how people are (to me, at least). Felix just sort of runs roughshod over others and provokes flamboyant responses, and Mildmay's background and history tends to make others overreact as well.

On the other hand, just when I was about to write off the entire book as set-up for the next book, the plot comes crashing together and lots of stuff happens. So, still looking forward to the next one, but glad that we may get to see Felix out of the Mirador. (I got a little bored reading about the various ways Felix provokes people.)

Links:
- rivkat's review
- gwyneira's review
- kate_nepveu's review

Pratchett, Terry - Guards! Guards!

Someone stop me! I am eating these up like candy. I don't know what it is, except I just don't feel up to reading anything angsty, emotionally significant, or serious right now, much less anything with a complicated plot.

Anyway, I've been a little wary about starting the Watch books, just because everyone likes them so much.

Carrot Ironfoundersson is told one day that he's not actually a dwarf (which handily explains his two-meter height); he's sent off to join the Ankh-Morpork City Guard with his birthright sword and the knowledge that he was found on a hillside. We all know where that leads....

Meanwhile, Captain Vimes of the Night Watch is trying to either get drunk or stay drunk, the Librarian has to find a missing book, and some suspicious hooded figures seem to be wandering around and siccing a dragon on Ankh-Morpork.

This was much better than I had expected, given the quality of the early Witches and Death books; the plot's coherent, all the parts fit together, the villain is actually creepy (the dragon? is scary! although it has a good point about people), and even though the characters are still more at the caricature stage, Vimes has a surprising amount of depth, considering that this is his first appearance.

Ok, I admit it, I suspect I will be a complete sucker for Vimes. It is his strange belief in people despite his drunk and cynical exterior! And the way he goes "Er" a lot at Lady Ramkin.

I like Carrot and Colon and Nobby, but they're more sketches than full-fleshed people right now; I adored Lady Ramkin, who is awesome awesome awesome; I laughed a lot at Errol the dragon and his strange digestive system; and in general had a good time. The points about humans vs. dragons and imagination and Vetinari vs. Vimes were a little anvilly, but whatever.

I think my favorite parts were Errol, Vetinari's prison, and the strangely charming interactions between Vimes and Lady Ramkin.

And... am already halfway through Men in Arms...