McKillip, Patricia A. - Alphabet of Thorn

[oyceter]

I am very much in love with this book, and the book within this book, and everyone in the book, except, strangely, Nepenthe and Bourne.

I am also too tired to do anything resembling an intelligent write-up, and I'm never very good at pinpointing why I like things in McKillip books anyhow, so this is mostly going to be unconnected sentences.

I think I didn't like Nepenthe that much because she had the aura of Destiny about her, or something, and also, I completely did not understand the relationship between Bourne and her. I did very much like Vevay and Tessera, though, especially Tessera, because she was unsuited for the job everyone wanted her to do but had her own hidden strengths (me? projecting? never). I also loved that one of the acts that had the largest impact on the plot was the act of translating ^_^. It's interesting reading this right after Atrix Wolfe and remembering the power of words and names in that book and the power of stories and also of names in this book.

Possibly spoilery: But the part that hooked me the most was the story of Axis and Kane. I'm not sure why that was, but something about the childhood devotion to each other and the mingling of fact and myth really appealed to me. Also, it just felt so grand and epic. I did have a little quibble though: the lack of change in prose style between the narration of the stories taking place in the Twelve Crowns and the story Nepenthe was reading felt a little strange, as I wasn't sure that Kane would write like McKillip.

Real spoilers:

My other quibble was with the end of the book. After reading so many chapters on Axis and Kane and after watching Kane do everything for Axis again and again, the ending felt much too abrupt. I never quite understood or felt Kane's sudden devotion to her child above even Axis, and so, in the end, when she makes her choice to stay and forever be parted from Axis, it didn't work for me. It was rather anticlimactic compared to the tales of Axis' other battles and I was just never sold on Kane suddenly wanting her own life after having been with Axis for so long.

Links:
- rilina's review

Comments

[yhlwriting.livejournal.com]

I very much had the same problem with the ending (http://www.livejournal.com/users/yhlee/60295.html). Nepenthe for me worked, and I agree that Sidonie was really, really neat.

[oyceter]

Sidonie?

Yeah, I loved the sheer grandeur and destructiveness of Axis and Kane as well, and she just never quite convinced me of Kane's choice.

I really like your look at the translating process, btw! I spent most of the book trying to picture what an alphabet of thorn would look like.

[quivo.livejournal.com]

Here's me again, commenting very late in the game! :P

But just here to second the Axis/Kane love. Their relationship was so strange, so beautifully destructive, so audacious...well, I'm probably talking more about the way Kane helped Axis conquer nations that did not yet exist, but hey. So maybe I loved Kane's brazen nature more. I can't remember why I bought the ending now, though - it seemed a little weird, condensing Kane into Nepenthe's life out of the blue. Perhaps I was too dazzled by the rest of the story to really balk at it - I do remember sighing happily when I realised what the title was referring to. I did like the weirdness of her suddenly choosing Nepenthe, though. I also remember how she walked through worlds before she finally gave Nepenthe up, and it all seemed to fit together for me.

Hey see, I can't really talk about her books either.

[oyceter]

I adore Axis and Kane! It seems to be why most people like the book so much, despite the horrible ending. Well, that and the language stuff.