Sagara, Michelle - Cast in Shadow and Cast in Courtlight
Sat, Oct. 10th, 2009 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterCast in Shadow
Kaylin Neya is a private in the Hawks, something like the city of Elantra's police. (I'm still confused as to the difference between the Hawks, the Wolves, and the third group whose name I forgot.) A series of murders is taking place, and each victim is found with mysterious marks on their bodies. They're remarkably similar to the series of murder that took place when Kaylin was still an urchin in the lawless fiefs, and the markings are similar to the ones on her own body, which are a complete mystery to her.
I was reading this very slowly, so I didn't find it as intense until I finished 2/3s of it in the course of a day. I'm still not that fond of Kaylin as a character. She's perpetually late, cannot keep her temper, swears like a sailor, and has no filter between her mouth and her brain. Normally this wouldn't be a turn off, except in the beginning of the book, all the characters joke about it, and it feels like the traits are just there to make her likable, a la the clumsy YA/shoujo/kdrama heroine. I, being contrary, immediately disliked her.
However, things get much more interesting as the plot gets darker, and I began to love Kaylin when she realized being a Hawk was the center of her life.
I also admire how Sagara handled Severn; I was prepared to have the dark secret be something that I initially rolled my eyes at, since he is clearly set up to be Not Evil. What I like is how Sagara leaves things unresolved.
Overall, neat world although I still am confused about the worldbuilding. I blame that on my own brain and not the writing; I haven't been able to keep track of complicated stuff for a while, which is why I haven't read epic fantasy for a really long time.
Cast in Courtlight
Kaylin's now sent to the Barrani court, which is very political and full of intrigue and completely antithetical to her entire personality.
I didn't find this as interesting as the first book, largely because the plot is not as closely tied to Kaylin's past. And while I like books about courts and secrets and intrigues and plotting up the wazoo, it's nowhere near as fun when you have a heroine who kind of sucks at all those things.
Spoilers
I'm kind of iffy on the entire Severn thing. I like him, but it annoys me that he seems to be better than Kaylin in almost everything (higher rank, better at intrigue, etc.), and as such, the framing of his choice as the ostensibly right choice irks me. I do think Sagara will muddy the waters about his killing Jade and Steffie again, but the entire "Remember! He saved the world!" thing reads as too easy for me, as does Kaylin feeling tons of sympathy for his having to bury the girls himself.
Don't get me wrong, I totally sniffled at that moment. But on hindsight it bugs me a bit.
The other thing that has been bothering me about the two books so far is how isolated Kaylin is as a female character. What I mean is that she is the sole significant female character; all the other big movers in her life are male (Marcus, Severn, Lord Nightshade, the Hawklord). I was hoping that we'd get more of Teela in this book, but instead, the focus is largely on the two Barrani lords.
We do have women and girls who are important to Kaylin—Jade, Steffi, Teela, the midwife, the foundling house Leontine whose name I just forgot, Catti—but they are almost always reasons for the plot as opposed to being movers in the plot. Kaylin and Severn have angsty backstories thanks to Jade and Steffi, Catti is basically a giant plot point in the first book, and the others we only see little bits of. I'm really hoping this changes with the latter books.
So, hrm. Entertaining reading, and occasionally really good (I very much like the last half of book 1), but they aren't on my best of lists.
Kaylin Neya is a private in the Hawks, something like the city of Elantra's police. (I'm still confused as to the difference between the Hawks, the Wolves, and the third group whose name I forgot.) A series of murders is taking place, and each victim is found with mysterious marks on their bodies. They're remarkably similar to the series of murder that took place when Kaylin was still an urchin in the lawless fiefs, and the markings are similar to the ones on her own body, which are a complete mystery to her.
I was reading this very slowly, so I didn't find it as intense until I finished 2/3s of it in the course of a day. I'm still not that fond of Kaylin as a character. She's perpetually late, cannot keep her temper, swears like a sailor, and has no filter between her mouth and her brain. Normally this wouldn't be a turn off, except in the beginning of the book, all the characters joke about it, and it feels like the traits are just there to make her likable, a la the clumsy YA/shoujo/kdrama heroine. I, being contrary, immediately disliked her.
However, things get much more interesting as the plot gets darker, and I began to love Kaylin when she realized being a Hawk was the center of her life.
I also admire how Sagara handled Severn; I was prepared to have the dark secret be something that I initially rolled my eyes at, since he is clearly set up to be Not Evil. What I like is how Sagara leaves things unresolved.
Overall, neat world although I still am confused about the worldbuilding. I blame that on my own brain and not the writing; I haven't been able to keep track of complicated stuff for a while, which is why I haven't read epic fantasy for a really long time.
Cast in Courtlight
Kaylin's now sent to the Barrani court, which is very political and full of intrigue and completely antithetical to her entire personality.
I didn't find this as interesting as the first book, largely because the plot is not as closely tied to Kaylin's past. And while I like books about courts and secrets and intrigues and plotting up the wazoo, it's nowhere near as fun when you have a heroine who kind of sucks at all those things.
Spoilers
I'm kind of iffy on the entire Severn thing. I like him, but it annoys me that he seems to be better than Kaylin in almost everything (higher rank, better at intrigue, etc.), and as such, the framing of his choice as the ostensibly right choice irks me. I do think Sagara will muddy the waters about his killing Jade and Steffie again, but the entire "Remember! He saved the world!" thing reads as too easy for me, as does Kaylin feeling tons of sympathy for his having to bury the girls himself.
Don't get me wrong, I totally sniffled at that moment. But on hindsight it bugs me a bit.
The other thing that has been bothering me about the two books so far is how isolated Kaylin is as a female character. What I mean is that she is the sole significant female character; all the other big movers in her life are male (Marcus, Severn, Lord Nightshade, the Hawklord). I was hoping that we'd get more of Teela in this book, but instead, the focus is largely on the two Barrani lords.
We do have women and girls who are important to Kaylin—Jade, Steffi, Teela, the midwife, the foundling house Leontine whose name I just forgot, Catti—but they are almost always reasons for the plot as opposed to being movers in the plot. Kaylin and Severn have angsty backstories thanks to Jade and Steffi, Catti is basically a giant plot point in the first book, and the others we only see little bits of. I'm really hoping this changes with the latter books.
So, hrm. Entertaining reading, and occasionally really good (I very much like the last half of book 1), but they aren't on my best of lists.