Exile's Honor, by Mercedes Lackey

Alberich is a Captain of the Sunsguard of Karse. A precarious position to hold at best, and Alberich is not so lucky. Accused of having ‘witch powers’ Alberich is sentenced to death by fire. At the last moment he is rescued by his mount, who is not just a horse, but one of the Companions of Valdemar, named Kantor. Alberich is then brought to the land of Valdemar, the very people he has been taught his whole life to fear and hate. There he is given a chance to become one of the Heralds of Valdemar, a semi-military order that protects and serves the inhabitants. Faced with a choice he cannot refuse, and a people he longs to trust, Alberich must decide what to do without violating his honor or hurting the people of Karse whom he swore to protect.

Alberich is thrown into a situation that few could face: he is reft of his homeland, forced to learn a language that goes against all his logic, and told that his direst enemies are no worse than the average man. Thrown off all known ground Alberich must reconcile what he knows to be truth, with the new truths he is discovering.

I find Alberich to be a very likable character. He character is deep enough to carry the story well: which is good because the story is mainly about his journey rediscovering what it means to be himself. He is gruff, and yet cares too much: which makes him act all the tougher to not be hurt. Alberich is also a religious man, devoted to his country’s god, Vkandis Sunlord. This many faceted character is a delight to get to know, and understand.

What is greatly interesting to me, is that the Karsite religion seems to be heavily based on Christianity. What is even more interesting, is the portrayal of the religion as a whole. The Sunpriests are almost entirely corrupt and venal: corrupting true doctrine and obsessed with keeping power through means of terrorizing the common folk. This seems to be the common ‘negative’ portrayal of Christianity that pervades many books. But Lackey does not stop there—she actually gives the whole picture. The priests are corrupt, but the religion is shown in a very positive light. Alberich himself is sincerely committed to his god, and the way his religion should be. In a modern world where Christianity is most often portrayed as the root of all evils, it is nice to see a bit of variety.

Exile’s Honor is (as I would categorize it) a ‘lighter’ read. Mercedes Lackey’s writing style is not as ‘heavy’ as say, Robert Jordan or Tolkien. But I would qualify it as thoroughly enjoyable, as are many of her other works. Easy enough of a read for younger audiences, and appropriate enough material for them as well.

I actually had a hard time first getting into Exile’s Honor. I don’t know what it was, but it took at least two or three tries. It didn’t quite capture me at the beginning as I usually like to be, but the story improves as it goes. I just got more and more intrigued by the characters and their world. I had never read any other of Lackey’s Valdemaran books, but I can definitely say you don’t need to have to enjoy Exile’s Honor. It explains what you need to know, and I think it is a good starting point if you want to get into Valdemar.

If I could ask Mercedes Lackey one question about Exile’s Honor, it would be: Did you know anyone like Alberich, or did he write himself?


Editor’s Eye: The one annoying thing about this book, is that sometimes Lackey makes a false idea for someone to believe, just so she can introduce a right one. And then, of course, the character has an entire switch of mind, because this idea is the right one. Not that I’m arguing, but that just doesn’t always feel right to me.


Reader’s View: I like Alberich. I like his sense of humor. And that he acts like he doesn’t have one. I wish I could see him fight: I imagine a really gritty overwhelming form of fighting, like an avalanche. Just so fast and so strong and so clever, yet not so much of an art form as some books make it. I would almost imagine him bludgeoning someone, but that isn’t quite right. Not a pretty style, but a highly effective one: not that much finesse, but practical. Very much like Alberich himself. And I think Karsite is based on German.

Rose Daughter, by Robin McKinley

Rose Daughter is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast (does it seem like I’m repeating myself here?). But unlike her previous book Beauty, which would on the surface appear to be the same story, Rose Daughter is a very different tale.

The story starts much the same, and develops much the same, but it is not the same. In Beauty there is an air of hope that pervades the book. The family makes an easy transition to the country, and they have to struggle for very little. They still have friends who help them, and never do they lack in good cheer. But in Rose Daughter despair is a very familiar feeling. It is a darker book, and a sadder one. The feeling is one of change, and not always for the better. Things get much worse before appearing to get better, and even then catastrophe strikes when the Beast appears and demands that Beauty come to him.

But for all of it’s melancholy, it resounds more deeply within me. I feel the anguish as their known life evaporates, and I take more pride as they adapt to their new one. The greater the downs, the more joyful the ups. For it seems that those who have experienced more sorrow, better appreciate the joy that comes after.

The book has its halting moments: there are several times where I had to reread a passage to make sure of its meaning, and in some places the plot happens so quickly it almost does not seem to happen, because it is over and done with. These parts are always distracting to a reader, because they throw you out of the story, and you must try to fit yourself back in.

But Robin McKinley’s undeniable charm in writing makes it worthwhile to continue reading, and I am always a sucker for the happy ending.

My one question for McKinley about the book is this: How did Beauty at the end make the sorcerous army disappear, and why did the old greenwitch refer to her as having magic?


Editor’s Eye: (spoilers contained)

I mentioned before about halting points in the novel, and in several places this is true. At one point Jeweltongue is talking to Lionheart about the terrible dinner she went to in Longchance, and how she attracted the attention of the Squire’s eldest son. It is inferred that Jeweltongue says many clever things, but we never find out just what she said, and we never find out what she said to reject his advances.

Another halting moment is at the end of the book when the Beast brings Beauty back to Rose Cottage. There is a long moment where we do not know that the Beast is still in his ‘beastly’ form. For a while it is never clearly stated that he keeps his shape, and I had to reread that passage a few times to clearly understand what happened. I wish that would have been made clearer, because then I wouldn’t have minded that he stayed the Beast.


Reader’s Review: (spoilers contained)

I just have a bunch of questions about this book. Where did the mother come from, and why was she searching for something, and what made her leave Rose Cottage? Why was the old Greenwitch there to comfort Beauty when she cried the first night of the dream? Where did the dream come from, and why was it important that she have it? It seemed like a machination of Strix, but how would his curse know to send it to Beauty? And why was it important that she walk down the dark hallway at the end? I love the story, but there are so many questions that are unsolved.

Feel free to comment below.

Beauty, by Robin McKinley

Most of the plot of this story can be summed up by saying: this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Already you know how it ends. There is no need for me to conceal or explain what happens in this story, because you’ve all heard, read, or watched it before. I will say this for Robin McKinley, though. She makes an interesting beginning that is not typical to the rest of the well-known story.

Beauty lives in the city with her two older sisters, Hope and Grace, and their father. Her father is a wealthy merchant-trader who is suddenly overwhelmed by a streak of bad luck and must close his business and try to pay off what debts he can. The family moves to a small country village in an attempt to start their life over in a simpler fashion. Here is where the story starts to regain it’s traditional footing. Their father gets lost in a winter storm, and ends up at an enchanted castle. He is looked after by invisible servants for a night and on the next day he prepares to leave. But he makes a fatal mistake when he picks a rose to bring back to his daughter Beauty, and then the Beast appears. As the reader, you know what is going to happen. Falderol, fiddledeedee, eventually there is a happy ending. How could it not end that way?

But summarizing the plot like this takes away the charm and sweetness that Robin McKinley imbues the story with. ‘Beauty’ is actually the nickname for the youngest girl. Her real name is Honour, but when she was a child she had difficulty understanding the concept of honour so she said in disgust, ‘I’d rather be Beauty.’ This nickname sticks, but when she grows up she is on the nearer side to plain, than to beautiful. But by now everyone knows her as Beauty and she is too proud to mention how the nickname pinches.

McKinley’s story-telling is not perfect, however. When Beauty gets to the castle she is waited upon by two invisible maids whom she can sometimes hear. They are an interesting addition to the plot and they provide some necessary exposition, but I feel they are a weaker side to McKinley’s better writing skills. They play up the ‘terrible curse,’ and ‘impossible cure,’ and by the end when Beauty discovers all she had to do was fall in love to break the spell, all their dire warnings seem anticlimactic and somewhat silly. Unfortunately, they don’t do much for the story itself.

I must admit I love retellings of fairy tales. It’s like hearing the story again as if for the first time. Some characters never really change, like the Beast, but you love them for what they are. If the Beast was anything but a mixture of terrifying, gruff, and yet tender, we would not believe he was the Beast.

Robin McKinley rewrites Beauty and the Beast in a truly masterful way. She keeps all the characters and the storylines that made us love the story in the first place, but she renews our sense of wonder in this wholly different and fascinating world.

The one question I would ask Robin McKinley about Beauty, is how did everyone know to come to the castle at the end.

Editor’s Eye

My respect for Robin McKinley is truly growing in leaps and bounds. In Deerskin she amazed me with a controversial writing technique, and in Beauty I now discover that half the story is one intricate wordplay! (a slight exaggeration, but somewhat true)

I mentioned earlier that ‘Beauty’s’ given name is ‘Honour.’ When I started rereading this book I felt a hunch that whenever the word honour was mentioned there was something more attached to it than just word choice. I believe I made a correct assumption, as I hope to show you.

When Beauty’s father is confronted by the Beast for the first time, he says that he has suffered much misfortune already. The Beast replies, ‘Your misfortunes seem to have robbed you of your sense of honour…’ It is my belief that most of the time when the word honour is used, it really refers to Beauty. Yes, the father has suffered much misfortune, and this latest one is about to rob him of his ‘Honour.’ His daughter.

Another time honour is mentioned, it is again by the Beast. He is talking to Beauty and he says, ‘No, you need say nothing. I am a Beast, and a Beast has no honour.’ That is correct, the Beast does not have ‘Honour’ yet. Beauty has not yet fallen in love with him.

A third time that I believe honour is mentioned significantly, is by Beauty herself. She is speaking to the Beast and says, ‘It is very ungrateful of me—and dishonourable.’ Dis-Honourable, not very honourable, unlike her normal character. Which is Honour.

Now I’m not saying that every time honour is mentioned is perfectly significant, but a good portion of the time the word honour has more significance than would be assumed. I believe this was a terribly clever thing to do, and I think Robin McKinley is clever enough to have put it in there on purpose.


Reader’s View: (spoilers are in this section)

A couple things bugged me because they were never followed up on: the first Rose petal that falls and turns gold. Why does it do this? We never find out: there is never a reason given. Why does Beauty suddenly grow and turn pretty? And why does her father feel revitalized after spending one night there? I think the reason we are supposed to assume for this is magic, but it isn’t well explained. And what are the dimensions of the evil curse on the Beast’s family? It had to wait for a ne’er do well, buy why?

Feel free to comment.

Deerskin, by Robin McKinley

Deerskin is the heartbreaking story of the princess Lissla Lissar who grows up under the shadow of her two great parents. Her parents are so in love with each other and her mother is so beautiful that most of the realm forgets that there even is a princess. When her mother dies of a disease for which there is no cure, her father is maddened with grief and never fully recovers. Growing up, Lissar’s only true friend is a fleet hound named Ash. On her 17th birthday a ball is given in her honor and it is there that everyone notices that she is the exact image of her mother. I don’t really want to say anything more about the plot because from this point on tragedy strikes and you’ll just have to read it for yourself.

Deerskin is not an easy book to read. In fact, Robin McKinley spends most of her time trying to make you uncomfortable. And it works. Most of McKinley’s books are pleasant fantasies that are exciting and interesting to read. Her Damarian books are great adventure novels, her two retellings of Beauty and the Beast are beautiful but somewhat sad at the same time, and her other novels are much the same. So when I first picked up Deerskin, I was unprepared for what I read.

This novel is about terrible tragic things and how humans cope. Most of Robin McKinley’s novels are aimed at young adults, but Deerskin demands a more mature audience. I’m not going to name an age, but this book is not for the extremely innocent or the immature. The innocent it will horrify and the immature…you can guess.

I like this book. For all that it is an uneasy read, it is a good book. It does not stay tragic, and there are happy parts. Lissar is a great interesting character, and no one who reads this book can not love Ash.

As an interesting note to those who have read Robin McKinley’s Damarian novels, Deerskin is set in the same ‘universe’ as them. It is in a terribly far away future from their point of view, but I believe they are connected. There is a comment about Aerin and Maur for the closely-reading to discover.

There are many questions I could ask Robin McKinley about this book. But out of all the questions I could ask, if I could ask one it would be to ask how Damar turned into this very different land.


Editor’s Eye:

Many times Robin McKinley makes vague comments about how things are ‘not right.’ The annoying part about these comments is that she never answers them. The characters are feeling things that the reader cannot participate in because those feelings are never described. The reader is left with trying to figure out the blank parts without any idea of what should go in them. This is a very unsatisfying way to read, and almost makes Deerskin a terrible novel. Almost. But I believe I have discovered a rationale for these unsatisfying comments. The question is, why do authors have characters make certain comments? So the reader will know how to feel. The comments McKinley leaves unfulfilled do actually tell the reader something important. They do not let the reader mentally know what is going on, but the accumulative affect of all these unfinished statements is that of feeling uneasy, curious, unhappy, and on edge. Which I believe is the overall feeling the reader is supposed to get out of the book itself based on the content. So by not finishing certain comments, McKinley is actually enhancing her story, instead of detracting from it. Of course I could be making up straw houses, but this explanation is curiously satisfying: if I believe that McKinley is a clever enough writer to do something this intelligent. Otherwise she is just a bad writer and this is a bad book.


My View: (small reminder, spoilers contained in this section)

The first time I read this book, I was almost appalled. I was so not prepared for what happened, and it came as a major shock. I mean, she gets raped by her own father! She gets pregnant! Its hard enough to hear about things like this in real life let alone read about them in what is supposed to be my relaxation time.

I definitely love the deerskin dress. It’s a magical dress that doesn’t get dirty, what’s not to like?

Anyone have a clue why the painting of Lissar’s mother is so magical/creepy? It has something to do with the apple of sorrow that her father destroyed, but I can’t quite understand how that fits in with the painting. This is my one unsatisfactory thing about the book. What’s with the painting? Feel free to add comments.

Under Construction

It seems almost silly to write out a list of goals, but then again, why should it be? If you're reading this first post, you should be (or at least I hope you are) wondering what on earth this blog is about. Reasonable question.

Reasonable answer: My plan (or hope, maybe a fool's hope at that) is to review nearly every book I read and post it here. Oops. I think I just lost some people when I mentioned reviewing books. But as the name of this blog suggests, I will be reviewing mostly fantasy. Maybe some sci-fi mixed in here and there, and perhaps other books I'm reading at the moment. I'll give an official review first off, which will hopefully be as unbiased as possible. The second part will be my personal thoughts and notes and favorite scenes: very informal. It'll be my opinion about things, and no one has to agree: it's just my point of view. :) The third part of the review (I think I just heard the sound of frantic clicking of readers getting away from the crazy blog with a three part review) will be a section with an eye to editing. While I read books I often come across sections that confuse me, or I wish had been better explained, or really have no point at all. Most of those comments will go in the Editor's Eye.

Those few brave souls that are still reading: I commend you. I salute your fortitude and bravery. Thanks bunches: I hope you come back.