Book #13: Sea Glass, Maria V. Snyder
Mar. 9th, 2010 05:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityEpic fantasy, girl-power, assassins, intrigue, politics, craft magic, weather magic, really obvious true love.
Hey, when I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll!
I realize that one of you has actually read "Poison Study", but many of you should.
I think it's interesting that we're only really in Ixia for one book and then we spend the next FOUR wishing we were, because in Ixia, everything freaking makes sense. And, you know, you can kill people who get in your way. I'm not saying it's perfect, but the Sitian council drives me INSANE (which is exactly what it's supposed to do.
Anyhoodle, I make no secret of the fact that I hate the bureaucratic kind of sanctimonious evil. But Snyder manages to avoid it by not turning Opal into a whiner. She doesn't mope around lamenting the fact that no one believes her. She goes out and stirs shit up, even when she is the most wanted person in the country. She does stupid things, but she thinks about them before she does them, and she keeps the big picture in mind. I like that about her.
I also really like the idea of her character. Yes, Yelena was terrifying, but she was also a known entity. NO ONE has ever been able to do what Opal could do, and in a world where magic is currency, she's pretty much untouchable. Except for her RAGING EMOTIONAL TRAUMAS which I think would cripple a normal person, that she somehow manages to rise above. Seriously. Girl has been abused (in one way or another) since she was FOURTEEN, and she never, ever lets herself turn into The Victim. It took her a while to truly own herself (which, OBVIOUSLY), but once she bought into it, she bought into it. And I love her.
Yelena walked a line, and walked it well. But she had Valek. And Irys. And Janco. And Ari. And an actually viable power. Opal, much more vulnerable because unlike Yelena she knows her limits, walks an even narrower line in an even better way. I still like Yelena more (she was just TOO MUCH FUN), but Opal is...truly amazing.
The actual book I didn't like as much as the first one. I mean, it was still awesome enough that I read it in four hours, but it lacked...something. Possibly because Opal spent so much time "growing as a person" when I thought she was pretty good to begin with (random aside: I have similar problems with other characters this has happened to, most notably a character in Faith and Laura's books). So the sections of the book that were devoted to her deciding she needed to be a better person to the people who had been mean to her for four years and then OPENLY USED HER for another got on my nerves. But at the same time, it couldn't be all sunshine and roses, or there wouldn't be a book, so I get it.
The only other complaint I have is the idea that Devlen will be back. And that when he comes back, it will be as one of the good guys. I don't care what Yelena saw in his soul: he needs to die in a fire. And Ulrick should just...disappear. (Yes, I am still angry that he made me like him so much in the first place.)
On the bright side, in addition to the map of Ixia/Sitia, we also got a map of the Keep, so I am happy. 8 out of 10.
ETA: CRAP! Book 3 doesn't come out until fall of 2011!
+++
I have started reading "Wizard's First Rule". I assume this means I will get more writing done as I try to avoid reading the book.
Hey, when I'm on a roll, I'm on a roll!
I realize that one of you has actually read "Poison Study", but many of you should.
I think it's interesting that we're only really in Ixia for one book and then we spend the next FOUR wishing we were, because in Ixia, everything freaking makes sense. And, you know, you can kill people who get in your way. I'm not saying it's perfect, but the Sitian council drives me INSANE (which is exactly what it's supposed to do.
Anyhoodle, I make no secret of the fact that I hate the bureaucratic kind of sanctimonious evil. But Snyder manages to avoid it by not turning Opal into a whiner. She doesn't mope around lamenting the fact that no one believes her. She goes out and stirs shit up, even when she is the most wanted person in the country. She does stupid things, but she thinks about them before she does them, and she keeps the big picture in mind. I like that about her.
I also really like the idea of her character. Yes, Yelena was terrifying, but she was also a known entity. NO ONE has ever been able to do what Opal could do, and in a world where magic is currency, she's pretty much untouchable. Except for her RAGING EMOTIONAL TRAUMAS which I think would cripple a normal person, that she somehow manages to rise above. Seriously. Girl has been abused (in one way or another) since she was FOURTEEN, and she never, ever lets herself turn into The Victim. It took her a while to truly own herself (which, OBVIOUSLY), but once she bought into it, she bought into it. And I love her.
Yelena walked a line, and walked it well. But she had Valek. And Irys. And Janco. And Ari. And an actually viable power. Opal, much more vulnerable because unlike Yelena she knows her limits, walks an even narrower line in an even better way. I still like Yelena more (she was just TOO MUCH FUN), but Opal is...truly amazing.
The actual book I didn't like as much as the first one. I mean, it was still awesome enough that I read it in four hours, but it lacked...something. Possibly because Opal spent so much time "growing as a person" when I thought she was pretty good to begin with (random aside: I have similar problems with other characters this has happened to, most notably a character in Faith and Laura's books). So the sections of the book that were devoted to her deciding she needed to be a better person to the people who had been mean to her for four years and then OPENLY USED HER for another got on my nerves. But at the same time, it couldn't be all sunshine and roses, or there wouldn't be a book, so I get it.
The only other complaint I have is the idea that Devlen will be back. And that when he comes back, it will be as one of the good guys. I don't care what Yelena saw in his soul: he needs to die in a fire. And Ulrick should just...disappear. (Yes, I am still angry that he made me like him so much in the first place.)
On the bright side, in addition to the map of Ixia/Sitia, we also got a map of the Keep, so I am happy. 8 out of 10.
ETA: CRAP! Book 3 doesn't come out until fall of 2011!
+++
I have started reading "Wizard's First Rule". I assume this means I will get more writing done as I try to avoid reading the book.
