Book #14: Steel, by Carrie Vaughn
Apr. 10th, 2011 11:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grav_ityApparently today I am a MACHINE.
girls who rock, pirates, random time travel, fun with sailing ships, sword fighting, pirates with surprisingly good hygiene, I have a thing for knives, etc.
I bought this book (ordered it online, actually, as the St.Ab Chapters is REALLY BAD about having the books I want in stock) without knowing anything about it, beyond the part where there's a girl on the cover holding a sword. It did not disappoint.
There were a lot of sword fights in this book. A lot of glorious, glorious sword fights. Which would make me happy on their own, but there was also a surprisingly coherent plot (considering the basis of the whole thing is that a magic sword transports Jill to the Age of Sail for no particular reason), some really awesome characters, and a pleasantly evil bad guy.
The part that really resonated with me, though, was the beginning, where Jill has to deal with coming in fourth and missing out on the World Juniors for fencing. That half-second, and her muscle memory, were very much the driving force in the rest of the book, but the part where she was dealing with the loss just reminded me SO MUCH of my own days in sports, when it came down to centimetres, and when you come in fourth, you second guess every move you made all day.
I also really loved how Jill made the transition from fencing to sword fighting with a rapier. I loved the recurring themes of sharp edges and reflexes, and the way Vaughn wrote Jill's muscle memory was absolutely perfect (I fenced for exactly two months once. I never got past the "Holy God, people were not built to stand this way!" stage of it). My legs ache just thinking about it. But Jill really made it work, and I liked watching her grow into herself as the story progressed.
And Marjory Cooper! Pirate Queen and what not. *hearts her* There's a bit in the author's notes where Vaughn says that we don't have any historical records of female pirate captains in the Caribbean (there are a few in Asia, like in PotC), and her suggestion that there were female captains, and they were just too clever to get caught. ;) Marjory Cooper would definitely be one of those, I think. She was kind of awesome. (For the record, I also liked that Vaughn was forthright about the fact that her pirates weren't all active at the same time, but that she wrote them all together anyway, just because she could. I appreciate that kind of honesty, and honestly: pirates.)
My absolute favourite part of the whole thing is the moment Jill climbs on to the deck of the Heart's Revenge, and realizes that the pirates are afraid of her. I may have stood up and cheered. ;)
I am going to go with 9 out of 10, for being a feel-good romp, full of swordplay and ships, and a totally satisfying way to end this crazy day I've had.
girls who rock, pirates, random time travel, fun with sailing ships, sword fighting, pirates with surprisingly good hygiene, I have a thing for knives, etc.
I bought this book (ordered it online, actually, as the St.Ab Chapters is REALLY BAD about having the books I want in stock) without knowing anything about it, beyond the part where there's a girl on the cover holding a sword. It did not disappoint.
There were a lot of sword fights in this book. A lot of glorious, glorious sword fights. Which would make me happy on their own, but there was also a surprisingly coherent plot (considering the basis of the whole thing is that a magic sword transports Jill to the Age of Sail for no particular reason), some really awesome characters, and a pleasantly evil bad guy.
The part that really resonated with me, though, was the beginning, where Jill has to deal with coming in fourth and missing out on the World Juniors for fencing. That half-second, and her muscle memory, were very much the driving force in the rest of the book, but the part where she was dealing with the loss just reminded me SO MUCH of my own days in sports, when it came down to centimetres, and when you come in fourth, you second guess every move you made all day.
I also really loved how Jill made the transition from fencing to sword fighting with a rapier. I loved the recurring themes of sharp edges and reflexes, and the way Vaughn wrote Jill's muscle memory was absolutely perfect (I fenced for exactly two months once. I never got past the "Holy God, people were not built to stand this way!" stage of it). My legs ache just thinking about it. But Jill really made it work, and I liked watching her grow into herself as the story progressed.
And Marjory Cooper! Pirate Queen and what not. *hearts her* There's a bit in the author's notes where Vaughn says that we don't have any historical records of female pirate captains in the Caribbean (there are a few in Asia, like in PotC), and her suggestion that there were female captains, and they were just too clever to get caught. ;) Marjory Cooper would definitely be one of those, I think. She was kind of awesome. (For the record, I also liked that Vaughn was forthright about the fact that her pirates weren't all active at the same time, but that she wrote them all together anyway, just because she could. I appreciate that kind of honesty, and honestly: pirates.)
My absolute favourite part of the whole thing is the moment Jill climbs on to the deck of the Heart's Revenge, and realizes that the pirates are afraid of her. I may have stood up and cheered. ;)
I am going to go with 9 out of 10, for being a feel-good romp, full of swordplay and ships, and a totally satisfying way to end this crazy day I've had.
