Neispace wrote:
didnt edward die in one of the books? i forget which. If he didnt, and he does come back that would be great, as having him try and kill an obviously turned anita might spark her to examine what she has become.
No, he was very much alive and even engaged when last we saw him in "Obsidian Butterfly". Which was, incidentally, the last time Anita spent more time hunting vampires than shagging them.
Quote:
I havent read the kushiel's series. The cover seems a bit too "red-hair" for me. There's sort of an aesthetic to certain books and authors that focuses more on female empowerment than story, and often they seem to have protagonists on the cover with red hair. I know its shallow in a way, but i have read enough of those kinds of authors to be critical of those that present themselves that way. Its like "oh look, here's another sorceress/courtesan/undead killer who will have fabulous sex with a variety of men while fighting various evil menaces who may or may not have sex with her at some point too." While kushiel technically doesnt have red hair, the half-naked or naked woman thing tends to be a close alias.
I think the word you're looking for is "Mary Sue." And that is very much NOT what Phedre, the protagonist of the first trilogy, is (and the protagonist of the second trilogy isn't even female, so the idea of acting out some girlpower message though the protagonist falls apart there.) She may be an exceptional heroine, but she's not a paragon by any stretch of the imagination.
You're missing out. It's not about the girl power with this series--I mean, the protagonist of the first trilogy (Phedre) is a submissive/*********, and the protagonist of the second trilogy is the son of the villainess of the first trilogy. It's just a fascinating "alternative European history" world filled with political intrigue, upon which Phedre stumbles unwittingly because she is indentured to a spymaster who trained her as both courtesan and spy. Her sexual proclivities, while being important in giving her role in this world a context, don't dominate the story--they just serve as a catalyst for it, the means by which she comes to be involved in the intrigue. And frankly, a lot of her encounters aren't about "fabulous sex with a variety of men." They're about survival, and occasionally a dollop of self-loathing when her very nature prods her to places she doesn't want to go.
The main thing for me is that it's so very elegantly and gorgeously written--the prose is just amazingly rich and poetic, and finding an author who knows how to use elevated language and use it WELL these days is a rare and blessed event. You should really give it a try, I think you will find most of your assumptions about the series to be unfounded.
Edited, Feb 11th 2007 12:18am by Ambrya