Spiders and Bodyguards
Short post because of what I’ve been up to lately…which has mostly been poking at RPG books.
Review: The Eye of Winter by Jaques Smit
CW: Realistic consequences of combat
Oh boy are there realistic consequences of combat, including characters being permanently disabled, an animal being maimed, and PTSD all around. Not to mention an annoyed healer.
Despite this, I wouldn’t call The Eye of Winter grimdark. The hero, a rogue named Birger, becomes more likable as the story goes on and he learns to be more than a cat burgler.
This story was clearly written by an experienced DM. In a couple of the combats I could see the dice rolls. The classic races are…adjusted…renamed and changed in some details (for example, the elves are dioecious, the gnomes are albino, etc).
There’s a really awesome gay battle couple in it, too. And an extremely cute giant spider that Birger picks up as an animal companion.
Or maybe he’s the spider’s human companion. It’s a magical spider, after all, and definitely chooses him not the other way around. Snow is cute enough to cure your arachnophobia!
This isn’t a great piece of fantasy literature, but if you’re looking for D&D style high fantasy that’s dark, but not grim, it’s a fun read. There’s a lot here about the cost of magic, about leadership, about working as a team. I enjoyed it.
Copy received for review and award consideration purposes.
Review: Impostors by Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld writes some fine YA fiction. Impostors is a long-awaited return to the world of Uglies.
Unfortunately, it’s simply not as good. Frey is a fascinating character. Her father, an evil dictator, bred her solely to be her older sister’s body double and bodyguard. Technically, they’re identical twins.
(They were born after their mother died, so presumably artificial wombs are involved, but Westerfeld, perhaps wisely, doesn’t go into details).
This takes place years after the original series, where things are starting to go back to the bad old days. No, the Pretty Regime wasn’t great…it was hugely dystopian. But what is replacing it is entirely too familiar.
Frey has to learn to strike out on her own and her sister, who in many ways is abused worse, has to work out how to exist without her.
And something has to be done about Daddy Dearest.
It’s well written, it’s fun, but it lacks the originality of the original series. The pretty regime was an original dystopia. This is just about more typical corruption.
Still, an enjoyable read.