books

[mamajoan]

Last week I read If I Pay Thee Not In Gold by Piers Anthony and Mercedes Lackey. It left a really bad taste in my mouth. To say that it thoroughly sucked would be a slight overstatement, but only slight. The thing is, I can see how many people, including the authors, might want to characterize this book as "feminist fantasy" -- protagonist a warrior woman in a matriarchal society -- but in fact it's almost anti-feminist, and depressingly so, especially in the ways it subtly (almost as if unknowingly) reinforces the same tired old gender stereotypes that make so much of fantasy almost unreadable.

That last sentence was terrible. Sorry. My point is, I think the authors thought they were writing a daringly feminist tale, when in fact they were really just barfing up the same old crap again and putting a little gender twist on it to make it look different. A typical fantasy novel in drag, you might say. The authors would do well to read something like plaidder's epic Women on Fire, if they want to see how good feminist fantasy is done.

Furthermore, the authors obviously have fallen into that trap where they're so well-known and popular that their work doesn't actually have to submit to editing. The characterization and plotting in this book were awful. "Show, don't tell," remember?

Ugh. Anyway, so now I'm reading the latest Donald Westlake in hopes of cleansing my literary palate. So far so good.

Also, the week before last I read The Eye of Night by Pauline Alama. It was pretty interesting, a somewhat different sort of fantasy novel. Toward the end it sort of suffered from "not sure how to end the story" syndrome, with three or four different "endings" that aren't actually endings, but overall a good read.

Comments

[tiggrrl.livejournal.com]

I have gotten much less impressed with both of these authors the more books they put out. It doesn't surprise me that a collaboration would be sucktastic. I'd be interested in hearing you go into a bit more detail on the feminist/non-feminist aspects of the book though, and I don't think you have to worry about spoilers, since this review of yours isn't exactly going to make people want to run out and pick up the book.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I should have added that neither of these authors is among my favorites anyway; in fact I usually avoid them, but this book happened to be on the shelf (it was my brother's) and somehow it caught my eye and I thought I'd give it a try.

And yeah, I would love to elaborate at some point if I get the time. Stay tuned. :)

[flick.livejournal.com]

I would go so far as to say that Piers Anthony (much as I like his stuff) is *not* the writer to be looking for feminist leanings from. Some of the stories in the Anthenology are frankly disturbing, particularly from a feminist pov (eg: the one where women are used as milk producing cattle...).

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I just read Eye of Night about a month or so ago. I enjoyed it, but I think it could have told the same story in a much shorter book.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's true, but I found it engaging enough that I didn't mind the length.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

Once I got into the book I didn't mind the length in terms of story, just in terms of "Will I finish this before I have to return it to the library?" I don't get a lot of reading done at home because the neighbours are too noisy for me to settle down and relax with a book, or I decide to just "quickly check my email" and then end up at the computer for an hour or two. :) I mostly read while waiting for buses or while on the bus, and sometimes during my lunch break at work.

I'm surprised you find any time at all to read, having a full-time job and a full-time kid. :)

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I sort of go through phases of reading a lot and not reading at all. I do have lots of time on weekend days to read while I'm trying to nurse Isaac to sleep for his naps. And now that he can entertain himself pretty well, I can sit in the living room and read while he wanders around the floor playing.

the thing about this book...

[lightningrose.livejournal.com]

Anthony plotted it, may even have started it, and Lackey wrote it. So she got stuck having to make sense of his concepts -- and I don't think she really liked them. WHich is why the book has such an ambivalent feel. (And I think Anthony has some issues with women, anyway.) The interesting thing is prior to this book, Lackey wrote in an introduction that she was tired of people pitching ideas to her saying that if she "just" wrote it, they could take equal credit, and how she would NEVER do something like that -- I guess she should have said "never-- unless a publisher offers me a #$%@-load of money to do so." :) There was a sequel, I believe, but I never bothered with it.