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Book log: Damosel
Nov. 10th, 2008 01:19 pmAttention attention! ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elisem is having another fabulous clearance sale. Somebody go buy something, because my wallet and my self-control aren't speaking to each other right now.
I am actually wearing a pendant I bought from Elise right now--I love it dearly. So go see if something calls your name!
ETA: If you link to the sale in a public post, you can get entered into a drawing for a gift certificate. And here you thought I was just being charitable, giving you all this friendly PSA.
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Damosel by Stephanie Spinner
Damosel is a Lady of the Lake, and as such, she is bound by many rules. Rules about ettiquete, rules about magic usage, rules about promises. She is happy in the solitude of her lake, but when she promises the wizard Merlin that she will look out for the young king Arthur, she is forced to pay attention--and get involved--in the goings-on of mortals.
Twixt is a dwarf, stunted and tormented by one cruel master after another. When he encounters and aids Sir Tor, he finds himself first in the employ of the knight--and then in the employ of King Arthur himself. And so Twixt has a front row seat as the drama of Arthur's life explodes.
This book was a funny reading experience for me. I found Damosel herself very off-putting--sometimes she felt too silly, too bound by the Rules that I couldn't quite buy her or her world--and sometimes she felt too distant. I have trouble suspending disbelief when a character talks about something that happened when she was "just a child of ninety years old." And I certainly didn't buy Damosel's romance, which, despite being a major plot point, felt very forced to me.
What I did buy was Twixt. While Damosel's chapters kept jarring me out of the Arthurian world, Twixt's chapters kept pulling me in. Whenever I was reading Twixt, I could hear his voice, believe in his character, his world. Twixt was very real to me. When I came out of his chapters, I felt like I was blinking in sudden, too-harsh light. His voice lingered in my ears--sometimes, when I moved on to the Damosel chapters, I was confused, because my head was still with Twixt, and I couldn't understand what Twixt would be doing in a lake.
This book is definitly an interesting take on Arthurian legend. It doesn't feel very young to me, but I can imagine myself eating it up as a teen. The Damosel chapters are like Mists of Avalon lite--very lite. But the Twixt chapters are marvellous. I would have loved a whole book of Twixt.
elisem is having another fabulous clearance sale. Somebody go buy something, because my wallet and my self-control aren't speaking to each other right now. I am actually wearing a pendant I bought from Elise right now--I love it dearly. So go see if something calls your name!
ETA: If you link to the sale in a public post, you can get entered into a drawing for a gift certificate. And here you thought I was just being charitable, giving you all this friendly PSA.
--------------------
Damosel by Stephanie Spinner
Damosel is a Lady of the Lake, and as such, she is bound by many rules. Rules about ettiquete, rules about magic usage, rules about promises. She is happy in the solitude of her lake, but when she promises the wizard Merlin that she will look out for the young king Arthur, she is forced to pay attention--and get involved--in the goings-on of mortals.
Twixt is a dwarf, stunted and tormented by one cruel master after another. When he encounters and aids Sir Tor, he finds himself first in the employ of the knight--and then in the employ of King Arthur himself. And so Twixt has a front row seat as the drama of Arthur's life explodes.
This book was a funny reading experience for me. I found Damosel herself very off-putting--sometimes she felt too silly, too bound by the Rules that I couldn't quite buy her or her world--and sometimes she felt too distant. I have trouble suspending disbelief when a character talks about something that happened when she was "just a child of ninety years old." And I certainly didn't buy Damosel's romance, which, despite being a major plot point, felt very forced to me.
What I did buy was Twixt. While Damosel's chapters kept jarring me out of the Arthurian world, Twixt's chapters kept pulling me in. Whenever I was reading Twixt, I could hear his voice, believe in his character, his world. Twixt was very real to me. When I came out of his chapters, I felt like I was blinking in sudden, too-harsh light. His voice lingered in my ears--sometimes, when I moved on to the Damosel chapters, I was confused, because my head was still with Twixt, and I couldn't understand what Twixt would be doing in a lake.
This book is definitly an interesting take on Arthurian legend. It doesn't feel very young to me, but I can imagine myself eating it up as a teen. The Damosel chapters are like Mists of Avalon lite--very lite. But the Twixt chapters are marvellous. I would have loved a whole book of Twixt.
