Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear
Apr. 3rd, 2008 04:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreThis is a very complex book, and one that has to be read carefully, and as such, it's hard for me to think of a way to write it up without having to pause while describe one thing to explain ten other things connected to it so that it can be fully understood, and the author is very, very into turning genre tropes on their head and crushing normal expectations. It all makes perfect sense as you read, as long as you pay attention, but is hard(for me at least) to explain. But I shall try.
Centered heavily around Arthurian legend and Tam Lin, the book is centered around Seeker, a woman taken byt he Fae in her youth and bound into the service of the Seelie queen Mebd, for whom Seeker brings mortal children back to the seelie court. Opposing Mebd are the unseelie court, and the Promethean Club, a group of mortal mages devoted to destroying the Fae, among them Seeker's human mother, and Matthew, who has viewed the fae as his enemies since his brother was taken from him years ago, and returned old and mad. If the situation weren't already tense enough, all three sides learn the a Merlin-mortal beings made of magic, named after the famous one- has come to age. And with a Merlin comes a Dragon Prince, and all three sides set off to win the Merlin-and, by default, the dragon prince-to their side.
And at this point, I lose the ability to properly explain things without explaining 10 other things, so I'll just do (spoilery) quickies.
Centered heavily around Arthurian legend and Tam Lin, the book is centered around Seeker, a woman taken byt he Fae in her youth and bound into the service of the Seelie queen Mebd, for whom Seeker brings mortal children back to the seelie court. Opposing Mebd are the unseelie court, and the Promethean Club, a group of mortal mages devoted to destroying the Fae, among them Seeker's human mother, and Matthew, who has viewed the fae as his enemies since his brother was taken from him years ago, and returned old and mad. If the situation weren't already tense enough, all three sides learn the a Merlin-mortal beings made of magic, named after the famous one- has come to age. And with a Merlin comes a Dragon Prince, and all three sides set off to win the Merlin-and, by default, the dragon prince-to their side.
And at this point, I lose the ability to properly explain things without explaining 10 other things, so I'll just do (spoilery) quickies.
*Seeker has one of the more interesting Arthurian-based parentage's ever.
*Morgan le Fay is neither a misunderstood saint nor an evil slut. Instead, she's a very complex, dangerous woman with no regrets about her past, but also no interest in revisiting it.
*Arthur is also neither saintly nor evil, and probably would have rather been left asleep. Not that he has any qualms rising to the occassion.
*All sorts of bindings where the binders death is dangerous to the bound, and interesting contracts.
*The new Pendragon is a werewolf.
*All sorts of complicated relationships and messages about love and responsibility and sacrifice that go far beyond the typical romance/family/friendship tropes.
*The new Merlin is female, black, sexually aware and secure, lesbian, and in full control of her situation, even when having three opposing forces suddenly telling her everything she thought she knew was a lie.
*People on Earth actually have REAL JOBS. Where they WORK.
*Almost every person in a position of power is a woman, without making the men second class, submissive, weak, or dull.
*Very rich and complex mythology.
I feel I should be laying out a lot more, but there's so much in this book that it kinda makes my head spin trying to decide what should and shouldn't be mentioned. But that's a good thing.
*Morgan le Fay is neither a misunderstood saint nor an evil slut. Instead, she's a very complex, dangerous woman with no regrets about her past, but also no interest in revisiting it.
*Arthur is also neither saintly nor evil, and probably would have rather been left asleep. Not that he has any qualms rising to the occassion.
*All sorts of bindings where the binders death is dangerous to the bound, and interesting contracts.
*The new Pendragon is a werewolf.
*All sorts of complicated relationships and messages about love and responsibility and sacrifice that go far beyond the typical romance/family/friendship tropes.
*The new Merlin is female, black, sexually aware and secure, lesbian, and in full control of her situation, even when having three opposing forces suddenly telling her everything she thought she knew was a lie.
*People on Earth actually have REAL JOBS. Where they WORK.
*Almost every person in a position of power is a woman, without making the men second class, submissive, weak, or dull.
*Very rich and complex mythology.
I feel I should be laying out a lot more, but there's so much in this book that it kinda makes my head spin trying to decide what should and shouldn't be mentioned. But that's a good thing.