The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells

[meganbmoore]

Ten years ago, Nicholas Valiarde’s foster father, Edouard, was framed and executed for the crime of necromancy. Even though he’s of noble birth, Nicholas’s mother raised him in poverty, preferring that to living with her late husband’s relatives, resulting in Edouard literally grabbing him off the street. Nicholas, of course, has been plotting his revenge on Montesq, the man responsible for Edouard’s death ever since, and with the aid of his lover Madeline, an actress, Reynard, a flamboyant member of the court, and several others, he’s almost ready to spring his trap. Except that people are mysteriously dying, and corpses are rising up and wearing the faces of living people, leading to rumors of a new, real necromancer.

While The Element of Fire was set in a vaguely European medieval world with technology, The Death of the Necromancer, set a hundred years later in the same world, is more solidly set around the Victorian era, giving it a more solid feel. I have this odd thing with Martha Wells. I like her plots and I like her characters, and the Ile-Rien books are very much my kind of books, I feel like I should be obsessively into them while I read them, instead of just liking them. (As contrasted with, say, Patricia McKillip, where I tend to be invested while I read, but then most of it goes away once I close the book.) Oddly, I found myself drawn more tot he supporting characters than I was to Nicholas and Madeline, though I liked them. I especially liked Ronsarde, an official tied to Edouard’s death, and Madeline’s grandmother, Madele, a harsh tongued witch. (I had a problem with something Reynard said early on that kept me from warming up to him, even though I know my reading of the line is very much not what was intended, and that my mind made a much bigger deal of it than it should have.) The character that made the most impact on me, though, was the nameless young queen-lonely and isolated, but also viciously intelligent and very candid-who was only in one scene. I hope she plays a larger role in the trilogy this serves as a prequel to. 

Comments

[anime-heart.livejournal.com]

I just read that trilogy. I fear your hopes may be dashed. The main character, while not royal, is of a similar type, however.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Pft.

*sadness*

[anime-heart.livejournal.com]

I was going to say, about the main characters: Nicholas Valiarde is really rather annoying. I found it hard to warm up to him as well-- in fact, I didn't.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think she took Nicholas a little too far. By wanting Montesq to be executed for a crime he didn't commit, and outright rejecting the idea of convicting him for one her did, she took him beyond wanting justice and revenge and into vindictiveness.

[anime-heart.livejournal.com]

yes, I found him too extreme and almost unbelievable (yes, I know it's a fantasy novel). I think a lot of Wells' charm as a writer lies in her characters and he was just not charming enough in the end.

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

I think I read somewhere (maybe her LJ marthawells, maybe her website) that Nicholas Valiarde was meant to be unlikable.

T'he heroine of the "Fall of Ile-Rien" trilogy (which is set among the next generation) might also come off as quite unlikeable at first, but she grows a lot during the books.

The beginning felt not-so-good, but since I've I've followed her career right from the start. I trusted she would turn it around at some point. And I was right. Because I was totally hooked by the end of the first book in the trilogy.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I think he was meant to be unlikable, but I think he was meant to be more compelling than he was.