Melusine by Sarah Monette
Jul. 5th, 2008 04:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreFelix Harrowgate is a former prostitute turned mage and sham nobleman in the city of Melusine. When his former master uses him in a ritual to destroy the Virtu, a magical talisman that protects the city, Felix is driven mad and imprisoned. Mildmay is a cat burglar of the same city, who has also been trained as an assassin. Through a series of misadventures involving a job leading to an ill-considered romantic relationship to rapidly escalating problems, Mildmay eventually finds himself caught up in Felix’s problems (resulting in even more problems and a few revelations) and on the run with him.
The plot is pretty detailed, but so convoluted in some parts that it would be difficult to explain without giving a play-by-play. It overturns a lot of fantasy tropes, but also upholds one or two I kind of wish it hadn’t. The strength of the book, however, lies in the narrative style. The book is evenly divided between Mildmay and Felix’s perspectives, both told in first person. Usually, that would cause all sorts of problems. Monette, however, manages to make both voices so distinct that there’s no doubt whose head your in at any given time. Mildmay’s voice is charming and roguish and very engaging. It’s also one of the few slang-heavy voices that isn’t remotely irritating. Felix actually has two voices. One is that of a haughty nobleman who has been betrayed. The other is that of a madman with almost no connection to reality. His insane voice is also one of the few cases where first person present tense actually makes since and is more effective than any other voice would be. And you know how I feel about first person present tense. I admit, while Mildmay is an extremely engaging character and I doubt anyone could help liking him, I found Felix as a character a bit dull. Tons of interesting things were constantly happening around him,, but he himself didn’t interest me a lot. I suspect he’ll be more interesting when not nuts, but I’m not sure I’ll like him then, as he seems to have been on the “manipulative user” side of things.
Because the voices are so vivid, the events in the book are actually almost upsetting. Distancing myself a bit, I can easily see that they (especially Mildmay…not so much Felix, I suppose) don’t go through much worse than most fantasy leads, their voices just make it seem worse, and you want to tell Monette to stop being so mean and leave them alone.
The plot is pretty detailed, but so convoluted in some parts that it would be difficult to explain without giving a play-by-play. It overturns a lot of fantasy tropes, but also upholds one or two I kind of wish it hadn’t. The strength of the book, however, lies in the narrative style. The book is evenly divided between Mildmay and Felix’s perspectives, both told in first person. Usually, that would cause all sorts of problems. Monette, however, manages to make both voices so distinct that there’s no doubt whose head your in at any given time. Mildmay’s voice is charming and roguish and very engaging. It’s also one of the few slang-heavy voices that isn’t remotely irritating. Felix actually has two voices. One is that of a haughty nobleman who has been betrayed. The other is that of a madman with almost no connection to reality. His insane voice is also one of the few cases where first person present tense actually makes since and is more effective than any other voice would be. And you know how I feel about first person present tense. I admit, while Mildmay is an extremely engaging character and I doubt anyone could help liking him, I found Felix as a character a bit dull. Tons of interesting things were constantly happening around him,, but he himself didn’t interest me a lot. I suspect he’ll be more interesting when not nuts, but I’m not sure I’ll like him then, as he seems to have been on the “manipulative user” side of things.
Because the voices are so vivid, the events in the book are actually almost upsetting. Distancing myself a bit, I can easily see that they (especially Mildmay…not so much Felix, I suppose) don’t go through much worse than most fantasy leads, their voices just make it seem worse, and you want to tell Monette to stop being so mean and leave them alone.
At the end of the book, my main thought is that I want to give them both milk and cookies and hug Mildmay and pat Felix very gingerly on the head. Then go find Mildmay some nice girl who won’t betray him, dump him, or die on him, and get Felix a therapist so he won’t run away the next time her tries to have sex with an old boyfriend.
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Date: 2008-07-06 07:22 am (UTC)"Then go find Mildmay some nice girl who won’t betray him, dump him, or die on him, and get Felix a therapist so he won’t run away the next time her tries to have sex with an old boyfriend."
...HAH.
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Date: 2008-07-06 07:29 am (UTC)No spoilers please. But I can already tell that Monette believes in causing her characters incredible pain. I just hope she doesn't go the Felix/Mildmay angsty screwup route.
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Date: 2008-07-06 07:32 am (UTC)I still gotta read the third book, man.