50 in '10: #19
Jun. 22nd, 2010 08:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76Title: The Black Swan
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Length: 376 pages
This is the last Mercedes Lackey novel for a while, I swear. I just ended up checking eight books out of the library at once and half of 'em were Lackey... pretty much just grabbed everything the branch had that I hadn't read before because I am so behind on my reading quota and I'd like to actually complete this challenge for once.
I spent the first third of this book hating it. It was a very narrow thing that made me pick up and keep reading it, and that was the decision to start mentally referring to Odile as Kraehe. (see: Princess Tutu) Fortunately, it started getting better after that point. The asshole Prince Sebastian improved, and so did Odile. This ended up as something of a women's lib/rights statement by the author (thank GOD Odile learned to think for herself) but it did so a bit painfully on the nose. It also (of course, and as expected given the author's predelictions) changed the story from a tragedy to a happy one. This, unfortunately, made the ending feel a bit weak to me. Though I did like the Odile/Benno storyline, which was handled with grace and subtlety.
Verdict: recommended, but be aware that it takes a while for ANY of the characters to become likeable.
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Length: 376 pages
This is the last Mercedes Lackey novel for a while, I swear. I just ended up checking eight books out of the library at once and half of 'em were Lackey... pretty much just grabbed everything the branch had that I hadn't read before because I am so behind on my reading quota and I'd like to actually complete this challenge for once.
I spent the first third of this book hating it. It was a very narrow thing that made me pick up and keep reading it, and that was the decision to start mentally referring to Odile as Kraehe. (see: Princess Tutu) Fortunately, it started getting better after that point. The asshole Prince Sebastian improved, and so did Odile. This ended up as something of a women's lib/rights statement by the author (thank GOD Odile learned to think for herself) but it did so a bit painfully on the nose. It also (of course, and as expected given the author's predelictions) changed the story from a tragedy to a happy one. This, unfortunately, made the ending feel a bit weak to me. Though I did like the Odile/Benno storyline, which was handled with grace and subtlety.
Verdict: recommended, but be aware that it takes a while for ANY of the characters to become likeable.
