petty grumbling; half-assed review of Mélusine

[edenfalling]

I worked 9 to 6 at the store today. I am not enamored of that shift, mostly because I usually get up around 9:30am, and even if I go to bed early so as to make sure I get enough sleep, my body insists that I'm not supposed to be up at 8, and would I please go back to bed now... or else... where 'or else' is defined as a serious risk of nodding off at the cash register.

*grumble*

This, my friends, is why caffeine exists.

-------------------------------------

In other news, I bought Black Powder War, the third of Naomi Novik's Temeraire series (the Napoleonic Wars, with dragons!).

And a couple days ago I finished reading Sarah Monette's Mélusine, which was distinctly odd because the lush, decadent tone (plus Felix and Mildmay, the we-didn't-know-we're-brothers brothers, one of whom is canonically gay, people) reminded me of a lot of darker, semi-explicit fanfiction. I'm not used to reading that in published works, unless it's vampire erotica and thus frequently tacky to the extreme!

Seriously. There is a moment where Felix actually looks at Mildmay and lusts after him. Granted, it's only one moment, and Felix is totally insane at the time -- he spends 90% of the book insane to some degree, thanks to complications of magic and old trauma -- but still. Very weird to see that in a library book.

Beyond that, Mélusine has the feel of a first novel -- the pacing is a little shaky, especially at the beginning and end, and some of the ways she creates lower-district slang feel distinctly modern-American instead of organic to the vaguely French/Latin feel of the city of Mélusine and its empire -- but it holds attention and I liked Mildmay a lot. Also, there are plot threads that didn't get resolved, which, combined with a couple points in the last fifty pages, make me think I should expect a sequel sometime in the next few years. Which would make me happy... so I think the book works. *grin*

(In a totally random note, I am amused by the number-system Monette uses. The people of Mélusine count using base ten, which seems to be the system used by the rest of the world, and yet there seem to be a lot of hangovers from an older base seven system, like the use of 'decad' for 'week.' However, the use of 'septad' for things relating to sevens throws a wrench in that neat theory. The use of 'septad-day' and 'septad-night' for 'noon' and 'midnight' confuse things even further -- how do they count and divide time? Basically, it's a badly-explained mish-mash, and I itch to make sense of it.

*headdesk* Someday, I really have to get my sporadic obsession with organization and tidy world-building under control.)

Comments

[jessara40k.livejournal.com]

"which imply the existence and suppression of an older base-seven system... if not for the repeated use of 'septad' for things relating to sevens" Not to be rude, but you said the current sytem is supposed to be base seven, so don't you mean the suppression of an older base ten system?

[edenfalling]

*headdesk* I was half-asleep when I wrote that, and I totally mangled my thoughts in the transfer from my head to the page.

What I meant to say was something like this: "They count using base ten, which seems to be the system used by the rest of the world, and yet there seem to be a lot of hangovers from an older base seven system, like the use of 'decad' for 'week.' However, the use of 'septad' for things relating to sevens throws a wrench in that neat theory. The use of 'septad-day' and 'septad-night' for 'noon' and 'midnight' confuse things even further -- how do they count and divide time? Essentially, the system (or systems) is a badly explained mish-mash, and I itch to make sense of it."

Felix and Mildmay

[(Anonymous)]

I absolutely loved this book and the sequel. It certainly captured my attention and the whole Felix and Mildmay *potential* well while it didn't shock me, I certainly did not expect that in a mainstream book. LOL I was hoping someone would do a fanfic on it because I know that the publisher would never let it really go *there* in a mainstream book. But, Monette has a good writing style and character building, at least of Felix and Mildmay.

Re: Felix and Mildmay

[edenfalling]

Then there is a sequel? Oooh! *anticipates*

Re: Felix and Mildmay

[(Anonymous)]

Yes. There is supposed to be at least 4 total. The second one is *The Virtu*.