Grouping series rather than posting in the order I read things means being able to see the "thirty" book gap between books which is actually just. a lot of manga. And other things! but mostly manga.
Title: God Stalk (Kencyrath Book 1)
Author: P.C. Hodgell
Published: Atheneum, 1982
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 270
Total Page Count: 353,195
Text Number: 1276
Read Because: on James Davis Nicoll's 100 SF/F Books You Should Consider Reading in the New Year list & recommended by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
minutia_r
Review: Fleeing her amnesia, a young woman from an ancient cult of monotheists overwinters in a city famous for its thieves guild and pantheon of dying gods. This has a strong sword and sorcery/DnD vibe, particularly in the thieves guild deep-dive and city politics which are more confusing than complex; the protagonist is a little overpowered, borderline (dare I say) Mary Sue; the tone is action-heavy and humorous, dipping away from a close third person for dramatic reveals and ironic contrasts. These elements are tropey, a little trashy, consistently readable, fun for a different reader—but not anything I enjoy. What I do enjoy is the underlying theology, prophecy, and magic—this is also tropey, but it's an engaged and interrogative take on its tropes. The fundamentally antagonistic relationship between the protagonist's people and their absent god is especially interesting. I'm not sure if I'll pick up the sequels, but if I do it will be on that basis: interesting overarching concepts, not all that well integrated to a less interesting foreground narrative.
Title: Dark of the Moon (Kencyrath Book 2)
Author: P.C. Hodgell
Published: Berkeley Fantasy, 1987 (1985)
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 370
Total Page Count: 359,005
Text Number: 1302
Read Because: continuing the series, borrowed from OpenLibrary
Review: Jame struggles to catch up to her brother as he leads the Kencyrath host towards war. I thought the first book had an interesting backstory which was too far removed from uninteresting fantasy tropes in the foreground; all that is corrected here. Jame regains some of her memories and the Kencyrath are front and center in the narrative, so there's more space for that interesting backstory. The plot structure is a quest/travelogue, but it wanders through fantastic setpieces: mysterious forests filled with carnivorous unicorns and strange deadly flora; ancient, ruined castles that slip through realities and time. (The writing also improves, particularly because the dual PoV allows exterior views of each protagonist without relying on the awkward "zoomed out" PoV changes of the first book.) I'm generally indifferent to high fantasy, this makes me understand where it can be interesting and fun—if you did read the first book, the second is worth picking up if only for the trip to the Anarchies.
Title: Seeker's Mask (Kencyrath Book 3)
Author: P.C. Hodgell
Published: 1994
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 500
Total Page Count: 367,425
Text Number: 1342
Read Because: continuing the series
Review: I liked the travelogue elements of the previous book for their evocative and fantastical settings, but one wants a travelogue to arrive at a destination; instead this picks up with Jame leaving the restrictive Women's World and beginning an even longer journey. She visits a plethora of Kencyrath locations, and becomes entangled in a plot that, like the first book, places the Kencyrath and their faith within the society and gods of their adopted/borrowed land. These are all elements I appreciate when not reading the book; the actual reading experience is chaotic, fueled by a magical transporting mist which is awfully convenient and (literally) unmoors the setting and with an oblique, backloaded plot.
When I picked up this series it was with the intent of reading the first three and then probably stopping; indeed, I'm not sorry to stop here. It's an interesting series, with its long and rocky publication history, niche fandom, and high ambitions—I still like Jame's character growth and her people's history. But it's also also a hot mess of a series with a lot of tonal variation and repetition, and both the individual book and overarching series come off feeling ... unstructured: a rocky execution of interesting concepts.
Title: God Stalk (Kencyrath Book 1)
Author: P.C. Hodgell
Published: Atheneum, 1982
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 270
Total Page Count: 353,195
Text Number: 1276
Read Because: on James Davis Nicoll's 100 SF/F Books You Should Consider Reading in the New Year list & recommended by
minutia_rReview: Fleeing her amnesia, a young woman from an ancient cult of monotheists overwinters in a city famous for its thieves guild and pantheon of dying gods. This has a strong sword and sorcery/DnD vibe, particularly in the thieves guild deep-dive and city politics which are more confusing than complex; the protagonist is a little overpowered, borderline (dare I say) Mary Sue; the tone is action-heavy and humorous, dipping away from a close third person for dramatic reveals and ironic contrasts. These elements are tropey, a little trashy, consistently readable, fun for a different reader—but not anything I enjoy. What I do enjoy is the underlying theology, prophecy, and magic—this is also tropey, but it's an engaged and interrogative take on its tropes. The fundamentally antagonistic relationship between the protagonist's people and their absent god is especially interesting. I'm not sure if I'll pick up the sequels, but if I do it will be on that basis: interesting overarching concepts, not all that well integrated to a less interesting foreground narrative.
Title: Dark of the Moon (Kencyrath Book 2)
Author: P.C. Hodgell
Published: Berkeley Fantasy, 1987 (1985)
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 370
Total Page Count: 359,005
Text Number: 1302
Read Because: continuing the series, borrowed from OpenLibrary
Review: Jame struggles to catch up to her brother as he leads the Kencyrath host towards war. I thought the first book had an interesting backstory which was too far removed from uninteresting fantasy tropes in the foreground; all that is corrected here. Jame regains some of her memories and the Kencyrath are front and center in the narrative, so there's more space for that interesting backstory. The plot structure is a quest/travelogue, but it wanders through fantastic setpieces: mysterious forests filled with carnivorous unicorns and strange deadly flora; ancient, ruined castles that slip through realities and time. (The writing also improves, particularly because the dual PoV allows exterior views of each protagonist without relying on the awkward "zoomed out" PoV changes of the first book.) I'm generally indifferent to high fantasy, this makes me understand where it can be interesting and fun—if you did read the first book, the second is worth picking up if only for the trip to the Anarchies.
Title: Seeker's Mask (Kencyrath Book 3)
Author: P.C. Hodgell
Published: 1994
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 500
Total Page Count: 367,425
Text Number: 1342
Read Because: continuing the series
Review: I liked the travelogue elements of the previous book for their evocative and fantastical settings, but one wants a travelogue to arrive at a destination; instead this picks up with Jame leaving the restrictive Women's World and beginning an even longer journey. She visits a plethora of Kencyrath locations, and becomes entangled in a plot that, like the first book, places the Kencyrath and their faith within the society and gods of their adopted/borrowed land. These are all elements I appreciate when not reading the book; the actual reading experience is chaotic, fueled by a magical transporting mist which is awfully convenient and (literally) unmoors the setting and with an oblique, backloaded plot.
When I picked up this series it was with the intent of reading the first three and then probably stopping; indeed, I'm not sorry to stop here. It's an interesting series, with its long and rocky publication history, niche fandom, and high ambitions—I still like Jame's character growth and her people's history. But it's also also a hot mess of a series with a lot of tonal variation and repetition, and both the individual book and overarching series come off feeling ... unstructured: a rocky execution of interesting concepts.
