Book Review: Mélusine by Sarah Monette
Feb. 7th, 2013 12:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: Mélusine (Doctrine of Labyrinths Book 1)
Author: Sarah Monette
Published: New York: Ace Books, 2005
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 421
Total Page Count: 127,984
Text Number: 372
Read Because: personal enjoyment, borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: In the labyrinthine city of Mélusine, Felix is a wizard whose powers will be exploited to destroy the city's magical focal point and, with it, his sanity; Mildmay is a streetwise cat burglar pulled into the city's machinations and the trouble that surrounds Felix. Mélusine is as promising as problematic a novel. Its world is richly constructed, so much so that it occasionally alienates the reader; it's also grim and exploitative, a surfeit of suffering and a dearth of female characters which edges towards problematic. Its protagonists are compelling, prickly but sympathetic portraits of trauma with strong personalities and voices. But the book's action lags, wallowing in a catalog of suffering (the disorientating tense changes of Felix's madness grow particularly wearisome) with some worldbuilding but little plot progression until the protagonists finally meet. Then the book revives: the rapport between them is fascinating, and their alternating points of view create depth rather than redundancy. It stands alone on an emotional level, but leaves the overarching plot dangling for a sequel—but as uneven as this freshman effort is, it's so emotionally fulfilling that I was sorry to see it end, and intend to continue with the series. I recommend it only moderately, but it hit a number of notes which worked for me and I enjoyed it.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Sarah Monette
Published: New York: Ace Books, 2005
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 421
Total Page Count: 127,984
Text Number: 372
Read Because: personal enjoyment, borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: In the labyrinthine city of Mélusine, Felix is a wizard whose powers will be exploited to destroy the city's magical focal point and, with it, his sanity; Mildmay is a streetwise cat burglar pulled into the city's machinations and the trouble that surrounds Felix. Mélusine is as promising as problematic a novel. Its world is richly constructed, so much so that it occasionally alienates the reader; it's also grim and exploitative, a surfeit of suffering and a dearth of female characters which edges towards problematic. Its protagonists are compelling, prickly but sympathetic portraits of trauma with strong personalities and voices. But the book's action lags, wallowing in a catalog of suffering (the disorientating tense changes of Felix's madness grow particularly wearisome) with some worldbuilding but little plot progression until the protagonists finally meet. Then the book revives: the rapport between them is fascinating, and their alternating points of view create depth rather than redundancy. It stands alone on an emotional level, but leaves the overarching plot dangling for a sequel—but as uneven as this freshman effort is, it's so emotionally fulfilling that I was sorry to see it end, and intend to continue with the series. I recommend it only moderately, but it hit a number of notes which worked for me and I enjoyed it.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
