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Publication
Ace Books (2006), Edition: Reprint, 490 pages
Description
"{An} extraordinary first fantasy novel focuses on two captivating characters . . . {A} highly original writer with her own unique voice." -Publishers Weekly, starred review From an award-winning author, the first book in the spellbinding series, The Doctrine of Labyrinths Welcome to M?usine , a city as wondrous as it is corrupt. Within its walls lies a stronghold of power and magic, a shining setting for the brilliant Felix Harrowgate. A well-respected wizard and darling of the court, Felix harbors sordid secrets from his peers in the aristocracy: a dark past in which a sadistic wizard enslaved him body and mind, even as he schooled Felix in how to walk among noblemen as if he were one of them. An abuser Felix believes himself free of, until a return to his former master's lair leads to his harrowing fall from grace. Broken, lost, Felix finds an unlikely accomplice in Mildmay the Fox. Trained to be an assassin, surviving as a thief, Mildmay knows what it is to be hunted. When fate brings the weakened wizard and the wanted killer together, they escape M?usine, traveling through strange lands where they encounter peculiar magic and powerful demons. A world where shocking secrets will be laid bare-dark truths that will bind them together forever. "A lush novel, rife with decadent magic." -Jacqueline Carey, New York Times-bestselling author of the Kushiel's Legacy series "A spellbinding, gut-wrenching, breathtaking quest that resonates with truth and heart." -Joan D. Vinge, Hugo and Locus award-winning author of The Snow Queen "{Addison's} characters deserve a standing ovation." -Booklist, starred review Originally published under the name Sarah Monette.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member sweird
This book hooked me in four pages. The reason is two-fold:
1. Mildmay's very distinctive character voice, and
2. Felix's life explodes in his face on pages 5-8.
Sarah Monette teaches us that there is no need to spend the time setting up a wall that you're just going to knock down as soon as possible.
The book has a strange duality in my mind - Felix's actions (and the actions of others with regard to him) drive the plot, but it is Mildmay who is the window by which we see this world. Oh, one can certainly argue that Felix gives us a perspective on how the upper crust lives while Mildmay is out in the trenches, and that is in some sense true. But we all know how the upper crust lives - we've read those books time and time again. It is Mildmay who shows us Mélusine proper - from her walls to the Arcane, from the Sim and the cade-skiffs to the Boneprince. He is the voice of reason and knowledge, and his is the perspective that we are forced to rely on for the real story.
The one thing that surprised me was how long Felix & Mildmay went before meeting. And I was indescribably pleased to see how the author did not dance around the point of their meeting - she brought them together, demonstrated the Plot Point, and moved on to the characters and overarching story.
You can pretty well tell that Monette is out to tell a long story. She sets up some fabulous things in this book, and she's not shy about it, either. The world-building is, of course, most necessary, but then there's her homage to Moria will crop up again, as will the rival magical schools, as will, I hope, some of the problems Mildmay encounters early on in the story.
But what this story really runs on is the bonds she forges between her protagonists as soon as they meet. I was a bit puzzled, at first, to note how close Mildmay would stick to this flash hocus he picked up without quite intending to, but it completely fits with the sheer charisma Felix has. Likewise, Mildmay exerts his own magnetic pull, no matter what he thinks on the matter.
The Roman and Greek nomenclature, the calendrical systems (a full explanation of which can be found on the website), and, oh I think I love her so very much for the Morskaiakrov! It's not just the vessel, but the description of her crew that gets me.
1. Mildmay's very distinctive character voice, and
2. Felix's life explodes in his face on pages 5-8.
Sarah Monette teaches us that there is no need to spend the time setting up a wall that you're just going to knock down as soon as possible.
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She relies on the reader to know the wall is there in a few concise clues - thus trusting our intelligence - and gives us what we're there to see. The downfall of the status quo happens quickly and brutally, and one of the characters spends the rest of the book paying the price.The book has a strange duality in my mind - Felix's actions (and the actions of others with regard to him) drive the plot, but it is Mildmay who is the window by which we see this world. Oh, one can certainly argue that Felix gives us a perspective on how the upper crust lives while Mildmay is out in the trenches, and that is in some sense true. But we all know how the upper crust lives - we've read those books time and time again. It is Mildmay who shows us Mélusine proper - from her walls to the Arcane, from the Sim and the cade-skiffs to the Boneprince. He is the voice of reason and knowledge, and his is the perspective that we are forced to rely on for the real story.
The one thing that surprised me was how long Felix & Mildmay went before meeting. And I was indescribably pleased to see how the author did not dance around the point of their meeting - she brought them together, demonstrated the Plot Point, and moved on to the characters and overarching story.
You can pretty well tell that Monette is out to tell a long story. She sets up some fabulous things in this book, and she's not shy about it, either. The world-building is, of course, most necessary, but then there's her homage to Moria will crop up again, as will the rival magical schools, as will, I hope, some of the problems Mildmay encounters early on in the story.
But what this story really runs on is the bonds she forges between her protagonists as soon as they meet. I was a bit puzzled, at first, to note how close Mildmay would stick to this flash hocus he picked up without quite intending to, but it completely fits with the sheer charisma Felix has. Likewise, Mildmay exerts his own magnetic pull, no matter what he thinks on the matter.
The Roman and Greek nomenclature, the calendrical systems (a full explanation of which can be found on the website), and, oh I think I love her so very much for the Morskaiakrov! It's not just the vessel, but the description of her crew that gets me.
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LibraryThing member xicanti
It took me a while to decide whether I loved this book or just rather liked it It instantly struck a chord with me; the worldbuilding is wonderful, the characters are well-drawn and Monette does some wonderful things with voice and tone. And yet, it seemed to be taking a long time for much to
Then the two main characters finally came together, and there wasn't a doubt left in my mind. I absolutely loved this gorgeous, sprawling, utterly absorbing book.
As I mentioned above, Monette has a wonderful grasp of voice. The novel is written in alternating first person perspectives, and the two voices are so distinct that one can instantly tell whose voice is in play. The narratives also let the reader see just who these two characters are, illuminating them by showing us how they view and describe the world around them.
The many little stories and sidetrips work wonderfully to create a complex, multi-layered story. Each piece contributes to a gradual build-up that draws the reader in and leaves her wanting more. I was hard-pressed to put this down over the last hundred and fifty pages or so. It reminded me very strongly of authors like Ellen Kushner and Sandra Gulland, who have developed absorbing and unconventional plots by layering piece upon piece. Monette does much the same, and to great effect.
All in all, It was a fantastic read. The style definitely isn't for everyone, but I highly recommend that you at least give it a try. I've got plans to buy the rest of the series after work tomorrow; I need more, and I need it now.
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happen. I was never bored - to the contrary, I found the whole thing just fascinating - but I began to worry that it would never really come together. That all these fascinating tangents would be as random as they seemed, instead of the tantalizing puzzle pieces I hoped they would be.Then the two main characters finally came together, and there wasn't a doubt left in my mind. I absolutely loved this gorgeous, sprawling, utterly absorbing book.
As I mentioned above, Monette has a wonderful grasp of voice. The novel is written in alternating first person perspectives, and the two voices are so distinct that one can instantly tell whose voice is in play. The narratives also let the reader see just who these two characters are, illuminating them by showing us how they view and describe the world around them.
The many little stories and sidetrips work wonderfully to create a complex, multi-layered story. Each piece contributes to a gradual build-up that draws the reader in and leaves her wanting more. I was hard-pressed to put this down over the last hundred and fifty pages or so. It reminded me very strongly of authors like Ellen Kushner and Sandra Gulland, who have developed absorbing and unconventional plots by layering piece upon piece. Monette does much the same, and to great effect.
All in all, It was a fantastic read. The style definitely isn't for everyone, but I highly recommend that you at least give it a try. I've got plans to buy the rest of the series after work tomorrow; I need more, and I need it now.
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LibraryThing member lycomayflower
The first book in Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths series, Melusine drops the reader into the middle of a 17th-ish-century Europe-esque fantasy world where those who can wield magic hold political and social power. The story follows two denizens of the city of Melusine--Felix, a wizard with a
The details of the world Monette has built are rich, fascinating, and immersive, and much of what makes this such a great read comes from her ability to wrap the reader up in those details. However, striking the balance between over- and under-explaining in world-building is tricksy, and Monette may have erred a bit on the side of under-explaining here. I really felt dropped into this world, and the lack of any sense of big picture for the world in which the story takes place made the read a little claustrophobic. That effect may have worked well in telling the story, but I think a little bit more catching the reader up wouldn't have gone amiss (the calendar and counting systems still elude me, even after I looked up the author's own explanation of them on her website). Most of the filling-in and figuring-out I had to do while reading added to the experience and helped form the layers of the fantasy world, but some of it was just distracting.
But I was completely caught up in the story throughout, and the novel manages to avoid dragging in the middle (a frequent failure, I find, of fantasy novels). I was also equally invested in both Felix's and Mildmay's stories and points of view, which attests to Monette's ability to create interesting characters and keep the overall story moving despite working with parallel narrative lines. Melusine deals with some dark, dark stuff (abusive mind-games, rape, murder, torture, violence--it hits the hurt/comfort trope hard, mostly on the hurt end of things, at least in this entry in the series), but does so compellingly and without becoming depressing or squicky (for me--YMMV, of course). While the book does not end on a cliff-hanger, it does leave all kinds of plot threads and emotional arcs tantalizingly dangling, and I'm looking forward to getting my paws on the next book.
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secret past, and ex-street urchin and thief Mildmay--and switches between their points of view. Within the space of a few pages, both Felix and Mildmay become entangled in the political and magical struggles of the city through seemingly minor missteps of their own which end up utterly altering their lives.The details of the world Monette has built are rich, fascinating, and immersive, and much of what makes this such a great read comes from her ability to wrap the reader up in those details. However, striking the balance between over- and under-explaining in world-building is tricksy, and Monette may have erred a bit on the side of under-explaining here. I really felt dropped into this world, and the lack of any sense of big picture for the world in which the story takes place made the read a little claustrophobic. That effect may have worked well in telling the story, but I think a little bit more catching the reader up wouldn't have gone amiss (the calendar and counting systems still elude me, even after I looked up the author's own explanation of them on her website). Most of the filling-in and figuring-out I had to do while reading added to the experience and helped form the layers of the fantasy world, but some of it was just distracting.
But I was completely caught up in the story throughout, and the novel manages to avoid dragging in the middle (a frequent failure, I find, of fantasy novels). I was also equally invested in both Felix's and Mildmay's stories and points of view, which attests to Monette's ability to create interesting characters and keep the overall story moving despite working with parallel narrative lines. Melusine deals with some dark, dark stuff (abusive mind-games, rape, murder, torture, violence--it hits the hurt/comfort trope hard, mostly on the hurt end of things, at least in this entry in the series), but does so compellingly and without becoming depressing or squicky (for me--YMMV, of course). While the book does not end on a cliff-hanger, it does leave all kinds of plot threads and emotional arcs tantalizingly dangling, and I'm looking forward to getting my paws on the next book.
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LibraryThing member veevoxvoom
Sarah Monette has made a fan out of me. Melusine is dark and seductive, coupled with the kind of romantic world-building you would expect to find in Jacqueline Carey. Its title comes from its setting: the city of Melusine, a place of danger and intense eroticism. But unlike Carey's Terre D'Ange,
Melusine is the story of two men: Felix, who is a wizard of the Mirador, and Mildmay, a low-class thief and assassin. They have never met before, but when Felix is accused of treason and driven to insanity, he and Mildmay find out that they have a surprising connection. Mildmay then decides to help Felix and off start their rambling adventures to protect Felix from his enemies.
This novel has a lot of things going for one (one of which is blatant homosexuality! Whee!). The language is lush and the characters believable. Since Felix spends most of the novel insane, Mildmay is the more approachable of the two and it's very easy to like him. And since his job takes him around Melusine, you are instantly thrown into his world. As a result, the story can be episodic, with names and places dropped randomly. But that's the style of the first book in a series. I expect more coherence in later books, but Melusine is a tantalizing first bite. Brava, Sarah Monette, for such a fantastic debut.
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you spend as much time among the poor as you do among the nobility. People aren't always wearing gowns and crowns, which is refreshing.Melusine is the story of two men: Felix, who is a wizard of the Mirador, and Mildmay, a low-class thief and assassin. They have never met before, but when Felix is accused of treason and driven to insanity, he and Mildmay find out that they have a surprising connection. Mildmay then decides to help Felix and off start their rambling adventures to protect Felix from his enemies.
This novel has a lot of things going for one (one of which is blatant homosexuality! Whee!). The language is lush and the characters believable. Since Felix spends most of the novel insane, Mildmay is the more approachable of the two and it's very easy to like him. And since his job takes him around Melusine, you are instantly thrown into his world. As a result, the story can be episodic, with names and places dropped randomly. But that's the style of the first book in a series. I expect more coherence in later books, but Melusine is a tantalizing first bite. Brava, Sarah Monette, for such a fantastic debut.
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LibraryThing member sageness
Read while traveling. I didn't have a good reading environment for enjoying this until midway through, and then I was hooked. I need to reread the first half at least, though. I have a feeling I missed some important details.
...
Okay, I've reread enough to write a coherent review.
Mélusine was a
The world-building is incredibly vivid, although the crazy math system is very confusing. The trouble with it is that the immersion of the reader into the world-specific details is rapid and not entirely clear. The investment in the characters and their stories is enough to mostly make up for that, but it's still an unnecessary distraction from the reading experience.
Not many books satisfy my craving for detailed settings, but this has fabulous description that is at the same time in character for the point-of-view character to notice. Really beautifully done.
I was worried in a couple of scenes that things would descend to clichéd D&D dungeon-crawls, but they didn't. There were some really wonderful left turns that made the whole thing feel new, but also hearken back to a Tolkienesque legacy.
There are two more books in the series, and the happy ending of this one makes me want to pick up the next book *now*, but I admit I'm hoping that the worst of the horror done to Felix and Mildmay is over with.
3 stars instead of 4 because with hurt/comfort fic, I need a greater balance of comfort at the end than this gives to feel content with the ending.
...
Okay, I've reread enough to write a coherent review.
Mélusine was a
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much more intense, disturbing, and violent book than I was prepared for, and so reading it was in some places extremely disturbing. But if you don't get squicked by rape, torture, mindfucks, or insanity, then it's quite good. :)The world-building is incredibly vivid, although the crazy math system is very confusing. The trouble with it is that the immersion of the reader into the world-specific details is rapid and not entirely clear. The investment in the characters and their stories is enough to mostly make up for that, but it's still an unnecessary distraction from the reading experience.
Not many books satisfy my craving for detailed settings, but this has fabulous description that is at the same time in character for the point-of-view character to notice. Really beautifully done.
I was worried in a couple of scenes that things would descend to clichéd D&D dungeon-crawls, but they didn't. There were some really wonderful left turns that made the whole thing feel new, but also hearken back to a Tolkienesque legacy.
There are two more books in the series, and the happy ending of this one makes me want to pick up the next book *now*, but I admit I'm hoping that the worst of the horror done to Felix and Mildmay is over with.
3 stars instead of 4 because with hurt/comfort fic, I need a greater balance of comfort at the end than this gives to feel content with the ending.
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LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: Mildmay has been many things over his life - orphan, kept thief, assassin - but is currently making his living as a cat burglar in the slums of Mélusine. Felix Harrowgate lives at the other end of the social spectrum, as one of the powerful wizards who live in the Mirador, the city's
Review: I ultimately wound up enjoying this book, although it took me forever to read, and I really wasn't enjoying the first part of it at all (those last two issues are undoubtedly related). This book is very much character driven, not plot driven, and while that is very much its strength, it is also a weakness, particularly for a reader new to the series who is trying to get herself oriented to the world. There is a fair amount packed in right at the beginning - Malkar's use of Felix in the breaking of the Virtu happens before page 50, before the reader really has a handle on the world, on who these characters are, or for what it all really means. (Also, this book is not shy about a lot of really dark subjects, including one of the most brutal rape scenes I've ever read - and I've read A Song of Ice and Fire - and a lot of this horrible brutality is *also* front-loaded in the book.) So Monette sets her hook early on: what's going to happen to Felix? How does Mildmay fit into the story? However, she then follows it up with almost two hundred pages of very little happening. Felix has gone mad, and Mildmay has gone into hiding, and despite the structure of having brief chapters alternating between their two points of view, their storylines aren't intersecting at all, and this was the part where it really started to drag (especially the descriptions of Felix's madness, which just seemed to go on and on). The good news is that once Felix and Mildmay's stories do start to intersect, things got much more interesting. Their characters are complex and distinct, with very clear individual voices (which admittedly was a positive outcome of the slow first half of the book), and their interactions and growth over the second half of the book were hugely interesting, and what saved the book for me and made me interested in and excited about reading the sequels.
Another thing that I found challenging was Monette's style of worldbuilding. She did an excellent job of staying true to her character's voices, one outcome of which was that they knew a lot about the world that the reader didn't (they live in it, after all), and their narration would mention something - another country, a style of magic, a neighborhood, a slang term - without any explanation, since of course they knew what they meant. On the positive side, this meant that there were none of the flow-breaking infodumps that are common to many fantasy novels, but on the negative side, it meant that it was initially really hard for me to get absorbed in a world that I didn't really understand yet, as I would frequently come across a term or a reference I didn't recognize, and would struggle to figure out if it was something I should recognize but had forgotten, something I should be able to figure out from context, or something that was totally unfamiliar. Even something like a map would have helped me orient myself. I can appreciate the skill it takes to do the worldbuilding in this kind of naturalistic way, and I did have a much better feeling for things by the end of the book, but it made the early parts even more of a challenge to get into and get through.
Monette's writing is lovely; her characterizations are rich and multidimensional and true to their own voices - Felix is more cerebral and poetic; Mildmay's is earthier and more direct and full of gutter cant. (Mildmay's side of things actually reminded me a bit of The Lies of Locke Lamora, although without so much of the humor to lighten things up.) Overall, this is a dense book, but I think it's ultimately successful, and one that I think would actually improve with re-reading, and with the sequels. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: I'm reserving final judgement until I see what Monette does in the sequels with the world and the characters that she so laboriously built in this book. But on this book's merits alone, I'd say it's worth a try for people who are looking for character-driven high fantasy that's not a typical quest, good-vs-evil type plot, and are willing to stick it out for an (ultimately worthwhile) slow burn.
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citadel and hub of its magical powers. Felix also has a dark past, which he had thought he had escaped, until his former master and tutor reappears and ensnares him in his newest web of scheming and violence, leaving him broken in mind and spirit, even as the Virtu - the source of magical power at the heart of the Mirador - is broken. Mildmay, too, is having a difficult time; he's being hunted by some of the worst people in the city's underworld, and is barely surviving day to day before he's caught up in a finding charm cast by a magician… a magician who was looking for Felix.Review: I ultimately wound up enjoying this book, although it took me forever to read, and I really wasn't enjoying the first part of it at all (those last two issues are undoubtedly related). This book is very much character driven, not plot driven, and while that is very much its strength, it is also a weakness, particularly for a reader new to the series who is trying to get herself oriented to the world. There is a fair amount packed in right at the beginning - Malkar's use of Felix in the breaking of the Virtu happens before page 50, before the reader really has a handle on the world, on who these characters are, or for what it all really means. (Also, this book is not shy about a lot of really dark subjects, including one of the most brutal rape scenes I've ever read - and I've read A Song of Ice and Fire - and a lot of this horrible brutality is *also* front-loaded in the book.) So Monette sets her hook early on: what's going to happen to Felix? How does Mildmay fit into the story? However, she then follows it up with almost two hundred pages of very little happening. Felix has gone mad, and Mildmay has gone into hiding, and despite the structure of having brief chapters alternating between their two points of view, their storylines aren't intersecting at all, and this was the part where it really started to drag (especially the descriptions of Felix's madness, which just seemed to go on and on). The good news is that once Felix and Mildmay's stories do start to intersect, things got much more interesting. Their characters are complex and distinct, with very clear individual voices (which admittedly was a positive outcome of the slow first half of the book), and their interactions and growth over the second half of the book were hugely interesting, and what saved the book for me and made me interested in and excited about reading the sequels.
Another thing that I found challenging was Monette's style of worldbuilding. She did an excellent job of staying true to her character's voices, one outcome of which was that they knew a lot about the world that the reader didn't (they live in it, after all), and their narration would mention something - another country, a style of magic, a neighborhood, a slang term - without any explanation, since of course they knew what they meant. On the positive side, this meant that there were none of the flow-breaking infodumps that are common to many fantasy novels, but on the negative side, it meant that it was initially really hard for me to get absorbed in a world that I didn't really understand yet, as I would frequently come across a term or a reference I didn't recognize, and would struggle to figure out if it was something I should recognize but had forgotten, something I should be able to figure out from context, or something that was totally unfamiliar. Even something like a map would have helped me orient myself. I can appreciate the skill it takes to do the worldbuilding in this kind of naturalistic way, and I did have a much better feeling for things by the end of the book, but it made the early parts even more of a challenge to get into and get through.
Monette's writing is lovely; her characterizations are rich and multidimensional and true to their own voices - Felix is more cerebral and poetic; Mildmay's is earthier and more direct and full of gutter cant. (Mildmay's side of things actually reminded me a bit of The Lies of Locke Lamora, although without so much of the humor to lighten things up.) Overall, this is a dense book, but I think it's ultimately successful, and one that I think would actually improve with re-reading, and with the sequels. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: I'm reserving final judgement until I see what Monette does in the sequels with the world and the characters that she so laboriously built in this book. But on this book's merits alone, I'd say it's worth a try for people who are looking for character-driven high fantasy that's not a typical quest, good-vs-evil type plot, and are willing to stick it out for an (ultimately worthwhile) slow burn.
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LibraryThing member ktbarnes
While I appreciated the world-building aspect of Melusine, there were more cons than pros in this novel for me. Mildmay was a very fresh character with a very strong voice and I enjoyed his sections. Felix, on the other hand, had nothing going for him other than his madness, reading over and over
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about how he saw monsters got a little tiring. I thought the story was very slow to start. It read as if the author was feeling her way around this world before she could start the story. I also wish the novel would have been in third person. Alternating first person views just slows down the story. Show Less
LibraryThing member silentq
This is a fucking dark book. It starts off with one of the two narrators, Felix, being outed as a former prostitute and then raped physically, magically and mentally, and his being framed for a horrible crime. The other narrator is a cat burglar in the rough lower city and we know that he's
It was worth going to the author's website to see a map of the city and get an explanation of the calendar. She also has an lj at truepenny
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suffered his own trials. Their stories only barely intersect before the middle of the book, when a magician hires Mildmay to steal Felix from the mental hospital where he's been stuffed until the other magicians can get past his madness to figure out how the crime was committed. We spend a lot of time in Felix's head, he's not an unreliable narrator per se, but his perceptions are definitely skewed and he doesn't understand most of what's going on around himself. I didn't particularly like him when we was "himself", but understood Mildmay's frustration as he tried to keep Felix safe, mostly by having to play along with whatever the current delusion was. I liked it enough to request the next book from the library. One line that had me giggling was as Mildmay was working for passage, he's helping out the cook and says something like "When I'm given a potato to peel, I don't fuck around with it." :)It was worth going to the author's website to see a map of the city and get an explanation of the calendar. She also has an lj at truepenny
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LibraryThing member teratologist
I was a bit of a skeptic towards this book at first because A.) everyone, including but not limited to the book's own cover, keeps comparing it to the Kushiel's Pervs series and that is so not my cuppa that it's in an entirely different set of china, and B.) at first, Felix struck me as an
HOWEVER (spoilers)-->
once Felix went crazy I warmed up to him quite a bit. I also got to where I was admiring how well put-together the fake slang actually was, and then I got to where I was admiring the worldbuilding in general, and then I was enjoying the minor characters, and of course I loved Mildmay because everyone and their fucking uncle loves Mildmay (in reader-land, I mean, he could only dream of having that sort of problem in the world of the novel.) And by the time Felix got sane again, I'd decided that he wasn't so bad, and then he did a couple of things that made me really wanna give him a pet. And by the end my main complaint was that the sequel isn't out in paperback yet.
So:
Those of you who are into the whole Carey scene will, apparently, love this book.
Those of you who appreciate elaborate world-building and large casts and journeys that are more picaresque than the typical token-collecting quest plot and a smidgen of well-written angst will also enjoy this book.
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unlikeable character, not in the 'oh he does dreadful things but he's compelling' sense but in the 'man, am I going to have to spend almost five hundred pages with this guy?' sense. Also, at first I found the fake slang jarring and overdrawn.HOWEVER (spoilers)-->
once Felix went crazy I warmed up to him quite a bit. I also got to where I was admiring how well put-together the fake slang actually was, and then I got to where I was admiring the worldbuilding in general, and then I was enjoying the minor characters, and of course I loved Mildmay because everyone and their fucking uncle loves Mildmay (in reader-land, I mean, he could only dream of having that sort of problem in the world of the novel.) And by the time Felix got sane again, I'd decided that he wasn't so bad, and then he did a couple of things that made me really wanna give him a pet. And by the end my main complaint was that the sequel isn't out in paperback yet.
So:
Those of you who are into the whole Carey scene will, apparently, love this book.
Those of you who appreciate elaborate world-building and large casts and journeys that are more picaresque than the typical token-collecting quest plot and a smidgen of well-written angst will also enjoy this book.
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LibraryThing member pshaw
Being a total sucker for a good cover, I picked this up a couple of weeks ago. It was hard getting into at first, mainly because I wasn't following the slang or the "septad" measurements and all, so I felt hoeplessly lost. A short glossary would have been a handy thing, but once I was about a
When I fially got into the story, I could not put it down. People keep comparing it to "Kushiel's Legacy," but I don't really see that close of a resemblence. I have to admit I also like that series, so I suppose it's the same decadent atmosphere that links the two. From the opening, I would also have expected it to be steamier than it is. Ms. Monette's writing is what really pulled me along, and I simply love Mildmay. (Who doesn't?) His voice is compelling and genuine, and one of the novel's chief pleasures.
I await, with great anticipation, the next volume. Actually, I think I'll go over to the bookstore on my lunchbreak.
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chapter in (and they're long chapters) I felt like I had it down.When I fially got into the story, I could not put it down. People keep comparing it to "Kushiel's Legacy," but I don't really see that close of a resemblence. I have to admit I also like that series, so I suppose it's the same decadent atmosphere that links the two. From the opening, I would also have expected it to be steamier than it is. Ms. Monette's writing is what really pulled me along, and I simply love Mildmay. (Who doesn't?) His voice is compelling and genuine, and one of the novel's chief pleasures.
I await, with great anticipation, the next volume. Actually, I think I'll go over to the bookstore on my lunchbreak.
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LibraryThing member bechamp
This is a very dark book - and as a rule I don't do dark books, but the writing and characters are so fabulous that I was actively angry when I had to put it down to do something else, like work. It has been a long time since Ive been so sucked into a book; it was almost frightening. I tend to be a
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character-driven reader, and this book is highly character-driven. Fair warning though - none of the main characters are happy, and most of them have tortured pasts that continue to haunt them. Vividly. (See the "dark book" note above.) The use of language is incredible, and you just get carried along to the end, fascinated and often horrified, aching to find out what happens to everyone. Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
The first half of the book is flawless, but the second half is really a different story altogether, and it's really not quite as good. Still, I'll definitely be following Monette! (Melusine was her first book; she's already published two sequels, which I'm on the lookout for.)
Set in the
The first half of the book is a just gorgeous, original tense story that spirals deftly into tragedy... just wonderful.
The second part of the book deals more with Mildmay's encounters with a wizard, Felix, who is the victim of a plot to make him the scapegoat for intrigue at high levels, and is subject to a spell that makes him appear insane. His physical resemblance to Mildmay is remarkable, and leads the two to a connection that their different social classes render unlikely... it's also a good (well-better-than-average) story, but doesn't have the emotional impact of the first part of the book, and when the action leaves Monette's beautifully-realized city, the aesthetics falter a bit, entering a more typical-fantasy realm.
The only really unfortunate thing about this book is the cover (featuring a cheesy, hunky topless tattooed guy) - it's so embarrassingly bad that I took off the dust jacket to read it - and good luck suggesting the novel to a guy!
Set in the
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dark-fantasy city of Melusine, which of course is full of decadence, crime, romance, wealth & glamour and dire poverty - not to mention magic and danger - the main character is Mildmay, a young, scarred, dangerous but decent-at-heart thief. Hired by an out-of-his-league courtesan to steal some jewels that she believes are rightfully hers, Mildmay of course develops a fascination with the beautiful but not-so-streetwise woman.The first half of the book is a just gorgeous, original tense story that spirals deftly into tragedy... just wonderful.
The second part of the book deals more with Mildmay's encounters with a wizard, Felix, who is the victim of a plot to make him the scapegoat for intrigue at high levels, and is subject to a spell that makes him appear insane. His physical resemblance to Mildmay is remarkable, and leads the two to a connection that their different social classes render unlikely... it's also a good (well-better-than-average) story, but doesn't have the emotional impact of the first part of the book, and when the action leaves Monette's beautifully-realized city, the aesthetics falter a bit, entering a more typical-fantasy realm.
The only really unfortunate thing about this book is the cover (featuring a cheesy, hunky topless tattooed guy) - it's so embarrassingly bad that I took off the dust jacket to read it - and good luck suggesting the novel to a guy!
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LibraryThing member Jenson_AKA_DL
Felix is a charismatic wizard living with the fear of his past being discovered. Mildmay is a thief and former assassin living in the belly of Melusine. When a horrendous act against Felix drives him insane it leads to an epic journey which in turn takes him to Mildmay, across a country and into
As with some fantasy there is a lot of lead up in this book although I wouldn't say that this is detrimental. The lead serves to firmly establish the characters of Felix and Mildmay in our minds. The story is told from alternating points of view between the two characters and part of the appeal is the huge difference in views, this due in no small part to the fact that Felix is very, very insane. I actually really enjoyed Felix's parts. The author did a superb job of illuminating Felix's waxing and waning mentality both through his own eyes and ultimately through Mildmay's as well.
When reading well written books I often empathize with the character to the point where when they are happy, I smile, when they are distraught, my eyes will well up. It is not often that I care so much for characters that I literally feel enraged at a character for his actions. There is a part where I wanted to hop right into the book and box Felix's ears, even though I like him and felt him to be a very sympathetic character. Mildmay, for his part, surprised me. I remember thinking about halfway through the book, "there is no way this guy could have been an assassin. Can't the author see that!" However, I was surprised when later in the book that it became obvious I didn't know as much about the character as apparently the author did. It was a delightful moment of revelation. One other thing, there is quite a bit of profanity in the book which usually bugs me. In this case it was understandable once you got to know everyone better and eventually Mildmay's favorite saying grew on me to the point I better make sure I don't slip up and say it out loud myself!
Overall I enjoyed this book very much. The characters were wonderful although, like with most fantasy duos, they were much better together than apart and I was a little sad that they were apart for the majority of the story. On the other hand the build up and separation made me much more grateful for the times they were together. I am certainly going out to get the next of the series (probably today) and I look forward to reading more of the adventure.
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danger he can not hope to survive against.As with some fantasy there is a lot of lead up in this book although I wouldn't say that this is detrimental. The lead serves to firmly establish the characters of Felix and Mildmay in our minds. The story is told from alternating points of view between the two characters and part of the appeal is the huge difference in views, this due in no small part to the fact that Felix is very, very insane. I actually really enjoyed Felix's parts. The author did a superb job of illuminating Felix's waxing and waning mentality both through his own eyes and ultimately through Mildmay's as well.
When reading well written books I often empathize with the character to the point where when they are happy, I smile, when they are distraught, my eyes will well up. It is not often that I care so much for characters that I literally feel enraged at a character for his actions. There is a part where I wanted to hop right into the book and box Felix's ears, even though I like him and felt him to be a very sympathetic character. Mildmay, for his part, surprised me. I remember thinking about halfway through the book, "there is no way this guy could have been an assassin. Can't the author see that!" However, I was surprised when later in the book that it became obvious I didn't know as much about the character as apparently the author did. It was a delightful moment of revelation. One other thing, there is quite a bit of profanity in the book which usually bugs me. In this case it was understandable once you got to know everyone better and eventually Mildmay's favorite saying grew on me to the point I better make sure I don't slip up and say it out loud myself!
Overall I enjoyed this book very much. The characters were wonderful although, like with most fantasy duos, they were much better together than apart and I was a little sad that they were apart for the majority of the story. On the other hand the build up and separation made me much more grateful for the times they were together. I am certainly going out to get the next of the series (probably today) and I look forward to reading more of the adventure.
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LibraryThing member ShellyS
First, an admission. I don't read fantasy as a rule. I have read some. Urban fantasies mostly. This isn't an urban fantasy. And I read it only because I read the author's LiveJournal and I like to read the books of authors I get to know online. And I've been sitting on this book for a week since
See, because I don't read much fantasy, I'm not up on all the tropes of the genre. And that affects how I want to describe what I experienced reading it. I can say this: I devoured this book. And it's sequel, and I'm already reading book 3 of what appears to be a 4-part series.
Plot-wise, there's Felix Harrowgate, a disciple from a young age of an evil wizard. Felix has left his gutter life past behind, becoming a powerful and noble wizard of the Mirador in the city of Melusine. But his past won't let him escape, and Malkar, the evil wizard, uses Felix's magic to destroy the Virtu, the huge crystal that channels the magic of the Mirador's wizards. Felix, driven mad by the act, is the one blamed for the destruction.
Then there's Mildmay the Fox, a former kept-thief and assassin now making his living as a cat burglar. And things are not going well. But they get far worse when a crippled wizard's summoning spell snares Mildmay instead of its intended target: Felix.
And here's where I figure some fantasy tropes kick in big time. Felix and Mildmay's lives intersect (and I figured out how, but that might have been standard fantasy fare for all I know) as the two of them, mad Felix and pragmatic Mildmay, wind up on a quest that could doom them both.
I don't want to give anything away. I'm not sure how to review the second book without revealing too much of this one. Suffice it to say Melusine has magic, violence, sensual sex scenes, lush prose, and well drawn characters. I grew quite fond of Felix, but I fell in love with Mildmay. And I've been very happy to spend time in their company.
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finishing it, trying to digest it and figure out what to say about it.See, because I don't read much fantasy, I'm not up on all the tropes of the genre. And that affects how I want to describe what I experienced reading it. I can say this: I devoured this book. And it's sequel, and I'm already reading book 3 of what appears to be a 4-part series.
Plot-wise, there's Felix Harrowgate, a disciple from a young age of an evil wizard. Felix has left his gutter life past behind, becoming a powerful and noble wizard of the Mirador in the city of Melusine. But his past won't let him escape, and Malkar, the evil wizard, uses Felix's magic to destroy the Virtu, the huge crystal that channels the magic of the Mirador's wizards. Felix, driven mad by the act, is the one blamed for the destruction.
Then there's Mildmay the Fox, a former kept-thief and assassin now making his living as a cat burglar. And things are not going well. But they get far worse when a crippled wizard's summoning spell snares Mildmay instead of its intended target: Felix.
And here's where I figure some fantasy tropes kick in big time. Felix and Mildmay's lives intersect (and I figured out how, but that might have been standard fantasy fare for all I know) as the two of them, mad Felix and pragmatic Mildmay, wind up on a quest that could doom them both.
I don't want to give anything away. I'm not sure how to review the second book without revealing too much of this one. Suffice it to say Melusine has magic, violence, sensual sex scenes, lush prose, and well drawn characters. I grew quite fond of Felix, but I fell in love with Mildmay. And I've been very happy to spend time in their company.
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LibraryThing member terriko
Very reminiscent of Guy Gavriel Kay, in a good way: heavy on the politics and people within a slightly fantasy world.
I will caution that early in the novel there is some pretty unpleasant sexual violence. Not for the squeamish, and not a pleasant happy read.
My other complaint is that it was
I will caution that early in the novel there is some pretty unpleasant sexual violence. Not for the squeamish, and not a pleasant happy read.
My other complaint is that it was
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downright humiliating to read this on the bus because it looked like borderline fantasy smut if you only saw the cover! Show Less
LibraryThing member narwhaltortellini
This is one of those books that makes me want to wave it above my head and say, 'THIS is the kind of fantasy I like. THIS is the kind of any-book I like.' ...Only then I have so many reservations about it I feel silly saying so.
The book is about pretentious drama queen wizard Felix who goes insane
There are two distinct parts to this book. The before they meet part, taking up about 2/3 of the book, and the after. In the whole scene of things (considering the rest of the books in the series), the before they meet is pretty much just set up for the Real Story of this series. But yeah, it just so happens to take up more than half the first book. Yes, the book has pacing issues. Or so I'm told. Cause on the other hand, I was warned before starting, and perhaps I was just ready for it and so happy with the parts I did like that I barely felt at least that aspect of it.
In the first half, I liked the world building and the characters, but was slightly annoyed by the dragging in certain parts of Felix's POV. The town of Melusine is a lot like all those other big towns you read about in fantasy novels, only you get to know this one. Random teaspoonfuls of history and character are dropped out everywhere. And when I say I liked the characters, that's right, I even liked Felix. I think there are some problems with his character building/development (which I would usually attribute to him being INSANE for a great deal for most of the book, only the problems persist long after he's gotten rid of the crazies. still, it's easier to ignore when he's insane), but he's ok. I certainly felt sorry for him, though the second book of the series, I DID end up having more problems with the character. And, well, there simply isn't a way to not like Mildmay. Other characters are alright, though usually not as interesting, and always more interesting when described from Mildmay's point of view. The slow movement of the plot is so much easier to overlook because these strengths are really what the book's about anyway. You sit in crazy lil' Felix's mind and just soak up what it's like to be crazy lil' Felix wanting desperately to tell someone what's going on and not being able to. Unfortunately, Felix's character mostly commonly tends to hit only a few different notes, what with being crazy, and the feeling that he really can't help himself tends to make things drag, especially during his stay in a mental hospital. Fortunately this is somewhat alleviated by the fact that the changes between his POV and Mildmay's are quite rapid, which I would usually find incredibly annoying and somehow here find to be wonderfully balanced. Also, Felix's bouts of crazy are at least interesting, if rather static.
But I'm a fun-character-interaction obsessee, and that makes the second half of the book like so much wonderful yummyness. Felix and Mildmay set of across the country together, but it's not about the citys they go or fights with soldiers and monsters they get into. It's about Felix trying stay sane enough to get through it, and Mildmay trying to stay sane despite dealing with Felix. Mildmay's utter exasperation with the ridiculousness of everything he has to deal with comes through so well you oftentimes laugh with frustration and pity for him. And while many would be tempted to make Mildmay the ever-patient bleeding heart savior of Felix, he's just a normal guy who really wants to help but really is just a normal guy who snarks at everything and loses his temper and half the time feels like all this is going to throw him into a fit of hysterics. Obviously Mildmay shines more through this as during his crazies Felix's character still mostly has only a few different modes, but we still feel for him, and through Mildmay's eyes he is often truly creepy. Much like Mildmay though, I often wished he was less crazy more often. The crazy version was indeed interesting, but the sane one has more potential for interesting development, and my desire to see that was increased even more now that he had Mildmay to play off of.
The whole journey is fraught with the clashing of their less than well-blending personalities when Felix is lucid, and Felix's crazy and Mildmay's (pity-inducingly) sane when he is not. The bonding of the two is subtle and barely perceptible, and how two people even DO bond whilst not really getting along and barely getting to know each other what with all the awful still seems understandable and yet indescribable, but the desperate need the two feel to stay with one another after the journey the reader feels right along with them, even with all the ridiculously obvious both psychological and material reasons they really do have for going their separate ways.
It's royally messed up, and absolutely fantastic to read. The flaws can be irritating, especially as they move on and in some cases worsen as they move on in to the second volume of the series. When I talk to people about this book, we much too often end up talking about all the things that pissed us off about it. But really, the flaws stick out because the rest is so great. And even with them, it's still much, much more interesting and entertaining than so many of the things I read.
The book is about pretentious drama queen wizard Felix who goes insane
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after his powers are manipulated to destroy Big Magical Object of Specialness That Protecteth the City, and the snarky cat burglar Mildmay that was fool enough to decide to help him. It's one of those quest fantasies. The kind I always want to read but give up because they suck. Only this one doesn't. Awesome.There are two distinct parts to this book. The before they meet part, taking up about 2/3 of the book, and the after. In the whole scene of things (considering the rest of the books in the series), the before they meet is pretty much just set up for the Real Story of this series. But yeah, it just so happens to take up more than half the first book. Yes, the book has pacing issues. Or so I'm told. Cause on the other hand, I was warned before starting, and perhaps I was just ready for it and so happy with the parts I did like that I barely felt at least that aspect of it.
In the first half, I liked the world building and the characters, but was slightly annoyed by the dragging in certain parts of Felix's POV. The town of Melusine is a lot like all those other big towns you read about in fantasy novels, only you get to know this one. Random teaspoonfuls of history and character are dropped out everywhere. And when I say I liked the characters, that's right, I even liked Felix. I think there are some problems with his character building/development (which I would usually attribute to him being INSANE for a great deal for most of the book, only the problems persist long after he's gotten rid of the crazies. still, it's easier to ignore when he's insane), but he's ok. I certainly felt sorry for him, though the second book of the series, I DID end up having more problems with the character. And, well, there simply isn't a way to not like Mildmay. Other characters are alright, though usually not as interesting, and always more interesting when described from Mildmay's point of view. The slow movement of the plot is so much easier to overlook because these strengths are really what the book's about anyway. You sit in crazy lil' Felix's mind and just soak up what it's like to be crazy lil' Felix wanting desperately to tell someone what's going on and not being able to. Unfortunately, Felix's character mostly commonly tends to hit only a few different notes, what with being crazy, and the feeling that he really can't help himself tends to make things drag, especially during his stay in a mental hospital. Fortunately this is somewhat alleviated by the fact that the changes between his POV and Mildmay's are quite rapid, which I would usually find incredibly annoying and somehow here find to be wonderfully balanced. Also, Felix's bouts of crazy are at least interesting, if rather static.
But I'm a fun-character-interaction obsessee, and that makes the second half of the book like so much wonderful yummyness. Felix and Mildmay set of across the country together, but it's not about the citys they go or fights with soldiers and monsters they get into. It's about Felix trying stay sane enough to get through it, and Mildmay trying to stay sane despite dealing with Felix. Mildmay's utter exasperation with the ridiculousness of everything he has to deal with comes through so well you oftentimes laugh with frustration and pity for him. And while many would be tempted to make Mildmay the ever-patient bleeding heart savior of Felix, he's just a normal guy who really wants to help but really is just a normal guy who snarks at everything and loses his temper and half the time feels like all this is going to throw him into a fit of hysterics. Obviously Mildmay shines more through this as during his crazies Felix's character still mostly has only a few different modes, but we still feel for him, and through Mildmay's eyes he is often truly creepy. Much like Mildmay though, I often wished he was less crazy more often. The crazy version was indeed interesting, but the sane one has more potential for interesting development, and my desire to see that was increased even more now that he had Mildmay to play off of.
The whole journey is fraught with the clashing of their less than well-blending personalities when Felix is lucid, and Felix's crazy and Mildmay's (pity-inducingly) sane when he is not. The bonding of the two is subtle and barely perceptible, and how two people even DO bond whilst not really getting along and barely getting to know each other what with all the awful still seems understandable and yet indescribable, but the desperate need the two feel to stay with one another after the journey the reader feels right along with them, even with all the ridiculously obvious both psychological and material reasons they really do have for going their separate ways.
It's royally messed up, and absolutely fantastic to read. The flaws can be irritating, especially as they move on and in some cases worsen as they move on in to the second volume of the series. When I talk to people about this book, we much too often end up talking about all the things that pissed us off about it. But really, the flaws stick out because the rest is so great. And even with them, it's still much, much more interesting and entertaining than so many of the things I read.
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LibraryThing member fictiontheory
Quick facts about the novel? Sort of high fantasy. Heavy on the sorcery, light on the sword - though. It's the story of Felix Harrowgate, a wizard in the city of Melusine at the royal court known as the Mirador and Mildmay the Fox, a thief who lives in the dirtier, lower parts of the city of
What I liked about the novel? Mildmay is a character that you can fall in love with from the first page. His narrative is inventive, sometimes funny, always honest, a little cut throat and told in the plain-speaking, almost uncomplaining voice of someone who's been hurt a lot but isn't whining about it. I liked that it could have two narrators and could still keep a cohesive story. I liked that the detail work on the worldbuilding was shiny and chrome-like, despite the fact that worldbuilding doesn't impress me much. I liked that the novel very much tried to be it's own novel and didn't, yanno, follow Tolkein around on a leash or anything. Always a plus with fantasy.
I like that the novel paced itself well up until the end. I stayed aware of what was going on. Especially with the lower city.
I especially loved the chase scene with Mildmay going over the roofs and this bit:
I took stock of my situation, real quick-like. The gargoyle was steady - nobody cut corners when they were doing stuff for Ver-Istenna. I edged my left foot a little farther onto the cornice, then braced my right foot against the wall and used the leverage to hook my right elbow over the gargoyle.
The fuckers on the roof gave me this snarky round of applause. (pg 26).
It pretty much cemented my love for Mildmay.
Mildmay's narrative is inventive in it's coziness and charm. Frankly, I wanted the entire novel to be all Mildmay all the time and just pretend like Felix didn't exist.
I also appreciated that there as open homosexuality included in the society without anyone feeling the need to suddenly give a four page explanation of why it's okay to be queer. I appreciate when anyone includes queerness in their universe, especially when they do it well.
Frankly, whenever a novel can equitably handle it's canon slash and it's canon het and do it such that I don't feel as though I'm supposed to deal with the boy-on-boy (Felix/Shannon) any different than the boy-on-girl (Mildmay/Ginevra), I want to give thanks.
For this and this alone, I will forgive a multitude of transgressions in a novel. Seriously.
As minor characters go, Mavortian and Bernard were the only two I could even keep straight. I liked them both pretty well, and even liked Bernard despite the fact that he hated Mildmay.
I also liked the descriptions and parts about the Lower City going into panic when the Virtu broke. Frankly, I wanted to stay with that story a lot longer. The Lower City is fascinating as a place, all by itself.
I also found myself wanting to know the stories behind everything, because the mythology of the place is utterly fascinating. I wanted to have Mildmay take me on a tour and tell me all the creepy wonderful bloody myths behind things. I wanted to hear the tales that the Lower City would tell me.
What tripped me up? I couldn't stand the character of Felix, and thus one half of the novel was absolutely tiresome to me. Felix has very few redeeming qualities. Not just as a person, but as a character. There's very little to make Felix interesting. He cries more than any other character in the whole of literature, he goes into histrionics at the slightest thing, and frankly his pain and suffering isn't interesting. He holds up a child he almost raped as mirror for his own pain. His abusive past rings hollow to me. Can't explain why, it just does.
Thing is this - tragedy comes from the loss of something good or valuable. Nothing Felix has or loses in the novel is good or valuable, so none of his misfortunes are tragedies.
He's also a gigantic pain in the ass to Mildmay, and won't repent of anything while poor Mildmay is suffering and confessing his sins. Even Felix's confession to Mildmay at the end of the book didn't mean anything. Okay, you told someone about your past. Big whoop.
Also, any character who starts out their narrative by describing light fixtures in great detail doesn't do much for me. If we did a quick tabulation, I bet the vast majority of Felix's sentences begin with "I" and are about his feelings - whereas Mildmay's are mostly about what he sees and what's going on around him. Very few times does Mildmay discuss his inner pain.
Thus, when Mildmay loses something, it's a tragedy.
The other thing that tripped me up was that the other characters in the novel were just bland beige to Mildmay and Felix with the exception of Mavortian and Bernard. Even the evil rapist villain didn't garner much interest from me. He sort of slinks off like a snake after biting.
There was a various, indistinguishable parade of prissy wizards from the Mirador who were deliberately made to be stupid when I didn't think it was necessary. There was Ginevra who's point in being in the novel has yet to occur to me.
The Mirador didn't really interest me that much. Not like the Lower City did. Probably because I don't really care about royal courts and high power political games in any genre. They look like big frouffy tea parties to me.
The naming of things bothered me a bit. There are some clear instances where things are invented names, and then there are instances where names are clearly derivative of historical cultures and that tends to throw me in novels, because if I see something that I clearly know is, say, Roman or French - then I wonder if we're in alternate universe on Earth or something and I want to know why in this fantasy city there's something clearly from *this* world hanging out.
There were Roman numerals used in one instance and I found myself saying, "Okay. We're using Roman numerals, but we've got a completely indecipherable calendrical system. How did we get the Roman system of numbers and not their calendar? Huh. And why is Mildmay telling a bunch of Russian sailors about the Germanic mythological character of Brunhilde?"
This is a personal quirk, though. It's attached to my reasons for being utterly unimpressed with worldbuilding, no matter how well done. Literarily, I can't find a justification for it being wrong. It was a minor distraction and didn't make me throw the book across the room or anything.
As is the fact that I kind of wish that Mildmay had said "fuck" a little less often. I get it, he's a thief, a low-class thief, and he isn't going to use polite speech. But there were some places where I thought that it wasn't all that necessary. Mildmay might not be at the highest social rung, but he is in no way stupid. He's quite clever and capable of thinking of something else.
Personal preference, though.
I also got mad at the ending because it was chopped off and not at all conclusive to the story. When you can read the preview of the sequel at the back of the book and it's like reading the same book, you know you got jipped. So somebody sold me a story I didn't get all of. It's kind of like I bought a slice of pizza without the crust. I can still enjoy the pizza, but I didn't get what I paid for.
Because the pizza maker obviously wants me to buy another two slices of pizza so I can get to the goddamn crust so the pizza maker is cutting them out of the center of the pizza like a crazy person.
I figure it like this: if you're going to run a scam like that, at least try to fool the people.
Final verdict - I give the novel E+ for Effort, and a B- overall. For all it's other sins, it's a damnably quick read and doesn't waste time. It tries to pull a triple lutz, and while it botched the landing, it tried. Gotta give credit there.
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Melusine and how their fates intertwine after Felix's evil former master rapes him and uses that to break the Virtu, magical object that holds the spells of the Mirador together. The breaking of the Virtu causes Felix to go mad and gradually draws Mildmay into the chain of events.What I liked about the novel? Mildmay is a character that you can fall in love with from the first page. His narrative is inventive, sometimes funny, always honest, a little cut throat and told in the plain-speaking, almost uncomplaining voice of someone who's been hurt a lot but isn't whining about it. I liked that it could have two narrators and could still keep a cohesive story. I liked that the detail work on the worldbuilding was shiny and chrome-like, despite the fact that worldbuilding doesn't impress me much. I liked that the novel very much tried to be it's own novel and didn't, yanno, follow Tolkein around on a leash or anything. Always a plus with fantasy.
I like that the novel paced itself well up until the end. I stayed aware of what was going on. Especially with the lower city.
I especially loved the chase scene with Mildmay going over the roofs and this bit:
I took stock of my situation, real quick-like. The gargoyle was steady - nobody cut corners when they were doing stuff for Ver-Istenna. I edged my left foot a little farther onto the cornice, then braced my right foot against the wall and used the leverage to hook my right elbow over the gargoyle.
The fuckers on the roof gave me this snarky round of applause. (pg 26).
It pretty much cemented my love for Mildmay.
Mildmay's narrative is inventive in it's coziness and charm. Frankly, I wanted the entire novel to be all Mildmay all the time and just pretend like Felix didn't exist.
I also appreciated that there as open homosexuality included in the society without anyone feeling the need to suddenly give a four page explanation of why it's okay to be queer. I appreciate when anyone includes queerness in their universe, especially when they do it well.
Frankly, whenever a novel can equitably handle it's canon slash and it's canon het and do it such that I don't feel as though I'm supposed to deal with the boy-on-boy (Felix/Shannon) any different than the boy-on-girl (Mildmay/Ginevra), I want to give thanks.
For this and this alone, I will forgive a multitude of transgressions in a novel. Seriously.
As minor characters go, Mavortian and Bernard were the only two I could even keep straight. I liked them both pretty well, and even liked Bernard despite the fact that he hated Mildmay.
I also liked the descriptions and parts about the Lower City going into panic when the Virtu broke. Frankly, I wanted to stay with that story a lot longer. The Lower City is fascinating as a place, all by itself.
I also found myself wanting to know the stories behind everything, because the mythology of the place is utterly fascinating. I wanted to have Mildmay take me on a tour and tell me all the creepy wonderful bloody myths behind things. I wanted to hear the tales that the Lower City would tell me.
What tripped me up? I couldn't stand the character of Felix, and thus one half of the novel was absolutely tiresome to me. Felix has very few redeeming qualities. Not just as a person, but as a character. There's very little to make Felix interesting. He cries more than any other character in the whole of literature, he goes into histrionics at the slightest thing, and frankly his pain and suffering isn't interesting. He holds up a child he almost raped as mirror for his own pain. His abusive past rings hollow to me. Can't explain why, it just does.
Thing is this - tragedy comes from the loss of something good or valuable. Nothing Felix has or loses in the novel is good or valuable, so none of his misfortunes are tragedies.
He's also a gigantic pain in the ass to Mildmay, and won't repent of anything while poor Mildmay is suffering and confessing his sins. Even Felix's confession to Mildmay at the end of the book didn't mean anything. Okay, you told someone about your past. Big whoop.
Also, any character who starts out their narrative by describing light fixtures in great detail doesn't do much for me. If we did a quick tabulation, I bet the vast majority of Felix's sentences begin with "I" and are about his feelings - whereas Mildmay's are mostly about what he sees and what's going on around him. Very few times does Mildmay discuss his inner pain.
Thus, when Mildmay loses something, it's a tragedy.
The other thing that tripped me up was that the other characters in the novel were just bland beige to Mildmay and Felix with the exception of Mavortian and Bernard. Even the evil rapist villain didn't garner much interest from me. He sort of slinks off like a snake after biting.
There was a various, indistinguishable parade of prissy wizards from the Mirador who were deliberately made to be stupid when I didn't think it was necessary. There was Ginevra who's point in being in the novel has yet to occur to me.
The Mirador didn't really interest me that much. Not like the Lower City did. Probably because I don't really care about royal courts and high power political games in any genre. They look like big frouffy tea parties to me.
The naming of things bothered me a bit. There are some clear instances where things are invented names, and then there are instances where names are clearly derivative of historical cultures and that tends to throw me in novels, because if I see something that I clearly know is, say, Roman or French - then I wonder if we're in alternate universe on Earth or something and I want to know why in this fantasy city there's something clearly from *this* world hanging out.
There were Roman numerals used in one instance and I found myself saying, "Okay. We're using Roman numerals, but we've got a completely indecipherable calendrical system. How did we get the Roman system of numbers and not their calendar? Huh. And why is Mildmay telling a bunch of Russian sailors about the Germanic mythological character of Brunhilde?"
This is a personal quirk, though. It's attached to my reasons for being utterly unimpressed with worldbuilding, no matter how well done. Literarily, I can't find a justification for it being wrong. It was a minor distraction and didn't make me throw the book across the room or anything.
As is the fact that I kind of wish that Mildmay had said "fuck" a little less often. I get it, he's a thief, a low-class thief, and he isn't going to use polite speech. But there were some places where I thought that it wasn't all that necessary. Mildmay might not be at the highest social rung, but he is in no way stupid. He's quite clever and capable of thinking of something else.
Personal preference, though.
I also got mad at the ending because it was chopped off and not at all conclusive to the story. When you can read the preview of the sequel at the back of the book and it's like reading the same book, you know you got jipped. So somebody sold me a story I didn't get all of. It's kind of like I bought a slice of pizza without the crust. I can still enjoy the pizza, but I didn't get what I paid for.
Because the pizza maker obviously wants me to buy another two slices of pizza so I can get to the goddamn crust so the pizza maker is cutting them out of the center of the pizza like a crazy person.
I figure it like this: if you're going to run a scam like that, at least try to fool the people.
Final verdict - I give the novel E+ for Effort, and a B- overall. For all it's other sins, it's a damnably quick read and doesn't waste time. It tries to pull a triple lutz, and while it botched the landing, it tried. Gotta give credit there.
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LibraryThing member syrella
I definitely enjoyed reading this book, despite considerable difficulty getting into it at first. It's got a very distinct "mode" to it and it can be hard to get into the proper mindset. It takes time to adjust. That said, once you do, you are in for a treat. It has a very lyrical and flowing style
Starting out, I can say quite honestly that I did not immediately like Mildmay and his way of speaking. I found it hard to follow and confusing. However, the more that I read, the more that I got hooked... and similarly, the more I realized that I actually DID understand what he was saying. I got used to the language and that helped bring Mildmay as a character to life for me.
What Sarah Monette does very well is use language and symbolism to her advantage. She knows what she is doing and I found it to be a single notch above other fantasy novels I've read. It has a certain literary flair to it. It has a distinct style.
Some people may be turned off by the violence at the beginning of the book. However, I wouldn't say that it is the focus of the book, though it is certainly there for a reason. Take it for what it's worth, as something that is meant to be unpleasant.
My overal opinion is that this is a book which requires an active reader. It has a lot of layers to it and it takes time to sift through it all. If you are interested in more passive entertainment, it is not for you. However, if you are willing to engage the book and immerse yourself in the world, it is worth the trouble.
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to it that feels very dreamlike. It is well worth the initial hurdle. Starting out, I can say quite honestly that I did not immediately like Mildmay and his way of speaking. I found it hard to follow and confusing. However, the more that I read, the more that I got hooked... and similarly, the more I realized that I actually DID understand what he was saying. I got used to the language and that helped bring Mildmay as a character to life for me.
What Sarah Monette does very well is use language and symbolism to her advantage. She knows what she is doing and I found it to be a single notch above other fantasy novels I've read. It has a certain literary flair to it. It has a distinct style.
Some people may be turned off by the violence at the beginning of the book. However, I wouldn't say that it is the focus of the book, though it is certainly there for a reason. Take it for what it's worth, as something that is meant to be unpleasant.
My overal opinion is that this is a book which requires an active reader. It has a lot of layers to it and it takes time to sift through it all. If you are interested in more passive entertainment, it is not for you. However, if you are willing to engage the book and immerse yourself in the world, it is worth the trouble.
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LibraryThing member lquilter
Wonderful. Characterization, plotting, world-building, writing. A few quibbles: The rape scene at the beginning -- I get it, but it seemed more like it was generated from a porny hurt/comfort fanfic idea than from any need within the magic Monette devised. The near-drowning at the end: I get the
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need to sustain a plot with action, but it seemed like a little too much. Anyway, the fanfic resonances, while they may detract from the literary qualities, made it work for me, because, hey, I like fanfic. Highly recommended even if you don't. Show Less
LibraryThing member angeltyuan
Plot/Themes- 4.5/5
My main attraction to this series is the theme of brothers and them working together and stuff, so it felt to me that it took a bit too long for them to finally meet. And then when they do meet, Felix is all semi-there and not-himself, so I don't really even know how Mildmay
The world building is quite detailed and creative, though I'm a little dubious of the supposed language consistencies and the good city vs. evil city thing.
Overall, I loved the brothers' story arc and the fantastic world-building, but felt it was a bit ambiguous in relationship semantics.
Characters - 4/5
The vulnerable!Felix is a bit too dependent/fragile, his entire character is based around running away from problems and lying and boatloads of degenerative self-pity, and he just seems a really worthless person being used and letting people use him. Felix' POVs were especially confusing, separating into various stages of coherency and cowardice that don't seem linked to any "personality", that I wonder if you can really call him a single character or multiple-personality disorder (or maybe his character growth was just that radical). Even towards the end, he's a bit of a drama queen, but he's redeemed myself for Mildmay so I don't dislike him as much.
I love Mildmay more than Felix (understatement), and thoroughly enjoyed his half of the narration. He's crude but kind and straightforward, and very snarky in his own head, even to himself. I liked his character arc of going through caring for Felix' issues and questioning himself and his methods. Also the distinct sense that Felix is probably the last person he connects to and his desperation to hold onto that last responsibility ♥
I liked the side characters too (though not most of the Mirador court), von Heber and Bernard were charming, and I liked Gideon's ambiguous motives, but the Sunlings seemed to have very little personality out of plot-device and deux ex machina...
Overall, the characters are all very unique, there are a wide spectrum from flats/dumbs to intelligent to rich to poor who are all given fair exploration as individuals.
Writing - 3/5
The flow is a bit jumpy here and there, especially with MildMay's very very bad grammar narration (I wouldn't have minded if it was just slang, but this is a bit far), and there were many over-used metaphor adjectives. The author also clearly went through the trouble to invent new names for stuff (ex. Months, number counters, occupations), but then reverted to using modern English slang in other areas of the book. There were also inconsistencies in quality, where some parts had wonderful plot points/events, while others were kinda rushed over (esp. when the brothers first meet, that was such a half-assed scene...or maybe she was trying too hard to give the Meet Scene a low-profile approach?)
Overall, it is readable if a bit frustratingly dull in places, or inconsistent.
My main attraction to this series is the theme of brothers and them working together and stuff, so it felt to me that it took a bit too long for them to finally meet. And then when they do meet, Felix is all semi-there and not-himself, so I don't really even know how Mildmay
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develops any form of relationship to Felix's pseudo-self. He tries so hard to protect him though, it's kind of heartbreaking when Felix doesn't/can't respond.The world building is quite detailed and creative, though I'm a little dubious of the supposed language consistencies and the good city vs. evil city thing.
Overall, I loved the brothers' story arc and the fantastic world-building, but felt it was a bit ambiguous in relationship semantics.
Characters - 4/5
The vulnerable!Felix is a bit too dependent/fragile, his entire character is based around running away from problems and lying and boatloads of degenerative self-pity, and he just seems a really worthless person being used and letting people use him. Felix' POVs were especially confusing, separating into various stages of coherency and cowardice that don't seem linked to any "personality", that I wonder if you can really call him a single character or multiple-personality disorder (or maybe his character growth was just that radical). Even towards the end, he's a bit of a drama queen, but he's redeemed myself for Mildmay so I don't dislike him as much.
I love Mildmay more than Felix (understatement), and thoroughly enjoyed his half of the narration. He's crude but kind and straightforward, and very snarky in his own head, even to himself. I liked his character arc of going through caring for Felix' issues and questioning himself and his methods. Also the distinct sense that Felix is probably the last person he connects to and his desperation to hold onto that last responsibility ♥
I liked the side characters too (though not most of the Mirador court), von Heber and Bernard were charming, and I liked Gideon's ambiguous motives, but the Sunlings seemed to have very little personality out of plot-device and deux ex machina...
Overall, the characters are all very unique, there are a wide spectrum from flats/dumbs to intelligent to rich to poor who are all given fair exploration as individuals.
Writing - 3/5
The flow is a bit jumpy here and there, especially with MildMay's very very bad grammar narration (I wouldn't have minded if it was just slang, but this is a bit far), and there were many over-used metaphor adjectives. The author also clearly went through the trouble to invent new names for stuff (ex. Months, number counters, occupations), but then reverted to using modern English slang in other areas of the book. There were also inconsistencies in quality, where some parts had wonderful plot points/events, while others were kinda rushed over (esp. when the brothers first meet, that was such a half-assed scene...or maybe she was trying too hard to give the Meet Scene a low-profile approach?)
Overall, it is readable if a bit frustratingly dull in places, or inconsistent.
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LibraryThing member ryvre
Amazing book!
The characters are well-rounded and the world is unique and interesting. It's easy to get lost in this book, and I was disappointed that it doesn't have a real ending. The story continues in the Virtu, though, so you don't have to wait to see how things turn out.
The characters are well-rounded and the world is unique and interesting. It's easy to get lost in this book, and I was disappointed that it doesn't have a real ending. The story continues in the Virtu, though, so you don't have to wait to see how things turn out.
LibraryThing member TerrapinJetta
Sarah Monette's characterisation, specifically of Mildmay is absolutely outstanding. I'm less enchanted with the plotline, but I'll be buying the second one just because it'll have more Mildmay. Gets four stars for quality of writing rather than plot.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
An interesting story of power and control, of secrets and lies and of powerful enemies. Two men come together and have to fight both their past and the present to try to improve their lives and the lives of others.
I found it an interesting story and liked the characters, there were elements that
I found it an interesting story and liked the characters, there were elements that
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felt a little forced but was quite interesting, I'm looking forward to more of this author. There's a lot of potential here. Show Less
LibraryThing member kendosam
I thought this book was very interesting. It took a very different direction from the classic fantasy plotlines. there is some very interesting character development and all in all it makes for a very entertaining story and a complex fantasy world.
LibraryThing member nilchance
Drinking game: take a shot if Felix weeps.
I love Monette's sense of style, but her characterization is weak. That combined with her troubling racism will keep me from continuing with this series.
I love Monette's sense of style, but her characterization is weak. That combined with her troubling racism will keep me from continuing with this series.
Subjects
Awards
SF Site Reader's Choice (2005)
Gaylactic Spectrum Award (Nominee — Novel — 2006)
IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (Finalist — 2006)
Otherwise Award (Long list — 2005)
Locus Recommended Reading (First Novel — 2005)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2005-08
Physical description
490 p.; 4.22 inches
ISBN
0441014178 / 9780441014170