Luck in the Shadows - Chapter Forty-One

[kalinara]

So last time, we had the climactic confrontation, a daring escape, and a second climactic confrontation! Not too bad at all.

( But now, the aftermath! )

Luck in the Shadows - Verdict

[kalinara]

So, per my verdict tag, this is the twentieth thing I've reviewed for this blog. Wow. I feel weirdly proud and productive!

Let's get onto things!

So does "Luck in the Shadows" pass the test of time?

I think it does. I found it pretty enjoyable. There were flaws, the pacing was a little uneven, and I think the plot was a little scattered, but the characters are likable and reasonably layered and I had fun reading it.

I do feel a little sheepish that I made such a big deal about this being the first expressly queer book that I've reviewed for this blog, when the characters don't actually get together until book two. That said, there is at least the acknowledgment that non-straight people can and do exist in this universe. There are brothels that cater to people of all sexualities (it's a pet peeve of mine when we only see heterosexual sex work. As though gay people don't spend money). As dark as it is, there's an acknowledgment that rape is a risk for men and boys as well as women. And of course, there's Seregil, who is an expressly bisexual lead character, regardless of his relationship status.

I could wish that Alec was a little older. I know that we're dealing with a setting that may well define maturity different from ours, but I'd still feel better if he were eighteen rather than sixteen. There's nothing about his personality or skill set that would change if he were a couple of years older. But that's a relatively small complaint.

Since I started there though, let's talk about Characters:

I like the characters. They're the strongest part of the book.

Alec is a great viewpoint character. He's clever, observant, and easy to like. He learns fast (maybe a little too fast at times), but still has an emotional vulnerability that works for him. And I've always enjoyed partnerships where the younger/less experienced person is the calm, practical one.

And while I do wish that Alec was a little older, it's only because I do see the roots and slow development of the romantic relationship. It's not an equal partnership, at least not yet, but I can see how eventually it can become so. Alec's inexperience isn't insurmountable, and once he has a bit more confidence and willingness to speak up for himself, I think they'll balance very well.

I do wish that the narrative allowed Alec a little more space to react to some of the truly horrifying things that have happened to him. There's the torture at the beginning, quickly forgotten, then the trauma and turmoil of dragging a hallucinating mentor across a country while trying to keep them both alive, and then the confusion of adapting to a way of life completely alien to everything that he's known. I appreciate that Alec is meant to be quietly resilient, and it's possible that his habit of burying his trauma will come back to bite him later, but it feels a bit neglected at the moment.

Seregil can be annoying, but it's kind of an intentional annoying. He's a snarky mess of a person, and I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be rolling my eyes at him sometimes.

I do find him believable competent and intelligent. He's a decent mentor when he pulls his head out of his ass and remembers that he's dealing with someone very young and inexperienced. And Alec is both composed and competent enough that I can understand why Seregil occasionally forgets that he's dealing with a kid.

I enjoy his relationships with Micum, Nysander and especially Thero. And in the case of the latter, I appreciate that Flewelling has given the rivalry layers. Thero isn't Dorse or Pona, he's not poor Seregil's bully. If anything, Seregil comes across as the more of the provocateur, with Thero giving back as good as he gets.

I find I like Thero a lot more and Nysander a lot less in this readthrough.

Thero is fun because he has the same exasperation with Seregil that I have. And honestly, while I understand why Alec finds him off-putting, I think his demeanor reads more abrupt and awkward than intentionally snobby. I think I mentioned in one of the chapters that I thought Thero actually came across more autistic than anything else.

Nysander isn't a bad character. He suffers from the "I am the knowledgeable wizard and therefore I can't tell anyone anything useful" syndrome, but he has his moments. I appreciated the humanity he showed after Barien's disgrace and death, particularly. But I can't quite get over how truly terrible a mentor he is. The fact that he's willing to tell a complete stranger that he doesn't particularly like his apprentice. The fact that he very obviously and repeatedly favors his former apprentice over his current one. And I mean, okay, sometimes people just don't like each other, but Nysander is the master here! He could fucking fake it. I'd argue that it's his job to fucking fake it, at least until the kid graduates.

The rivalry between Seregil and Thero, while entertaining, is so unnecessary. It's CLEARLY driven by mutual jealousy. Seregil resents Thero for taking his place. Thero resents Seregil's importance to Nysander. IT WOULD BE SO EASY for Nysander to put a stop to this. It would be SO EASY for him to remind Seregil that, as a Watcher, he is still very important to Nysander and in a valuable role that suits his abilities and talents. It would be SO EASY for Nysander to reassure his apprentice that while he loves Seregil like a son, he also respects and values Thero in his own right. You know, instead of shaking his head and telling a random sixteen year old that they don't get along.

It's not just Thero though. Nysander's also pretty awful to Seregil. He may love him like a son, but he also repeatedly manipulates him and keeps important information from him, then gets upset when Seregil goes off to get his own information. And anyone who's known Seregil for a minute would have called that one. Alec would have called that back in the keep, while still chained up and awaiting more torture.

Micum is fun in his own right, but his real significance is as a foil for Seregil. They'd been true partners once, but they're not really matched anymore. Micum's older, settled. He has a wife and a family. His daughter is older than Alec. Seregil, as an Aurenfaie, is perpetually twenty-five. And he acts twenty-five. Micum's long outgrown him.

Because of Micum, we can appreciate Seregil's loneliness. He's the only prominent Aurenfaie that we know about in Skala. His friends, like Micum and that lovely older courtesan woman, are all leaving him behind as they move into other stages of their lives. Eventually, they're going to die. And Seregil will still be young, in both body and personality. It's no wonder that he clings to Nysander and Oreska House. They're as unaging as he is. Hell, it even adds a layer to his rivalry with Thero: it's childish and petty, but it's childish and petty with someone who's willing to be just as childish and petty back, for decades!

So now that we've discussed characters, let's discuss Plot:

This was weaker. The plot kind meandered all over the place until they got to Skala, when it tightened up into a court intrigue storyline. It wasn't bad, but I think I would have liked to see more focus on Alec's apprenticeship and his adaptation to a way of life that's completely alien to what he's ever known. Honestly, in retrospect, it feels like there really wasn't much developed in terms of Seregil and Alec's mentor-student relationship. There was Alec's recruitment, then Seregil's illness basically put a stop to any of those early lessons and left Alec to sink or swim, then some preliminary introduction to the city, then his lessons with Micum and Beka, then Seregil gets framed, and then we barrel immediately into conspiracies and counterplots.

Alec and Seregil have a lot of chemistry, but I feel like we saw far more of Alec learning from Micum, Beka, and on his own, out of desperation, than we saw him learn from Seregil, and that's a shame. I wonder if the neglect is because of Alec and Seregil's eventual romantic relationship. Maybe Flewelling thinks that the romantic relationship might take on some unpleasant undertones if there was more focus on their (currently) unequal dynamic?

But all in all, it was fun. The characters got to showcase their talents. They had good chemistry with each other. I wasn't bored. It was a first novel, and that showed, but it was a fun first novel. So there we go.