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i_read_whatSo we've kind of reached a milestone in this series. Last time, we hit the point where the books actually become outright decent reads. (Track of the White Wolf had the first tolerable lead character, but a few too many scattered plots to be a coherent narrative.)
Daughter of the Lion, as I recall, is also a pretty decent read. It's got a coherent plot and a lead character that isn't a rapist or a monster. It's also the first time since Shapechangers that we actually have a female lead character and the narrative even tries to be somewhat feminist!
As a feminist myself, I support this idea. However, as a feminist myself, I'm also going to be judging the book on how well Roberson executes it. In a way, it's probably not fair. I didn't judge Pride of Princes on this ground, after all. If anything, it got praised for hitting what should be a very low bar (in that it actually had a lead character openly worried about a woman's consent and potential exploitation.)
I'm not going to be as tolerant to Daughter of the Lion in that respect. Like Ginger Rogers, Keely's book is going to have to do what Pride of Princes did, but backwards and in high heels. Because if you promise me a book about a female lead character who is introduced challenging the sexism of the setting as well as her own role in the story, then I want it to deliver.
And I'm not about to give any slack to the author that gave us Alix, manipulated into a rapist romance at the age of seventeen, Electra, forced into an unwilling marriage and demonized for it, Sorcha, who exists only to complicate Donal's choice and kills herself as an attack on another woman, Aislinn who is violated and violates in turn, and promptly dies off screen because she has no role after her husband's death, or Gisella, sent back to her abusers for the inconvenience of being the woman that Niall doesn't love.
Roberson has a lot to make up for.
Now this is a nostalgia themed blog, so I have read this before. A long time ago. I remember some very good parts and some very frustrating parts. But I don't really want to tell other people how to read this book. Some folks, like the TOR reviewer that I mention periodically as my unknowing arch-nemesis, really loved this book. And maybe, with fresh eyes, I will too.
But we're not starting on level ground here. Roberson is going to have to EARN this.
There's another issue too. If you recall, one point of criticism I've had throughout the series is how basically, with the possible exception of Isolde (who is never clearly described, for some reason), we haven't had a positive depiction of a female character who LOOKS Cheysuli.
I'm overstepping a little here, with this complaint. I get that. I'm white and I really need to be cautious about this issue. I recognize that being of mixed race is complicated and the idea of "passing privilege" is flawed.
But I do feel like it's worth noting that this female character, daughter of dark-complected, yellow eyed Gisella, who identifies very heavily with her Cheysuli side in contrast with more Erinnish Maeve is depicted like this:
It's not Keely's fault that she's described and depicted as a white, blond woman with some vague indigenous stylistic traits. But it's hard not to read into it.
But enough preamble and opening critique. Let's get started.
The book actually starts off with a map and a quick overview of the first five books in the series. That seems fairly reasonable as a lot of time and a lot of events have past.
And it's probably for the best, since my introduction went a little negative (for reasons that are not Keely's fault) and I'd like to give her a fair shake.
So today, we're just going to talk about this introduction.
The map is standard. The same one in each book. We start off with Atvia and Erinn on the west, all the way to Falia, the Steppes and Caledon on the east. It's actually a little weird to me that she never updated the map. Since the Eastern half of the continent hasn't really been relevant since Carillon's book - and even then, it was only the location where he'd hung out for five in exile, it might have been better to just omit that part and zoom in on the four kingdoms that actually matter to the storyline.
But that's a pretty mild complaint, all things considered.
The overview starts us off with the prophecy that has dominated the motivations of the characters since the tail end of Legacy of the Sword:
"One day a man of all blood shall unite, in peace, four warring realms and two magical races."
They don't include the part about the lion lying down with the witch. I'm not sure if Roberson's come up with that or not at this point in the story.
We're given a brief history of the realm. The Cheysuli once ruled Homana, but growing unrest among the non-magical Homanan population "threatened to tear the realm apart", so the Cheysuli stepped down to allow Homanans to rule Homana.
This leads to some interesting questions, I realize. First of all, the Cheysuli (and Ihlini, presumably), are the descendants of the "Firstborn" who originally ruled the realms. So where did the native Homanans come from? For that matter, where did the Erinnish, Atvian, and Solindish people come from. Did they come from the eastern side of the continent? Because it's still a little weird to me that the kingdom that we're uniting in this story is only one half of the continent plus two islands.
Are the Ellasians, Steppe-folk, Falians and Caledonians native to their own land?
How did the Cheysuli end up ruling Homanans anyway? Did they just settle into the lands and subject themselves to Cheysuli rule? Why did they think giving power up to a race that distrusts them would be a good idea?
I'm not asking these questions as criticism. I'm genuinely curious about the foundation of this land.
But anyway, we're told the clans withdraw from Homanan society with one exception: each Homanan king (still called a Mujhar) must have a Cheysuli liege man as "bodyguard, councillor, companion, dedicated to serving the throne and protecting the Mujhar, until such time as the prophecy is fulfilled and the Firstborn rule again."
I'd also like to know how this tradition came about. Who was the first liegeman? How are liegemen chosen, anyway? Is it an ancestral thing too? Finn did follow Hale, but there were extenuating circumstances there. I'd imagine the Homanan kings didn't know about the prophecy fulfilment or Firstborn return side of the arrangement.
We're told that the tradition continued until "Lindir, the only daughter of Shaine the Mujhar, jilted her prospective bridegroom to elope with Hale, her father's Cheysuli liege man. Because the jilted bridegroom was the heir of a neighboring king, Bellam of Solinde, and because their marriage was meant to seal an alliance after years of bloody war, the elopement resulted in tragic consequences. Shaine concocted a web of lies to salve his obsessive pride, and in so doing laid the groundwork for the annihilation of a race. Declared sorcerers and demons dedicated to the downfall of the Homanan throne, the Cheysuli were summarily outlawed and sentenced to immediate execution if found within Homanan borders."
It still annoys me how Hale and Lindir's relationship always seems to be blamed on Lindir. I mean, she did act selfishly, of course. And as a princess, presumably raised with knowledge of diplomacy and politics, she must have realized that this could go very badly. Even so, she was sixteen. While Hale was a grown man who already had one child and apparently a good couple of decades serving Shaine. I guess it makes sense that the modern characters, as members of a royal family and raised with the idea of political marriage, would focus on the effects of Lindir not following her duty.
But it's still annoying.
As usual, the summary of Shapechangers, makes it sound much better than the book actually was. We're told how Alix was raised Homanan, ignorant of her abilities, until she was kidnapped (along with Carillon) by Finn. We're told she learns the true power in her gifts, the nature of the prophecy that rules the Cheysuli, and eventually marries a warrior named Duncan, to whom she bears a son, Donal, and "much later", a daughter Bronwyn.
1) It really does sound better when you leave out all the rape threats, the manipulation, the "no, I'm marrying this woman, how dare you refuse to be my mistress" bullshit, the domestic abuse, and the rest.
2) I don't actually recall Alix learning much of anything about the prophecy. They barely explained tahlmorra to her.
3) Also, while eight years isn't a small age difference between siblings, I don't know that I'd use "much later" to describe it.
The summary of Song of Homana is pretty good. Though it leaves off the homoerotic tension between Finn and Carillon. It also tells us that he married "Bellam's daughter to seal peace between the lands, but Electra has already cast her lot with Tynstar the Ihlini, and works against her Homanan husband." Which is a very tame way of saying he forced her into marriage against her will and was shocked that she held the same loyalties that she said she held all along.
Oh, and his failure to father a son "forces" him to betroth Aislinn to Donal.
Legacy of the Sword's summary is fairly accurate as it talks about Donal's dual families, excusing it by "clan custom". It's still awfully convenient that this clan custom allows Donal to have his cake and eat it too, making both women miserable, and no one really calls him out for it. He knew, long before he got with Sorcha, that he was betrothed, after all. There's also mention of him marrying Bronwyn to Alaric, but not that he forced her kicking and screaming.
The White Wolf summary is pretty decent. It's interesting to note that Ian is Niall's liegeman, while Donal didn't have one. Why is that? They're both culturally Cheysuli. I'm not sure if Brennan has one or not when it's his turn.
And finally, we finish off with Pride of Princes. It's pretty accurate too. We get mention of Brennan being tricked into knocking Rhiannon up, Hart losing his hand, and Corin falling in love with Aileen, and how all three escaped captivity but "after each has been made to recognize particular strengths and weaknesses."
That's why I liked that book, actually. I hope I'll like this one too.
Daughter of the Lion, as I recall, is also a pretty decent read. It's got a coherent plot and a lead character that isn't a rapist or a monster. It's also the first time since Shapechangers that we actually have a female lead character and the narrative even tries to be somewhat feminist!
As a feminist myself, I support this idea. However, as a feminist myself, I'm also going to be judging the book on how well Roberson executes it. In a way, it's probably not fair. I didn't judge Pride of Princes on this ground, after all. If anything, it got praised for hitting what should be a very low bar (in that it actually had a lead character openly worried about a woman's consent and potential exploitation.)
I'm not going to be as tolerant to Daughter of the Lion in that respect. Like Ginger Rogers, Keely's book is going to have to do what Pride of Princes did, but backwards and in high heels. Because if you promise me a book about a female lead character who is introduced challenging the sexism of the setting as well as her own role in the story, then I want it to deliver.
And I'm not about to give any slack to the author that gave us Alix, manipulated into a rapist romance at the age of seventeen, Electra, forced into an unwilling marriage and demonized for it, Sorcha, who exists only to complicate Donal's choice and kills herself as an attack on another woman, Aislinn who is violated and violates in turn, and promptly dies off screen because she has no role after her husband's death, or Gisella, sent back to her abusers for the inconvenience of being the woman that Niall doesn't love.
Roberson has a lot to make up for.
Now this is a nostalgia themed blog, so I have read this before. A long time ago. I remember some very good parts and some very frustrating parts. But I don't really want to tell other people how to read this book. Some folks, like the TOR reviewer that I mention periodically as my unknowing arch-nemesis, really loved this book. And maybe, with fresh eyes, I will too.
But we're not starting on level ground here. Roberson is going to have to EARN this.
There's another issue too. If you recall, one point of criticism I've had throughout the series is how basically, with the possible exception of Isolde (who is never clearly described, for some reason), we haven't had a positive depiction of a female character who LOOKS Cheysuli.
I'm overstepping a little here, with this complaint. I get that. I'm white and I really need to be cautious about this issue. I recognize that being of mixed race is complicated and the idea of "passing privilege" is flawed.
But I do feel like it's worth noting that this female character, daughter of dark-complected, yellow eyed Gisella, who identifies very heavily with her Cheysuli side in contrast with more Erinnish Maeve is depicted like this:
It's not Keely's fault that she's described and depicted as a white, blond woman with some vague indigenous stylistic traits. But it's hard not to read into it.
But enough preamble and opening critique. Let's get started.
The book actually starts off with a map and a quick overview of the first five books in the series. That seems fairly reasonable as a lot of time and a lot of events have past.
And it's probably for the best, since my introduction went a little negative (for reasons that are not Keely's fault) and I'd like to give her a fair shake.
So today, we're just going to talk about this introduction.
The map is standard. The same one in each book. We start off with Atvia and Erinn on the west, all the way to Falia, the Steppes and Caledon on the east. It's actually a little weird to me that she never updated the map. Since the Eastern half of the continent hasn't really been relevant since Carillon's book - and even then, it was only the location where he'd hung out for five in exile, it might have been better to just omit that part and zoom in on the four kingdoms that actually matter to the storyline.
But that's a pretty mild complaint, all things considered.
The overview starts us off with the prophecy that has dominated the motivations of the characters since the tail end of Legacy of the Sword:
"One day a man of all blood shall unite, in peace, four warring realms and two magical races."
They don't include the part about the lion lying down with the witch. I'm not sure if Roberson's come up with that or not at this point in the story.
We're given a brief history of the realm. The Cheysuli once ruled Homana, but growing unrest among the non-magical Homanan population "threatened to tear the realm apart", so the Cheysuli stepped down to allow Homanans to rule Homana.
This leads to some interesting questions, I realize. First of all, the Cheysuli (and Ihlini, presumably), are the descendants of the "Firstborn" who originally ruled the realms. So where did the native Homanans come from? For that matter, where did the Erinnish, Atvian, and Solindish people come from. Did they come from the eastern side of the continent? Because it's still a little weird to me that the kingdom that we're uniting in this story is only one half of the continent plus two islands.
Are the Ellasians, Steppe-folk, Falians and Caledonians native to their own land?
How did the Cheysuli end up ruling Homanans anyway? Did they just settle into the lands and subject themselves to Cheysuli rule? Why did they think giving power up to a race that distrusts them would be a good idea?
I'm not asking these questions as criticism. I'm genuinely curious about the foundation of this land.
But anyway, we're told the clans withdraw from Homanan society with one exception: each Homanan king (still called a Mujhar) must have a Cheysuli liege man as "bodyguard, councillor, companion, dedicated to serving the throne and protecting the Mujhar, until such time as the prophecy is fulfilled and the Firstborn rule again."
I'd also like to know how this tradition came about. Who was the first liegeman? How are liegemen chosen, anyway? Is it an ancestral thing too? Finn did follow Hale, but there were extenuating circumstances there. I'd imagine the Homanan kings didn't know about the prophecy fulfilment or Firstborn return side of the arrangement.
We're told that the tradition continued until "Lindir, the only daughter of Shaine the Mujhar, jilted her prospective bridegroom to elope with Hale, her father's Cheysuli liege man. Because the jilted bridegroom was the heir of a neighboring king, Bellam of Solinde, and because their marriage was meant to seal an alliance after years of bloody war, the elopement resulted in tragic consequences. Shaine concocted a web of lies to salve his obsessive pride, and in so doing laid the groundwork for the annihilation of a race. Declared sorcerers and demons dedicated to the downfall of the Homanan throne, the Cheysuli were summarily outlawed and sentenced to immediate execution if found within Homanan borders."
It still annoys me how Hale and Lindir's relationship always seems to be blamed on Lindir. I mean, she did act selfishly, of course. And as a princess, presumably raised with knowledge of diplomacy and politics, she must have realized that this could go very badly. Even so, she was sixteen. While Hale was a grown man who already had one child and apparently a good couple of decades serving Shaine. I guess it makes sense that the modern characters, as members of a royal family and raised with the idea of political marriage, would focus on the effects of Lindir not following her duty.
But it's still annoying.
As usual, the summary of Shapechangers, makes it sound much better than the book actually was. We're told how Alix was raised Homanan, ignorant of her abilities, until she was kidnapped (along with Carillon) by Finn. We're told she learns the true power in her gifts, the nature of the prophecy that rules the Cheysuli, and eventually marries a warrior named Duncan, to whom she bears a son, Donal, and "much later", a daughter Bronwyn.
1) It really does sound better when you leave out all the rape threats, the manipulation, the "no, I'm marrying this woman, how dare you refuse to be my mistress" bullshit, the domestic abuse, and the rest.
2) I don't actually recall Alix learning much of anything about the prophecy. They barely explained tahlmorra to her.
3) Also, while eight years isn't a small age difference between siblings, I don't know that I'd use "much later" to describe it.
The summary of Song of Homana is pretty good. Though it leaves off the homoerotic tension between Finn and Carillon. It also tells us that he married "Bellam's daughter to seal peace between the lands, but Electra has already cast her lot with Tynstar the Ihlini, and works against her Homanan husband." Which is a very tame way of saying he forced her into marriage against her will and was shocked that she held the same loyalties that she said she held all along.
Oh, and his failure to father a son "forces" him to betroth Aislinn to Donal.
Legacy of the Sword's summary is fairly accurate as it talks about Donal's dual families, excusing it by "clan custom". It's still awfully convenient that this clan custom allows Donal to have his cake and eat it too, making both women miserable, and no one really calls him out for it. He knew, long before he got with Sorcha, that he was betrothed, after all. There's also mention of him marrying Bronwyn to Alaric, but not that he forced her kicking and screaming.
The White Wolf summary is pretty decent. It's interesting to note that Ian is Niall's liegeman, while Donal didn't have one. Why is that? They're both culturally Cheysuli. I'm not sure if Brennan has one or not when it's his turn.
And finally, we finish off with Pride of Princes. It's pretty accurate too. We get mention of Brennan being tricked into knocking Rhiannon up, Hart losing his hand, and Corin falling in love with Aileen, and how all three escaped captivity but "after each has been made to recognize particular strengths and weaknesses."
That's why I liked that book, actually. I hope I'll like this one too.