I Read What?!

So last time, Ms. Lackey and Ms. Sherman decided that the solution to having a truly dislikable lead character was not to have her decide to improve her behavior or anything, but rather, have a random side character spill her tragic backstory to the hero so as to convince him he's being unfair to her.

I'm not actually sure how Raven is supposed to "be fair" to Magpie, beyond what he's already been doing. He's credited her with having a better head for business than he does, named her "business director" of the group even. But I guess he's supposed to just let her be in charge of everything? Not call her out for being a dick when she's obviously being a dick?

It'd be one thing if the conflict were genuinely two-sided. I've seen examples of that in novels and while it's not a dynamic that I particularly care for, I can see the appeal. But I genuinely don't see what Raven could or should be doing different here.

( Aside from running the fuck away. )

Sorry for the delay with this part! Things have been a bit hectic for me. But I'm glad to be back.

Well, maybe not so glad when it comes to this book, which seems to really bring out the teenage misogynist in me. I don't WANT to dislike the female lead or the relationship that we're being shown in this book, but it's getting pretty rough.

I don't want to immediately blame the co-writer for this, but there is a distinct difference in style from Lackey's other works in the series. Gwyna, for example, was portrayed as pretty headstrong and occasionally ran a little roughshod over her partner, but I didn't dislike her the way I do Magpie. It does make me think that one of my next books will be a different Lackey-and-Sherman team up (maybe the Bard's Tale tie in, "Castle of Deception" - which could be fun as it also includes a very different style of renegade dark elf) so I can compare the tone and style.

I also feel like the treatment of Roma in this book feels different, and this is where I feel my whiteness as a detriment as a reviewer. To ME, the micro-aggressions and dismissal/obliviousness of the white characters toward Raven and Crow feel possibly more realistic than we've seen so far from previous white characters, but also more frustrating and uncomfortable for me as a reader. It makes me wonder what a reader of color, particularly a Roma reader, would feel about this. Is this better or worse to read? Is harsh realism more preferable to a naive escapism?

I don't know the answer to that one. But if nothing else, I appreciate this book making me think about it, I suppose.

( It's still not as fun to read though... )

So last time, we had a pretty interesting set up, a dilemma that doesn't completely make sense but is at least challenging, and a female lead who is both racist and bizarrely possessive over a man she's just met.

And look, I always take my recollection of female characters with a grain of salt. As a teenager, I was, sadly, one of those girls (or girl-adjacent folk) who tended to not care for female characters for really stupid, internally misogynistic reasons. And if there's one thing this blog has helped me do is appreciate many of those female characters that I didn't care for back then.

I'm HOPING that'll be the case with Magpie, because the more I read, the more I'm starting to remember really disliking her. She's definitely not had a good start though.

( I like a good bickering courtship as much as anyone, but there's a line between bickering and 'do you two even actually LIKE each other' and this one seems like it might be the latter. But we'll see... )

So plot twist!

You may notice that the title of this review is NOT "Eagle and the Nightingales". That's because I did some checking and learned that it's the FOURTH book in the series, not the third!

A Cast of Corbies is a weirdly situated book. It appears to be the start of an aborted spinoff series called "Bardic Choices", but what differentiates that from a Bardic VOICES book is unclear. It doesn't help, I suppose, that there was never a #2 in this side series. And since A Cast of Corbies takes place in the same setting - featuring Raven, by the way, it seems appropriate to slot it in here.

I WILL be doing Eagle and the Nightingales eventually, if only for lots of bird-fucking jokes, but not yet.

As for this book, I think I actually DID read this one. But the only thing I remember from it is a running joke. So it should be interesting to read it now.

One interesting note is that this book is co-written by Josepha Sherman. Sherman's collaborated on a number of Lackey books, including some of her Bard's Tale books (which feature a renegade dark elf in a very different style from Drizzt) and other urban fantasy elf books. I vaguely remember that she'd written an elf-in-historical Britain series as well (the elf was assumed to come from Cathay/China, because of his dark hair and elf eyes. It's funny what sticks with you.)

( So anyway let's get started! )

So, how was the Robin and the Kestrel?

All in all, I'd say it was pretty good! The characters are likable, and since we start the story with them as married adults, we don't have to waste a lot of time in build up and "will-they-won't-they" shenanigans. It's refreshing.

The plot is a pretty straightforward adventure. It holds together well, without major issues with pacing, and has both stakes but a realistic challenge level for our characters. They're not the kind of heroes that can liberate a nation. But they can deal with a small city, as it turns out!

I appreciated the character-driven subplot as well. These are characters that mean well and genuinely do love each other, but they're newlyweds from very different worlds and with very different traumas. It's realistic that they'd need to learn to communicate and work as a team better. And I appreciated that, except for the whole Patsono nonsense, neither of them were really "in the wrong" either.

But let's talk about the elephant in the room: the G-word issue.

I'm still not really the right person to talk about this. I'm white and American, and anti-Roma racism isn't really an overt thing here. I believe that Roma do face bigotry regarding a lot of their cultural practices, but I don't think the average white American looks at said practices and thinks "those are ROMA practices" specifically. If that makes sense.

I am, however, the reviewer that you've got. So I'll do my best.

We've got one plus over the Lark and the Wren, because Gwyna is one of the two main characters this time. We get a lot more information about Roma cultural practices and get a glimpse of the complex history and connections that even characters like Talaysen likely have no clue about. The relationship between the Roma and the Deliambren, for example, is really really interesting and seems to be fairly unique in the setting.

But then we have the Patsonos. The advantage of having many characters of a particular ethnic group, I think, is that you might be forgiven for accidentally slipping into a stereotype at times as long as you're not treating it as a universal trait. But what Lackey does here goes way beyond that. The Patsono Clan is every negative Roma stereotype that you can imagine, short of kidnapping children, and that's not cool!

It's still racism, even if you give us some "good" Roma too.

And I'm still rather bothered that the entire clan was apparently left to mob wrath at the end of the story. I accept that this wasn't intentional on the part of our heroes, and that they were thinking fast on how to deal with a scary situation. But I would have liked our AUTHOR to have considered what that looks like.

Do the Patsonos deserve consequences for helping dupe and abuse a city? Sure. But is there any chance that they'll be facing consequences that are fair and proportionate for their crimes?

But overall, I did like the book. And I insist that our heroes got their wagon back as soon as they got out of the city!

So last time, we saw our characters engage in communication and teamwork! Yay! They also successfully saved a lady from a Chekhov's gun two books in the setting. Nicely done, Ms. Lackey.

( And we're on like penultimate chapter already! )

So last time, the long-running undercurrent of communication issues and incompatible coping mechanisms came to a head, leading Gwyna/Robin to make some really fucking stupid decisions.

( I sympathize with both characters for 90% of the book. This 10% though, ehhhh... )

Damn, I've been slow lately, my schedule is all out of whack. Gonna try to get more reliable. At least in theory.

Anyway, last time, our heroes went to church then took to the streets, and we've got a better idea of how the High Bishop's gotten his influence.

( Trickery! )

So last time, our heroes made it to Gradford. Now to get information!

( And god-willing, a more regular review schedule... )

So last time, our titular characters met the Skull Hill Ghost. And it finally occurred to me how confusing my recaps must be given that I tend to switch through character names as the narrative does, but without the smoothness of context.

So just for reference: Gwyna (female main character) has the Bardic name of Robin, Jonny (male main character) has the Bardic name of Kestrel. And if there's a clear pattern to when one is used over the other, I'm not sure I've picked it out.

( But at least it's only two of them? )