Random Comments review ( )

The last two books have been absolute stinkers, so I desperately needed something to break that pattern. I've been wanting to read some of Elizabeth Bear's novels for a few months now because I enjoy her LJ.

My first impression of the book: Wow. Bear's voice and weaving descriptions bring the story to life. I felt dropped into a world like my own, but different, and it mesmerized me. Her style of writing adds suspense because she doesn't state everything outright - characters abruptly go places, talk to people we don't know, and then understanding dawns. For this reason alone, I want to read more of her books and study her eloquent voice and pacing.

There was a downside, though. About halfway through, the book began to lose its grip on me, and I'm still not fully sure why. The characters were still compelling, and the plot was propelling forward. The only problem, I think, was my own expectation. I thought it would involve more time on Earth, where I was very curious to see how the Prometheans used magic and how the world of Faerie interacted with Man. Instead, the story dwelled more and more in Faerie, where magic and political intrigue are endless and at times overwhelming.

Even though I was not as captivated as I was initially, it was still a strong and enjoyable story. I will seek out more books in this series, and I also have Bear's book Hammered to read in the coming months. ( )

BLOOD AND IRON is one of those big, sprawling books with seventeen million different things going on at more or less the same time. At the crux of the story, though, we have the Prometheus Club, who have stood against Faerie for several hundred years and aim to bring that old conflict to a head.

I really, really, really wish I could tell you I loved it. Really. I appreciate it. I've enjoyed thinking back over it, now that it's done. But at day's end, it didn't quite work for me.

Let's highlight some of the good stuff, though. I thought Bear did a wonderful job of exploring each party's motivations. This isn't a simple good-versus-evil story; neither the Faeries or the Prometheans stand fully in one camp or the other. Bear presents them in such a way that the reader can see the good and the bad on both sides. It's their choices that define these characters, more than anything else. How do they choose to wield the power they hold? What do they do with the cards they've been dealt?

I also appreciated the way she dealt with Faerie itself. She blends Irish stuff, Arthurian stuff, old magic, new magic, ballads... the whole shebang. This book has folklore up the wazoo. (And it's heavy on the creepy. These're some dark faeries, folks). Bear requires that the reader make lightning-fast connections between particular elements of mythology, and she sets them up very nicely indeed.

So we've got depth, complexity, folklore... I should've been all over this. But, as is so often the case, it boils down to one thing: character. I didn't engage with any of these characters, and so I couldn't fully engage with their story.

Bear uses strict third person, so if the characters wouldn't think about it or discuss it, we don't hear about it. We have to learn as we go along, and this requires many intuitive leaps. We need to recognize the connections between each of these people; at the same time, we need to make connections between the story we're reading and something that happened long before it began. Sometimes, this connection is rooted in the mythology; other times, it ties in with the characters' pasts. I was usually able to make the mythological connections right off the bat, but the character-based ones? I had to work my arse off for them, and most of them still didn't quite click for me. The characters felt more like a vehicle for the story than like people in their own right.

I did appreciate the book on an intellectual level, and I've had a reasonably good time thinking back over it now that I've finished it, but my failure to connect with any of the characters made it tough for me to really enjoy it. I'll certainly give the series another go, but I think I'll wait awhile before I do so.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

Matthew is a magician in New York City, a member of the Prometheans, who works to protect humans from the Fae that would steal them into their world as changelings. Elaine is a human bound to the Faerie world by the Mebd, one of the Queens of Faerie, and by her loyalty to her son, Ian. She is also the Seeker, one who prowls shadows looking for Fae children. A collision of their worlds seems inevitable, but as players are drawn into events beyond their control the morality of either side becomes ambiguous.

This urban fantasy is a bit different from my normal fare -- darker, more sensual than the fantasy I usually choose to read. I kept going because I wanted to see what would happen to Elaine and the other characters, if their fates were truly predetermined or if they could choose a different outcome. Bear throws readers into her alternate universe and leaves them to discover along with her characters (a knowledge of Arthurian legend and the ballad of Tam Lin would be especially helpful). I'm interested in seeing where the series heads from here. ( )

Interesting concept. Not the best prose ( )