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 ( )

The sequel is much better and ties off a lot of the threads started in this book. I loved the characters but I got a bit lost and frustrated by the end. I think I would've enjoyed it a lot more had this book and Whiskey and Water been combined. Still, read it and then immediately hunt down the sequel. ( )

I really wanted to like this book more. I am a fan of the author, though I have only read her SF books before this one.

I can't put my finger on the problems exactly, though this is what seemed to me to be issues:

The book started out jumping around with several different characters and viewpoints. You never really got a good handle and who they were or what was going on. At the same time it was wordy. So it was easy to put down, and hard to pick back up.

It didn't help that the characters seemed shaky at the start. Matthew was bland and shallow, Jane was a purposeful enigma, Seeker/Elaine was tough and too closed up. Kieth was not believable as a werewolf - just too wishy washy. Mebd was another enigma. Only Whiskey the Kelpie was done well from the start.

The idea of a war between humans and the fae was interesting, but from the cover of the book, I expected it to be an urban fantasy. But it only had a few scenes in the real world. The rest is in faerie.

Then Bear seemed to have thrown in everything, even the kitchen sink: Dragons, werewolves, unicorns, Merlins, and the Dragon Prince, walking willows, Heaven, Hell, The Real World

The idea of the Dragon Prince and the Merlin didn't seem to be really developed. I could never figure out what made the Merlin different from both human and fae. What was the point of the Dragon Prince. The idea that both humans and fae are the creation of the dragon, yet the book acknowledges heaven and you know who (JC).

It seemed to be very wordy and it took a long time for it to grab me. For a brief period it did, but then it petered out again. finally I was just glad it was over.

There were actions that weren't explained and didn't make sense. Why did the Mebd unbraid her hair - setting all those who were bound, free ? Then she never told anyone, except Elaine, and she re-braided it that night, so everyone was bound again. Why did the Mebd decide to die, and how did the throne kill her after she sat on it all those years ? Why did she want to kill Elaine and those bound to her when she died ?

Who chained the dragon, and how did they get that huge link through the spine ?

The ending was sad, if predictable.

I really liked Whiskey the Kelpie, and he got better and better as the story developed.

All in all it was good, but it left more questions and it just wasn't as good as I expected. I am not sure I will read the next book in the series or not. ( )

I don't read a lot of the urban fantasy in general, and faerie interfacing the modern world in particular. I really like Emma Bull's stuff, and really don't like Lackey and confederates in their treatment of it. I read this book for a discussion group. Nonetheless, I thought it was quite well written. In fact, there were spots where the elegance of the descriptive prose stopped me in my tracks--a "well-turned phrase". The characters were interesting and, given they were drawn from very familiar archetypes, handled in an original manner. I had read some of Bear's SF (e.g., [Hammered] and was frankly surprised and impressed with the way she handled this very different genre. ( )

(Amy) Well, my second attempt at reading an Elizabeth Bear novel - this is an author I really very much want to like, by the way - ended up much like the first attempt: A general sense of "Huh."

Which is not to say I haven't liked them. I liked Dust quite a bit, I just spent most of the time when I was reading it thinking I might be missing something. I'm pretty sure I was missing something when reading this one, but that is, I think, largely due to my very bad timing. This is not, it turns out, a book that's a good idea to read when one is having many consecutive weeks being short on sleep. Especially since Faerie-isn't-such-a-nice-place is by no means a new concept to me, so quite a bit of the story that appeared to have the explaining of said concept as its main purpose felt . . . overdone, superfluous, which in turn kicked me out of "careful reading" mode and into "skimming" mode, which is not a good idea for this book. It is not a book for light and easy reading - the author is, in her own words, a fan of the "You must be as tall as this sign to ride this ride" method of storytelling. Which is fine, and if my brain hadn't been so tired, I suspect I would have had more patience for the descriptions of the specifics of this particular version of Faerie.

I'll be re-reading it again before too very long, I think, with fresher mind, and see what I come up with then. I'll probably try another of her books first, though, just for continued experimentation. The award-winning story was really good, so there's that. I think I've just come at the novels from the wrong direction, so far...

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ze... )

(Alistair) Huh.

Well, this is interesting. I'm not sure what it says about a book that both Amy and I effectively want a do-over on reading it. It feels like a good book, and, well, a lot of other people seem to agree that it is.

And yet, while this contemporary fantasy of a key point in the struggle between the human mages and the fae (nicely portrayed as as un-nice as they ought to be, and I use the word un-nice advisedly) kept me reading, and while the characters - although initially a little shaky - turned out to be interesting people, and while the plot proved fascinating in the reading, this is the reaction I was left with at the end.

"Huh".

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ce... ) ( )

Ignore the terribly cheesy fantasy cover. It's sad that I never would have picked this up in the store, because I liked it a lot. I read it because I read the author's blog, and knew what it was about. I wonder who thought the cover targeted the real audience of the book?! ( )

First of all, I'll start out by saying that I'm not a fan of urban fantasy... it's just not my thing, and so I wasn't sure if I'd like this book. I actually bought it because I started reading the author's blog a few months ago--referred over by links that would appear from time on other blogs I read regularly--and I enjoyed Bear's awesome combination of wit and sarcasm mellowed by an ability to not take herself too seriously.

And so I knew I wanted to read something of hers, and since I don't read SF much anymore, I checked out the excerpts on her website from the newest in her Promethean Age series, Ink and Steel, and they hooked me. Granted, that book is a prequel of sorts, set in Elizabethan England as well as Faerie, and Blood and Iron is set in modern-day New York City... as well as Faerie.

I enjoyed this book immensely, finding the urban setting (of only part of the story) natural and not at all forced into a glamourie of sorts, the sense I sometimes got whenever I tried to read other urban fantasy. Bear creates such great characterizations, wrapped up with all the subtleties of complex relationships and motives and connections that aren't always immediately apparent. Even when the characters think they've figured it all out, there remains a twist or turn that brings about a whole new revelation, to us and to them.

I looked at a few of the other reviews before writing this, and I was surprised to see those that said things like, "I TRIED to like this book, but..." and was just flabbergasted. How could anyone NOT love this book??? But readers all have different tastes, which I think is a great thing. How boring would it be if we all like the same things, even when we WANT people to love what we love? This is not a book for a reader who likes breakneck adventure and a plot that speeds headlong into a crashing conclusion. Bear's pacing is deliberate (not at all "slow"), and carefully allows just enough time for our main characters to interact and grow and learn and realize their potential, which in most cases is nothing at all that they (or the reader) expected. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series with great relish! ( )

Full review:
http://fantasycafe.blogspot.com/2008/...

Bear throws you right into the story and how everything fits together is not immediately apparent. It is more subtle than a lot of fantasy novels and readers will need to pay attention to understand it - the author doesn't always come right out and spell it out for you. There are a lot of references to various mythologies of the British Isles in this book and the legends of Tam Lin and King Arthur are both prominent. Minor characters include King Arthur, Morgan La Fey, and Puck, and some historical figures have significance to the story as well. Although I knew quite a few of the references in this book, I still feel like I was missing a lot of them. It's one of those books that would probably come together better on a reread. ( )

Of all the Elizabeth Bear books I wanted to read, this was not one of them, because faeries, as a rule, don't interest me much in the fantasy genre. But a good friend of mine dared me to do it, and I did. The book is complex, an urban fantasy that mixes Fae, werewolves, Arthurian Legend, a dragon, emissaries from Hell, literary references, and a whole bunch of other stuff. For the most part, I enjoyed it, though I felt my rather sad lack of knowledge of the Fae and its history kept me from enjoying the book as fully I might.

For the full review, which does contain spoilers, please click here: http://calico-reaction.livejournal.co... ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2008/02... ( )

An intriguing story of what I suppose I should call urban fantasy.

I like Elizabeth Bear. I wanted to like this book. I tried very hard to like this book. When I found myself getting bored, I would give it a break, and then come back to it later, fresh. But in the end I find myself struggling to find anything positive to say about it.

On a basic level the book never really clicked for me. I still don’t understand why the long simmering feud between the faeries and the Prometheans needed to come to a head now. Nor why the leaders of the various factions would set into motion the various plots that played out over the course of the book now. Nor why Arthur and Morgan were in it, nor why cutting Arthur’s hair woke him up, nor why plenty of other things popped up constantly. Part of my difficulty may have been an almost complete ignorance of the subgenre of stories of the world of faerie. I didn’t know when Bear was drawing on tradition, when she was poking tradition in the eye, and when she was breaking new ground. I struggled to understand the history, traditions and rules of world of the fae, and just when I felt like it was starting to make sense some completely new (and frequently earth-shattering) element would pop up, seemingly from out of nowhere. The narrative jumped back and forth from character to character, and storyline to storyline, every few pages. And while a similar style of storytelling had worked fine for me with the Jenny Casey books, here it felt way too choppy. I wished that Bear would pick a character and followed him or her through some arc of a storyline for a chapter.

But my biggest problem with the book was that I never really bonded with any of the characters. There are four main characters in the story, Elaine the Unseelie Seeker who is really mad about what the Faerie Queen did to her son, Carel the chanteuse professor turned Merlin who is courted by both sides, Keith the Dragon Prince/Wolf Prince, and Matthew the Promethean who is really mad about what the faeries did to his brother. There is also a host of colorful supporting characters. As the book went on I found that I didn’t really care for, and found it impossible to root for, any of them, so I really didn’t care which side won, and had little motivation to get to the end of the story (beyond wanting to be able to move on to the next book in my “to be read” stack). And the sex was way too casual, boring, and emotionally detached to play any constructive role in the plot. I guess this is just a world where people have sex all the time for no reason except to amuse themselves. If this is what they spend all their time doing, shouldn't there be a few more little faeries running around getting into things?

So, I put this one behind me and move on to Carnival, Bear’s next book, with hopes that it will be more my cup of tea. ( )

I was tempted to call this an urban fantasy. Yet, though a portion of the action appears to take place in Manhattan, in reality, the bulk of the action isn't. It's still takes place mostly in a bit of other-worldliness, or other less urban settings. It is certainly a modern fantasy, in the sense that it takes place in the modern (if alternate) era. The writing is crisp, and though the first few chapters felt a bit slow, once I got past that, the story built momentum, and kept that building going through to the climax of the story. Yay for authors whom I can't casually deduce all their tricks ahead of time. One thing that made me arch an eyebrow was a rather odd choice. I won't go into detail, but at a certain point, things involving point of view changed. I don't think I understand that particular choice, to me, the change didn't really manifest a better or different understanding. It wasn't much of a distraction either, it just was, though it took place in a logical moment. Still a good read, and I look forward to the followup novel, which is rising to the top of my to be read pile. ( )

Another work drawing on the myths of Faerie and on the ballad of Tam Lin, this book is chock-full of texts and subtexts on everything from love and betrayal, to the nature of subservience and pain (and let's not forget revenge!). I liked the writing style, more descriptive than in Bear's Jenny Casey books, but very fitting for such a work. I love the way so many different legends and mythologies are drawn in -- the Arthurian cycle, the Welsh mythos, werewolves, both pre-Christian and post-Christian Faerie legends, and numerous ballads.
This is not a light and happy book, and one of the themes seems to be that everything valuable in life requires a sacrifice, and therefore there are no unequivocally happy endings. I had some difficulties with differentiating some of the characters at first, but I think this may be attributable to the fact that I wasn't able to read in big gulps, but only in little bits and pieces here and there. The character development was, for the most part, excellent, although the main character's motivation was unclear to me in several places. As the book progressed, her actions and feelings (and sometimes lack of such!) became more understandable, but I still didn't always quite get it. I understood Matthew and his overseer's motivation much better. And although I understood the need for the POV shift, it was exceptionally jarring at first.
All in all, a very enjoyable read, and I look forward to the next ones! ( )

A steady start that takes a pace drawing the reader in.
With the mortal and fairy worlds having some overlap and sometimes entwined, rivalries within each, personal agendas and long timeless histories are carefully woven into a book that takes it's theme from The Ballad of Tam Lin and gently turns the angle of perspective.
Taking the reader seamlessly between two realms and at times with an urgency in an otherwise timeless realm.
Traditional historical characters have a lesser part as the reader gets carried along through the life of two divided worlds by a couple of it's seemingly everyday but important inhabitants, whose futures are pre-ordained, increasingly they begin to realise this.
Elizabeth Bear anchors this fabulous tale with glimpses of places in our real modern material world, but from where older powers creep through as an age old battle rages, reaches a climax that doesn't necessarily have a 'fairytale' ending but also exposes the personal goals, challenges and costs to the characters who at the start don't realise their roles ahead... ( )

Wow. I loved this book.

Bear has created a complicated and compelling world and tale in Blood and Iron. It builds on many well-known tales, particularly using Tam Lin, the Celtic faeries and the Arthurian legends, but with her own, personal and I think brilliant spin.

The writing is beautiful; evocative, complex, metaphorical and lyrical. She paints pictures with words that touch the emotions and drag the reader in.

There are layers upon layers here and I'm sure I didn't get all of them on this first reading. That's all right though, as I'm sure I'll be reading it again.

This is not a simple tale and there are places I'm sure I missed all the nuances. It's epic and passionate and tragic all at once and the reader is drawn in to care about the characters even when they are struggling to feel and care themselves.

There is no clear cut right and wrong, not obvious heroes and villians - one of Bear's themes seems to be that we are what we are and must take responsibility for what we do, whatever our motivations and reasons. I don't know if the "good guys" won, heck I'm not even sure if anyone "won" by the end of the book, but that too is part of the complexity and depth of the tale.

There is no simple story and happy ending, indeed it has a feeling of high tragedy about it at times and that is what makes this such a great book. No easy roads are taken, not by the author or her characters and as a result, not by the reader either. It's a journey well worth the taking.

I finished this just before going to sleep last night and, as I rather expected, the fae invaded my dreams. This book and its characters dig their hooks deep and don't easily let go.

Go. Buy. Read. Recommend. ( )

The back-of-book description is what hooked me. Then I was lucky enough to start reading.

My reading was fitful, lopped into three parts due to the eye-burning above-mentioned shifts. During the first third, the novel reached out and grabbed me. The writing is fantastic, the characters are engaging and I was taken to new places. 'Taken' because I wasn't expecting it, to be so completely engrossed and absorbed in a place that was immediately real. I reluctantly put the book down because, yanno, work.

During the second third is when I realized this was an epic, in every best sense of the word. Beyond the usual, beyond the ordinary, sweeping and diverse. The characters are flawed in the way that makes them seem like people you would actually meet. It makes you root for them, against them and want to know just what the hell will happen next.

Which is why, during the last third, I threatened bodily harm to anyone who might interrupt me when I was reading. Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. I shut off my phone and made sure that no one was around to interrupt me. But my fingers itched to get at it pretty much as soon as I had set it down. That counts, right?

It's an incredible work, vast and full. It's about love and loss; choices and consequences; success and failure; being broken and what you do that breaks others. Even better- it's about responsibility, about what you want and what you're willing to do for it. There aren't any 'good' or 'bad' sides, it's an exploration of all the shades of gray, wrapped in reworkings of every awesome fairy legend I've read. It's dark, it's hopeful, it's honest, it is...epic. I chuckled, I smiled and I wept. It's an amazing novel and the best thing I've read in fantasy for quite some time. I can't wait for more. ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/j... ( )