The Black Swan

I have seen several retellings of Swan Lake, from a play to a old anime to the cartoon movie made in the last decade. And out of all the versions of Swan Lake, I like this book best.

My only beef is that the wife's death caused the Baron to hate all women - that isn't really explained in depth. How did his wife's death make him so bitter? Why did he see it as a betrayal? That question nagged at me throughout the book.

Other than that, this book was awesome. Odile is a strong but sympathetic character, and her desire for her father's love is a very real struggle, as well as her realization of her father's true nature. Overall, an excellent read and the best of Swan Lake that I have ever seen. The exquisite cover is but the tip of the show more iceberg for a good reading experience. show less

Dropping my rating on this one from a 4 to a 2, and getting rid of the physical copy of the book. I remember enjoying the story. But it's been 10+ years since I read this book last, and literally the only detail I can remember about it (beyond the Swan Lake retelling thing which is on the blurb so I'm not sure if I'm remembering it from the book itself or from the blurb) is that the book's hero rapes a girl who then commits suicide because of it. And while at the time I was able to move past that because "he was sorry afterward" I'm no longer willing to let that slide.

I really enjoyed this retelling of the swan lake fairy tale from the perspective of an original character. It is a slightly darker look at the reasons and workings of the curse on the swan princesses, and the main character is refreshing in her role as a sympathetic captor.
Odette's struggle between helping her friends and honoring her father's tyrant wishes was very well played out. She is very self-sufficient, surviving with her flock in the forests by relying on her own magic.
The prince was a playboy prat until something goes wrong, and he does redeem himself by expressing true guilt over the incident. Love at first sight still kind of bothers me, but it wasn't fall in love = sex, and Odette's suitor is kinda adorable, so I'll let it go.

My first Mercedes Lackey novel, and I can't say I'm impressed. I'm only cursorily familiar with the story of Swan Lake, but this version didn't seem to add much of anything to the base fairy-tale-ish structure. At the beginning, the author appears to be trying to explore the power gap between the genders and the double standards to which they are held (and some of the abuse of power practiced by nobility).

However, the true plot and the drama of the ballet take forever to start (halfway through the book) never fully integrated into this discussion of sexism or any fleshed-out character motivation. Thus, the characters rather mechanically act to serve the ends of the plot and form personal attachments (both romantic and platonic) that show more feel entirely convenient, rather than understandable, passionate or explained (Odile and Odette's friendship; Odette's and Siegfried's romance).

Odile, the titlular black swan, never emerges as a fully-grown character or protagonist. The prose is rather tepid and robs Swan Lake of its balletic magic. The characters never seem to take *action* in any way that would lead you to root for their 'happily ever after' ending. And the author never answers the ethical/moral questions of social commentary that is raised by fleshing out the motivations of Swan Lake.

Odette has to confess her sin that she ran away from an unwanted arranged marriage, but Siegfried can feel free to leave out that he RAPED a woman (driving her to suicide). If women only have money, magic, and sex (if even the first two) as their only tools in life due to gender inequality- if they are forced into only having seduction as a power source due to a sexist society, how can we condemn usage of that seductive power as 'evil'? show less

A retelling of the fairy tale/ballet/whatever it is. This and the non-Disney animated movie are actually the only exposure I've had to Swan Lake, so I probably have a fairly skewed view of the story. Regardless, I always welcome classics told from the perspective of the whore/villain character.

I really liked how the ending wasn't predictable; meaning that, Lackey though she did carbon write this tale from the original ballet, constructed her own unique ending. I liked her ending better, because Odile doesn't die and is made a Countess. Some adaptations lose the true message of the classic work, but this adaptation didn't it managed to do that-- it give a once originally pronounced "evil and sinister" character all the respect and prominance (as well as goodness, since she was beshadowed by an evil father) she deserved and still retained the romantic sweetness of Swan Lake's opera.

I love the story of Swan Lake and hoped for an original and insightful perspective. However, what we get from The Black Swan is a flat narrator who remains on the fringe of the story like an intruder and reveals nothing which the reader can't already guess. It reads like fan fiction more than a full-length novel. The concept is great but the execution not so much.