The words that gave us all away
Mar. 16th, 2019 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12Thirty Day Book Meme Day 16: Can't believe more people haven't read
It seems as if there's a bit of a Kate Elliott theme emerging at the moment in my posts for this meme: my answer to today's question is another Kate Elliott series, her Crossroads. I've always thought Elliott was a criminally overlooked epic fantasy writer (she's an absolute genius at worldbuilding, giving a great deal of thought not only to epic fantasy staples of kingdoms, armies and royal intrigue, but also to how societies would feed and supply themselves, how households and marriages would work, and what invasion and societal collapse would look like on the ground), but even among those who have read her books, this series almost never comes up in discussion.
It is, on the surface, fairly standard epic fantasy fare: an exiled prince, banished from his homeland and inheritance under threat of death, builds up an army and rides to the rescue of a kingdom in collapse, women with few options make political marriages, people ride giant eagles. However, where it differs is in its subversion of these well-worn tropes. Instead of portraying its dispossessed man as the saviour of the world — or a kingdom — and thus its rightful ruler, what Elliott is doing is showing how monstrous and dictatorial that would look like from the ground. Because she spends the first two books in the series showing the delicate work her heroine, Mai, undertakes as the wife of a mercenary leader who has moved into a country in collapse — forging alliances through diplomacy, trade, and marriages between local women and her husband's mercenaries — and because we view most of the story through Mai's eyes, we think her husband is entirely in accord, coming as a migrant, not a coloniser. The slow sense that something is wrong — culminating in a spectacular betrayal, both of Mai and of the reader's assumptions — is so cleverly and so intricately done, and, in my opinion, makes the Crossroads trilogy Elliott's best work. Sadly, I seem to be the only person who thinks that.
17. Future classic.
18. Bought on a recommendation.
19. Still can't stop talking about it.
20. Favorite cover.
21. Summer read.
22. Out of print.
23. Made to read at school.
24. Hooked me into reading.
25. Never finished it.
26. Should have sold more copies.
27. Want to be one of the characters.
28. Bought at my fave independent bookshop.
29. The one I have reread most often.
30. Would save if my house burned down.
It seems as if there's a bit of a Kate Elliott theme emerging at the moment in my posts for this meme: my answer to today's question is another Kate Elliott series, her Crossroads. I've always thought Elliott was a criminally overlooked epic fantasy writer (she's an absolute genius at worldbuilding, giving a great deal of thought not only to epic fantasy staples of kingdoms, armies and royal intrigue, but also to how societies would feed and supply themselves, how households and marriages would work, and what invasion and societal collapse would look like on the ground), but even among those who have read her books, this series almost never comes up in discussion.
It is, on the surface, fairly standard epic fantasy fare: an exiled prince, banished from his homeland and inheritance under threat of death, builds up an army and rides to the rescue of a kingdom in collapse, women with few options make political marriages, people ride giant eagles. However, where it differs is in its subversion of these well-worn tropes. Instead of portraying its dispossessed man as the saviour of the world — or a kingdom — and thus its rightful ruler, what Elliott is doing is showing how monstrous and dictatorial that would look like from the ground. Because she spends the first two books in the series showing the delicate work her heroine, Mai, undertakes as the wife of a mercenary leader who has moved into a country in collapse — forging alliances through diplomacy, trade, and marriages between local women and her husband's mercenaries — and because we view most of the story through Mai's eyes, we think her husband is entirely in accord, coming as a migrant, not a coloniser. The slow sense that something is wrong — culminating in a spectacular betrayal, both of Mai and of the reader's assumptions — is so cleverly and so intricately done, and, in my opinion, makes the Crossroads trilogy Elliott's best work. Sadly, I seem to be the only person who thinks that.
17. Future classic.
18. Bought on a recommendation.
19. Still can't stop talking about it.
20. Favorite cover.
21. Summer read.
22. Out of print.
23. Made to read at school.
24. Hooked me into reading.
25. Never finished it.
26. Should have sold more copies.
27. Want to be one of the characters.
28. Bought at my fave independent bookshop.
29. The one I have reread most often.
30. Would save if my house burned down.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-16 05:50 pm (UTC)Admittedly: This particular series does sound very cool, and like something I'd be interested in. :)
no subject
Date: 2019-03-17 01:34 pm (UTC)Court of Fives is a YA fantasy trilogy set in a fantasy version of Ptolemaic Egypt, with a revolution, giant mechanical spiders, and a protagonist who's competing in a sort of acrobatic spectator sport against the wishes of her family.
The Spiritwalker trilogy is the tale of two cousins who live in an alternative version of our own world where the Ice Age never ended (and thus the political and ethnic makeup of what we think of as Europe, Asia and Africa were quite different), set against the backdrop of political intrigue. It's also got a lot of Regency romance influences.
She's also got a massive series called Crown of Stars which is a much more standard medieval Europe-inspired epic fantasy, but with proper research into e.g. the Holy Roman Empire. This series is also set in a matriarchal world, although I don't think she's entirely successful at this.
Those are the only series of hers I've read, although she's written another one called Jaran, and a couple of others under her real name, Alis Rasmussen. She's also published a collection of short stories.
no subject
Date: 2019-03-17 10:18 pm (UTC)I really like nerdy details of worldbuilding, tbh. At the very least, I like it more than Regency romance, and I don't think I have the time right now for Crown of Stars, despite having been curious about it for, like, ever.
...also, having looked it up by the cover, they're the ones with birds, and I have an enormous fondness for books with giant birds and also any kind of flying military force, so. I think I'll give them a shot. :)
no subject
Date: 2019-03-18 07:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-17 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-18 07:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-18 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-18 07:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-03-18 11:06 am (UTC)