Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
This is a book of up and downs. When I first started this book I had some difficulty getting past the names and descriptions of the island. Once we start hearing more about Princess Suldrun things started to pick up. I don’t think things really got going for me until Suldrun is taken out of the picture though. I really enjoyed reading the adventures of Dhrun and Glyneth as they travel around the countryside. I also thought the character of Shimrod was fascinating, along with the whole politics around the magicians was great world building. I think that is really the key to this story for me: The world building. Also a lot of my favorite parts were the small stories about side characters that took place between the chess-piece chapters of the larger plot. Those smaller stories read like good Dungeons and Dragons sessions.
This book is not without some glaring issues however. One of which is the weird, sometimes seemingly out of place, sexual content. Starting in the beginning with the weirdly standout-ish remarks on Suldruns appearance(hinting at her adolescent, maturing sexuality) moving on to several rape scenes throughout the book that don’t seem to lend themselves to the plot. While it’s fair to say they’re no ASOIAF level content, they did bring me out of the book several times.
I was also disappointed we didn't get more of Suldrun's adventures. We get really involved in her story and it is very jarring to drop her and move to a male cast of characters.
All that said, I found myself getting more and more attached to the world and will be picking up the rest of the trilogy.
This book is not without some glaring issues however. One of which is the weird, sometimes seemingly out of place, sexual content. Starting in the beginning with the weirdly standout-ish remarks on Suldruns appearance(hinting at her adolescent, maturing sexuality) moving on to several rape scenes throughout the book that don’t seem to lend themselves to the plot. While it’s fair to say they’re no ASOIAF level content, they did bring me out of the book several times.
I was also disappointed we didn't get more of Suldrun's adventures. We get really involved in her story and it is very jarring to drop her and move to a male cast of characters.
All that said, I found myself getting more and more attached to the world and will be picking up the rest of the trilogy.
Originally published on my blog here in January 2002.
Fairy stories are generally associated with quite early childhood, yet even in the bowdlerised versions presented for the young there can be quite unpleasant elements. This is even more the case with the originals of many of the common stories, the work of Hans Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. In Lyonesse, Vance has chosen to emphasise this aspect of this kind of tale, and has written a fantasy novel (first of a trilogy) which is distinctly an adult fairy tale.
The setting is a group of islands in what is now the Bay of Biscay - Lyonesse is often in Arthurian legends made into a Celtic equivalent of Atlantis. Once united, the islands are now divided into small kingdoms, the rulers of which are continually jockeying for an advantage which will allow them to dominate their neighbours. There are also magicians, a group very like those in [b:The Dying Earth|951749|The Dying Earth|Jack Vance|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303095362s/951749.jpg|936672], and a variety of fairy folk, mischievous and frequently quite malicious.
The king of the small kingdom which has retained the name of Lyonesse, Casmir, has a daughter, Suldrun. She objects to being used as a pawn in his political scheming, promised first to one man and then another as a prospective bride, and he punishes her by shutting her up in a small area in the palace grounds leading down to the sea that she has turned into a garden to use as a retreat from palace life. Then a young man is washed ashore, a prince from the kingdom of Troicnet thrown overboard from a ship, and the two of them fall in love. Betrayed to Casmir, Aillas is thrown into an oubliette while Suldrun's confinement is made more secure, hiding for the time being the fact that she is pregnant.
Lyonesse tells the start of an interesting story, with a fascinating background and characters who transcend the limitations of fairy tale stereotypes. It is a wonderful classic of the fantasy genre, demonstrating how basic source material is capable of re-interpretation in new and exciting ways.
Fairy stories are generally associated with quite early childhood, yet even in the bowdlerised versions presented for the young there can be quite unpleasant elements. This is even more the case with the originals of many of the common stories, the work of Hans Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. In Lyonesse, Vance has chosen to emphasise this aspect of this kind of tale, and has written a fantasy novel (first of a trilogy) which is distinctly an adult fairy tale.
The setting is a group of islands in what is now the Bay of Biscay - Lyonesse is often in Arthurian legends made into a Celtic equivalent of Atlantis. Once united, the islands are now divided into small kingdoms, the rulers of which are continually jockeying for an advantage which will allow them to dominate their neighbours. There are also magicians, a group very like those in [b:The Dying Earth|951749|The Dying Earth|Jack Vance|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1303095362s/951749.jpg|936672], and a variety of fairy folk, mischievous and frequently quite malicious.
The king of the small kingdom which has retained the name of Lyonesse, Casmir, has a daughter, Suldrun. She objects to being used as a pawn in his political scheming, promised first to one man and then another as a prospective bride, and he punishes her by shutting her up in a small area in the palace grounds leading down to the sea that she has turned into a garden to use as a retreat from palace life. Then a young man is washed ashore, a prince from the kingdom of Troicnet thrown overboard from a ship, and the two of them fall in love. Betrayed to Casmir, Aillas is thrown into an oubliette while Suldrun's confinement is made more secure, hiding for the time being the fact that she is pregnant.
Lyonesse tells the start of an interesting story, with a fascinating background and characters who transcend the limitations of fairy tale stereotypes. It is a wonderful classic of the fantasy genre, demonstrating how basic source material is capable of re-interpretation in new and exciting ways.
I had this book on my shelf for decades and started to read it when got invited to the playtest of Design Mechanism RPG scenario based on the world.
The book starts slow, first 60-70 pages. After that it is a romp of great fantasy with multitude of quite rich characters and richly described world.
The book starts slow, first 60-70 pages. After that it is a romp of great fantasy with multitude of quite rich characters and richly described world.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2020's record DNF for me at only 6% in, wow. It may only be January but I doubt I'll put down anything this quickly again this year.
I decided to borrow this, as it was available on Libby, and I had nothing to read with me. I recognized the title as it was on my Goodreads "to-read" shelf (I added it after finding it on a list of best fantasy books or best fantasy series somewhere a while back.)
This has only served to exacerbate my boredom; even if it does get better I doubt it's worth the slog.
I decided to borrow this, as it was available on Libby, and I had nothing to read with me. I recognized the title as it was on my Goodreads "to-read" shelf (I added it after finding it on a list of best fantasy books or best fantasy series somewhere a while back.)
This has only served to exacerbate my boredom; even if it does get better I doubt it's worth the slog.
Ponderous! Brief moments of interest and small glimpses of a fantastic and frightening world punctuate the relentless plow of long boring conversations about politics and war and general posturing regarding a bunch of fake places and verbose people. JRR Tolkien did this right already!
I fell asleep the first two times I tried to read this book. I don't think it was the book, yet it's a hard impression to shake. It's gone back to the library, but I'm going to leave it on my planned reading list and see if I can try again in a few months or years.
***
Well, I tried again, and got about a quarter of the way through before deciding I just didn't care. Nothing about this worked for me. The writing is both florid and distant, the characters flat, the action told but not shown.
***
Well, I tried again, and got about a quarter of the way through before deciding I just didn't care. Nothing about this worked for me. The writing is both florid and distant, the characters flat, the action told but not shown.