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kmartinix 's review for:
Suldrun's Garden
by Jack Vance
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.