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A review by avidbeader
Miss Amelia's List by Mercedes Lackey
1.0
Many, many years ago, a friend of mine was trying to get her husband, a published author, to read some of her favorite writers. She gave him what she thought was the strongest book, the middle volume of a trilogy. He handed it back to her, only half-read, and complained, "The first action doesn't happen for fifty pages and it happens off-screen!" My friend and I hadn't noticed, since we had read multiple series by the author and knew and enjoyed the characters' interaction prior to the off-screen attack.
I now fully understand the husband's frustration.
In this episode of Lackey's magic-filled alternate history, the first action happens on page 309. The book has 325 pages.
Up until a conflict finally happens, the book is a fairly boring tale of two young women from North Carolina arriving in England not long after the War of 1812 is done and making their way through high society on cheat mode. Of course them being elemental mages opens doors - they easily win the protection of Lord Alderscroft (probably the grandfather of David Alderscroft who features in a few other books in the series). Much is made of the fact that they are very competent and capable, used to pulling their weight at home in both daily and magical chores. When needed, they are stellar dancers and singers, so they can impress yet more of the aristocracy and be invited to yet more events. And we are reminded over and over how superior these girls are to the society around them, with their abolitionist views, democratic ways, and virtuous insistence on helping as many people as they possibly can.
With the frequent mention of Hunts, situations where mages are needed to deal with dark or evil magic, I kept expecting our heroines to be called upon to join or insist on joining a Hunt and prove their magical worth. Never happened. With the underlying thread of the titular list (Amelia's criteria for rating potential bridegrooms for herself and her cousin Serena), I expected more romantic intrigue. Never happened. A single gift from one of those impressed aristocrats is the only foreshadowing for the climax of the book.
One of the reasons I grew to love this series was the way it played with classic fairy tales. But two recent entries that I haven't read are Sherlock Holmes fanfic, one appears only to have been written to include a song lyric as a pivotal moment, and this one doesn't appear to have a tale at all. There are some uses of the historical background of Napoleon's wars, but again, such events are far away and don't have much direct impact.
Speaking of fanfic, this feels like fanfic of "Pride and Prejudice", with Miss Amelia developing a grudge against one of the highborn lords after overhearing his conversation and slapping down a very condescending marriage proposal. The text is full of lists of clothing and furnishings that only demonstrate that Lackey apparently found a lot of extra vocabulary in whatever reading or research she did and wanted to show it off. She still has an editor phoning it in - Lord Alderscroft is introduced as Roger but his wife thinks his name is William.
I am glad I used a library for this book rather than spend money on it. If the next book is as bad as this one, I'm likely to give up on reading Lackey for good.
I now fully understand the husband's frustration.
In this episode of Lackey's magic-filled alternate history, the first action happens on page 309. The book has 325 pages.
Up until a conflict finally happens, the book is a fairly boring tale of two young women from North Carolina arriving in England not long after the War of 1812 is done and making their way through high society on cheat mode. Of course them being elemental mages opens doors - they easily win the protection of Lord Alderscroft (probably the grandfather of David Alderscroft who features in a few other books in the series). Much is made of the fact that they are very competent and capable, used to pulling their weight at home in both daily and magical chores. When needed, they are stellar dancers and singers, so they can impress yet more of the aristocracy and be invited to yet more events. And we are reminded over and over how superior these girls are to the society around them, with their abolitionist views, democratic ways, and virtuous insistence on helping as many people as they possibly can.
With the frequent mention of Hunts, situations where mages are needed to deal with dark or evil magic, I kept expecting our heroines to be called upon to join or insist on joining a Hunt and prove their magical worth. Never happened. With the underlying thread of the titular list (Amelia's criteria for rating potential bridegrooms for herself and her cousin Serena), I expected more romantic intrigue. Never happened. A single gift from one of those impressed aristocrats is the only foreshadowing for the climax of the book.
One of the reasons I grew to love this series was the way it played with classic fairy tales. But two recent entries that I haven't read are Sherlock Holmes fanfic, one appears only to have been written to include a song lyric as a pivotal moment, and this one doesn't appear to have a tale at all. There are some uses of the historical background of Napoleon's wars, but again, such events are far away and don't have much direct impact.
Speaking of fanfic, this feels like fanfic of "Pride and Prejudice", with Miss Amelia developing a grudge against one of the highborn lords after overhearing his conversation and slapping down a very condescending marriage proposal. The text is full of lists of clothing and furnishings that only demonstrate that Lackey apparently found a lot of extra vocabulary in whatever reading or research she did and wanted to show it off. She still has an editor phoning it in - Lord Alderscroft is introduced as Roger but his wife thinks his name is William.
I am glad I used a library for this book rather than spend money on it. If the next book is as bad as this one, I'm likely to give up on reading Lackey for good.