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Title: The Fall of The Kings by Delia Sherman, Ellen Kushner ISBN: 0-553-38184-9 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 29 October, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.91 (23 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: mythology, but not as powerful as it should have been
Comment: A strange book. I don't often read fantasy, but a friend gave me Swordspoint, the book that precedes this one, and I've read it several times for its concise wit and great characters. I read this book hoping for a similar elegant comedy of manners, but The Fall of the Kings is a different and much more ambitious book. It aims for mythic tragedy, and like many mythic stories it seems that the characters are there to serve the drama they play out, not vice versa. This is a powerful concept, but maybe not the best one for a 400+ page novel. The mythology here is essentially the classic horned god-king story of sacrifice and rebirth (with all feminine aspects strangely missing), somewhat oddly grafted onto a tale of political intrigue. I wanted to like the characters -- they start out so imperfect that you can only hope they'll do learn and do better, but instead they're devoured by myth and lose whatever intriguing humanity they had to begin with. Maybe that's the point, since they're archetypes after all, but it kept the end from having the emotional impact it should have had.
Rating: 5
Summary: Gorgeous and Elegant
Comment: I've been waiting for years for a sequel to Swordspoint and was thrilled to finally read Fall of the Kings. It is as lush, gorgeous, thrilling, and witty as its predecessor, while exploring darker and richer territory. Sherman and Kushner manage to find the perfect word, the just-right phrase to catch the reader off-guard again and again. Like a fine chocolate, it is impossible to convey the sensual enjoyment, the delicious combination of bitter and sweet, the sheer delight that is Fall of the Kings. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
Rating: 5
Summary: Lyrical and compelling
Comment: I have to admit, despite the fact that Swordspoint is my favourite book, I didn't expect to like The Fall of the Kings, and waited a while before reading. My opinion of this was based on the novella of the same name, also a collaboration beween Sherman and Kushner (first published in Bending the Landscape: Fantasy), in which Theron came across as whiny, Basil as slightly deranged, and the whole milieu generally unappealing. I'm also pretty leery of collaborations in general.
The Fall of the Kings was a pleasant surprise. Theron is sympathetic and I know he's a spoilt brat; he's meant to be) and strangely endearing; it is he, not Basil St. Cloud, who is the protagonist of the entire piece. Less dreamlike than Swordspoint, the whole novel still manages to come across as slightly fairy-tale like.
Some of the going is rough. The plot, as some have commmented, is shaky at times. The supporting characters are not quite as endearing as Michael Godwin was in Swordspoint. Still, the novel kept me engaged for the entire 450 pages - and it ends gracefully, with mingled sorrow and hope.
The preoccupations with academia and dead kings were fascinating, and the whole world of Swordspoint has been fleshed out and given more life - we hear more of social customs, of University traditions, of history and politics than has been previously revealed. I'd have liked to see more of the world of Riverside - but perhaps Kushner will deliver that in her upcoming solo effort.
The Fall of the Kings is confectionary wrapped up in lush prose; a novel that manages to enthrall despite its weaknesses.
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Title: Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner ISBN: 0553585495 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 04 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Hidden Warrior (Tamir Trilogy, Book 2) by Lynn Flewelling ISBN: 0553583425 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Luck in the Shadows (Nightrunner, Vol. 1) by Lynn Flewelling ISBN: 0553575422 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 August, 1996 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Stalking Darkness (Nightrunner, Vol. 2) by Lynn Flewelling ISBN: 0553575430 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 03 February, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Traitor's Moon (Nightrunner, Vol. 3) by Lynn Flewelling ISBN: 0553577255 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 06 July, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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