julieandrews (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
julieandrews) wrote2008-10-11 05:43 pm
julieandrews) wrote2008-10-11 05:43 pm
Entry tags:
A reviewlet of "Foundation" by Mercedes Lackey
Like many people, my first introduction to Mercedes Lackey was The Last Herald-Mage trilogy. I went on to read many more books around that time.. I think it must've been about 1998-1999, given that the pictures in my head I associate with those books are on the bus in California. It wasn't long after that that I stopped reading Mercedes Lackey. The books were enjoyable enough, most of the time. But I wasn't too into urban fantasy, and the other Valdemar books seemed rather same-same, without ever being as cool as those first three.
I also got sick of the horses. I'm not a horse person. Even though I will admit to a brief unicorn phase, I will insist in the same breath it's only because they were magical animals. (They eventually got superseded by dragons, and noooo, it had nothing to do with --- little to do with Pern.)
At any rate, I haven't read any Lackey since at least Spring of 2002, because that's when I started keeping track of what I read.
But when I stumbled across mention of Foundation, and wondered why Lackey was writing in an Asimov world, I read the blurb and found it was about the founding of a school. So, schools are cool. I had liked Lackey in the past. So I thought I'd give it a go.
And what follows is my thoughts on it, with minor spoilers, so I'll put it behind a---
It sucked me in right away. Here's a kid in a mine, that's pretty cool. I'd been watching some stuff on coal mining and other stuff on panning for gold, and recently finished Princess Academy, which has some similarities.
I found the story enjoyable. Which is actually saying something, because the inconsistencies and repetitions of details and information began to really, really bug me.
For example, the main character has never seen a book before. He knows what a book is and thinks it'd be really super awesome to finally see one of these mythical things in person. And then not long after, maybe a few pages or a bit more, there's a girl reading out of a religious book. How is this book not a book? This could've been fixed so easily by just calling it a religious 'text' or 'scroll' or.. I don't know, clay tablets, for crying out loud. How's he never seen a book when someone's regularly doing readings out of a book?
That's just one example. There are other times when the main characters knows things suddenly or forgets thing suddenly that he used to know and not know. His Companion suggests an idea and he's like 'Oh yea, that's brilliant!' when _he_ totally had that idea just a bit earlier. What, did he forget his own brilliant insight?
All in all, it felt like the book could've used a good beta reader or two to pick up on these things.
On top of that, I had trouble identifying a plot. I was certainly enjoying the ride, but it was hard to see how it was going anywhere. Even knowing it was part of a planned trilogy didn't really help with that. We're just sort of meandering along with this kid while things happen to him. And while he's not completely passive, he's not terribly pro-active either.
[Addendum] I just remembered there was something else I wanted to mention in this post that I forgot about. Valdemar was suddenly seeming like some version of the United States! All of the games that they play are literally taken from a 'typical' US childhood. Duck, Duck, Goose; Blind-Man's Bluff; I Spy. And there's not even any twist to them. They're not even renamed. I thought I was reading a fantasy story set in another world here. What happened? Then it got _worse_ as she started talking about pranksters creating crop circles and exactly how they did it, drawn directly from the real world. I mean, seriously, dude!
Will I read the next ones in the trilogy? Probably, yes. Will I seek out more Lackey to read? Probably, no. Will I reread the Last Herald-Mage? Maybe.. I'm kind of scared I'll ruin any fond memories I have of it by rereading it with wiser eyes.
I also got sick of the horses. I'm not a horse person. Even though I will admit to a brief unicorn phase, I will insist in the same breath it's only because they were magical animals. (They eventually got superseded by dragons, and noooo, it had nothing to do with --- little to do with Pern.)
At any rate, I haven't read any Lackey since at least Spring of 2002, because that's when I started keeping track of what I read.
But when I stumbled across mention of Foundation, and wondered why Lackey was writing in an Asimov world, I read the blurb and found it was about the founding of a school. So, schools are cool. I had liked Lackey in the past. So I thought I'd give it a go.
And what follows is my thoughts on it, with minor spoilers, so I'll put it behind a---
It sucked me in right away. Here's a kid in a mine, that's pretty cool. I'd been watching some stuff on coal mining and other stuff on panning for gold, and recently finished Princess Academy, which has some similarities.
I found the story enjoyable. Which is actually saying something, because the inconsistencies and repetitions of details and information began to really, really bug me.
For example, the main character has never seen a book before. He knows what a book is and thinks it'd be really super awesome to finally see one of these mythical things in person. And then not long after, maybe a few pages or a bit more, there's a girl reading out of a religious book. How is this book not a book? This could've been fixed so easily by just calling it a religious 'text' or 'scroll' or.. I don't know, clay tablets, for crying out loud. How's he never seen a book when someone's regularly doing readings out of a book?
That's just one example. There are other times when the main characters knows things suddenly or forgets thing suddenly that he used to know and not know. His Companion suggests an idea and he's like 'Oh yea, that's brilliant!' when _he_ totally had that idea just a bit earlier. What, did he forget his own brilliant insight?
All in all, it felt like the book could've used a good beta reader or two to pick up on these things.
On top of that, I had trouble identifying a plot. I was certainly enjoying the ride, but it was hard to see how it was going anywhere. Even knowing it was part of a planned trilogy didn't really help with that. We're just sort of meandering along with this kid while things happen to him. And while he's not completely passive, he's not terribly pro-active either.
[Addendum] I just remembered there was something else I wanted to mention in this post that I forgot about. Valdemar was suddenly seeming like some version of the United States! All of the games that they play are literally taken from a 'typical' US childhood. Duck, Duck, Goose; Blind-Man's Bluff; I Spy. And there's not even any twist to them. They're not even renamed. I thought I was reading a fantasy story set in another world here. What happened? Then it got _worse_ as she started talking about pranksters creating crop circles and exactly how they did it, drawn directly from the real world. I mean, seriously, dude!
Will I read the next ones in the trilogy? Probably, yes. Will I seek out more Lackey to read? Probably, no. Will I reread the Last Herald-Mage? Maybe.. I'm kind of scared I'll ruin any fond memories I have of it by rereading it with wiser eyes.
no subject
There definitely is something about her world and characters that is a little... off. As a reader, I distrust the Companions. Those horses are up to something.
no subject
no subject
I don't think I'm critical of books in the same way as you, though, so I'm not sure if me reading it new now would give you a lot of information.
no subject
I don't remember giving you a Lackey book, but I might very well have.
no subject