The end of "The Fall of the Kings"...
Oct. 10th, 2003 07:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoGood fantasy is difficult to find, and I was delighted to read The Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner and Diane Sherman. It's the same universe as Swordspoint and if I have any complaint, it's that I'd like to have seen more of the swordsmen in this one. As it is: fascinating characters, a good build-up of plot, a strong climax and the potential for sequels. Cool.
I particularly liked the women in it. Ysaud the artist, Lady Jessica, Theron's mother Lady Sophie, his cousin the Duchess, the two young girls who let Theron out of his room, his gentle fiancee, even Justin's lively girlfriend. Since I often find women in fiction (and television) inadequate, this is a great thing.
More significant, I loved it that the whole story was - for want of a better word - so slashy. Imbued with slash. And no pulling punches on the homoeroticism, either. Obviously the affair between Basil and Theron was central, and I loved it: But it just got better. As, for instance, when Jessica seduced Ysaud. And I liked it even more that Theron found Genevieve sexy too. And that no one in the plot found same-gender affairs unusual.
The plot centres on a love affair between a wild and beautiful young nobleman and a history professor. Yes, I can really get into that! The university setting - even if in a different fantasy setting - was so familiar I could taste it. Beautifully evoked. And of course, I loved it that the pivotal character was a historian, whose study of history is what shapes the plot.
A bonus: the authors explicitly cite Dorothy Dunnett as inspiration for a generation of writers. Of course! It shows, too, in the pace of the action and the strength of the women and the way the characters are so vivid and convincing. Even villains - I found Nicholas Graling fascinating and Arlen intriguing. (No, that isn't a spoiler.)
There are a couple of short stories set in this universe. I must find them.
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Date: 2003-10-10 06:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-10 03:59 pm (UTC)I'm sorry to say I don't own it - I borrowed it from
You're right, A Game of Thrones isn't slashy, which is a pity, because it could be. One can always hope it might become so, later on. There is, briefly, a wonderful bisexual character - in the third book, I think. But otherwise there is a remarkable lack of same-gender sex, considering how much sex there is of various other types - incest, rape, adultery, and so on.
I guess Swordspoint and The Fall of the Kings make up for the lack of it in George R.R. Martin.
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Date: 2003-10-10 09:32 am (UTC)And now I suppose I really do need to read Fall of the Kings... ;)
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Date: 2003-10-10 04:06 pm (UTC)You're kidding! No, I know you're not kidding, I trust you.... That's great news. That will be easy to find.
I suppose I really do need to read Fall of the Kings... ;)
You don't need. You will survive without it. But I'd be willing to bet you'll like it. There's one sexy bit that I want to borrow for a Clex story.
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Date: 2003-10-10 07:25 pm (UTC)Anyway, there are in fact *three* short stories included in the Bantam reprint -- "Thw Swordsman Whose Name Was Not Death," "Red-Cloak" and "The Death of the Duke." Hopefully these were the stories you were talking about!
And I just discovered that Fall of the Kings just came out in regular-size paperback, so I'll have to pick it up once I finish rereading Swordspoint. ;)
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Date: 2003-10-11 04:53 am (UTC)Neither have I, though "The Fall of the Kings" both refreshed my memory of it and whetted my appetite for a reread. I love the notion of Alec looking like Tom Welling!
Three new stories - I'm thrilled!
"The Fall of the Kings" has some great scenes but to describe them would be to give you spoilers. Nice memorable bits. Sexy hero... no, make that sexy heroes. Interesting villains, too.