(no subject)

[skygiants]

I'd sort of been dreading getting through Scales of Gold, the fourth book in the Niccolo series, because I knew it was the Africa one and . . . to put it bluntly, I love Dunnett but I like to think I am clear-eyed about her flaws and I really did not trust her to do Africa. On the other hand, I had also been looking forward to it because it introduces the awesome that is The Heroine! The Boulder was conflicted. :O

I was sort of right on both of these, although Africa was not quite as bad as I feared. I mean, she's clearly making an effort to emphasize that Africa is absolutely not a monolithic Continent of Savage Darkness, that in fact many places in Africa have a long history of culture and learning, and that it really, really does not need White Dudes to Come Save It, and I respect these efforts from her! And I also respect her willingness to show a realistic range of fifteenth-century attitudes about slavery, on all sides. At the same time, though, she often can't quite manage to break out of the Exoticized Adventure Fiction tropes, which makes for a few very othered characters and pretty cringeworthy scenes. I'm similarly conflicted about Loppe/Umar, Nicholas' BFF/partner/semi-confidante. On the one hand, he gets a ton of agency in this book and gets to do a really impressive amount of puppetmastering for the Greater Good, which is a prerogative that is usually reserved for Dunnet's actual titular heroes! In that respect, he may be one of the most narratively privileged and respected characters of the series, which is pretty cool. On the other hand, one of the stated goals of his puppetmastering is Nicholas' Growth as a Person, which tips him perilously close to the Magical. On the other other hand, he actually gets to eventually have a happy and fulfilled life that he has created for himself without any help from Nicholas, which, again, makes him one of the most narratively privileged characters in the series. So I think I would be cool, if DD did not then turn around and fridge him (and it is totally fridging) at the very end of the book to make Nicholas angry. That made me angry the first time I read it, before I even knew the term 'fridging,' and it makes me angrier now.

(As a sidenote, I also found it hilarious how getting to Ethiopia was IMPOSSIBLE, IMPOSSIBLE, THE FEAT THAT CAN NEVER BE ACCOMPLISHED, because I kept thinking back to the Elizabeth Wein books, where people sail cheerfully from England to Ethiopia every other page.)

On the other hand: this book totally ups the ante on female characters. COLD REVENGE-DRIVEN SUPERINTELLIGENT HEROINE who invites herself along on an epic doomed voyage for the sole purpose of bitching at her enemy the whole way. I LOVE HER. (And Bel! Cheerfully shrewd old Scottish ladies for the win. And they actually managed to pass the Bechdel test, which is pretty astounding, considering how few people in the books ever talk about anything but Nicholas. And Bel is all, "she is so awesome, I would take her home with me and be BFF with her even if she hated the whole world! . . . well, actually she does hate the whole world. OH WELL, STILL BFF.") I - I am kind of embarrassed by how much I actually ship Gelis/Nicholas. I AM SORRY I occasionally have a thing for OTPs where their entire lives are centered around Machiavellianing each other into misery. ;_; It is a sickness, I know. But, I mean, okay:

GELIS: I hate you for getting my sister pregnant and then getting her married to a jerk, who is incidentally your father, and then getting her dead.
NICHOLAS: Okay, fair. In that case, maybe it's better if we just kind of avoid each other -
GELIS: I HAVE A BETTER IDEA. Why don't I come to Africa with you and make your life a constant misery the whole way :D? And that way if I die on the voyage you'll feel EXTRA GUILTY!
NICHOLAS: . . . Philippa just wanted to come to Constantinople with Lymond to help him babysit. D:

GELIS: By the way, did I mention I'm a genius, knowledgeable about trade, am learning Arabic, and am probably your perfect woman.
NICHOLAS: . . . I am starting to notice this, yes.
GELIS: ALSO, now that I have nursed you through babbling hallucinating sickness, I know all your most painful secrets. The better to eviscerate you with my verbal and emotional barbs, my dear!
NICHOLAS: My god, you are my perfect woman.

GELIS: Okay, I'll sleep with you, but I am warning you now that this is just to mess with your head even more. Also because you're really attractive and occasionally you can make me laugh.
NICHOLAS: My head: efficiently messed with. MARRY ME.
GELIS: Ehhhhhh, no.
NICHOLAS: Why won't you make an honest man of me? I want to settle down and start a family! ;_;
GELIS: CRY MOAR.

NICHOLAS: Okay, it has been a couple years, we've both grown as people, I almost died, we just had some really hot sex . . . will you marry me NOW?
GELIS: Wellllllll I kind of have my own life now, and I could pretty happily go my own way and have nothing more to do with you and our ridiculously complex emotional issues . . . but okay.
NICHOLAS: YAY! :D :D :D
GELIS: HAHAHAHA SUCKER. Our marriage was all an elaborate scheme of mine to get COMPLETE ANNIHILATING REVENGE for my sister and make your life a living hell forevermore! And you totally thought I was the heroine of the series, didn't you. BUT IN FACT I AM YOUR ULTIMATE ENEMY. :D?
DOROTHY DUNNETT: Actually, Gelis, you are the heroine of the series.
GELIS: . . . . D:
NICHOLAS: . . . . Philippa was NEVER EVER this mean to Lymond.
DOROTHY DUNNETT: That's because I like Lymond more. Also, dude, you are the guy who will eventually ruin Scotland for the lulz, and it would be way too mean to your love interest if she was actually nice. Also, SHUT UP, GELIS IS AWESOME. Enjoy the next four books of out-Magnificent Bastarding each other before you finally get a happy ending!
NICHOLAS: . . . . . 'kay.

(FANDOM: But Gelis is an Evil Woman who is meeeeeeeeeean to Nicholas. D: D:
BECCA: SHUT UP, GELIS IS AWESOME.)

I should note: I am not usually that interested in romances where it is just clear that one party is ridiculously bad for the other one, who is relatively sane, because I often just want to tell the sane one to get the hell out of there. (It does not help that the crazy damaged one is usually the guy, who can get away with anything, and the girl has to be nice and sweet and innocent. Double standard!) But I do have a secret weakness for pairings where BOTH parties are completely Machiavellian and manipulating and insane. Hey, better that they end up together than with anyone else, right?

So, guys: indulge my secret weakness! Tell me about your favorite TOTALLY INSANE AND UNHEALTHY OTP. (KYOUYA/AZULA!)

Comments

[miseline.livejournal.com]

You didn't miss much. Season 3 pretty much ruined the whole series.

[skygiants]

That's basically what I heard, yeah. I prefer living in blissful oblivion!