(no subject)

[skygiants]

It has recently been pointed out to me that I have been exceedingly negligent and never formally posted about my love for Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series! This is because I read the first three books just before I started officially booklogging. But that is really no excuse. Fortunately I am currently in the middle of rereading the series in preparation for the new one, so I now have a perfect opportunity. :D

General Info and Recommendation Points: The series is set in an imaginary Mediterranean culture. Sounis and Attolia are wealthier kingdoms, with access to harbors and more extensive fieldlands and resources; the mountain kingdom of Eddis controls the pass between them. The kingdoms are threatened by a larger expansionist empire, and most of the politics are centered to one degree or another on the eventual need to resist that empire. The politics and worldbuilding and mythology ground the series, and are complicated and thoughtful and amazing. The characters likewise so!

In other news, Megan Whalen Turner has confessed to a love of Dorothy Dunnett and has included at least two references to Diana Wynne Jones novels in her books so far that I know of. Her books have the twists and politics and high angst value of Dunnett combined with the dry humor and valued sense of the ordinary and attention to small mundane details of DWJ. So basically what I am saying is they are my catnip.

The Thief (Without Spoilers): Gen made a (loud and public) bet that he could steal the king's seal. Then he actually did steal the king's seal. Then he languished in prison for a long time until the king's magus came along and recruited him for a top-secret mission: if he steals a mysterious item successfully, he gets to go free. On the surface, this is the simplest of the books, but all the seeds of the later political complexity are sown here. It's also amazing as a quest story for the attention it pays to small details - in Turner's books, people always need to remember to eat and comb their hair and make sure to wash their wounds in case they get re-infected. Also, Gen is a brilliant and unreliable narrator - and you know how I love characters who are unafraid to be justifiably whiny and cranky when occasion arises.

The Queen of Attolia (Without Spoilers): This book ramps up the politics, as a war breaks out between the three countries of Sounis, Eddis and Attolia. It's about making difficult political choices; it's about the different ways of being an independent and reigning queen in a non-equal society. The Queens of Eddis and Attolia come into sharp focus here, and are awesome. It's also about rebuilding your life after dramatic (and angsty) loss, but Dunnett readers can rest assured that no one actually goes blind from sheer angst. (At one point, the gods themselves descend to give the protagonist this message: Stop whining. IT IS BEAUTIFUL.)

Coming soon (when I manage to acquire them): The King of Attolia and CONSPIRACY OF KINGS OMG.

Comments

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

You should also mention that it is nigh impossible to tell people why they should read these books without spoiling the series for them.

Icon relevant.

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

ALSO: you can reread these books ten times over, and find ten new things you'd never noticed during previous reads.

ALSO: MWT really really really loves Twist Endings.

What two DWJ references have you picked up? There's a third in Conspiracy of Kings.

[skygiants]

Hey, I thought I did a pretty good job pimping without spoilers! (Which: let me tell you, it is hard describing the plot of Queen of Attolia without spoilers. *laughing*)

That was one of the two I meant, actually - I knew about Dalemark one in Conspiracy (THOUGH I KNOW NO OTHER SPOILERS) and the other being the Howl line in The Thief. If there is another one I have missed it!

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

You did! (Just hard? Try next to impossible. What can you say? Well, there's a war. But I can't tell you what the war's about, because that's a spoiler. And there's romance, but I can't tell you about that either. And there's awesomeness, but nope, sorry, spoiler.)

I do not know if there is or not, but the Eddisian gods were inspired by the Undying!

[skygiants]

(EVERYONE IS AWESOME. That's not a spoiler! :D Ummmm. Someone loses body parts! There is some kidnapping! And a wedding! You can list off plot points, you just can't say who they happen to . . .

Now just wait and watch me try and summarize King of Attolia without spoilers.)

I remember seeing that on your journal! IT FILLS ME WITH JOY. *_*

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

I find it's easy if you only refer to the King of Attolia as.....the King of Attolia. I show people wonderful relationship scenes of him with Irene and I just change his name to Attolis. :)

ME TOO. *_* In my head, both series are connected.

[skygiants]

- that is a truly cunning plan! I will have to steal this idea. >:D (IRENE MARRIES SOMEONE. Maybe it's Sophos! Maybe it's the magus.)

It's very easy to imagine them in the same universe - Dalemark is pseudoBritain, Sounis and Eddis and Attolia are pseudoGreece, and the Medes are in between. They even seem to have around the same level of technology! (Well, Dalemark is probably a little bit more advanced in terms of firearms, but.)

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

All anybody needs to know is that he's foreign and graceless and people hate him for it.

Yes! This is canon in my head! It's also my headcanon that Narnia is another world in Series Twelve and that Lucy is Marianne's double (Cat and Lucy have an adorable friendship at Poly and we all ship them).

[skygiants]

Narnia makes total sense as a world in Series Twelve. I bet Uncle Ralph was smuggling faun parts at one point. (awwww, I can definitely see them getting along really well.)