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Jul. 30th, 2010 11:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsOkay, so if Rosemary and Rue was Fae Gone Noir, A Local Habitation is Fae Gone Horror Movie. As another example of genre-combo, this continues to be awesome - lots of wandering around darkened corridors as people get picked off ONE BY ONE by a MYSTERY KILLER, and most or all of those people happen to be magic.
The plot is a ton of fun, I totally enjoyed the book, and I will definitely keep reading the series. I especially loved April, the creepy-little-girl adopted daughter of the woman Toby was sent to protect; she's a very cool character and I'm kinda fascinated to see what happens to her in later books. My one complaint is that I just kinda wish that Our Heroine October Daye was significantly more genre-savvy about it all. I mean, Toby tries hard, she really does, and I am very fond of her, but she basically fails to be genre-savvy along every possible axis.
THE HORROR MOVIE GENRE:
BOOK: Hello, I am the literary version of a horror film in which people inevitably die whenever they are left alone.
TOBY: You stay here! I will go investigate danger!
TOBY'S TEENAGED SIDEKICK, WHO ACTUALLY DOES POSSESS GENRE-SAVVY: That's a terrible idea! Didn't you ever watch a horror movie? Never split the party!
TOBY: Well, I do not see a better option, so you stay here and lock the door and we will cross our fingers and hope nothing goes wrong!
(Seriously, despite the fact that everyone fully acknowledges the danger of being alone in the creepy serial-killer-haunted computer factory, no one in the book can manage to stay together for ten seconds straight. It's not that hard to stay together, people! There's only like eight of you in total!)
THE FANTASY GENRE:
BOOK: Hello, I am a fantasy novel featuring a number of mythical characters with various seductive powers.
TOBY: Huh. I'm experiencing an inexplicable attraction to this fae, while my guy friend is experiencing an equally inexplicable antipathy! Maybe there is something weird about this . . . but you know, even though I've only known him five minutes I have a really good feeling about this guy. :D
FAE: So, insta-makeouts?
TOBY: Makeouts! :D
THE URBAN FANTASY SUB-GENRE:
BOOK: Hello, I am an urban fantasy novel. Keep an eye out for your inevitable series love interest!
SERIES LOVE INTEREST: *saunters by, with 'SERIES LOVE INTEREST' written on his forehead in sparkly neon letters'*
TOBY: That dude is hot, but he totally doesn't like me.
SERIES LOVE INTEREST: Toby, are you drunk? I will carry you home. And tuck you into bed. And take messages for you from your boss, and leave you my jacket to keep warm. Please don't die, I don't think I'd be able to take it.
SPARKLY NEON LETTERS SPELLING OUT 'SERIES LOVE INTEREST': *sparkle*
TOBY: Bizarre! I have no possible context to explain this behavior whatsoever. Oh well, back to the grind.
So basically what I am saying is, I would like someone - possibly teenaged sidekick Quentin, who is kind of awesome - to sit Toby down with a giant box of paperback mysteries, romances, and urban fantasy novels until she acquires some rudimentary genre-savvy and possibly also shines up her detecting skills a little bit, considering that Toby also seems to consider 'no, but they're really sad' as acceptable proof that someone is not the killer. Consider it research, Toby! It would make your life much easier.
The plot is a ton of fun, I totally enjoyed the book, and I will definitely keep reading the series. I especially loved April, the creepy-little-girl adopted daughter of the woman Toby was sent to protect; she's a very cool character and I'm kinda fascinated to see what happens to her in later books. My one complaint is that I just kinda wish that Our Heroine October Daye was significantly more genre-savvy about it all. I mean, Toby tries hard, she really does, and I am very fond of her, but she basically fails to be genre-savvy along every possible axis.
THE HORROR MOVIE GENRE:
BOOK: Hello, I am the literary version of a horror film in which people inevitably die whenever they are left alone.
TOBY: You stay here! I will go investigate danger!
TOBY'S TEENAGED SIDEKICK, WHO ACTUALLY DOES POSSESS GENRE-SAVVY: That's a terrible idea! Didn't you ever watch a horror movie? Never split the party!
TOBY: Well, I do not see a better option, so you stay here and lock the door and we will cross our fingers and hope nothing goes wrong!
(Seriously, despite the fact that everyone fully acknowledges the danger of being alone in the creepy serial-killer-haunted computer factory, no one in the book can manage to stay together for ten seconds straight. It's not that hard to stay together, people! There's only like eight of you in total!)
THE FANTASY GENRE:
BOOK: Hello, I am a fantasy novel featuring a number of mythical characters with various seductive powers.
TOBY: Huh. I'm experiencing an inexplicable attraction to this fae, while my guy friend is experiencing an equally inexplicable antipathy! Maybe there is something weird about this . . . but you know, even though I've only known him five minutes I have a really good feeling about this guy. :D
FAE: So, insta-makeouts?
TOBY: Makeouts! :D
THE URBAN FANTASY SUB-GENRE:
BOOK: Hello, I am an urban fantasy novel. Keep an eye out for your inevitable series love interest!
SERIES LOVE INTEREST: *saunters by, with 'SERIES LOVE INTEREST' written on his forehead in sparkly neon letters'*
TOBY: That dude is hot, but he totally doesn't like me.
SERIES LOVE INTEREST: Toby, are you drunk? I will carry you home. And tuck you into bed. And take messages for you from your boss, and leave you my jacket to keep warm. Please don't die, I don't think I'd be able to take it.
SPARKLY NEON LETTERS SPELLING OUT 'SERIES LOVE INTEREST': *sparkle*
TOBY: Bizarre! I have no possible context to explain this behavior whatsoever. Oh well, back to the grind.
So basically what I am saying is, I would like someone - possibly teenaged sidekick Quentin, who is kind of awesome - to sit Toby down with a giant box of paperback mysteries, romances, and urban fantasy novels until she acquires some rudimentary genre-savvy and possibly also shines up her detecting skills a little bit, considering that Toby also seems to consider 'no, but they're really sad' as acceptable proof that someone is not the killer. Consider it research, Toby! It would make your life much easier.
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Date: 2010-07-30 05:59 pm (UTC)Quentin is awesome, and I think I would pay money to see him and Toby marathon media of various genres. Buffy night! Movie marathons! Book circle! HILARITY. Bonus if other people get in on it sometimes too.
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Date: 2010-07-30 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-30 06:39 pm (UTC)I mean, I don't want in on this movie night, but I feel it would be a good social development for both of them!
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Date: 2010-07-30 06:47 pm (UTC)(I mean, while we're on the topic of How Characters React To The Princess Bride ANYWAY. *laughing*)
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Date: 2010-07-30 07:23 pm (UTC)And Fezzik is totally a half-Troll or somesuch, y/y?)
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Date: 2010-07-30 10:37 pm (UTC)Actually, now I think of it, the Luidaegh might kind of identify with Miracle Max.)
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Date: 2010-07-31 12:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-30 07:33 pm (UTC)I enjoy the books and my frustration is affectionate, but man is she ever oblivious, holy shit.
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Date: 2010-07-30 10:27 pm (UTC)Warning: gratuitous use of capslock ahead
Date: 2010-07-30 07:43 pm (UTC)ALSO QUENTIN. I love Quentin. I adore him so hard. I want to keep him forever and ever and ever. All those clues that he was going to die in ALH? Yeah, I was a wreck. I almost stopped reading. And then [spoiler!] he completely failed to die and I was jubilant![/spoiler] Oh, Quentin.
In fairness to the horror-movie bit, Toby was making everyone else stay together. I think it might be more self-sacrifice and mild suicidal tendencies that keep her from being genre-savvy in that respect. Because she did almost bite Quentin's head off when he came looking for her by himself. Because Quentin is not allowed to die. Nuh-uh.
QUENTIN ILU SO HARD CALL ME OKAY.
Re: Warning: gratuitous use of capslock ahead
Date: 2010-07-30 10:34 pm (UTC)I know Toby kept telling people not to go off alone, I just kept thinking, why doesn't she just keep the whole cast with her at all times? It can't be that hard to keep track of seven or eight people. I have done it on field trips! If I was stuck in a crazy haunted computer factory, man, I would be all about the strength in numbers.
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Date: 2010-07-30 11:59 pm (UTC)My brain is not around enough for a longer comment.
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Date: 2010-07-31 12:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 12:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 12:54 am (UTC)I absolutely adore the concept. However, Toby's obliviousness seems ... both jarring and somewhat amusingly exasperating!
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Date: 2010-07-31 01:20 am (UTC)[SORT OF A SPOILER? It happens in the first chapter of the first book]
she spent fourteen years as a fish. And has probably forgotten quite a bit about how to observe things that are not ponds!
[END SPOILER]
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Date: 2010-07-31 01:27 am (UTC)After watching both Utena and Princess Tutu, I think I just take any cracky fictional things in my stride! :D
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Date: 2010-07-31 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 01:32 am (UTC)Though to be fair, I guess spending 14 years as a fish leaves you pretty far behind on the media-savvy front. Clearly Quentin needs to get on this deficiency pronto.
From a comment I read on MacQuire's LJ, it seems she planned for Series Love Interest to saunter out of the series after the second book! So if he snuck up on even the author, I wouldn't blame Toby for not realising that at least. XD (Though this makes me wonder who the original love interest was then, or if she just didn't have one in mind)
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Date: 2010-07-31 01:38 am (UTC)Hahaha, really? That actually really surprises me, it seemed so telegraphed from the beginning! (I hope Connor was never planned to be the series love interest. Because I kind of hate Connor. Uh.)
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Date: 2010-07-31 02:36 am (UTC)She mentions it here: http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/257316.html#cutid1 (Question 19) Maybe she meant this was in the very early stages and changed her mind later, but it's pretty amusing to realise. XD And yeah, I would VASTLY prefer Toby to have no love interest as opposed to Connor. Repeatedly hitting on ladies who are not interested because YOU ARE MARRIED: Totally classy EXCEPT NOT
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Date: 2010-07-31 03:14 am (UTC)Connor is so awful! It is like he is dedicated to making everyone's lives awkward. Not only is there the hitting-on-ladies-who-are-not-interested when you are married, which is bad enough, but it is even worse then the lady in question works for your father-in-law. I mean, at least keep it outside the family, man!
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Date: 2010-07-31 04:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-31 04:31 am (UTC)I have to admit I am kind of looking forward to what happens when Tybalt gets tired of being - okay, 'subtle' is not the word here, but more subtle. Roses in his teeth? Sonnets taped to her door? - and now I am picturing Tybalt in Sokka's ~romance~ tent getup and I have to go laugh for a while.