skygiants | (no subject)

If you are craving Ruritanian romance -- you know, "gosh! I thought I was just an ordinary person but I am secretly royalty in this weird little kingdom I've never heard of? Awesome! BRING ON THE HIJINKS, SCHEMING AND SWORDFIGHTS," then Sherwood Smith's Coronets and Steel is probably a book that will fulfill every single one of your needs.

I personally picked it up because

rachelmanija promised me hot masked dance scenes, and my knowledge of Sherwood Smith promised me intelligent worldbuilding, and both of these were certainly delivered.

Our Heroine is Aurelia Kim Atelier, a UCLA student on a trip to Vienna to do research into her family history. Kim's hobbies include:
- fencing
- dancing
- cracking herself up by dropping obscure references into the middle of conversations
- jumping out of high-speed vehicles and fleeing away into the niiiiiight

All of this comes in handy for hot masked dance scenes, not to mention lit-nerd banter and action-filled escapes. Basically Coronets and Steel is pure id adventure, and it's thoroughly enjoyable.

It also did a good job of making me feel much older and more mature than I really am, because I spent a lot of the book wishing that Kim had HIRED ME as a sensible older companion/governess type before she headed off on her adventures. Since this was not possible, I spent a lot of time screaming "NOOOOOOOOO!" into the pages, like so:

KIM: Sure, I see no problems with impersonating foreign royalty for a week because this hot guy asked me to. It will be an adventure! Knowing nothing about politics is no problem.
BECCA: KIM. NO. WE DO NOT ILLEGALLY IMPERSONATE PEOPLE WITHOUT A VERY GOOD REASON.
KIM: Okay, then how about I go to this small, isolated foreign country, with no reliable source of communication, without telling anybody about my change in plans or providing emergency contact information for my friends and family -
BECCA: AURELIA KIM ATELIER YOU GO EMAIL YOUR MOTHER AND LEAVE HER YOUR EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION RIGHT NOW
KIM: - and then I'll happily tell this dashing-but-possibly-wicked long-lost cousin of mine that a.) my existence might disinherit his family and b.) nobody knows where I am or what I am doing!
BECCA:

I like Kim fine! (Though my favorite character was actually Ruri.) I would be happy to hang out with her, except that then probably most of the book would not have happened, because I would have done my best to STOP HER from making 80% of the decisions she makes.

. . . but she's great at dancing! And swordfighting! IT'S OKAY KIM. You may have a long way to go before you max out your common sense stats, but your skillset is perfectly designed for a Ruritanian romance.

In other news, I suddenly have a powerful urge to reread The Prisoner of Zenda.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I love Kim precisely because I so rarely see intelligently written contemporary fiction with flighty, almost ditzy, yet still sympathetic and internally logically consistent female protagonists. I mean, omg. Plus, a lack of common sense as almost a heritable family trait! Why not.

Also, yes, 80% or thereabouts. :)) I'm looking forward to the forthcoming third title, Revenant Eve.

Hee, yes! And yeah, lack of common sense is TOTALLY a heritable trait in that family. (Though I hope Ruri got all of it and starts using her style and chic for GREAT JUSTICE in the next book! . . . don't spoil me to tell me whether or not this happens.)

Clearly I need to check this out, the tragic walrus compells me. And who can say no to sword fighting masked ball hijinks? NOT ME.

I am never entirely sure if I should re-read the Zenda books. I remember enjoying the first book a lot when I was a kid but I also vaguely recall reading it + the sequel some years later and being surprised to find them more depressing than I remembered. XD Or maybe that's really just the second book.

I LOVE THAT TRAGIC WALRUS FACE. Walrus just wants to HELP! It doesn't know why everything has gone so horribly wrong D:

I think it's just the second book that's super depressing, if I remember right! But I am also basing this memory more off of the Ronald Colman movie than the actual book, so uh.

IT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL FACE. It can go right up there with the dog being hosed in the face (which I basically like best because it sums up my writing process)

I seem to recall the first book had some angst about "MY TWU WUV IS NEVER TO BE" but the second book made it a work of art. "Hey, your hero now has all those things you sort of wished he got in the first book except now he will also be MISERABLE 4EVA!!11! Due to HOONNOOUUR!!11!!"

Anthony Hope: CHAMPION FANDOM TROLL

. . . I don't think I know the dog being hosed. AND I THINK I SHOULD. It may end up a very important weapon on my book-review arsenal!

When I went to check TVTropes to refresh my memory, it told me that everyone died at the end! THANKS RONALD COLMAN. What happened to wacky adventure hijinks, huh?!

THIS DOG: "WHY DID I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA" "HELP HELP I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT STOP" "WHARRGBARGLE"

/squints at summaries of Rupert of Hentzau

Wow, I totally forgot everyone died in the sequel ending after all. EVERYONE EXCEPT FLAVIA. Who probably made a more sensible ruler than ALL OF THEM COMBINED, but even so. Why would you end your hijinks like this, Anthony Hope? WHY? D:

HAHAHAHAHAHA

oh dear

I uh can't remember if you've seen You're Beautiful

but there's a certain scene with a . . . very earnest, well-meaning protagonist, and a rogue bidet . . .

AHAHA. I have never watched You're Beautiful but I have HEARD enough about it to have heard of this bidet scene. And seen some screencaps. Poor Minam, at least you weren't the first to have faced this dilemma, albeit in different form...? XD

I'll have you know I was planning to just skim this post to avoid the usual "DAMMIT BECCA I DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ ALL THESE BOOKS" but then I hit the utterly dismayed walrus and was COMPELLED to read it anyway.

So thanks, there goes a future $10 of mine, since I know for a fact I enjoy Sherwood Smith on account of having read her Crown Duel duet and DAMMIT BECCA!!!

Also I am not going to subtly mention how I keep refreshing both LJ and DW for reasons TOTALLY UNRELATED to FMA and stories about ladies therein. I am absolutely not doing this, what are you talking about???

HAHAHAHAHA. Man, little did I know the dismayed walrus would be my most effective book review tool of all! >:D >:D >:D

And you're welcome. *serene*

(PS: Please keep refreshing, because your COMPLETELY UNRELATED efforts will probably be rewarded in . . . ten minutes? Let's say ten minutes!)

Hahahah this only reminds me that I NEED TO FINISH INDA!!! THE LAST BOOK IS SITTING NEXT TO ME. I will read it! Or else.

I am not at all sure that Ruritanian romance is for me but this sounds fun and your review is HILARIOUS AS ALWAYS.

YOU DOOOOOO. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to remember everything else that happened in the previous three thousand pages of plot! :O (AND THEN WRITE ME AN EMAIL FULL OF THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS, that also is a requirement.)

I would never think of reading the book and NOT EMAILING YOU. In fact, I may have to email you asking "BUT WHO IS SO AND SO AND WHY IS X HAPPENING I FORGOT THINGS".