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Sep. 13th, 2013 09:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsIf you ask the villagers of the Isles, St. Ann is the goddess who makes their truly amazing grapes grow and is generally an all-around ace patroness -- discounting the human sacrifice, of course.
If you ask the visiting royal couple who are hanging out in the Isles on their honeymoon, Ann is the fine print they sort of wish they had investigated when the Isles officially became part of their kingdom, which officially does not condone human sacrifice.
If you ask visiting trader Béata kel Kakiaretë, Ann is a FASCINATING MYSTERY and she would like to take a number of notes, please, if you wouldn't mind.
If you ask her great-grandfather, Ann is an out-of-control brat who should have listened to him when she had the chance.
And if you ask the zombie shrines who allow the villagers to communicate with Ann -- well, then you're right back to asking Ann, who is perfectly content to present herself as a goddess who makes the grapes grow. Except maybe Zombie Shrine Rob, who was not super excited to become a zombie shrine and is still sort of bitter about the whole thing.
So A Shrine to St. Ann was a rec fromgogollescent, and it is a really enjoyable fantasy with a lot of intriguing stuff to say about godhood and power and culture clash, plus really charming and likeable characters -- Béata, who is basically a Steerswoman born into the wrong fantasy world, is probably my favorite, but the others are all great too, including Ann's grandmother, who is FABULOUS -- with as I see it one major flaw.
The thing is, the plot involves a clash of powers which involves a number of straightforwardly human characters swept up in its wake, and throughout the book, nothing the human POV characters do really affects the outcome at all. No, okay, I take it back -- one major human character gets to go on one side quest that is plot relevant and significant. One out of six. Seven if you count Zombie Rob, who also does not get to do much on his own bat except when Ann is working through him. The rest of the time, the humans got to argue and complain about what the deities and demi-deities told them to do and then do it anyway, or alternately stand around futilely while the deities and demi-deities did less palatable things.
I would still totally recommend the book! Ann is terrible and fascinating, the worldbuilding is fantastic, the plot is compelling, and the main emotional thread of Ann's relationship with her family is carried through and is cathartic and sad and compelling and satisfying. I just wish that, since we did have all of these other super interesting characters, they got more to actually do.
(Also,shati would be annoyed by the amount of stealth royalty.)
If you ask the visiting royal couple who are hanging out in the Isles on their honeymoon, Ann is the fine print they sort of wish they had investigated when the Isles officially became part of their kingdom, which officially does not condone human sacrifice.
If you ask visiting trader Béata kel Kakiaretë, Ann is a FASCINATING MYSTERY and she would like to take a number of notes, please, if you wouldn't mind.
If you ask her great-grandfather, Ann is an out-of-control brat who should have listened to him when she had the chance.
And if you ask the zombie shrines who allow the villagers to communicate with Ann -- well, then you're right back to asking Ann, who is perfectly content to present herself as a goddess who makes the grapes grow. Except maybe Zombie Shrine Rob, who was not super excited to become a zombie shrine and is still sort of bitter about the whole thing.
So A Shrine to St. Ann was a rec from
gogollescent, and it is a really enjoyable fantasy with a lot of intriguing stuff to say about godhood and power and culture clash, plus really charming and likeable characters -- Béata, who is basically a Steerswoman born into the wrong fantasy world, is probably my favorite, but the others are all great too, including Ann's grandmother, who is FABULOUS -- with as I see it one major flaw.The thing is, the plot involves a clash of powers which involves a number of straightforwardly human characters swept up in its wake, and throughout the book, nothing the human POV characters do really affects the outcome at all. No, okay, I take it back -- one major human character gets to go on one side quest that is plot relevant and significant. One out of six. Seven if you count Zombie Rob, who also does not get to do much on his own bat except when Ann is working through him. The rest of the time, the humans got to argue and complain about what the deities and demi-deities told them to do and then do it anyway, or alternately stand around futilely while the deities and demi-deities did less palatable things.
I would still totally recommend the book! Ann is terrible and fascinating, the worldbuilding is fantastic, the plot is compelling, and the main emotional thread of Ann's relationship with her family is carried through and is cathartic and sad and compelling and satisfying. I just wish that, since we did have all of these other super interesting characters, they got more to actually do.
(Also,
shati would be annoyed by the amount of stealth royalty.)
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Date: 2013-09-13 02:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-13 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-13 04:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-13 04:33 pm (UTC)Haha yeah this is . . . totally accurate. Mostly as far as I can tell they serve the purpose of Ann's Jael-Directed Walking Guilt Trips. I got real excited during the climax when Béata and Rosa got all up in between Rob and Tethys and the priestess and I was like "YEAH HERE IT IS, TIME FOR SOME HUMAN AGENCY" and then . . . Rosa got possessed. >:( AH WELL. I will dream of the Small Gods part, anyway.
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Date: 2013-09-14 12:46 am (UTC)(plot twist: shati turns out to be secret royalty)
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Date: 2013-09-14 05:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-14 02:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-14 05:29 am (UTC)