(no subject)

[skygiants]

Elizabeth Wein conquers third-person narration in The Sunbird, sequel to The Winter Prince and A Coalition of Lions". No, I am serious! The first book was written in second-person and worked beautifully, the second book first-person and not quite as well, but close third-person is perfect for the story of Telemakos because it can capture his dignity and his childishness both. (The second book would probably have been better in third person as well.)

Anyways, this book is the Story of Telemakos On His Own Saving the Day. It's interesting because compared with the other books, the story is somewhat narrower and more focused - most of the main characters are for one reason or another closed off, so you don't get the tight codependency between characters that there is in The Winter Prince or the political complexity of A Coalition of Lions, but it works well as a very different kind of story for just that reason. Unsurprisingly, I loved angry, bratty Sofya, and I loved the tense and in large part offstage dynamic betwen Medraut and Goewin. I wish Turunesh got more characterization and more to do. I also loved this moment:

Gowein: *recaps The Winter Prince for Telamakos*
Telemakos: That is so messed up.
Goewin: It made sense at the time! Um.

Comments

[newredshoes]

...oh wow. So I was totally snagged by the Homeric name, and looking over the summaries I totally want to read this book now.

[skygiants]

You totally should - I think you would like it a lot.

I would recommend reading The Winter Prince first, though - The Sunbird is definitely a complete story on its own, but it does set up a lot of the backstory. Unless you are overexposed to/bored by Arthurian narratives, in which case, totally feel free stick with the Aksumites. :D