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Mar. 23rd, 2014 07:16 pmSo I read Diana Peterfreund's Across a Star-Swept Sea, which is the sequel to For Darkness Shows The Stars. The pres of For Darkness Shows the Stars was that's post-apocalyptic Persuasion, and when I read it last year I really enjoyed it!
I have more mixed feelings about Across a Star-Swept Sea, which is post-apocalyptic Scarlet Pimpernel retelling starring a female Percy Blakeney and which therefore should have been 110% up my alley.
Some of that is the setup, which I felt kind of weird about in For Darkness Shows the Stars, and I couldn't pinpoint or explain exactly why at the time so I ignored it; the best way I have to say it is that the design of the post-apocalyptic setup kind of flattens fairly complicated issues of neurodiversity. And even though Across the Star-Swept Sea is in some ways actually better and less flattening about that, the way it's used and made a plot point made me feel more uncomfortable. But that might be just me? I don't know! Anyway, I don't feel qualified to talk about that, although if anybody does want to talk about that I FULLY WELCOME you to, please, let's have that conversation!
Anyway what I do feel qualified to talk about is SCARLET PIMPERNEL AUS, so ... let's talk about that instead!
Scarlet Pimpernel AU stuff I really liked:
- the fact that Lady Percy Blakeney (okay, "Persis Blake") has a circle of female schoolfriends who correspond to the Prince of Wales and the members of the League. The Andrew Ffoulkes equivalent is named ANDRISSE. This is actually my favorite thing. Yes, please, leagues of women fighting evil together!
- the fact that Armand St. Just almost always acts fourteen anyway, so making him a fourteen-year-old girl is both perfect and ... results in that character actually being MORE competent and effective than in the original
- the fact that Dude Marguerite is just as overall useless at rescuing Percy as Original Marguerite is
- the fact that Lady Chauvelin is not in love with Dude Marguerite (which I was afraid of and would have been awful) but just really mad that her fake cousin/BFF ditched her AND THE REVOLUTION
- the fact that there is a scene in which Persis Blake makes up stupid rhymes. They are not, sadly, as stupid as in the original. Still, she makes up stupid rhymes, which I respect.
- the fact that no one is white
- the fact that there are a lot of descriptions of really over-the-top and elaborate fashion
Scarlet Pimpernel AU stuff I did not like:
- PERSIS BLAKE IS NOT HAVING ENOUGH FUN
Okay, here is the thing -- and, okay, a few posts back I called this type of character the Troll Hero, so let's keep going with that. The thing about the Troll Hero, and Percy Blakeney is kind of the epitome of the Troll Hero, is that the archetype involves a level of EXTREME self-confidence that hits the point of arrogance. Percy Blakeney can pull off his Scarlet Pimpernel masquerade because he genuinely does not care what other people think of him. He knows he's amazing. If everybody's laughing at him, that's even better! The ultimate joke is always on them, because he knows he's in control, and he can manipulate other people to do what he wants (you know, for the greater good). And he loves it. (Until Marguerite, and angst, etc., but this is the gist.)
Who writes women like that?
Who writes women who are so confident in themselves, who are so aware of the fact that they're smarter than everyone around them that it literally does not matter what the rest of the world thinks?
Who writes women who are laughing at everyone else around them all the time? Who are laughing at everyone else around them all the time, heroically?
Almost nobody writes women like that. People hate female characters like that. A woman who's confident enough to know she's smarter than other people? God, no! What a bitch!
Persis Blake does not have that level of rock-solid confidence. Persis Blake is afraid of her mask slipping; she's distressed at the lies she has to tell to the people around her; she's angry, she's frustrated, she's worried. And these are all completely reasonable reactions to have to her situation, but -- man, most of the time it seems like she's not having ANY fun.
Persis Blake is not at all a bad character, but ... guys, I just really want some more female troll heroes. I want them to know they're smarter than everyone around them, and to be right. I want them to be total jerks. I want them to have SO MUCH FUN.
I have more mixed feelings about Across a Star-Swept Sea, which is post-apocalyptic Scarlet Pimpernel retelling starring a female Percy Blakeney and which therefore should have been 110% up my alley.
Some of that is the setup, which I felt kind of weird about in For Darkness Shows the Stars, and I couldn't pinpoint or explain exactly why at the time so I ignored it; the best way I have to say it is that the design of the post-apocalyptic setup kind of flattens fairly complicated issues of neurodiversity. And even though Across the Star-Swept Sea is in some ways actually better and less flattening about that, the way it's used and made a plot point made me feel more uncomfortable. But that might be just me? I don't know! Anyway, I don't feel qualified to talk about that, although if anybody does want to talk about that I FULLY WELCOME you to, please, let's have that conversation!
Anyway what I do feel qualified to talk about is SCARLET PIMPERNEL AUS, so ... let's talk about that instead!
Scarlet Pimpernel AU stuff I really liked:
- the fact that Lady Percy Blakeney (okay, "Persis Blake") has a circle of female schoolfriends who correspond to the Prince of Wales and the members of the League. The Andrew Ffoulkes equivalent is named ANDRISSE. This is actually my favorite thing. Yes, please, leagues of women fighting evil together!
- the fact that Armand St. Just almost always acts fourteen anyway, so making him a fourteen-year-old girl is both perfect and ... results in that character actually being MORE competent and effective than in the original
- the fact that Dude Marguerite is just as overall useless at rescuing Percy as Original Marguerite is
- the fact that Lady Chauvelin is not in love with Dude Marguerite (which I was afraid of and would have been awful) but just really mad that her fake cousin/BFF ditched her AND THE REVOLUTION
- the fact that there is a scene in which Persis Blake makes up stupid rhymes. They are not, sadly, as stupid as in the original. Still, she makes up stupid rhymes, which I respect.
- the fact that no one is white
- the fact that there are a lot of descriptions of really over-the-top and elaborate fashion
Scarlet Pimpernel AU stuff I did not like:
- PERSIS BLAKE IS NOT HAVING ENOUGH FUN
Okay, here is the thing -- and, okay, a few posts back I called this type of character the Troll Hero, so let's keep going with that. The thing about the Troll Hero, and Percy Blakeney is kind of the epitome of the Troll Hero, is that the archetype involves a level of EXTREME self-confidence that hits the point of arrogance. Percy Blakeney can pull off his Scarlet Pimpernel masquerade because he genuinely does not care what other people think of him. He knows he's amazing. If everybody's laughing at him, that's even better! The ultimate joke is always on them, because he knows he's in control, and he can manipulate other people to do what he wants (you know, for the greater good). And he loves it. (Until Marguerite, and angst, etc., but this is the gist.)
Who writes women like that?
Who writes women who are so confident in themselves, who are so aware of the fact that they're smarter than everyone around them that it literally does not matter what the rest of the world thinks?
Who writes women who are laughing at everyone else around them all the time? Who are laughing at everyone else around them all the time, heroically?
Almost nobody writes women like that. People hate female characters like that. A woman who's confident enough to know she's smarter than other people? God, no! What a bitch!
Persis Blake does not have that level of rock-solid confidence. Persis Blake is afraid of her mask slipping; she's distressed at the lies she has to tell to the people around her; she's angry, she's frustrated, she's worried. And these are all completely reasonable reactions to have to her situation, but -- man, most of the time it seems like she's not having ANY fun.
Persis Blake is not at all a bad character, but ... guys, I just really want some more female troll heroes. I want them to know they're smarter than everyone around them, and to be right. I want them to be total jerks. I want them to have SO MUCH FUN.
