Memorial Day and BOOKS!

[lady_sarai]

Okay, so it was a very nice Memorial Day. We went and planted flowers at the cemetary for my dad, grandfather and older brother and it looks beautiful! (If you can say a cemetary looks beautiful, but I can. It does.) Mom told me that Dad's favorite color was pink, which is why his flowers are always pink. This amuses me, especially since my younger brother (who is 19) is so concerned with being "manly."

We made potato salad and had barbeque hot dogs and iced tea for dinner! Then I watched the news and totally cried, and I think maybe I just was on edge anyway.

Found out at the cemetary that our old landlord died since last Memorial Day, which is sad. I used to love going with Mom or Dad to pay the rent because he and his wife were so nice. But it's been... gosh, wait, let me think. We moved into THIS house on Memorial Day in 1991, so... 15 years? Wow.

ANYWAY, I also finished reading Trickster's Queen and I have these things to say, behind a cut for spoilerifficness.

I CALLED IT! I so did. Three or four chapters into the first book, I said to my mother "I bet the younger sister winds up being Queen." HA! And she did. And was MUCH better suited to it.

Speaking of Sarai, hmm. She's something, I guess. Not a favorite. Annoyed she had my name. ;) I think... I can't *really* blame her or dislike her, but I can frown and say it was irresponsible, and selfish. Even if it WAS better for Dove to be Queen.

SPEAKING of!

I. Love. Dove.

Seriously, she should have her own books with *her* as main character. I want to know what happens now that she's Queen. Does she fall in love? With who? What adventures and courtly intrigue will she have? She hates parties and formalities and what will she DO being Queen? Dove isn't meek, by any means.

I liked her from the beginning and she kept winning me over.

I like Aly. She was fun, and Kyprioth was *definitely* a fun god. I liked their interactions. A lot.

I started the second book and went "wait, what?" because her characterization seemed off, but then I thought about the fact that 6 months *had* passed and with them some significant events. Her personality *would* change.

I'm glad she wound up staying with Dove. She belongs on the Islands now.

Nawat.

Oh, I did like him. He was fun.

Now, the romance?

Um. As much as I liked it--and I did!--it seemed... hmm. Maybe because most of their "courting" seemed to take place during that 6 month gap, I went "wait, but she was just *discouraging* him!!" Which she WAS!

But I still liked it. Although the fact that she's pregnant in the epilogue grates *slightly.* I don't think Aly's ready for children yet. I dunno. Also, the first time they had sex... I was disturbed and every one of my alarms went off because she said "no" and he said "no more waiting" and seemed very intent upon having sex with her anyway, even if she said no.

Now, I know he would have stopped if she'd been serious about stopping him, and she could stop him if he didn't. But. That rubbed me the wrong way.

And then there are teh DEATHS.

::glares and pouts:;

I cannot tell you how irked I am and was by the killing of those CHILDREN.

FIVE. CHILDREN. UNDER. THE. AGE. OF. FIVE.

IN A STORM AT SEA!!!

AND THEY NEVER FOUND THREE BODIES!!!!!

INCLUDING ELSREN!!!

I really, really, really, really did not like that. I really did not appreciate Elsren's death, in particular. SERIOUSLY.

And!! Ochobu and Ulasim and Menquen (well, I have made my piece with his death by now). And JUNAI! Who got a "oh, and these people died too..." LISTING account of her death.

I think she deserved more. Junai rocked in ten kinds of ways.

And why give Nuritin a *stroke*?

>_<

But. I did like the books. They were fun and engaging and most definitely captured my attention rather raptly. ;)

I'm sure I'll have more to say later, when I think of it.

But this reminds me that it probably has been at LEAST since Junior High or early High School that I read the Alanna series, because I totally had forgotten a ton of details. Still can't remember half of them.

Also, am reminded that I never DID read the series about Daine. =P Although I have the books and SHOULD...

But now I have that horrible between-books feeling, where I look at my books and go... what now? And I have a horridly huge stack of them, but I've narrowed the list to four or five, roughly.

And now I ask you. But reserve the right to ignore you. ;)


[Poll #738495]

Comments

[scribophile.livejournal.com]

I agree with pretty much all of your comments about the book - Sarai was flighty and Dove was perfect. To me, Nawat's changes far outweighed Aly's, but I was especially interested in the way he immersed himself in human culture.

You're absolutely right - the casual mention of Junai's death really irked me. She was so kickass and I thought she deserves better, as did poor little Elsren.

The thing I find about Tamora Pierce's books is that there are so many little wrong details, so many things I gripe about after I've finished the book - but while you're actually reading them, her books are captivating. Maybe that's why there's not much of an online fandom?

I liked the Daine books, but they were my least favorites. This was probably because there wasn't much fighting, which always appealed to the tomboy in me, but maybe it was also that I was so unlike the character. So I'd say read them, but start with The Storyteller's Daughter (which I've meant to read for ages, but never got around to. Or maybe it was another version, since there are so many, but whatever.).

In other news, the humidity is melting me into a puddle of sludge as we speak. x_x 95 degrees and 90% humidity. Oi. And the best part is that it's not even June yet. *dies*