Monette, Sarah
MELUSINE
Sarah Monette
ACE Books 2005
PB 477 pages
ISBN# 0-441-01417-8
Fans of Jacqueline Carey’s KUSHIEL’S LEGACY might like this storyline, for the tone is similar. Though I haven’t yet gotten hooked on Carey’s work, I found Monette’s style irresistible--compelling. MELUSINE is a place where it isn’t safe to be a master mage.
Felix is very strong in magic, so strong that the greedy master who taught him finds a way to steal Felix’s magic so he can destroy MELUSINE’S magical defences, blame the deed on Felix, and drive Felix so insane that no one knows the truth for months.
While the readers suffer with Felix through multiple horrific tortures [including homosexual rape], we also learn about a cat-burglar who has problems of his own. The story splashes in first-person switchbacks from Felix’s noble style to Mildmay’s gutter slang narratives that Show the reader the place of MELUSINE. Strangers to each other who don’t even meet for over 200 pages, Felix and Mildmay are orphaned half-brothers with a few things in common. Both have the ability to see ghosts, both have bright red hair in a land where redheads don’t exist, and they both have a bit of a temper too--but who wouldn’t with the problems they encounter! Sarah Monette is deft in stringing out the tension. I couldn’t put the book down. Problem is: it’s not a stand-alone…where are the car keys?!
Sarah Monette
ACE Books 2005
PB 477 pages
ISBN# 0-441-01417-8
Fans of Jacqueline Carey’s KUSHIEL’S LEGACY might like this storyline, for the tone is similar. Though I haven’t yet gotten hooked on Carey’s work, I found Monette’s style irresistible--compelling. MELUSINE is a place where it isn’t safe to be a master mage.
Felix is very strong in magic, so strong that the greedy master who taught him finds a way to steal Felix’s magic so he can destroy MELUSINE’S magical defences, blame the deed on Felix, and drive Felix so insane that no one knows the truth for months.
While the readers suffer with Felix through multiple horrific tortures [including homosexual rape], we also learn about a cat-burglar who has problems of his own. The story splashes in first-person switchbacks from Felix’s noble style to Mildmay’s gutter slang narratives that Show the reader the place of MELUSINE. Strangers to each other who don’t even meet for over 200 pages, Felix and Mildmay are orphaned half-brothers with a few things in common. Both have the ability to see ghosts, both have bright red hair in a land where redheads don’t exist, and they both have a bit of a temper too--but who wouldn’t with the problems they encounter! Sarah Monette is deft in stringing out the tension. I couldn’t put the book down. Problem is: it’s not a stand-alone…where are the car keys?!
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