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wombat1138Almost done with the series re-read-- down to the endgame of The Bastard Prince, the last book in the "Heirs" trilogy, which just leaves King Kelson's Bride and the anthologies.
The "Heirs" trilogy just isn't very satisfying for me-- not just because of the aforementioned despair factor, but also because it feels like the underlying structure is increasingly slipping.
The Regents and Custodes aren't particularly individualized, which makes them less convincing as antagonists. There's "weaselly" Murdoch, the hypocritically cherubic-looking archbishop Hubert, and everyone else. Javan thinks that Tammaron is essentially a decent guy, but there isn't much actual evidence provided for this assessment (which turns out to be wrong anyway). Rhun the Ruthless is just a name and an epithet-- I have no real sense what he looks like or why he's any more ruthless than the other cold bastards around him.
I'm also frustrated by the protagonist selections-- where on earth were Evaine's children during KJY? Why don't we ever see Jerusha after infancy? Though paradoxically, I'm just as frustrated by the introduction of Sianna MacGregor or the re-introduction of Camlin as a young man, only to have them completely disappear afterward, so maybe I would've been just as annoyed by similar pointless cameos frmo that generation-- except that Tieg and his siblings are fairly well-integrated into tHoG and even play a plot role, so it should've been doable in some way.
Conversely, I'm developing a profound and probably authorially unintended dislike of Rhysel as a young woman. She may be acting for the higher good (at least as she and the narrative conventions define it), but she's casually overriding other people's minds without any of the qualms discussed between Kelson and Dhugal. Granted, she's operating in a much harsher time under more dangerous conditions, and has a fewer range of choices. But it still bothers me, esp. her flirtatious manipulation of several hapless guys around her... and (probably sexistly of me) her lack of maidenly qualms about engineering scenarios of "Hello there, good sir knight I only met for the first time a few hours ago, let's disguise this document transfer by suddenly making out in the hallway-- yup, you'd better stuff the parchment all the way inside my bodice to make sure." It seems completely inconsistent with the social milieu and other female characters.
The "love at first sight" scenarios continue to seem completely unconvincing/inexplicable to me, but maybe I'm just cynical. OTOH, in mulling this over, I think I've managed to pin down why the start of the Richenda/Morgan relationship seems very wrong to me-- she's repeatedly described as being unquestionably loyal to the king, trustworthy enough to bring to Cardosa without any thought that she might compound or condone the treason of her first husband, and both of those things are true. But she also makes a deep emotional declaration to Morgan-- not just revealing herself to him as Deryni, but also unabashedly telling him "You are my heart" before her first husband is dead. Richenda may be faithful to the Crown, but to me, that doesn't justify her complete emotional detachment from Bran Coris to the point of unfaithfulness to him.
Given the serious religious commitment of most characters, doesn't she have any conflict in her heart about violating the sacrament of marriage in this way? Or is it okay because regardless of emotional weight, it's a sexless declaration of courtly love other than the element of "I love you madly, and let's get married after you kill my first husband tomorrow"?
It's a stark contrast to Ekaterin Vorsoisson agonizing about breaking her loveless oath to Etienne-- not that Ekaterin's prolonged fidelity was nec'ly a better choice, but at least she gave some thought to the subject beyond dismissing him as a token impediment.
Back to the HSC books, though-- on mild reflection, I kinda wish that Richeldis MacLean had reappeared in the last book. She's another distant MacRorie relative like Cathan and Mika (and in some ways more closely related), she was a ward of their parents, and she's married into a Regent's family-- why *isn't* she part of Mika's retinue at court? (Though then again, maybe the Regents are paranoid/ruthless enough about the former connections to deliberately exclude her for exactly those reasons.)
The "Heirs" trilogy just isn't very satisfying for me-- not just because of the aforementioned despair factor, but also because it feels like the underlying structure is increasingly slipping.
The Regents and Custodes aren't particularly individualized, which makes them less convincing as antagonists. There's "weaselly" Murdoch, the hypocritically cherubic-looking archbishop Hubert, and everyone else. Javan thinks that Tammaron is essentially a decent guy, but there isn't much actual evidence provided for this assessment (which turns out to be wrong anyway). Rhun the Ruthless is just a name and an epithet-- I have no real sense what he looks like or why he's any more ruthless than the other cold bastards around him.
I'm also frustrated by the protagonist selections-- where on earth were Evaine's children during KJY? Why don't we ever see Jerusha after infancy? Though paradoxically, I'm just as frustrated by the introduction of Sianna MacGregor or the re-introduction of Camlin as a young man, only to have them completely disappear afterward, so maybe I would've been just as annoyed by similar pointless cameos frmo that generation-- except that Tieg and his siblings are fairly well-integrated into tHoG and even play a plot role, so it should've been doable in some way.
Conversely, I'm developing a profound and probably authorially unintended dislike of Rhysel as a young woman. She may be acting for the higher good (at least as she and the narrative conventions define it), but she's casually overriding other people's minds without any of the qualms discussed between Kelson and Dhugal. Granted, she's operating in a much harsher time under more dangerous conditions, and has a fewer range of choices. But it still bothers me, esp. her flirtatious manipulation of several hapless guys around her... and (probably sexistly of me) her lack of maidenly qualms about engineering scenarios of "Hello there, good sir knight I only met for the first time a few hours ago, let's disguise this document transfer by suddenly making out in the hallway-- yup, you'd better stuff the parchment all the way inside my bodice to make sure." It seems completely inconsistent with the social milieu and other female characters.
The "love at first sight" scenarios continue to seem completely unconvincing/inexplicable to me, but maybe I'm just cynical. OTOH, in mulling this over, I think I've managed to pin down why the start of the Richenda/Morgan relationship seems very wrong to me-- she's repeatedly described as being unquestionably loyal to the king, trustworthy enough to bring to Cardosa without any thought that she might compound or condone the treason of her first husband, and both of those things are true. But she also makes a deep emotional declaration to Morgan-- not just revealing herself to him as Deryni, but also unabashedly telling him "You are my heart" before her first husband is dead. Richenda may be faithful to the Crown, but to me, that doesn't justify her complete emotional detachment from Bran Coris to the point of unfaithfulness to him.
Given the serious religious commitment of most characters, doesn't she have any conflict in her heart about violating the sacrament of marriage in this way? Or is it okay because regardless of emotional weight, it's a sexless declaration of courtly love other than the element of "I love you madly, and let's get married after you kill my first husband tomorrow"?
It's a stark contrast to Ekaterin Vorsoisson agonizing about breaking her loveless oath to Etienne-- not that Ekaterin's prolonged fidelity was nec'ly a better choice, but at least she gave some thought to the subject beyond dismissing him as a token impediment.
Back to the HSC books, though-- on mild reflection, I kinda wish that Richeldis MacLean had reappeared in the last book. She's another distant MacRorie relative like Cathan and Mika (and in some ways more closely related), she was a ward of their parents, and she's married into a Regent's family-- why *isn't* she part of Mika's retinue at court? (Though then again, maybe the Regents are paranoid/ruthless enough about the former connections to deliberately exclude her for exactly those reasons.)