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Aug. 22nd, 2007
Book Review
Aug. 22nd, 2007 08:52 pmThe Empress of the Last Days
by Jane Stevenson
This book concludes the series that started with The Winter Queen, and, unfortunately, it was a disappointment. Instead of continuing with the historical setting, Stevenson jumps ahead to the present to follow a group of English and Dutch scholars who stumble on the documents generated by the characters of the first two books and begin to research the people and events they illuminate. Stevenson has a lot of points to make about academia, race, gender, the nature of royalty, and colonialism, a lot of which is quite interesting. However, it all ends up being rather tiresome. She's too self-conscious about it all. Instead of using the plot and her characters' actions and reactions, she too often just has the people indulge in pedantic inner or outer monologue. Also, there's very little development of the characters or their ideas. They expound about issues with very little changes, shifts, or discoveries regarding their views. It seemed to me that everyone was talking about things they had known, decided, or realized well before the beginning of the novel, not things they had learned or changed their minds about.
by Jane Stevenson
This book concludes the series that started with The Winter Queen, and, unfortunately, it was a disappointment. Instead of continuing with the historical setting, Stevenson jumps ahead to the present to follow a group of English and Dutch scholars who stumble on the documents generated by the characters of the first two books and begin to research the people and events they illuminate. Stevenson has a lot of points to make about academia, race, gender, the nature of royalty, and colonialism, a lot of which is quite interesting. However, it all ends up being rather tiresome. She's too self-conscious about it all. Instead of using the plot and her characters' actions and reactions, she too often just has the people indulge in pedantic inner or outer monologue. Also, there's very little development of the characters or their ideas. They expound about issues with very little changes, shifts, or discoveries regarding their views. It seemed to me that everyone was talking about things they had known, decided, or realized well before the beginning of the novel, not things they had learned or changed their minds about.
10 favorites music meme
Aug. 22nd, 2007 11:23 pm![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
pantsie gave me the letter W. Even with my vast and varied tastes and collections, this wasn't that easy. I ignored "the" and its foreign-language equivalents.War Requiem - Benjamin Britten
The Weeping Song - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
W Boru Kalinka (In the Forest) - Warsaw Village Band
What If I Never Speed - John Dowland
Way Down in the Hole - Tom Waits
Wuste - Einsturzende Neubauten
When I Was On Horseback - Steeleye Span
Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues - Frederic Rzewski
The World's Address - They Might Be Giants
Die Walkure - Richard Wagner
