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Chargement... Prince of Dogs (Crown of Stars, Vol 2) (original 1998; édition 1999)par Kate Elliott
Information sur l'oeuvreLe Prince des chiens: La Couronne d'Étoiles, T2 par Kate Elliott (1998)
Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. In the sequel to King's Dragon, the primary trio of characters tries to come to grips with their new roles. Alain adjusts to life as a newly legitimized lord, Liath attempts to escape the unchecked abuse of her former owner, and Sanglant tries to retain his sanity while imprisoned by an inhuman enemy. Meanwhile, a full company of clerics, scholars, novices, and orphans witness the complications of war, kinship, and inheritance. I'm impressed by the entrenched consistency of Prince of Dog's medieval milieu. Minus the obvious (and intentional) aspect of gender equality in the novel, Prince of Dogs avoids the common problems of Technicolor serfs and Andrew Lang princesses. Everything is very dirty and very unfair. The novel is not an epic-fantasy spray-paint job, particularly in regards to rigid social castes and how they were read as a divine signal of competence and righteousness. The plot of Prince of Dogs knits more tightly together than the previous story: Liath and Alain actually meet each other. My favorite character is still Count Lavastine, who is a vulnerable brute. And I can't wait to see the horrors of Alain and Tallia coming together. Prince of Dogs ends with Alain misty-eyed about their upcoming nuptials, but he has no inkling about the strength of Tallia's religious convictions. (It's not clear how Tallia will react to the betrothal: she was approving of Alain in King's Dragon but she had definite non-Alain plans for her future. I predict agony and death.) Can't remember what exactly inspired me to start a re-read of this series but I'm not sorry I did. It's a fantastic medieval European fantasy series (truly a great depiction of a medieval Europe -inspired setting) that feels so real; from the most desperate of war refugees to the daimones of the Upper Spheres to the working economy... Do yourself a favor and read this series if you haven't already. Book Two shows rebellion brewing in the kingdom but relief has come for Liath (mostly, Hugh is a sneaky bastard). Now it's Sanglant who is trapped with no one knowing he is a prisoner. By the way, Liath's vow re Sanglant is a perfect illustration of Elliott's theme of consequences. There is no choice made by a character that won't have ramifications that must be dealt with. Whether that is 10 pages, 10 chapters or 10 years later consequences catch up to everyone. We see that very clearly for Alain, as well. His pure heart and inability to escape his own sincerity links him in a very immediate way to their Eika enemy but also, it's hinted, to humanity more broadly. But he is very much seen as a pawn by the Lady of Battles and possibly some powerful folks in the kingdom who don't necessarily honor his innate compassion. The sequel in the Crown of Stars series is more interesting and more developed then the first book. The story continues off directly where the first one ended. It is still a slow book that pushes the story forward to where you finally get a resolution to some plot-lines started in the first book. The characters are written more interestingly and most of the drama is more exciting. There is still a romance piece that makes no sense to me, but it is not focused on much. The tropes are typical fantasy still, but I still enjoy reading them. There are continued hints of an underlying, larger plot which I'm sure will develop with each book. Overall a great story that I think builds on the first one. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
Kate Elliott's KING'S DRAGON launched a magnificent new epic fantasy. Now, with PRINCE OF DOGS, one of the most exciting fantasy series of recent years continues . . . Sanglant - the prince of dogs, King Henry's bastard son - is being held captive in the city of Gent by Bloodheart, The Eika warlord. Liath, now one of the King's Eagles - and still grieving over the loss of Sanglant - is desperately trying to unlock the secrets of her own past. Unless she masters her powers she may prove a grave danger to everyone, herself included. Alain, now proclaimed a Count's heir, is increasingly troubled by visions of the enemy he befriended and the Lady of Battles whom he's sworn to serve. And Fifth Brother, least favoured son of Bloodheart, has returned to the lands of his own people to unite the scattered tribes and build an army to do his father's bidding. While King Henry continues this progress through his troubled realm, Sanglant, Liath, Alain and Fifth Brother fight their own individual battles. Only time will tell who will prove triumphant as all of them are caught up in the dangers and turmoil of a world at war . . . Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Make no mistake, this series is very good in some senses. It is well-written, and Kate Elliott is a master worldbuilder. She bases her books on medieval Europe, which is a trick used by many fantasy writers to help them in their worldbuilding, but she uses that technique very well, making her secondary world strange and magical enough that this never feels like a historical novel. It's a complex and intriguing world, that always invited me to find out more about it.
The characters are also good. Not perhaps the best feature (that would be the worldbuilding) but interesting and perfectly serviceable.
So if the writing, the worldbuilding and the characters are good, then what's the problem? The problem is the storytelling. Mostly, the pacing. This series includes 7 very fat novels, and the payoff after reading one of these massive doorstoppers often feels slight. The plot advances at a slow pace, things do happen, but it does not feel like the overall plot moves much.
After two books I took a break, and when it was time to return to the series I found the prospect daunting. Since reading is supposed to be a pleasure, not to feel like a duty, I decided to let it go. It did not help that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet or at the start of the books themselves a good recap of the previous books so that I might refresh my memory before starting book three.
All in all, there are many worse things to read, but there are better things too. You can give it a try, you may well find that immersing yourself in this complex, fascinating world is a real pleasure for you, and that you do not mind the pacing. But it did not work completely for me. I'm always sorrowful when I don't complete an attractive story, but it was just too many pages, too many fat novels, for too little real advance of the story. ( )