Fortune and Fate
Six months later, I've finally finished Fortune and Fate. Yay!
I love Wen's journey: the slow process of healing, forgiving herself, learning to care about people and be part of something again. I think it's handled well. The angst isn't overblown the way it sometimes is in these stories. I love Justin's utter joy at finding Wen, too, and the way that pretty much obliterates the remaining angst.
I love Karryn's development from rebellious teenager to marlady-in-training. I thought she had so much promise in the beginning -- not least because her first scenes with Wen put me in the mind of a 1930s opposites-attract romantic comedy -- and I was vastly disappointed when I got to the section of the book where she, er, acts her age. I cheered at the part where she begins to take an interest in the members of her guard as individuals, and again where her magical tie to the land begins to show up.
It took a while, but I did eventually come around to liking Wen and Jasper Paladar together. They are, above all, sweet. I suppose I love Jasper for being a complete noncombatant, and completely okay with that. Tamora Pierce fans will probably be familiar with the critique of fantasy stories that equate "value" with "willingness and ability to fight," so any break from that is refreshing. And I do love his unqualified acceptance of Wen, and the way their romance plays out with elements of tension, but not melodrama.
Possibly my favorite relationship in the book, though, is the friendship between Wen and Ryne Coravann. Their perceptions of each other change so much over the course of the story, ending in a place of mutual respect and clearly being a good influence on one another -- he makes her laugh and makes her rethink some things, and she encourages him to take himself more seriously and appreciate his resources and abilities. I suppose I like unlikely friendships.
Since I started the book shipping Wen and Karryn, I'm toying with the idea of writing fic from Karryn's perspective -- sort of a, "Karryn has a crush on Wen and does dumb stuff to get attention," kind of thing, since it's hard to tell exactly why she does some of the stuff she does. That, or fic in which they hook up ten years later, possibly starting with Ryne (who is definitely Karryn's husband by that point) flirting with Wen and Karryn being hugely jealous even though it mostly doesn't bother her when he flirts.
I sort of wish I'd finished this in time for Yuletide requests, since it's so far inside my brain right now. But there's always next year -- one more reason not to get myself banned by defaulting, yes?
I love Wen's journey: the slow process of healing, forgiving herself, learning to care about people and be part of something again. I think it's handled well. The angst isn't overblown the way it sometimes is in these stories. I love Justin's utter joy at finding Wen, too, and the way that pretty much obliterates the remaining angst.
I love Karryn's development from rebellious teenager to marlady-in-training. I thought she had so much promise in the beginning -- not least because her first scenes with Wen put me in the mind of a 1930s opposites-attract romantic comedy -- and I was vastly disappointed when I got to the section of the book where she, er, acts her age. I cheered at the part where she begins to take an interest in the members of her guard as individuals, and again where her magical tie to the land begins to show up.
It took a while, but I did eventually come around to liking Wen and Jasper Paladar together. They are, above all, sweet. I suppose I love Jasper for being a complete noncombatant, and completely okay with that. Tamora Pierce fans will probably be familiar with the critique of fantasy stories that equate "value" with "willingness and ability to fight," so any break from that is refreshing. And I do love his unqualified acceptance of Wen, and the way their romance plays out with elements of tension, but not melodrama.
Possibly my favorite relationship in the book, though, is the friendship between Wen and Ryne Coravann. Their perceptions of each other change so much over the course of the story, ending in a place of mutual respect and clearly being a good influence on one another -- he makes her laugh and makes her rethink some things, and she encourages him to take himself more seriously and appreciate his resources and abilities. I suppose I like unlikely friendships.
Since I started the book shipping Wen and Karryn, I'm toying with the idea of writing fic from Karryn's perspective -- sort of a, "Karryn has a crush on Wen and does dumb stuff to get attention," kind of thing, since it's hard to tell exactly why she does some of the stuff she does. That, or fic in which they hook up ten years later, possibly starting with Ryne (who is definitely Karryn's husband by that point) flirting with Wen and Karryn being hugely jealous even though it mostly doesn't bother her when he flirts.
I sort of wish I'd finished this in time for Yuletide requests, since it's so far inside my brain right now. But there's always next year -- one more reason not to get myself banned by defaulting, yes?