I BRING YOU YET ANOTHER FICTIONAL THIEF
I was just telling half_sleeping that I was re-reading The Queen of Attolia and cannot stop imagining Sara Ellis (Hilarie Burton) as (the Queen of) Attolia. There were immensely satisfying screams of CANNOT UNSEE, to which I said:
WELCOME TO MY WORLD:
I don't actually think anyone is going to agree with my mental picture, but here it is:
BECAUSE IF I'M GOING TO SUFFER YOU WILL ALL SUFFER WITH ME
(which you won't if you don't agree).
I MEAN SHE ALREADY HAS HER OWN THIEF, NO?
Not Impressed.
(Seriously, it's the Sara Ellis role that makes me think of Attolia.)
OBEY OR IT'S YOUR EXECUTION (or amputation).
large version
this because the photograph makes me think of the ruby earrings.
lacewood lent me her Martha Wells books: specifically, she lent me the Fall of Il-Rien series, and Death of a Necromancer. There were four books in the bag, and I decided I'd pick one up at random to read. And out of the four books I picked, completely at random: Death of a Necromancer, which is summarised as follows:
Nicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman with an enigmatic past. Consumed by thoughts of vengeance, he is consoled only by thoughts of the beautiful, dangerous Madeline*. He is also the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien.
*bit of a misrepresentation, that.
Under cover of darkness on the streets of the gaslit city, he assumes the guise of a master criminal, stealing jewels from wealthy nobles to finance his quest for vengeance: the murder of Count Montesq. Montesq orchestrated the wrongful execution of Nicholas's beloved godfather Edouard on false charges of necromancy, the art of divination through communion with spirits of the dead, a practice long outlawed in the kingdom of Ile-Rien.
But now Nicholas's murderous mission is being interrupted by a series of eerie, unexplainable, even fatal events. Someone with tremendous magical powers is opposing him. Children vanish, corpses assume the visage of real people, mortal spells are cast, and traces of a necromantic power that hasn't been used for centuries are found. And when a spiritualist unwittingly leads Nicholas to a decrepit old house, the truly monstrous nature of his peril finally emerges in harrowing detail.
Nicholas and his band of criminals and disgraced officers must confront and destroy an ancient and awesome evil rising from its hideous darkness to conquer all. Even the help of Ile-Rien's greatest sorcerer may not be sufficient, for Nicholas faces a woefully mismatched battle with unthinkable horrors in store for the loser. This book is set in the same world as The Wizard Hunters and The Element of Fire but can be read on its own.
I loved this book! Clearly lacewood has awesome taste and I should submit to it more often.
1. To my surprise, I really liked Madeline! This is because most of the books I read fail Bechdel tests egregiously. I surprised myself by being sad that more of the book was not from her point of view.
2. I totally think Inspector Ronsarde and Doctor Halle are basically Holmes and Watson. Take one initial from each of them, and you get S. (Ronsarde's first name) and H. (Halle). SHERLOCK HOLMES. I mean, Halle writes stories about their great detective adventures! One of them uses a cane for walking at one point!
3. SO THOUGHT the thief and the inspector would get to meet. :D SO HAPPY AND CONTENTED.
4. I thought Madeline and Halle made an awesome team. Clearly they are the Sane Person forced to put up with the dramatic insanities of their partners in crime / investigation.
5. I loved Madeline's grandmother and the awesome tree! T_T WHYYYYYY.
6. Reynard, to my great surprise, was my favourite.
7. I kept wanting to slash him with Nicholas.
8. NO SLASH EXISTS ONLINE THAT I CAN FIND. THIS BREAKS MY HEART.
9. I LOVED THIS BOOK. It took a bit of getting used to at first, but it is AWESOME. Loved the worldbuilding! Loved the fact that I pretty much loved every female character in it, this is seriously rare for me.
10. LOVED NICHOLAS GETTING MAD WHEN HIS NEMESIS TRIED TO GET RID OF NICHOLAS'S GREATEST RIVAL AHAHAHAHAHA. Oddly enough I don't ship Ronsarde/Nicholas (Inspector/Thief He's Trying to Catch) - probably because I see Ronsarde as a Mycroft Holmes figure.
WELCOME TO MY WORLD:
I don't actually think anyone is going to agree with my mental picture, but here it is:
BECAUSE IF I'M GOING TO SUFFER YOU WILL ALL SUFFER WITH ME
(which you won't if you don't agree).
I MEAN SHE ALREADY HAS HER OWN THIEF, NO?
Not Impressed.
(Seriously, it's the Sara Ellis role that makes me think of Attolia.)
OBEY OR IT'S YOUR EXECUTION (or amputation).
large version
this because the photograph makes me think of the ruby earrings.
lacewood lent me her Martha Wells books: specifically, she lent me the Fall of Il-Rien series, and Death of a Necromancer. There were four books in the bag, and I decided I'd pick one up at random to read. And out of the four books I picked, completely at random: Death of a Necromancer, which is summarised as follows:
Nicholas Valiarde is a passionate, embittered nobleman with an enigmatic past. Consumed by thoughts of vengeance, he is consoled only by thoughts of the beautiful, dangerous Madeline*. He is also the greatest thief in all of Ile-Rien.
*bit of a misrepresentation, that.
Under cover of darkness on the streets of the gaslit city, he assumes the guise of a master criminal, stealing jewels from wealthy nobles to finance his quest for vengeance: the murder of Count Montesq. Montesq orchestrated the wrongful execution of Nicholas's beloved godfather Edouard on false charges of necromancy, the art of divination through communion with spirits of the dead, a practice long outlawed in the kingdom of Ile-Rien.
But now Nicholas's murderous mission is being interrupted by a series of eerie, unexplainable, even fatal events. Someone with tremendous magical powers is opposing him. Children vanish, corpses assume the visage of real people, mortal spells are cast, and traces of a necromantic power that hasn't been used for centuries are found. And when a spiritualist unwittingly leads Nicholas to a decrepit old house, the truly monstrous nature of his peril finally emerges in harrowing detail.
Nicholas and his band of criminals and disgraced officers must confront and destroy an ancient and awesome evil rising from its hideous darkness to conquer all. Even the help of Ile-Rien's greatest sorcerer may not be sufficient, for Nicholas faces a woefully mismatched battle with unthinkable horrors in store for the loser. This book is set in the same world as The Wizard Hunters and The Element of Fire but can be read on its own.
I loved this book! Clearly lacewood has awesome taste and I should submit to it more often.
1. To my surprise, I really liked Madeline! This is because most of the books I read fail Bechdel tests egregiously. I surprised myself by being sad that more of the book was not from her point of view.
2. I totally think Inspector Ronsarde and Doctor Halle are basically Holmes and Watson. Take one initial from each of them, and you get S. (Ronsarde's first name) and H. (Halle). SHERLOCK HOLMES. I mean, Halle writes stories about their great detective adventures! One of them uses a cane for walking at one point!
3. SO THOUGHT the thief and the inspector would get to meet. :D SO HAPPY AND CONTENTED.
4. I thought Madeline and Halle made an awesome team. Clearly they are the Sane Person forced to put up with the dramatic insanities of their partners in crime / investigation.
5. I loved Madeline's grandmother and the awesome tree! T_T WHYYYYYY.
6. Reynard, to my great surprise, was my favourite.
7. I kept wanting to slash him with Nicholas.
8. NO SLASH EXISTS ONLINE THAT I CAN FIND. THIS BREAKS MY HEART.
9. I LOVED THIS BOOK. It took a bit of getting used to at first, but it is AWESOME. Loved the worldbuilding! Loved the fact that I pretty much loved every female character in it, this is seriously rare for me.
10. LOVED NICHOLAS GETTING MAD WHEN HIS NEMESIS TRIED TO GET RID OF NICHOLAS'S GREATEST RIVAL AHAHAHAHAHA. Oddly enough I don't ship Ronsarde/Nicholas (Inspector/Thief He's Trying to Catch) - probably because I see Ronsarde as a Mycroft Holmes figure.