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stoutfellowMy new bus book is Space in Language and Cognition, by Stephen Levinson. It's a discussion of the ways different languages talk about location and direction, and - though I haven't gotten very far - I think it has some unsettling implications. I think, once I've finished, I might write a couple of posts about it - one to describe the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and one to discuss how Levinson's work fits into that.
Meanwhile, I'm still reading McKillip. I've finished The Tower at Stony Wood and Winter Rose, and continued on to The Book of Atrix Wolfe. A few comments on the former two, with some spoilers, follow.
I wondered about the "young adult" label, as applied to McKillip. Winter Rose, I think, does fit that category. It's told in first person, from the viewpoint of a young woman (age uncertain; I'd guess late teens) who falls in love with a Mysterious Stranger. Since it's McKillip, the mystery around him is supernatural, and the heroine has to undergo an ordeal to save her sister, her beloved, and herself from an evil Power. One interesting item: although the heroine and her sister both fall for the stranger, they do not snipe at each other; both recognize the hopelessness of the situation and do what they can to support each other. As usual, McKillip tells the story lyrically, but it seems to me rather too slight for its length - it seemed to drag a bit. That may be because I'm not exactly in the target audience, but then I'm also not in the target audience for, say, Gilmore Girls, which I love. I'm inclined to say that the book is a bit of a failure.
This is a complex and interesting work. It begins as the King of Gloinmere is celebrating his wedding; his greatest knight, Cyan Dag, is warned by a mysterious bard that the woman the king has brought home is not his intended bride, but an impostor. The bard sends him off on a quest to rescue the real queen. Meanwhile, Thayne Ysse, a prince of the North Islands, where a rebellion against Gloinmere was crushed some years before, learns of a dragon who, with its hoard, can help the Islands regain their freedom, and (prompted again by a - the? - bard) sets off to enlist its aid. Yet again, a young woman named Melanthos sits in a mysterious tower whose mirror reveals distant events, much to the dismay of her lover and her mother; her mother is eventually caught up in the tower's magic as well. These three strands of action interweave: Cyan and Thayne meet several times, clashing and changing each other; Melanthos rescues Cyan from danger and enlists his aid with her mother; and her mother eventually intervenes decisively in the struggle between Gloinmere and the Islands. In the background the bard - or is it bards, and how many of them? - manipulates events, deceiving virtually everyone to achieve her - or their - goals.
I'd rate this one rather highly among McKillip's works. It's a confusing ride. Cyan is misled, throughout, about the purpose of his quest, but he succeeds nonetheless. Thayne's vengefulness is tempered, if only slightly, by his encounters with Cyan, and he succeeds as well, though not in the way he intended. And it is the middle-aged baker from Skye who settles matters once and for all, much to her own surprise. The book is tightly plotted; virtually every event forms a necessary part of the denouement, which is a quite satisfying one. Very nicely done.
Meanwhile, I'm still reading McKillip. I've finished The Tower at Stony Wood and Winter Rose, and continued on to The Book of Atrix Wolfe. A few comments on the former two, with some spoilers, follow.
I wondered about the "young adult" label, as applied to McKillip. Winter Rose, I think, does fit that category. It's told in first person, from the viewpoint of a young woman (age uncertain; I'd guess late teens) who falls in love with a Mysterious Stranger. Since it's McKillip, the mystery around him is supernatural, and the heroine has to undergo an ordeal to save her sister, her beloved, and herself from an evil Power. One interesting item: although the heroine and her sister both fall for the stranger, they do not snipe at each other; both recognize the hopelessness of the situation and do what they can to support each other. As usual, McKillip tells the story lyrically, but it seems to me rather too slight for its length - it seemed to drag a bit. That may be because I'm not exactly in the target audience, but then I'm also not in the target audience for, say, Gilmore Girls, which I love. I'm inclined to say that the book is a bit of a failure.
This is a complex and interesting work. It begins as the King of Gloinmere is celebrating his wedding; his greatest knight, Cyan Dag, is warned by a mysterious bard that the woman the king has brought home is not his intended bride, but an impostor. The bard sends him off on a quest to rescue the real queen. Meanwhile, Thayne Ysse, a prince of the North Islands, where a rebellion against Gloinmere was crushed some years before, learns of a dragon who, with its hoard, can help the Islands regain their freedom, and (prompted again by a - the? - bard) sets off to enlist its aid. Yet again, a young woman named Melanthos sits in a mysterious tower whose mirror reveals distant events, much to the dismay of her lover and her mother; her mother is eventually caught up in the tower's magic as well. These three strands of action interweave: Cyan and Thayne meet several times, clashing and changing each other; Melanthos rescues Cyan from danger and enlists his aid with her mother; and her mother eventually intervenes decisively in the struggle between Gloinmere and the Islands. In the background the bard - or is it bards, and how many of them? - manipulates events, deceiving virtually everyone to achieve her - or their - goals.
I'd rate this one rather highly among McKillip's works. It's a confusing ride. Cyan is misled, throughout, about the purpose of his quest, but he succeeds nonetheless. Thayne's vengefulness is tempered, if only slightly, by his encounters with Cyan, and he succeeds as well, though not in the way he intended. And it is the middle-aged baker from Skye who settles matters once and for all, much to her own surprise. The book is tightly plotted; virtually every event forms a necessary part of the denouement, which is a quite satisfying one. Very nicely done.
