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McKillip Again
Jan. 13th, 2005 07:37 amOver break, I read another couple of Patricia McKillip's novels, In the Forests of Serre and Ombria in Shadow. In many respects, these are typical McKillip - intricate plots, delicate and subtle language, and a shell game of spot-the-real-villain. I found both to be satisfying reads, though I still wish she would be a bit more adventurous.
In the Forests of Serre is a retelling of the firebird legend, and this may have constrained McKillip a bit. The plot seemed somewhat more straightforward than usual, and the characterizations less complex. There was, of course, one eldritch character whose motives were opaque until near the end (and they did not become entirely clear then), but the others seemed a bit more, well, stock. Not all of them came off well, either; the scribe, through whose eyes we see much of the story, didn't seem well-developed to me.
I liked Ombria in Shadow rather more. The language in some scenes was a bit coarser than McKillip's usual, but in context it was appropriate. The plot concerns a city-state which has been falling more and more under the influence of a mysterious woman, Domina Pearl. When the city-state's prince dies (perhaps at the Domina's instigation), his son, still a child, succeeds him, but Domina Pearl becomes regent. This begins, at one level, a complex political dance involving the mistress and the bastard son of the late prince, various nobles whose power is being rapidly stripped away by the regent, and the Domina and her minions. On another level, there is the coming of age story of a young woman named Mag, raised by a witch who lives in the undercity and has had many dealings with the Domina - dealings about which Mag is beginning to have qualms. Again, we have one of McKillip's quasi-magical artists in the prince's bastard, and a scholar - the young prince's tutor - whose motives and actions are distinctly ambiguous. The resolution is a bit confusing (although less so than in some of her works), but things definitely get Sorted Out. For anyone who appreciates McKillip's current work, this is, I judge, another winner.
In the Forests of Serre is a retelling of the firebird legend, and this may have constrained McKillip a bit. The plot seemed somewhat more straightforward than usual, and the characterizations less complex. There was, of course, one eldritch character whose motives were opaque until near the end (and they did not become entirely clear then), but the others seemed a bit more, well, stock. Not all of them came off well, either; the scribe, through whose eyes we see much of the story, didn't seem well-developed to me.
I liked Ombria in Shadow rather more. The language in some scenes was a bit coarser than McKillip's usual, but in context it was appropriate. The plot concerns a city-state which has been falling more and more under the influence of a mysterious woman, Domina Pearl. When the city-state's prince dies (perhaps at the Domina's instigation), his son, still a child, succeeds him, but Domina Pearl becomes regent. This begins, at one level, a complex political dance involving the mistress and the bastard son of the late prince, various nobles whose power is being rapidly stripped away by the regent, and the Domina and her minions. On another level, there is the coming of age story of a young woman named Mag, raised by a witch who lives in the undercity and has had many dealings with the Domina - dealings about which Mag is beginning to have qualms. Again, we have one of McKillip's quasi-magical artists in the prince's bastard, and a scholar - the young prince's tutor - whose motives and actions are distinctly ambiguous. The resolution is a bit confusing (although less so than in some of her works), but things definitely get Sorted Out. For anyone who appreciates McKillip's current work, this is, I judge, another winner.
