(June 2015)
A much needed change of pace, this: an
engaging protagonist, a decent plot, and some but not too much in the way of
tension and peril. It also benefited from being started during an entire
afternoon free from parental, academic, or any other kind of responsibilities.
I can't remember the last time I just sat down and read a book for three hours
straight. Lovely.
So this post will be fairly light on detail
and specifics. Not that
Serpents
falls into the mindless brain-candy category, but extended reading solely for pleasure
is something I've not had the luxury of for far, far too long, and I don't
intend to sully it by overanalyzing things here. Isabella Trent continues her
adventures in a thinly veiled pastiche of the late 19
th century British
Empire, colonialism and all, and I'd be lying if I said those issues get too thorough
of an interrogation (they're definitely acknowledged, but also definitely not
the point). And while matters have improved considerably since the
first volume, the story does still rely a little too much on coincidence and
Isabella's borderline Baueresque plot-enabling foolhardiness. Still, she's a
fantastic character, and for all that the world is familiar it is never lazily,
and often elegantly, evoked. Also, dragons.
So more of the same, basically, and that's
no bad thing. The right book at the right time, and that's all I have to say
about that.
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