Review of The Bone Key

	The Bone Key by Sarah Monette 253pp (Trade Paperback) My Rating: 7/10 Amazon Rating: 5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.15/5 Goodreads Rating: 3.9/5

The Bone Key by Sarah Monette is a collection of ten necromantic mysteries featuring one central main character, a museum archivist who becomes involved with the supernatural. In the introduction, Monette states that these stories are a tribute to two authors she very much admires, H.P. Lovecraft and M.R. James. In spite of her love for their work, she did find them lacking in character development and feminism so she wrote some stories in the same vein but remedying these shortcomings. Since I have read neither Lovecraft nor James, I cannot say if she achieved that goal. However, the stories are well-written and atmospheric with a rather unusual main protagonist.

All the short stories in this book follow the adventures of one man - the shy, awkward, bookish Kyle Murchison Booth. In the opening story "Bringing Helena Back," Booth (who usually goes by his last name instead of his first name) becomes involved in an old friend's quest to resurrect his wife and becomes a magnet for strange events involving everything from ghosts to incubi afterward. Instead of going through each story individually, I will just discuss a couple of my favorites.

One of the most haunting stories was "Wait for Me" which made me fear mirrors more than the creepy museum (if this book convinced me of anything, it's that I never, ever want to be alone in a museum at night). In this tale, Booth comes into possession of a poet's diaries that were donated to the museum upon her death. Booth and a coworker went to collect them from the remaining members of the Stapleton family, and then Booth forgot all about them until he cannot sleep one night (as happens to him often). During this particular bout of insomnia, Booth goes to his office to sort through some papers and comes across a pamphlet entitled "Of Spirits and mirrours":

Instantly, and with a force like being hit by a bolt of lightning, I remembered Miss Stapleton, lying on the floor of that bedroom saying, The girl in the mirror. The girl with no eyes.

The pamphlet discusses how eyeless spirits appear in mirrors to do the work of the devil, which makes Booth question some of the strange occurrences in the Stapleton house, including the incident in which they found Miss Stapleton pinned under a vanity mirror. Booth promptly scours the diaries of Mildred Truelove Stapleton and discovers the dark story of a dead girl whose cries of "Wait for me!" can still be heard.

My other favorite story is the titular "The Bone Key" in which Booth receives a letter from a lawyer claiming he knew his mother, who died along with Booth's father when he was a young boy. When Booth meets the lawyer, it turns out he actually almost married Booth's mother and knows many details of his family's past that Booth was never told - including the curse that killed his father.

---

The main reason I read this book was that I love Sarah Monette's The Doctrine of Labyrinth series. Although I enjoyed The Bone Key, I did not think it was nearly as wonderful as her other books, but that is most likely due to my personal preference for novels over short stories and fantasy over horror (even if it's more psychological horror like this book than gory and icky horror). It was very well-written and it did have some similarities to The Doctrine of Labyrinth in that it was somewhat slow-paced and atmospheric. There was emphasis on character development and I really liked Booth, but he was not as vivid as either Felix or Mildmay in The Doctrine of Labyrinth though he was very sympathetic. Of course, this was a much shorter work than even a single book in the aforementioned four book series so there was much less room for getting to know the main protagonist, but the fact is that Booth does not have a particularly vivid personality.

Each story is told from the perspective of Booth, a very withdrawn man who avoids contact with others as much as possible. When he does converse with other people, he tends to be very quiet and unsure of what to say to them. There are a few recurring characters he interacts with, particularly the people he works with at the museum, but there are none that he is particularly close to so it doesn't have the same tension and drama as the Felix/Mildmay relationship. (This isn't necessarily a bad thing and I do think he is a rather well-written character - I personally just preferred reading about Felix and Mildmay and the city of Melusine.)

The Bone Key was enjoyable for its writing style and subtle creepiness. It was a good Halloween read and a book that I'm glad I read, but it was not as attuned to my personal taste as the other books I have read by Sarah Monette.

7/10

Where I got my reading copy: After it languished on my wish list for a while, a friend (and fellow fan of Monette's The Doctrine of Labyrinth series) sent it to me for my birthday.

Review of Corambis

	Corambis by Sarah Monette 432pp (Hardcover) My Rating: 8.5/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.44/5 Goodreads Rating: 4.33/5

Corambis is the fourth and final book in Sarah Monette's character-driven fantasy series, The Doctrine of Labyrinth. The first three books are Melusine, The Virtu, and The Mirador, respectively, and should definitely be read in that order. This is one of my favorite series of all time so Corambis was the 2009 release I was most looking forward to. While I enjoyed Corambis very much and thought it a satisfying end to the series, it did not linger with me after I finished reading it to the same extent as the first three books. The quality of writing and characterization were still excellent, so I think this one just didn't have as many elements that appeal to me personally as the rest of the series.

For this particular novel, I have decided to skip a plot summary because I cannot think of a way of writing even a short one with any substance that does not give away too much. This is a book largely about one character's internal journey and not a whole lot happens in the part of the novel that I consider early enough not to be part of spoiler territory. Also, some of what does happen is not anything I would want to know before reading this book. This is the fourth book in a series so I imagine most people who would be reading this one have read enough to know what the story is about and whether or not they would like to read this one anyway.

Like The Mirador before it, Corambis is told from the viewpoint of both Felix and Mildmay plus one new perspective, belonging to a warrior involved in a rebellion by the name of Kay. Unlike the character Mehitabel, who narrated part of The Mirador, Kay is a completely new character who is never introduced in the series until his narration begins on page one of Corambis. Although I understand the inclusion of some new perspectives, I still found myself impatient to read about Mildmay and Felix since they have the strongest voices and I became very attached to both of them in the first two books. However, I did find Kay to be a lot more interesting than Mehitabel, particularly since he did seem more important.

Unfortunately for those who despise Felix, this is his story. Of course, he is the central character to the series, but The Mirador did have more scenes about Mildmay and he was the one to undergo some major development in that novel. However, Felix does grow a lot as a person in Corambis. He still has his issues and past torments and he's still no angel but he's not a stagnant character either. Personally, Mildmay is my favorite but I still love Felix, too, and was disappointed that his sections in the previous book were overwhelmed by more space dedicated to Mehitabel and Mildmay (mostly Mehitabel). Felix gets plenty of time in this book but this time Mildmay's narratives are few and far between. Part of the reason this installment was not as compelling to me as the others was the lack of Mildmay. Felix is much more serious in his thoughts, and Mildmay's straightforward way of telling it like it is is very refreshing and adds some humor. Plus Mildmay's personality is so similar to mine that I have more empathy for him than any other character in fiction and could very much relate to him. Since he was not present as much, I did not have those moments where I could have sworn Mildmay was just like I would have been were I an assassin/kept thief growing up in the streets of Melusine.

Overall, Corambis was not as dark as the other novels in the series (and I'm sure you all know by now that I have a masochistic streak when it comes to my reading - the darker, the better). There were definitely still parts that qualified as plenty dark, but it seemed to have less of that tone overall.

Other than Felix and Mildmay, none of the characters from Melusine were in this book. I was not particularly attached to any of the minor characters, but I did miss the petty wizards of the Mirador and the city itself. Corambis was an interesting setting, but it didn't have the same flair as Melusine for me. It was a more stifling atmosphere.

In spite of the fact that I didn't have the urge to devote a shrine to this book, I still loved reading about Mildmay and Felix and the way they contrast each other. Felix is so educated and book smart but completely lacking in common sense. Mildmay lacks formal education and constantly annoys Felix with his bad grammar but tends to make all the intelligent observations and connections. His comments and way of thinking about the world around him often made me stop and snicker. As always, Monette excelled at writing the perspectives of both characters and making me care about them.

Although my thoughts didn't return to it as often as I expected after reading the last sentence, Corambis was well worth reading for more on Felix and Mildmay, two of my favorite characters ever created. It still makes me sad to think this is the last new novel I'll read about them.

8.5/10

Other reviews of Corambis:

• Fantasy Book Critic

Other reviews of books in The Doctrine of Labyrinth series:

• Melusine (Guest Review by Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers)
• Melusine
• The Virtu
• The Mirador

Sarah Monette Q&A on Her Blog

So I finished Corambis last night (or rather, in the wee hours of the morning since it was technically sometime after 4 AM) and finally headed over to check out the Q&A Sarah Monette has running on her blog. I'd been waiting to finish the book first in case there were spoilers, but it seems I did not need to worry since she hid any question containing anything that could be considered a spoiler, even if it was a minor event or something that happened on page 2. Of course, it's more fun to be able to read all the questions and answers without fear of spoiling the story, but if you're curious about it don't avoid it entirely for fear of spoilers. (Questions pertaining to The Mirador are also hidden unless you decide to click the link and read it.)

Not all the questions pertain to The Doctrine of Labyrinth series although the vast majority of them do. I found it very interesting and am amazed by the amount of thought and detail Monette put into this series. It's very unfortunate that her writing contract was not picked up again since she is a very talented author.

Question for anyone familiar with the Cat series by Joan Vinge: Does each book in the series work as a stand alone? Quite a while ago, John picked up Dreamfall at a bargain book sale but that is the only one we have and happens to be the last book in the trilogy. After learning that the main character from that series was part of the inspiration for Mildmay, I really want to read it, though.

Another question (for anyone who has read The Bone Key): How is it? This is now the only book I have not read by Monette, including A Companion to Wolves which she cowrote with Elizabeth Bear, and I'm a little hesitant to pick it up since I'm not a huge fan of short stories. But it's by Sarah Monette and it does sound rather intriguing so I'm torn but leaning toward "It's by Sarah Monette, just read it already!"

Sometime over the next week or so, I'll be working on a review of Corambis. For now, I still need to think about it some more because, honestly, I didn't LOVE it the same way I did the first three books and I can't figure out why. It was still good; I just didn't have the same emotional connection with it as I did the other books in the series. The quality of writing and characterization is still very high so I'm not completely sure why other than that it must be an issue with my personal taste. Maybe it's just because it wasn't as dark (which isn't to say it was not at all dark but it didn't seem as dark as the other books in the series). I'll have to think about that one a little more...

Guest Review: Melusine

Recently, Ana and Thea of The Book Smugglers asked me to participate in one of their features, the guest dare. Every month they dare someone to read and review a book they may not read otherwise (which is a fabulous idea and a lot of fun!). So today I'm over at their blog with a review of Dead Witch Walking, the first book in one of Thea's favorite urban fantasy series, The Hollows by Kim Harrison. In return, I dared them to read the first book in one of my favorite series, Melusine by Sarah Monette (The Doctrine of Labyrinth #1).

These two wrote a fantastic review on the book, as always - very in depth and insightful, straightforward and honest, and lots of fun to read. Give a warm welcome to Thea and Ana!

Title: Melusine

Author: Sarah Monette

Genre: Dark Fantasy



Publisher: Ace
Publishing Date: June 27th 2006
Paperback: 496 pages

Stand Alone/Series: Book 1 in the Doctrine of Labyrinths series (currently 3 books published with the 4th and apparently, final, book to be published in 2009).

Why did we read the book: We dared Kristen to read Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison and Kristen dared us back!

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Mélusine-a city of secrets and lies, pleasure and pain, magic and corruption, and destinies lost and found...

Felix Harrowgate is a dashing, highly respected wizard. But the horrors of his past as an abused slave have returned, and threaten to destroy all he has since become.

As a cat burglar, Mildmay the Fox is used to being hunted. But now he has been caught by a wizard. And yet the wizard was looking not for Mildmay, but for Felix Harrowgate...

Thrown together by fate, these unlikely allies will uncover a shocking secret that will link them inexorably together.

REVIEW

First Impressions:

Ana: I confess that when Kristen dared us to read a Dark Fantasy I trembled inside. Dark Fantasy is not one of my genres of choice but considering that the whole purpose of these dares is to get us out of our comfort zones, I decided to man-up, take a deep breath and read away. To my surprise, within the first two PAGES, I was completely captivated by Mildmay, one of the two main characters and as I kept on reading, this feeling only grew exponentially to also include the uniqueness of the world I was stepping in and the author’s distinctive narrative voice (or rather, voices).

Thea: Unlike Ana, I am a sucker for books (or films, or whatever) of a darker nature. I'm not much for happy endings, and I'm a bit of a sadist with my characters--I like it when they suffer a little bit. After talking with Kristen about darker fantasy novels and she decided to finally read Kushiel's Dart (one of my personal favorites) she recommended Melusine to us. I eagerly ripped into this novel, and at once fell in love with co-narrator Mildmay. Melusine is an enjoyable novel set in an intriguing city in a world of magic. I have to agree that the biggest strength of this novel is Ms. Monette's convincing voice for both main characters, Mildmay and Felix, making Melusine a unique read.

On the Plot:

Felix Harrowgate is a powerful, arrogant young wizard of the Mirador – the upper fortress, the political and magical centre of the city of Melusine - who seems to have everything: power, respect, the love of his lover Lord Shannon and the jealousy of those that can’t stand him. But all comes crumbling down in one single night, as the book opens, when his enemy Lord Robert, tells everyone his worst secret: that his past is a sham, he is no lord and that he used to be a whore from the lower parts of the city. Suddenly all of the darkness of Felix’s past comes rushing back and he makes a series of mistakes that takes him back into the hold of his former master Malkar who uses Felix ( in a ritual that is violent and dark) and his power to break the Virtu, a crystal that contains the magic of the Mirador. Malkar then binds Felix with a compulsion spell that prevents him from telling anyone the truth about who broke the Virtu and which sends him into madness hell.

Mildmay, the Fox is a cat burglar and former hired assassin who accepts a new commission from a young woman called Ginevra and falls in love with her. Their path cross with a blood witch called Vey Coruscant with tragic consequences. When things start to heat up in the Mirador and past seems to be catching up with Mildmay, he ends up with a new commission by a wizard, away from Melusine and which will lead him to Felix Harrowgate – when the two parallel stories will finally converge.

Ana: Plot-wise Melusine is a very simple affair: not very much happens in the way of moving the plot forward from the moment Malkar breaks the Virtu using Felix’s power and his descent into madness and Mildmay’s path that will inevitably lead him to Felix.

What is complex is the world-building and the narrative itself. The book opens and we are right bang into action with Felix being shunned by his peers after Robert exposes Felix’s past and it all feel very abrupt. There is absolutely zero preparation, no info dump, no buttering up for the set up of the story. It is as if, the reader is supposed to be part of this world and in the know already about the Magic, the terms the characters use, the different orders and lineages and heresies - and as much as I like this writing technique (who likes info-dump?), I sometimes felt lost. And it was extremely frustrating because I wanted.to.know.more – about the decadence of Melusine and the obvious ignorance of the wizards of the Mirador, for example.

Although it is clear that the author has this incredible world she created I thought she failed in some aspects to convey these details to the reader. It was as if, I was standing outside this amazing Christmas shop with the most fascinating toys inside that I would never be able to touch. There were only glimpses of this world in the small droplets of information the characters deemed to give me. For example, I still have no clue what exactly the Bastion is and what is the different between the Bastion and the other order of magicians or even if the Bastian IS an order.

At the very least, I would have welcomed a dictionary of terms ( I still have no idea what the frak a septad means) and a map (a map! I SO needed a map!) .

With regards to the narrative: this is where Melusine shines brilliantly. It alternates between Felix’s and Mildmay’s – both in first person - and each voice is completely distinct, coming from different places but equally gripping. If I was to judge this book based on the narrative alone? It would have been a resounding 10.

Thea: What Ana said. Plot-wise, nothing really happens in this book. Everything happens in the opening of the novel. Melusine begins with crash as Felix is exposed for his past as a whore, and he reverts to his cruel former abuser's comfort, and then is brutally placed under a spell and his magic used to break the Virtu. Subsequently, Felix goes batshit insane...and spends the rest of the novel (some 400 pages) in this state. Mildmay goes through his day to day shenanigans, eventually meets up with Felix and they skip town together. Simplicity is not a bad thing at all, but the plotting of this novel is unremarkable. It's with the characters that Melusine draws its strength. This is all fine and good...but I'm a sucker for heavy, twisting plotting, and I wish there was MORE going on.

That said, the world Ms. Monette creates is fantastic, lush and darkly appealing. Melusine is a city of decadent wizard lords and cutthroat thieves, with bleak people and an awe and fear of the magic that surrounds them. The depictions of the city and the people in it, their customs and fears were wonderful--I loved especially Mildmay's illustration of life beneath the Mirador as a former kept-thief. The ruling court of Melusine is as many courts are portrayed in fantasy novels--petty, corrupt and self-absorbed with games of power and control.

I do, however, have to agree with Ana's assessment. I caught glimpses of this wonderful world but was never allowed to appreciate it fully. Ana used the kid looking inside the christmas toy shop analogy--I'll be the hungry scrawny kid, looking at cafe diners eating delicious food on a cold winter's night. The smells, the sights waft out to me, but I'm never allowed to taste the delicious smorgasbord of delicacies. Such is Melusine. There was a lot of potential, a lot of teasing, but never enough information to really comprehend this world. And a MAP, a map, my kingdom for a map! So many locations are talked about and traveled to, and I dearly wish that there was a map to give a more tangible picture of this city and the other realms of the land. Even something this small would have been an invaluable addition to the story.

My only other gripe was how unfinished things felt with this novel, and how many characters and plot lines seemed to be dropped completely. What happened to Gideon and Mavortian, and everyone else? How about Malkar's fate? WHY did he want to break the Virtu in the first place? So many motivations, so many plotlines were dropped completely, and I assume they will be picked up in the next novel...but the manner they were just shrugged off was incredibly frustrating for me here.

On the Characters:

Ana: This is strictly speaking, a character-driven book. It alternates between Felix and Midlmay’s POV – and where one is engulfed in darkness and despair and madness and misery, the other has a conspicuous levity and sense of humour that contrasts with his own inner demons. Both characters go through a lot and even though Mildmay is by far my favourite and the most sympathetic of the duo, after great consideration I came to the conclusion that it is Felix’s journey that is the meat and bones of this book: and the greatest trumps of Melusine. What makes it unique. Because his narrative is 99% madness. The very few moments we have a small glimpse of a sane Felix, all we see is an arrogant, pompous ass with self-destructive and violent tendencies, who is ashamed of his past and who wears a mask in public. When is driven insane by the spell Malkar sets on him – and he is AWARE that he is going insane, he is aware that he has a compulsion spell that prevents him from the speaking what needs to be spoken to absolve him from everything people accuse him of - he is stripped of this mask and all that there is left is a man and his fears and own demons and it is very basal , primary even that he keeps going back in his mind to his horrible childhood when he was a kept-thief and was horribly abused and sold, and slaved, and raped.

Felix narrative is made of repetition: of monsters everywhere and of creeping darkness but it is this very repetition that makes it so gut-wrenching. A strong man that is reduced to tears and to begging and is absolutely horrifying. As much as I adored Mildmay’s voice and heart and cunning smarts (or giant stupidity depending on the way you look at it) , I kept turning the pages because I wanted to read about what was happening to Felix and how he was going to get away from it all.

When the two character’s path converge I KNEW what was going to happen what they would mean to each other – and I was extremely happy that I was right. Mildmay’s immediate acceptance of the reality and Felix’s reluctance were much attuned to these characters as well and I want to read more of what will happen to these two.

Thea: This is indeed a character-driven book, alternating between Mildmay's and Felix's point of views. I found myself drastically preferring Mildmay's frank and hilarious narration to Felix's repetition, and unlike Ana, I found myself rushing through boring crazy Felix to get to more Mildmay. Honestly, I could care less for the insane and pompous Felix--of course this is a personal opinion made of a fictional character. In terms of writing, Felix is certainly written well. He hides behind his layers of deception since his past as a whore on the streets of Melusine, pretending to be a high born lord--and when his deceptions are stripped bare, Felix is weak and alone, turning to his tormentors for comfort and then driven to madness. Felix is weakness personified--he is a deeply flawed character, and I applaud Ms. Monette for writing someone so unlikable. For all that I found myself irritated with Felix's intrinsic weakness, it made him all the more real and tangible as a character.

I took my clothes off, deliberately, one garment at a time, not looking at Mildmay, giving him his chance to stare his fill at the wasteland of my back.

He said nothing until I was settled in the tub, my knees practically up around my ears. Then, as I was working the soap into a later, he said in a quiet, careful voice, "What happened?"

"Malkar."

"The guy who...?"

"Yes."

It was a comfortless lie, but I could not admit that being a kept-thief, so commonplace to him, had damaged me so deeply. If I told the truth now, he would remember I had not told the truth earlier, and that would tell its own tale as clearly as my scars did. Let Malkar bear the weight of blame.

We were silent for a while as I applied soap vigorously, and then he said, "I got my face laid open in a knife fight."

I looked at him; he met my eyes steadily. "They thought it would heal okay, but it got infected. This side of my face ain't moved right since."

No wonder he would not smile. I looked away, scalding with shame. He had answered my lie with truth, my silence with honesty. I plunged my head underwater, but I did not feel cleaner when I came back up.

Such is Felix, and the relationship between these two characters. Infuriating, selfish Felix, assuming that his experience as a kept-thief was so much more traumatic than Mildmay's; that Mildmay's experiences on the street are "commonplace". Such is Mildmay, with his open acceptance of Felix, despite his madness (though this is one of his saner moments) and his haughtiness. The relationship is skewed, but coldly realistic with one character determined to give and the other to take.

My only writing gripe with Felix was how repetitive his narrative was. This book is nearly 500 pages long, and half of that is devoted to Felix saying the exact same things over and over again--seeing animal heads and colors in his madness. For the first 100 narratives or so, this was a novel and fascinating technique, but after reading it every other page, it becomes extremely tiresome.

In contrast, Mildmay (or Milly-Fox, as he calls himself sometimes), was what made the book for me. A thief with a troubled past, Mildmay wears his scarred face with an honesty and humor that makes him irresistible as a protagonist. He tells stories, narrates with a crude voice, and yes, faces his own inner demons in this book. Although he's seen as a murderer and lower than scum in seemingly everyone's eyes in Melusine, he has much greater strength than the supposedly high-born and noble Felix. Mildmay does not pretend to be something he's not, and he meets criticism head-on, knowing everything he did was to survive. And I can get on board with that. Many times I felt compelled to skim Felix's sections, but never so with Mildmay. Needless to say, I'm a huge fan.

Final Thoughts, Recommendation and rating:

Ana: For all of its narrative splendour, beautifully draw characters there was something …hollow about Melusine. It is as if all the potential I felt, especially with regards to the world building were never truly explored. In the end, after many hours of turning the pages rather rapturously the one question that I had in mind was “is that it?” and not “where can I get the next book”. Still, I recommend the book, and I will most definitely be reading the next one…I will just not be running to be book store to get it.

Thea: I enjoyed and liked Melusine for the well-written characters and especially for the narrative voices of the novel. But I have to agree with Ana--I felt as though something was missing from this book. Perhaps this is because of the lackluster plot, or the dropped storylines, perhaps it was something more, the literary equivalent of a soul? I don't know. I did like this book though, I just saw the potential for much more. I will, however, definitely pick up book 2, The Virtu, and give the series another go.

Notable quotes/ Parts:

Ana:I loved when FINALLY the stupid wizards from the Mirador realised that Felix was under a spell and were able to help him. I actually clapped my hands when he left the asylum. The build-up was so tense, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Thea: I loved the section where Mildmay, Bernard and Mavortian are traveling down the Sim and run across the lake monster, the Kalliphorne. For safe passage they must help her sick husband. It's a creepy, fantastic scene.

Rating:

Ana: 7, VERY GOOD

Thea: 7 Very Good

Thank you, Kristen, for the lovely opportunity! It was a blast!


Thank you for the guest dare idea and the fabulous review, Ana and Thea! It was definitely a lot of fun!

Monette and Bear to Write Sequels to A Companion to Wolves

Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette have sold two sequels to their wonderful novel A Companion to Wolves! I actually had missed that piece of news until I read a review of the book over at Adventures in Reading today. According to the post on Bear's Livejournal, the next two books are tentatively named An Apprentice of Elves and A Reckoning of Men. Since I loved the first book, I cannot wait to read the rest and am thrilled that they finally decided to write more (since Bear's site has said a sequel or two was possible for a while).

Melusine (or The Virtu or The Mirador) Giveaway

It's the end of the year again which means I've been thinking a lot about my favorite books I've read this year. I'm going to do a giveaway of four of my favorite books from this year (new copies, that is, not mine - no way am I parting with these ones!). New giveaways will be announced on each Saturday in December with a deadline of 11:59 PM of the following Saturday for entering. Winners will be announced the day after the deadline.

This week's book is Melusine, the first book in Sarah Monette's The Doctrine of Labyrinth series (review). All three books in this series about the wizard Felix Harrowgate and the assassin Mildmay are excellent with exceptionally well developed characters, but my favorite is actually the second book The Virtu (my #1 favorite book of the year). I liked Melusine almost as much, though, and that's definitely the place to start, so that's my choice for giveaway #1! Plus Monette did an amazing job of writing from the first person perspective of an insane character in this particular book.

Warning: I would not recommend this book to anyone offended by bad language, rape, sexual content, and/or homosexuality. Monette is one of those authors that writes by asking herself what the worst possible thing she can do to her characters is and then does it - so it's not a light, happy story but is rather dark.

Edit: I am changing this contest to any book in the series. So if you already have Melusine and want The Virtu, you can choose to get The Virtu instead. Or if you have both but don't have The Mirador, you can get that one if you win.

Contest Rules

To enter, send an email with the subject "Melusine" to fantasycafe AT novomancy.org. Please include your mailing address. Addresses will only be used for sending the book out quickly and all messages will be deleted once the contest is over. If you already have this book but want either The Virtu or The Mirador, please specify which of these two books you would like instead.

The contest is open to anyone. One entry per person is allowed.

Entries for the contest will be accepted through 11:59 PM on Saturday December 13. The next contest will be announced sometime that day.

Good luck!

Corambis Cover Art

Being the Amazon addict I am, I logged on today to discover the new cover art for Corambis is up! Corambis is the fourth book in Sarah Monette's riveting "The Doctrine of Labyrinth" series and is scheduled for release on April 7 of 2009. To read a brief description of the book, go here.

The previous books in this series were my absolute favorite books of this year, so I am very much looking forward to this one. It's definitely my most anticipated book of 2009.

Review of A Companion to Wolves

	A Companion to Wolves by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette 304pp (Hardcover) My Rating: 8/10 Amazon Rating: 4/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.24/5 Good Reads Rating: 3.51/5

A Companion to Wolves is a stand alone collaboration by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear. Sarah Monette's "The Doctrine of Labyrinth" series is currently my favorite book discovery of this year, and Elizabeth Bear's dark mythological tale of faerie, Blood and Iron, was also excellent so I was very much looking forward to this book. Although I did not enjoy it quite as much as either of these separate works, this tale steeped in Norse mythology still had me riveted and turning the pages.

As the oldest son of a jarl, Njall is to become jarl himself one day. This changes when a man and his wolf come to visit Njall's father to ask for his oldest son to join the wolfheall, a society of warriors and wolves bonded to each other to better protect the people from trolls and wyverns. Due to the homosexual practices of the men within the wolfheall, Njall's father refuses to give his son as a tithe, even though the wolfheall needs young men around Njall's age to train and there are not many fit lads in the village of the right age. Fascinated by the wolf and aware that it is his duty to defend the people, Njall agrees to join the wolfheall even though he is frightened by the stories he has heard. Njall's father tells him he is sixteen now so it is his decision but tries to persuade him to stay.

Njall travels to the wolfheall where he and a few other boys begin to train. Once the new litter of wolf pups is born, the young men must begin to get to know the pups and let them each choose one of them to bond with. It soon becomes apparent that Njall will be chosen by Viradechtis, who will one day be konigenwolf (queen wolf) of her own pack. As a konigenwolf, Viradechtis will be choosing her mate and Njall's partner, who will be her mate's companion. Njall finds this idea unpleasant, but he is very attached to Viradechtis and joins the wolfheall as Isolfr (each man changes his name when bonded). Since it is obvious that Viradechtis will one day be queen wolf, many attempt to win the favor of Isolfr and his wolf. Meanwhile, the troll threat increases and the wolfheall is very busy battling the creatures.

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Even though A Companion to Wolves was written by two authors, it reads as though written by one. It keeps the same voice throughout the story and the writing flows well.

The story is told from the third person perspective of Isolfr, who is an interesting character. His tale is a coming of age story, as he learns about it means to be dutiful and to believe in his own point of view instead of what his father has taught him. Isolfr has to discover for himself what his own perspective of the world is and what it means to be a man or woman in the patriarchal society in which he lives. Minor characters are not fleshed out nearly as well as the main character, but the strength of Isolfr and Viradechtis, whose flashes of thought are often amusing, make up for this.

The society and politics of the wolfheall are also an intriguing aspect of the story. The animal companions in this story are not cute little pets - the wolves truly control rule within the wolfheall and the humans mainly follow the lead of their sister or brother wolf. The dominant trellwolf female chooses the male who will lead with her and determines both human leaders by deciding who to bond with and selecting the person bonded to her new mate. It can be a rough society; it's not all happiness and fun. When a female wolf is in heat, life in the wolfheall can get particularly brutal as the male wolves fight for the female. There are some rather intense sex scenes as a result (between the humans in addition to the wolves since the human companions to the wolves copy their companions, Pern-style), so those who are offended by sexual content that is not watered down should not read this book.

The one complaint I have about this book is that the names can be very confusing. Partway through the book, many of the character's names change once they join the wolfheall and these names all have some variation of 'olfr' or 'ulf' in them. It can get hard to keep track of the minor characters since many of their names are similar and their personalities are not terribly unique to begin with.

A Companion to Wolves is an engrossing animal companion story about growing up and becoming your own person that manages to avoid many of the common fantasy tropes about animal companions.

8/10

Other reviews (which were influential in my choice to read this one):

• Fantasy Book Critic
• OF Blog

Review of The Mirador

	The Mirador by Sarah Monette 432pp (Hardcover) My Rating: 9/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.22/5 Good Reads Rating: 3.92/5

To my great chagrin, The Mirador, the third book in Sarah Monette's The Doctrine of Labyrinth series, is the last book in the series currently available. The fourth and final book Corambis has a projected publication date of sometime in 2009. The first two books in the series wrapped up a complete story arc and this novel takes place approximately two years after the end of The Virtu. While this book is slower-paced than either of its predecessors, it is a very enjoyable followup to the first two books.

Mildmay has been involved with Mehitabel Parr, who is now an actress in Melusine. One night after a performance, Mehitabel is visited by a man from her past who blackmails her into spying for the Bastion, an enemy of the Mirador. Afterwards, Mehitabel takes out her rage on Mildmay when he comes to see her, letting it slip that sometimes he confuses her with his long-dead girlfriend Ginevra. This causes Mildmay to return to the Lower City against Felix's will to seek the truth about who leaked the information that got Ginevra killed. Meanwhile Felix and Gideon are still together in a rocky relationship and a lot of angst ensues.

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There was less plot advancement in The Mirador than the first two books in the series with even more focus on internal conflicts than the previous books, but it was still so absorbing that I did not even notice until I tried to write a plot summary in my head. A lot happened at the end giving it that "middle book" feeling in which it is largely setting up the next book. The end was filled with tension, dark and disturbing, and has the most shocking conclusion of any of the three books.

Mehitabel joins Felix and Mildmay as a point of view character. I would have preferred if the whole story had been told from the perspectives of the ex-thief/assassin and his wizard half-brother. Mehitabel's character played the role of the observer for the most part and she simply didn't hold my interest as a person - she was too well-grounded for a story that is largely appealing for the conflicted and troubled people. There were some advantages to reading from her perspective, however. It was at times interesting to see Felix and/or Mildmay through someone else's eyes and Mehitabel did become entangled in some court intrigue that allowed us to see glimpses of Shannon and the Lord Protector in a new light. Although the main characters in this series are exceptionally well-written, all the minor characters have always been rather flat and Mehitabel's viewpoint did show them with more depth than the previous installments.

In spite of these insights into some of the minor characters, I would trade them for more of the main two characters any day, particularly since there was not enough Felix in this book. Most of the book alternated between Mildmay and Mehitabel. While I love reading anything about Mildmay and thought Monette did a fantastic job of developing him further in this book, I find Felix's character fascinating and really missed reading about him as much as in the first two books. He is not the nicest character even though he is not intentionally spiteful, but he is so tormented and intriguing.

Another aspect of this book that was a little disappointing was that Felix and Mildmay spent so little time together in it. The two brothers largely avoided each other and became involved in their own side stories. I was going to say that their relationship was not explored in this book, but I changed my mind since it certainly was developing their connection and in character for both of them. Neither of them likes to talk about anything with great meaning and are private people when it comes to their inner thoughts; the two are so different yet in many ways so similar. It makes perfect sense that the close link of the obligation dame would drive them even further apart eventually. It was still frustrating to see them both so distant still after two years, but the fact that it is so upsetting just shows that Monette is a masterful writer to make you care about what happens to these people so much.

In spite of a few quibbles, I very much enjoyed this novel and found it difficult to put down, although it did not enchant me as much as The Virtu. Those who enjoyed the atmosphere and world-building aspects of the earlier books more than the characterization may be disappointed, as well as the few Felix fans who exist. Yet the resolution shows definite promise for a return to the elements that made the former book a personal favorite and I eagerly await the release of the next installment in what is now one of my favorite series of all time.

9/10

Read the first chapter on Sarah Monette's website. The first four chapters of The Mirador are available, as well as the first four of The Virtu.

Review of The Virtu

	The Virtu by Sarah Monette 512pp (Paperback) My Rating: 10/10 Amazon Rating: 4.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.29/5 Good Reads Rating: 3.93/5

Note: There may be spoilers for Melusine in this review.

The Virtu, the second book in Sarah Monette's The Doctrine of Labyrinth series, picks up where Melsuine left off and ties up all the loose ends from the first book. The series could have been brought to a satisfying conclusion with this book, but I am glad there is one more book out and one more yet to be published since the character of Mildmay has become one of my favorites of all time and Felix is not too far behind him. As much as I loved Melusine, I thought this book was even better and this was the book that secured Monette a place as one of my favorite writers.

Upon reaching the end of the journey begun in Melusine, Felix is enjoying his restored sanity and Mildmay is recuperating as much as he can from the curse of the Mirador, which left him with a permanently crippled leg. While Felix fits in easily and is quite popular with the people, Mildmay is an outcast due to his lack of refinement and the widespread belief that he mistreated Felix. Mildmay, as usual, keeps his feelings on his hatred of the place to himself, but Felix eventually realizes it must not be easy for his brother to be looked down on all the time. Driven by a desire to repair The Virtu and return to his former glory as a wizard of the Mirador in addition to the this, Felix decides it is time for them to return to the city of Melusine.

Since the curse of the Mirador's activation exposed Mildmay as a murderer, he cannot simply go back to his old life in the Lower City of Melusine. He refuses to leave his new-found brother, whom he cares for a great deal, so he asks Felix to take him under his protection through an ancient ritual, regardless of the consequences.

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This is not a book to read when looking for a light-hearted, easy story. It's often harsh, melancholy, and haunting, though it is interspersed with humor that keeps it from being excessively dark. It is somewhat angst-ridden but it also has the most forward-moving plot of any of the books in the series thus far.

Like Melusine, the story alternates between the first person point of view of Mildmay and Felix. As with the former book, the characters are the strong point of the story, but they shine even more brightly in this novel. Each point of view character has such a strong, unique voice and you could easily tell which character you were reading about without seeing the name attached to the section.

Since very little was seen of Felix as a sane person in the first book, more of his personality is revealed in The Virtu. He is one of those wonderfully flawed characters. Most of the time he is charming and manipulative and he tends to hurt everyone around him, yet there are glimmers of humanity when he displays kindness toward his brother. Although Felix's point of view is more self-centered than Mildmay's, I still find myself sympathizing with him and feeling like he's not that bad when reading about him. In fact, I even find him rather likable most of the time.

Mildmay is certainly the more sympathetic of the two brothers and perhaps one of the best written characters in fantasy. He certainly has his flaws - a devotion to his older brother that often gets him into trouble, insecurity, and an inability to let go of his past - but they tend to be shortcomings that are endearing rather than the despicable imperfections possessed by Felix. Mildmay's point of view is always infused with a intelligent insights and a dry sense of humor that make him nearly impossible not to love.

I would recommend The Virtu to anyone who has read and enjoyed Melusine. It is necessary for completing the story arc begun in the first book, and it is more of the same dark story with well-realized characters as the first book but improved. This is one of those rare novels that sticks with one long after putting it down and you know you will have to reread it multiple times.

10/10

Read the first chapter on Sarah Monette's website. The first four chapters of both The Virtu and its sequel The Mirador are available.

Review of Melusine

	Melusine by Sarah Monette 496pp (Paperback) My Rating: 9/10 Amazon Rating: 3.5/5 LibraryThing Rating: 4.17/5 Good Reads Rating: 3.77/5

Sarah Monette's stunning debut novel, Melusine, is the first book in The Doctrine of Labyrinth series. The next two books in the series, The Virtu and The Mirador are currently available, and the fourth and last book Corambis is scheduled for release in 2009. This book and its successors are exactly the types of books I like and have become my favorites I have read so far this year.

Felix Harrowgate is a powerful wizard who is part of high society in the city of Melusine. When at a party with the Lord Protector and other important people in the city, Felix's enemy Robert reveals a dark secret about where Felix came from and his former profession. Shunned by the others after this revelation, Felix visits the one person who knows about his past - the wizard Malkar who found Felix and became his mentor in wizardry. Malkar controls Felix against his will, harnesses his great magical power, and uses it to break The Virtu, a magical item that has been around for ages and contains spells to protect the city. Once his diabolical scheme has come to fruition, Malkar casts a spell on Felix preventing him from being able to tell anyone the truth about who actually broke The Virtu that drives him completely insane.

Thief and assassin Mildmay the Fox is approached by a beautiful young woman named Ginevra who would like to use his stealth to retrieve some of her belongings from her former lover's house. Mildmay soon becomes romantically involved with Ginevra and entangled with her dealings with the infamous blood witch Vey Coruscant. Tragedy leads him into stupidity which puts him in the hands of a wizard who believes Mildmay will lead him to Felix, a key player in gaining revenge against the mage's old foe.

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Although it is thoroughly enjoyable, Melusine is the most flawed of the books in the series. The beginning is a bit abrupt, and Felix's connection to Malkar has not been fully revealed so the control the old wizard exerts over him does not make as much sense as it does in later books. Felix and Mildmay do not actually meet until later in this book, which is the point where the story begins to come together.

The story is told by alternating between the first person point of view of Felix and Mildmay. The changes in perspective are abrupt, but it did not bother me at all. If you do not like one of the characters, it will not be too long before you get to read about the other, and if you love them both, it will not matter which one you are reading about.

The characters are certainly the highlight of this book and Monette did a fantastic job of giving both Felix and Mildmay very distinct voices and personalities. Mildmay's heavy use of incorrect grammar and invented lower class slang annoyed me a bit at first, but eventually I got used to it and it's hard not to love his character's sense of humor and honest bluntness. Very little is seen of Felix in this book when he is not out of his mind, but his insane perspective was handled quite well and I enjoyed reading his sections, too.

This is dark fantasy at its best - gritty without being bloody and more about the characters themselves and the world around them than violence and swordfights. The suffering of the characters is heartfelt without being overwhelmingly depressing. Mildmay's way of looking at the world around him can lighten up even the darkest of situations.

Those who would be offended to read a story containing bad language, rape, sexual content, and/or homosexuality should avoid this book, however, since all those elements are included. It's handled so naturally, like its a part of everyday life and that's just the way things happen sometimes and does not feel like it is intended for shock value.

I highly recommend Melusine to anyone with a penchant for character-driven, non-cliche dark fantasy that comes alive off the pages. It certainly contains some flaws but the characters are so realistically written that it does not really matter.

9/10

Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinth

Warning: The following is not a coherent review. It is just the ramblings of someone who has discovered a new series to add to the favorites list. (However, it is spoiler-free.)

Although I will be reviewing each book in the Doctrine of Labyrinth series individually when I get a chance, I finished The Mirador last night and just want to babble about it since I have no one to talk to who has read it. This is exactly the type of series I love and has moved Sarah Monette into my list of top 5 favorite authors.

This was not a fast-paced, action-packed series - it was more about the world and the characters, especially the characters. About two thirds of the way through The Mirador I realized not much had actually happened when thinking about how to sum up the story, but I hadn't even noticed (and didn't care) because the characters were so fascinating. Each book developed them further and delved more into who they were. They were very realistic and sympathetic yet rather flawed.

I may be so enamored of the characters because I could relate to them so well, especially Mildmay, whose personality is very similar to mine other than the whole assassin/thief thing. The more I read about him in The Virtu and The Mirador, the more I realized I've never been able to relate to a character as well because I've never read about a character who reminded me so much of myself.

Limiting the points of view to just 2 or 3 characters was a fantastic way for writing the series. Most of the books I've read with good characters either have one really good main character or are doorstoppers with so many characters that it is hard to keep them all straight sometimes. Monette did an amazing job of giving each character a very distinct voice, and reading their thoughts on the world and others was great fun.

I'm very glad I got the impression I would love these books from the reviews I read and bought them all in hardcover. The next book is supposed to be out sometime next year, and I can't wait for it! I haven't been this excited about a new series since I discovered Wraeththu about a year ago.