Stumbled by your LJ while browsing through a friends list.
I just had to say that this story bugged me a lot. It just seemed grossly incomplete. There was lovely prose, and vivid and complex world-building, but I found the plot a massive let-down. I could sense a build-up of tension...but the eventual outcome was a huge anti-climax. Sure it was meant to be tragic, but it struck me as so incredibly...pointless. Both of the main characters were already acting grossly out of character, in thrall to something never fully explained. It wasn't a resolution, just a cliffhanger for the sequel on Kyros (note the reference to wizards living on Kyros, conveniently mentioned in Jessica's letter).
As for Jessica...the way she conveniently popped in and saved the family from ruin, has sex with her brother's ex-lover etc., she has major, major Mary Sue overtones. She upstages the main characters, saves the day...ugh. If we actually saw her earlier on in the novel, maybe saw a flashback or something, then maybe I wouldn't be so appalled. But she's just inflicted on us fully formed and beautiful and witty while the characters I am emotionally invested in from the start go nuts for no clear reason.
It's a shame, because the story did pull me in. Somehow that only magnifies my disappointment.
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Date: 2/20/03 05:36 am (UTC)I just had to say that this story bugged me a lot. It just seemed grossly incomplete. There was lovely prose, and vivid and complex world-building, but I found the plot a massive let-down. I could sense a build-up of tension...but the eventual outcome was a huge anti-climax. Sure it was meant to be tragic, but it struck me as so incredibly...pointless. Both of the main characters were already acting grossly out of character, in thrall to something never fully explained. It wasn't a resolution, just a cliffhanger for the sequel on Kyros (note the reference to wizards living on Kyros, conveniently mentioned in Jessica's letter).
As for Jessica...the way she conveniently popped in and saved the family from ruin, has sex with her brother's ex-lover etc., she has major, major Mary Sue overtones. She upstages the main characters, saves the day...ugh. If we actually saw her earlier on in the novel, maybe saw a flashback or something, then maybe I wouldn't be so appalled. But she's just inflicted on us fully formed and beautiful and witty while the characters I am emotionally invested in from the start go nuts for no clear reason.
It's a shame, because the story did pull me in. Somehow that only magnifies my disappointment.