So, I sat down to write up a review for Fireseed, and discovered that in the handful of weeks that have passed since reading it, any kind of coherency I might have had about what I wanted to say has just. passed out of my brain. Which is a shame, because it was a bizarre fucking book, but I don't want to read it again.
So, I'm going to be putting my notes under the cut here, and moving on. Next will be The Magpie Lord, by KJ Charles.
an actual dragon! 30 pages later-- oh nooooo he's Annoying. I hate the dumb names he uses. The romance book thing is cute?
oh no. I know too much about 19th century upper class society to enjoy this.
I like so Many of the ideas in this book, but they're so clumsily excecuted. Darby not knowing that the council are doing this for money is particularly strange. Not sure how the conclusions were gotten to there.
him trying to hint that they could be each other's beards is good tho
the fmcs naivety was charming for like, three seconds. I can kind of understand her not knowing what's happening to her, just, but I can't buy her not understanding the double standard of the society she's been raised in.
I'm putting it down right now. If Darby thinks her relationship with the dragon is bad and she hits back with him being gay, I'm going to yell. Well, seems not, he also wants to fuck the dragon. And the dragon doesn't want to actually be homophobic!
the gender politics are. Interesting? Going to have to see how this goes. The fact it's incredibly heterosexual doesn't fill me with confidence. Female dragons reportedly exist, but textually, it's incredibly clear that dragon = man.
there's a distinct lack of Christianity, especially surrounding the "ruined" stuff. Also the conversation about 'unnatural' homosexuality.
the dragon sex isn't bad. extremely funny that he comes cinnamon bun icing though.
it really isn't taking the noncon aspect seriously enough.
there's this weird resonance of "you knew about the terrible thing and continued anyway" across all 'species'. Not sure what the book is trying to do with that?
cock logistics. Birthing a wholeass child is something the body prepares for, and the parent died a not insignificant number of times!
the villain is suddenly getting interiority? See the point about weird resonances. I don't believe it'd elicit sympathy so quick.
oh and now there's racism. Bc the language of dragons has to be physically uncomfortable and they have to have a 'chieftain'
oddly enough the most interesting scene in the book doesn't involve the dragon at all, just a bunch of good crunchy dubcon. It also happens to be plot-critical female gaze gay.
the minor character getting together with a unicorn is also funny.
the bickering is getting tiring
the way all the relationships work out, it makes this strange elevation of masculine desireability.
changed my mind, this conversation in the carriage is great.
chapter 20 is like. Kind of fascinating. The person in a position of power advocates for a "have your cake and eat it" approach, because of course. The book is occasionally clumsy, conflating all 'perversity', but genuinely seems to want to make an argument. Then it brings in the question of community! Then there's the consent discussion in the following chapter.
ultimately I think this book believes in biological realities as they pertain to sexes.
the book is just a thesis on power and retribution now???? Not that it isn't interesting, we just seem to have ground the thing to a halt. Anyway, I don't buy 'if we could all get over ourselves we could just get along' as a solution to global conflict.
I have no idea what to make of her no longer being physically attracted to the dragon. Or the mind controlled trolls.
the book wants to talk about community vs living as your authentic self, and about the idea of being 'ruined' but never successfully brings it all together.
My new shaman beads are now on Etsy :) http://fireseed.Etsy.com . I'm super excited about these. #shaman #glassbeads #spiritguide #spirituality #driud #pagan #fireseed.ca #fireseed.Etsy.com
