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Rather Dark Story, Sympathetic Villainess
Oct. 14th, 2003 09:45 pmThe Spell of the Black Dagger
With the cover blurb focused on Tabaea, and the first two chapters centered on her, it isn't that surprising that the reader is confused when the heroine turns out to be the apparently boring but decidedly willful Sarai. Tabaea is the underdog, trying to come out on top of the world, but she lacks the character and knowledge to do it well. You know what they say about the road paved with good intentions...
Sarai, the daughter of the Minister of Justice (and therefore a member of the privileged class), spends a lot of time in detective work (for which she is naturally talented), trying to uncover what the reader already knows, which makes the reader desperately wish to just pop into the story for a moment and TELL her. When she finally gets the information she needs and makes her move, the story really gets rolling. In fact, it's almost too fast to follow.
There's a hiccup in the narrative when he replays a scene from Sarai's perspective immediately after showing it from Tabaea's, but otherwise, the plot races toward the finish. Tabaea's grisly demise is sad only because she flips back to her pseudo-noble mode in an attempt to prove her right to rule by eliminating the Seething Death that threatens not only the palace, but ultimately the entire world. She was misguided in her attempt, but the ending rather glosses over the supremely lazy and selfish methods she used to get to that point.
Basically, there was too much focus on the thief; we were in her head more than Sarai's, so we felt more for her. Add to that our almost-universal love for the underdog, and you can't help but feel disappointed with the ending, even if you knew it was the right way to end. He should have allowed the audience to remain in the dark about Tabaea along with Sarai, and get into HER head, from HER point of view instead. That would have eliminated both the divided loyalty of the reader, and the stalling of the plot while we wait for Sarai to figure out what we already know.
Nevertheless, if you like Watt-Evans' books, you'll still enjoy the action. If you've never read one of his books, I'd suggest starting with The Mis-Enchanted Sword: it's action and comedy in one.
With the cover blurb focused on Tabaea, and the first two chapters centered on her, it isn't that surprising that the reader is confused when the heroine turns out to be the apparently boring but decidedly willful Sarai. Tabaea is the underdog, trying to come out on top of the world, but she lacks the character and knowledge to do it well. You know what they say about the road paved with good intentions...
Sarai, the daughter of the Minister of Justice (and therefore a member of the privileged class), spends a lot of time in detective work (for which she is naturally talented), trying to uncover what the reader already knows, which makes the reader desperately wish to just pop into the story for a moment and TELL her. When she finally gets the information she needs and makes her move, the story really gets rolling. In fact, it's almost too fast to follow.
There's a hiccup in the narrative when he replays a scene from Sarai's perspective immediately after showing it from Tabaea's, but otherwise, the plot races toward the finish. Tabaea's grisly demise is sad only because she flips back to her pseudo-noble mode in an attempt to prove her right to rule by eliminating the Seething Death that threatens not only the palace, but ultimately the entire world. She was misguided in her attempt, but the ending rather glosses over the supremely lazy and selfish methods she used to get to that point.
Basically, there was too much focus on the thief; we were in her head more than Sarai's, so we felt more for her. Add to that our almost-universal love for the underdog, and you can't help but feel disappointed with the ending, even if you knew it was the right way to end. He should have allowed the audience to remain in the dark about Tabaea along with Sarai, and get into HER head, from HER point of view instead. That would have eliminated both the divided loyalty of the reader, and the stalling of the plot while we wait for Sarai to figure out what we already know.
Nevertheless, if you like Watt-Evans' books, you'll still enjoy the action. If you've never read one of his books, I'd suggest starting with The Mis-Enchanted Sword: it's action and comedy in one.