Posts Tagged ‘magical beings’

Haven’t we had enough of these healing females? Women can do more, you know. They’re very creative. My wife, for example. She’s able to do all sorts of stuff. She’s not even remotely interested in nursing. She watches anime and laughs when the blood is spraying across the screen. Many women do martial arts. Many fight hard. I’m always curious – how many women dream of being like this? Helpless little girl getting saved by her horse and becoming a nurse to their heroic men who fight in the fields of battle to protect her from the rampaging hordes of other men? Silliness.

Ms De Bodard has written a book I was very excited by. It’s obvious she’s done more than a few bucketloads of research, and it helps give a very authentic and solid feel to the book. The system of Gods and Magic she’s used is flawless in both its vibrancy and unique-to-fantasy feel. In fact, the magic system of her book is the big thing for me. I was totally knocked over by her deft use of Aztec history and legend to totally rivet me from the opening to the end. It has a fresh and unique feel which is very hard to describe.

I have to admit to being a little surprised by this novel. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got it. I think I was expecting something a little dry, a little tired, and maybe a trifle slow. You see, that’s how I see a lot of scifi from the past decade. Perhaps I’m being a bit judgemental there, but I admit to having avoided it more than I did in my teens or my twenties. It grew old.