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Heaven's Bones
Jan. 17th, 2009 11:50 amI've been asked to say what I think about ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
samhenderson's novel, Heaven's Bones once I finished reading it...which I just did. ;o)
One thing I've heard brought up is that it's a Ravenloft (SP?) tie in. Well, I don't know what Ravenloft is (although I suspect a gaming tie-in, given the other posts I've seen on it). That did not present a problem for me. I suspect some extraneous world-building might be out there tied in with the Vistani and the Mist, but I may only suspect that because I know that some ties to something exists. Those two seemed the most likely links to an outside 'world'. In no way do I feel like that made this novel less complete.
Another thing I've seen mentioned is the narrative style of the book. I believe I recall reading the word 'unfolding' somewhere. I would argue that unfolding is not the proper description of this type of narrative. One of the things that I've seen as a common factor among fantasy novels is that most of the 'world building' is done in the first third of the novel, followed by all the action in the second two-thirds. All the relationships are laid out in the beginning, then everything is tied up at the end.
It seems to me that a good analogy is that in most novels, we have several story lines initially grouped together like strands of leather about to be braided into a belt. The author knots one end of the strands togehter, braids the strands, and then ties off the other end.
In this novel, we start off with the strands of leather not touching each other at all. They're spread all over the table. In fact, only trust in the author leads us to believe that they will be braided in the end. And they are...
I suspect that some find this method a bit jarring, but I don't. I knew the author would make sense out of everything for me (perhaps because I read a lot of mystery novels.)
I quite liked this book. Yes, there were some gruesome parts to it, but I'm not the sort to be bothered by that (Did I write "Touching the Dead" and "Dreaming Death"?) I'll definitely be looking for her next novel. ;o)
Also, I'd like to thank the author for not violating my #1 spec-fiction pet peeve: Slapping wings on a human and expecting us to believe they could fly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
samhenderson's novel, Heaven's Bones once I finished reading it...which I just did. ;o)One thing I've heard brought up is that it's a Ravenloft (SP?) tie in. Well, I don't know what Ravenloft is (although I suspect a gaming tie-in, given the other posts I've seen on it). That did not present a problem for me. I suspect some extraneous world-building might be out there tied in with the Vistani and the Mist, but I may only suspect that because I know that some ties to something exists. Those two seemed the most likely links to an outside 'world'. In no way do I feel like that made this novel less complete.
Another thing I've seen mentioned is the narrative style of the book. I believe I recall reading the word 'unfolding' somewhere. I would argue that unfolding is not the proper description of this type of narrative. One of the things that I've seen as a common factor among fantasy novels is that most of the 'world building' is done in the first third of the novel, followed by all the action in the second two-thirds. All the relationships are laid out in the beginning, then everything is tied up at the end.
It seems to me that a good analogy is that in most novels, we have several story lines initially grouped together like strands of leather about to be braided into a belt. The author knots one end of the strands togehter, braids the strands, and then ties off the other end.
In this novel, we start off with the strands of leather not touching each other at all. They're spread all over the table. In fact, only trust in the author leads us to believe that they will be braided in the end. And they are...
I suspect that some find this method a bit jarring, but I don't. I knew the author would make sense out of everything for me (perhaps because I read a lot of mystery novels.)
I quite liked this book. Yes, there were some gruesome parts to it, but I'm not the sort to be bothered by that (Did I write "Touching the Dead" and "Dreaming Death"?) I'll definitely be looking for her next novel. ;o)
Also, I'd like to thank the author for not violating my #1 spec-fiction pet peeve: Slapping wings on a human and expecting us to believe they could fly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
