Swallowing Darkness

[xarra.livejournal.com]

I've not seen many reviews of Swallowing Darkness yet...

I finished it last night... Spoilers below...

1) There was only 1 real sex scene. *faints* OK, so it matched the title, but still... Unless I glossed over one or two, which is perfectly possible...

2) Is it just me in a haze when reading it, or is LKH's writing getting more disjointed? Her books read more like a blog post now with random thoughts than a carefully crafted book... But, hey, there was actual genuine plot.

3) Why, why can't it be the last book, it was actually decent, wrapped stuff up... Oh, wait, Merry isn't THE Goddess yet and Faerie isn't all happy sparkly yet... Sigh...

Comments

[pandorasblog]

Only one sex scene? Really?! I'm encouraged...

[atypia.livejournal.com]

I think the first sex bit was actually in chapter 18, which shocked me considerably considering one of her recent Anita books had the first 3 chapters on one drawn out sex scene.

[briarwood.livejournal.com]

There was only 1 real sex scene.

Two - you're forgetting Holly and Ash :-)

Her writing does seem really odd. Within each scene it seems to flow okay but transitions are, yeah, very disjointed. And there were parts of the plot in this one that didn't make a lot of sense as a result.

I don't have my thoughts on the book in good order yet. I think the most striking thing is how utterly inconsistent her characterisation is. Look at the way Mistrail is described when he first appears, compared to who he is in this book. Did he get a personality transplant when we weren't looking? She's done something similar to Holly and Ash.

Questions were answered, which is good, but the answers make little sense. The whole answer to why Andais set up the contest between Merry and Cel is just weird. I know Andais is supposed to be insane, but...

[atypia.livejournal.com]

I hated the way she changed Holly and Ash. They were psychos, and now they're just sweet little misunderstood boys hiding behind a tough exterior. And of course only she gets to see that side of them.

[xarra.livejournal.com]

Thinking about it, if the fae are so magical, why the hell is Cel's situation even testable by human tech? (Trying not to do too many spoilers. :P) Surely it's all magic and fluffy bunnies (hello, 2 children with 3 fathers each...) so human testing wouldn't really be possible?

Except, obviously, fae biology is similiar enough to humans that they can happily inter-mate... Which gives me a headache... Creatures who are apparently made of magic (see: Doyle & hospitals and big armoured vans) have similar biology to humans... *head-desk*

It's not just charactisation - it's her logic seems to vary dependent on what she needs for the scene to 'work'...

[briarwood.livejournal.com]

Creatures who are apparently made of magic (see: Doyle & hospitals and big armoured vans) have similar biology to humans... *head-desk*

LOL! You're right of course, but I've read so much fantasy fiction that stuff like that doesn't bother me any more. It's just kind of a given.

Cel's situation would be testable by human science; though whether the results would be meaningful is a whole different debate, but then there are magical tests for the same thing, aren't there?

it's her logic seems to vary dependent on what she needs for the scene to 'work'...

I think the thing that bugs me most about the Merry series is the way the canon facts change according to LKH's fancy. Take the Barinthus thing: In Seduced By Moonlight people are remarking that the Queen will force him into Merry's bed and he stands with her, in effect declaring that they've had sex, right in front of the queen. In the next book the queen throws a hissy fit because no one told her they'd had sex (and they didn't anyway) and Merry conveniently remembers that Barinthus has vowed never to put himself in line for the throne.

And the ring: in the first book no one knows how the queen used its power; later only Sage (who isn't even Sidhe) is aware that it was used to find a person's perfect soul mate and later still all the guards explain to Merry how when it couldn't do that any more they knew the Sidhe's power was fading. It's nonsense.

But I stll find the Merry books entertaining. Unlike Anita.

[othellia.livejournal.com]

why the hell is Cel's situation even testable by human tech? (Trying not to do too many spoilers. :P)

I'm curious. What situation?

[phyrra.livejournal.com]

I actually thought Swallowing Darkness was good. The one sex scene was ok, and yes, I thought there was a plot too.

I was disappointed that it wouldn't be the last book as well, because quite frankly, I don't want to read about Merry's frelling doctor's visits! Bleh! I read fantasy to escape from reality!

Actually though, the Merry book gives me hope that _maybe_ the Anita books will get better. Until then, I'm still watching the trainwreck...

[gwynethfar.livejournal.com]

Is this some bizarro world where the books that are supposed to be all about the sex are suddenly encumbered with plot and the ones that were formerly all about plot keep devolving into barely strung together sex scenes?

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

LOLOLOL! So true! Maybe LKH ran into some red kryptonite or something . . . :D

[denelian.livejournal.com]

this book confused the ever lovin' hell outta me.

my biggest pet peeve, at the moment, was that a couple books ago Merry was forced to fight the head of a household, they had done a magic so that the other woman would be as mortal as Merry is... and in that scene, in that book, it was made VERY obvious that Merry was no longer mortal. and then... she is mortal again.

Andais loosing her shit further was expected, i suppose. the thing is, while i loved the lack of sex scenes (the first wasn't until chapter 16 and they never actually had sex!), i guess i now realize that the sex is what held it together. this book was totally disjointed. and the thing with Gran was just... too much. really. i LIKED Gran...

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

while i loved the lack of sex scenes (the first wasn't until chapter 16 and they never actually had sex!),

Oh, good. When I saw "one sex scene" my first thought was, "What? From chapter two through chapter twenty?"

[denelian.livejournal.com]

hehehe. no one i know believed me either :)

the woman missed her calling - she should work phone sex *G*

[denelian.livejournal.com]

yeah, LKH. and i've heard worse phone sex voices. worst job i ever had...