And your veil is so thin
Mar. 12th, 2009 11:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
debithaTithe
Tithe is a fairy story of the modern variety - an alien and often brutal culture, which intersects occasionally with our own.
I'm a little torn about this one. I really enjoyed the introduction to the main character, Kaye. She is sixteen, and rebellious. Her mother drags her around after her as she (the mother) desperately seeks fame in a rock band (any rock band). Kaye has quit school long since to work a crap job at a chinese takeaway for the cash and the free food - someone has to have their feet on the ground. Kaye is bitter and angry, and a tad vicious. I rather love her. At first. I may be starting to show my age here, but when she goes all Rebel Without a Clue, she loses me. "Of course", she promises her friends, "I would do anything to help you." Except not do the thing they ask her not to do. Or actually stop for a second to think about things. Not all of the consequences of her actions are foreseeable, which is fair enough, but the fact is that it wouldn't matter if they were - she never once stops to consider what they might be. I should say that her actual story arc as a character is really clever, I just think it falls over in the execution.
In terms of the hero, it seems like the author said to herself, “My favourite kind of hero is blond, and pretty, and tortured and morally ambiguous. Thus, I shall write him and it shall be glorious!” Unfortunately, it’s flat rather than glorious. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all in favour of blond, pretty, tortured and morally ambiguous, and I don’t know how it went wrong here, but it did.
The action tears along nicely; the world-building is really good, I really enjoyed the brief glimpses into the Fairy world; the secondary characters are interesting. On an individual level, each of Kaye's encounters with various fairies are really well done, and often nicely creepy.
Ultimately it was fairly enjoyable, and I might read the sequel, Ironside, but I won't be buying it.
Judging by the state of The List I could be at this a while. Are there things I should change about the way I do these that might make it more interesting for you? I'm deliberately avoiding going into too much detail about plots because I don't want to spoil them. Any thoughts? You are, after all, the ones reading the reviews.
The Prince - Machiavelli
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden - Morgan Spurlock
Personal Demon - Kelley Armstrong
An Utterly Impartial History of Britain - John O'Farrell
The Lantern Bearers - Rosemary Sutcliffe
Small Favour - Jim Butcher
Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
The Incredulity of Father Brown - GK Chesterton
Tithe - Holly Black
Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch
The Mark of the Horse Lord - Rosemary Sutcliffe
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
Freakonomics - Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner
A Snowball in Hell - Christopher Brookmyre
The Consolations of Philosophy - Alain de Botton
The Seven Words You Can't Say on Television - Stephen Pinker
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino
The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman
First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde
Definitely Dead - Charlaine Harris
Histories - Heroditus
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 06:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 07:52 pm (UTC)Tia gave me Red Seas for my birthday. In May. There's this little voice in the back of my head telling me that's unacceptable. I mostly ignore it, but it's annoying. :o)
And thank you!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 07:12 pm (UTC)I want you to read Freakonomics. Mainly cause you bought it when we were there.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-12 07:55 pm (UTC)I will! Eventually! I am just finishing Consolations of Philosophy, and then I will start Mark of the Horse Lord. Then, I think, Freakonomics. :o)
no subject
Date: 2009-03-13 08:59 pm (UTC)