I have a soft spot for Vonda McIntyre, author of the first work of science fiction I ever read, and by pure chance (the reading, obviously, not the writing). My mom brought home a copy of Dreamsnake to entertain her sick daughter. Bear in mind that, at the time, I was used to reading Christopher Pike and Francine Pascal — about whom more later — with the occasional dash of adult horror I probably couldn't stomach now. McIntyre's compassion and skillful, character-driven storytelling, for which she had won numerous awards, impressed me.And then I forgot all about it for nearly two decades, until Grass, Sand and Mist came up in a conversation with my husband. I looked McIntyre up on good ol' Goodreads and stumbled upon this Nebula-winning work of (alternate) historical fantasy, which features SEA MONSTERS at the court of the SUN KING. Who wouldn't want to read that little thought experiment?The prose is mostly serviceable, only occasionally forgetting itself and offering readers a glimpse of beauty, and the plot veers into predictably pat territory at the end. Our lead narrator and protagonist, Marie-Josèphe, is a tad too talented at, um, music performance and composition, visual art, mathematics, 'taming' wild things and generally being awesome (though in her defense she is terrible at time management).But. I loved this. The dialogue is sharp and clever, the characters delightful, except for those who aren't meant to be. It would be difficult not to admire the integrity of crushworthy dwarf Lucien, the witty atheist in an über-Catholic court, so, naturally, I abandoned myself to that fate. My knowledge of pre-revolutionary France is mostly limited to the plight of the Huguenots, but McIntyre's reconstruction of Louis XIV and his beautiful, decadent, some might say wasteful court felt fully realized as we navigate the vagaries of class and custom along with Marie-Josèphe. The sea monsters first encountered in the prologue are, of course, not monsters at all, and they and other animals are handled sensitively. I felt a bit sick thinking about zoos and hunting for sport and pretty much every other scenario reflecting Pope Innocent XI's conviction that other creatures are subject to our whims. Even aurochs, which I'm pretty sure were already extinct by the late seventeenth century...The Moon and the Sun ends on a ridiculously happy note, so fans of doom and gloom may not find it especially realistic or satisfying. Bummer for you guys, because, caveat aside, this is so much fun. Highly recommended.(Buy a signed copy directly from McIntyre, or purchase the ebook, available here.)
For quite a while, I was convinced I'd already read this book - but then I realized I'd confused it title-wise, with Patricia McKillip's "The Moon and the Face." Not the same book at all.Here, we are thrown into the court of Louis XIV. Our protagonist, Marie-Josephe, is a very low-ranking member of this court, an absurdly sheltered girl, straight from a hellish stint in a convent. However, she's scholarly and intelligent by nature, and is more than enthusiastic to assist her brother, a priest and naturalist, in the task sponsored by the King himself: an expedition to capture, display and dissect sea monsters. Sea monsters are rare, already hunted nigh to extinction, as legend has it that eating their flesh will confer immortality.The priest has succeeded in capturing two of the monsters - one dead, one alive. Marie-Josephe is given the task of feeding the living monster, a female. She balances these duties with the demands of the court, and her growing moral discomfort regarding her slave and childhood companion, the Turkish woman known as Odelette. As she becomes familiar with the captive 'monster,' she begins to realize that the mermaid is just as human as herself.The book starts rather slowly and confusingly. I rarely have to refer to a list of 'dramatis personae,' but I did find myself consulting the one provided here. However, it really picked up as it went on, and the novel's themes emerged. The narrative grew into a powerful and complex musing on freedom, oppression, and the nature of humanity.* It reminded me quite a bit of the short story I read recently: Miss Carstairs and the Merman - Delia Sherman.* It also features a much-shorter-than-average noble who excels at court politics, for the Tyrion Lannister fans. (Lucien's a bit nicer than Tyrion, though.)[note 9/7/14 - I just found out a movie is in production, based on this novel. I very much doubt they'll capture either the atmosphere or the complexities... but, we shall see! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2328678/ ]
What do You think about The Moon And The Sun (1997)?
The premise of this book really caught my attention but reading it was difficult. I found it really slow in the beginning and I felt like the plot really didn't pick up until I was two thirds done with the book.I did like Marie-Josephe's character a lot as she is a complex female character. I also enjoyed her friendship with Odelette / Haleed. The romance between her and another character was so well done I actually enjoyed it and I hate romance.Toward the end of the book there were some revelations on certain character's parentage and I found it didn't really matter or impact the story. It was just thrust in there, intending to shock the reader but not really having that desired effect.There were a lot of courtiers in the novel, so many I kept having to refer to the list of character's over at the beginning. And the problem is I feel like the characters didn't have clear-cut personalities to separate them from one another. When the novel gets more interesting things are straightened out some. The writing was well done but this novel didn't captivate me like I thought it would.
—Jasmine
I was a bit disappointed with this book, although that may have been because my first encounter with McIntyre was in her Hugo and Nebula winning novel, Dreamsnake, which does kinda skew one's perspective.This story is grounded solidly in the court of the Sun King, almost too solidly, as I do feel that the narrative sometimes wanders off into the "look how much research I did" category. Still, the setting is lovely and the characters are, overall, quite sympathetically drawn. She doesn't make the mistake of giving anyone overly modern opinions (well, except around bloodletting. But everyone does that). If anything, the settings and surroundings threaten to overshadow what is, essentially, a story of first (re)encounters. The people, mythical beings included, are less compelling than their hair.That was my biggest problem with what is, overall, a well told and meticulously researched story of what it means to be sentient and human - a staple of science fiction as seen through a fantastic and historical lens. It's just a pity that the lens so powerfully overshadows the story, relegating it almost to unimportance in the face of what the court of the Sun King was imagined to be like.
—Liz
ok now that i've finished this i'm trying to figure out how it got on my "to-read" list since it doesn't seem to be a book that anyone i follow on Goodreads has read ?__?it was a fine book — i enjoyed it. i don't have any particularly negative feelings towards it, and there are some pretty great characters.read if you think reading an alternate history fantasy/sf take on french royal opulence is a good time!(cw: mentions of sexual assault. main character thankfully never has the Bad Time that my book reading status updates predicted, though.)in other news, this is going to be a movie starring pierce brosnan (lol, as king louis, presumably with two non-gouty legs)? with the character of lucien erased? oyyyy. i feel like the only reason that's going to be potentially watchable is because of fan bingbing (playing the exotic mermaid-ish-creature! because she's #exotic, you guys). Wikipedia indicates that the author didn't have any hand in writing the screenplay, which is kind of sad, considering that her book afterword mentioned that she wrote a screenplay for this concept ages ago...
—Emily
