Book: Rachel Bach: Honour's Knight
May. 4th, 2014 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethWhen I finished reading Fortune's Pawn, the first book in this trilogy, I was frustrated. It had been a fun read, but then it just kind of stopped, and I didn't think it had a proper ending. It set up the world and the problem and had fun in it and then changed covers, was my feeling. Also, the kick arse merc in power armour I had been hoping to read about actually spent all her time getting rescued.
This book works on solving that, and makes me feel better about the first book. Like, she isn't the kind of competent that only exists to make the men look better when they save her, she's having a character arc. Leveling up. Okay. I can live with that, even if the timescale is supposed to be days.
In this book, instead of being rescued, she spends the whole time attempting to rescue herself and instead having increasingly awesome frying pan / fire situations. And it gets a kick arse ending.
Also I can see why the first book chopped off where it did. She deals with the consequences of the first book's ending throughout this book, and when it ends she's in a clearly new position, with a cliffhanger to lead to book 3. The first book was a weaker attempt at the same thing. And I'm interested in how all this is going to resolve in just one book.
So, Honour's Knight: A fun read again, with plenty of violence and action sequences, some twisty politics stuff with quite a lot of different sides playing, her being annoyed at the right people, and some proper morally ambiguous winning.
I remain dissatisfied at the 'romance' strand, but while I rather would like her to just go find someone else in the big wide galaxy who hasn't been that much of a dick to her already, I can actually see why she doesn't. It's a bit creepy though, because her logic is she's injured him just as bad and actually more often, so, why hold a bit of attempted murder against him? Which isn't logic I'd want anywhere near a relationship, but she's just so cheerful about violence I can see why she'd go there. Still, if partner betrayal, mindwipe, and beating crap out of romantic partners in a battle context is a problem for you (as would be quite reasonable) this series will be no fun at all.
They're doing that thing where the guy is cold and distant and emotionless and devoted to duty and oh, hey, in all his many decades he's never met someone quite like this girl! He's having a feeling! He's having a feeling that isn't violence! How will he cope??! And then he's devoted to her instead. That happens quite a lot in books. It seems like a bad plan but good wish fulfilment. Also the qualities he sees in her aren't purity or innocence or any of that crap:
"After you put Cotter in his place before we'd even left Paradox, I started watching you. I couldn't help it. You were the craziest, bravest, loveliest thing I'd ever seen, and I knew at once that I should keep my distance."
But part of his evidence he loves her is "You even made me lose my temper."
So, you know, toxic and creepy.
Also he's a serial child killer, which, well, I'd say ought to put anyone off, but I've been a Spike fan, so my glass house precludes.
The stuff with the little girls is super creepy. There's one particular little girl they want more copies of, so they steal other girls and turn them into her. And that one they keep prisoner so tight she can't move. Creepy. So the goal for the main character becomes freeing the girls, even if it's going to cost her the military promotions she was looking for in book 1. So yaays, personal growth.
After book 1 I wasn't sure I'd get book 2, but I'll happily get book 3 after this.
This book works on solving that, and makes me feel better about the first book. Like, she isn't the kind of competent that only exists to make the men look better when they save her, she's having a character arc. Leveling up. Okay. I can live with that, even if the timescale is supposed to be days.
In this book, instead of being rescued, she spends the whole time attempting to rescue herself and instead having increasingly awesome frying pan / fire situations. And it gets a kick arse ending.
Also I can see why the first book chopped off where it did. She deals with the consequences of the first book's ending throughout this book, and when it ends she's in a clearly new position, with a cliffhanger to lead to book 3. The first book was a weaker attempt at the same thing. And I'm interested in how all this is going to resolve in just one book.
So, Honour's Knight: A fun read again, with plenty of violence and action sequences, some twisty politics stuff with quite a lot of different sides playing, her being annoyed at the right people, and some proper morally ambiguous winning.
I remain dissatisfied at the 'romance' strand, but while I rather would like her to just go find someone else in the big wide galaxy who hasn't been that much of a dick to her already, I can actually see why she doesn't. It's a bit creepy though, because her logic is she's injured him just as bad and actually more often, so, why hold a bit of attempted murder against him? Which isn't logic I'd want anywhere near a relationship, but she's just so cheerful about violence I can see why she'd go there. Still, if partner betrayal, mindwipe, and beating crap out of romantic partners in a battle context is a problem for you (as would be quite reasonable) this series will be no fun at all.
They're doing that thing where the guy is cold and distant and emotionless and devoted to duty and oh, hey, in all his many decades he's never met someone quite like this girl! He's having a feeling! He's having a feeling that isn't violence! How will he cope??! And then he's devoted to her instead. That happens quite a lot in books. It seems like a bad plan but good wish fulfilment. Also the qualities he sees in her aren't purity or innocence or any of that crap:
"After you put Cotter in his place before we'd even left Paradox, I started watching you. I couldn't help it. You were the craziest, bravest, loveliest thing I'd ever seen, and I knew at once that I should keep my distance."
But part of his evidence he loves her is "You even made me lose my temper."
So, you know, toxic and creepy.
Also he's a serial child killer, which, well, I'd say ought to put anyone off, but I've been a Spike fan, so my glass house precludes.
The stuff with the little girls is super creepy. There's one particular little girl they want more copies of, so they steal other girls and turn them into her. And that one they keep prisoner so tight she can't move. Creepy. So the goal for the main character becomes freeing the girls, even if it's going to cost her the military promotions she was looking for in book 1. So yaays, personal growth.
After book 1 I wasn't sure I'd get book 2, but I'll happily get book 3 after this.