The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like slightly sticky plaster-dust. (Housecleaners in that country earned unusually good wages.) If you lived in that country, you had to de-scale your kettle of its encrust-ation of magic at least once a week, because if you didn't, you might find yourself pouring hissing snakes or pond slime into your teapot instead of water. (It didn't have to be anything scary or unpleasant, like snakes or slime, especially in a cheerful household--magic tended to reflect the atmosphere of the place in which it found itself-but if you want a cup of tea, a cup of lavendar-and-gold pansies or ivory thimbles is unsatisfactory. And while the pansies-put dry in a vase-would
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited May 21, 2008).]
Posted by Unwritten (Member # 7960) on :
Robin McKinley goes on about magic for about 8 pages before starting the story. I really liked this first page and got bored by page 4, but I kept reading because I like other books by her. I really liked this book, and I have grown fond of that first paragraph. What do you think?
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Well, much as I like Robin McKinley and her stories, I have to say that if the only thing that kept you reading after you got bored halfway through her exposition was your trust in her as a writer, then she abused that trust.
Eight pages! I've read the book and don't remember that, but just the thought of that much exposition makes my eyes glaze over now.
Maybe I was eating while I was reading.
Posted by arriki (Member # 3079) on :
It's the whimsy that might pull me in to read this.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
I haven't read this one, but love the Hero and the Crown and the Blue Sword, though both have a bit more exposition/explanation/back story/description that I typically prefer. I'm not much of a fantasy reader, so that's not saying much - what I typically prefer is much less than a typical fantasy writer writes, if that makes any sense.
However, I just recommended those two books to some tweenage girls I know who read the genre and I'm interested to hear their take. I feel like there just aren't many books with strong female protagonists that are appropriate for underage girls (read as: don't feature sex or anything even remotely close.)
The thing that strikes me about this first 13 is the parentheticals. I didn't remember that about McKinley's style - is it typical or is this just an oddball work?
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
KayTi, point your "tweenage" friends at Shannon Hale and Jessica Day George (they both write YA fantasy with strong female protagonists, and they are both very good).