On reading "The Lies of Locke Lamora"

[marycrawford]

You know, I am really tired of fantasy novels where all the heroes and villains and almost all of the colorful side characters are men, except for


one secret mastermind who is revealed to be, OMG, a woman. The perfect disguise! Nobody would ever have suspected!

I did like the bit where she stabbed the hero in the neck with her poisoned knitting needles. Of course, then he managed to escape her by hitting her in the face and jumping out the window, because the secret mastermind decided not to have any backup for a meeting with her known enemy.

Rar.

Going back to reread naominovik's Empire of Ivory, which I recommend, and wherein both men and women are capable, clever and interesting, and some of the best minds belong to the dragons. *g*

Comments

[trickofthedark.livejournal.com]

I read that because of the great reviews, too. And my reaction was similiar. The cool woman mafiosa that was the only character I was liking died horribly and then it was a bunch of stupid guys, many of whom died and/or kept all their eggs in one basket, durrrr. Nice world building though. Eh.

[marycrawford.livejournal.com]

I'm glad I'm not the only one; I do feel kind of like a wet blanket when I can't get into a book many others are enjoying.

The cool woman mafiosa that was the only character I was liking died horribly

Yeah, that was another thing that really bothered me. It felt like a terrible waste of a character, especially since she was the only woman who mattered in the plot so far.