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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Rachel Caine's "Warden" novels

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

07:31 / 17.06.05

Reading "Chill Factor" at the moment.

I find the series to be fascinating, if for no other reason than the fact that the magic is described in scientific terms, thus transforming it from "manipulation of the mysterious, unknowable forces of the universe" to "directly slaving quantum mechanics to my will, within a narrowly defined field of manipulation".

Well, ok...that and the fact that the books seem to combine the best aspects of the Anita Blake novels (wit, sarcasm, good pacing and interesting descriptions of people and magic), and remove the aspects that I really dislike (gratuitous sex, for one).

Anyone else read them? Thoughts?

ONLY NICE THINGS

09:14 / 17.06.05

I feel I should point out that in my humble opinion the sex in the Anita Blake novels is not only not gratuitous, but is central to our evolving understanding of the character of Anita Blake as a metatectual commentary on her literary environment, even as the unaccustomed tenderness of the scenes themselves forces us to appreciate the vulnerability of Blake herself, and by extension the author and the reader.

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

06:52 / 18.06.05

Off-topic reply to Haus (because I think an interesting conversation may spawn from it):

This is true in some of the earlier books, but I felt later on (by Narcissus in Chains or so) it was becoming a touch gratuitous. I think a point is slowly being reached where the sex becomes the goal of the plot, rather than a vehicle through which the plot is accomplished. Now, I will take that back a bit for some of the scenes in Cerulean Sins, where I think the sex scenes were really used to develop and evolve Asher's character.

I honestly can't say that I ever thought of them in a metatextual way before, though. I'm normally not overly deep in my casual readings, so I'm not overly surprised if I've missed picking up on something vital.

...and as I sit here writing I'm actually beginning to look deeper into things. I think there's a bit too much sex, but I think that Hamilton does have a knack for using it to advance the characters.

Thanks, Haus. You gave me something to think on here.

20:11 / 18.06.05

I've burned through the first two, haven't gotten my hands on the third one yet. I like them a lot, have classed them as being 'guilty pleasures' but think they're better than that... and can't put my finger on why.

*waits in breathless anticipation for it to show up at my favorite independent bookstore*

Bard: One-Man Humaton Hoedown

04:00 / 19.06.05

Iszabelle, I just finished "Chill Factor" the other day. Its by far my favourite of the three. Its really well put together, and one of the few books I've read that manages to play through in a few days and not feel like it should be playing out over a few weeks.

Las Vegas is becoming one of my favourite cities for magical stories. First "Last Call" by Tim Powers, now this. And other stuff...plus a really fun book for the RPG Mage: The Ascension called "Fallen Tower" that was quite neat.

As for why its better than Guilty Pleasures...not sure. I think because the Warden novels are a lot more focused. There's a very limited number of central characters. The Anita Blake novels literally have a cast of thousands, some of whom only get a few lines of characterization in each book. The Warden novels, however, focus on the main character (Joanne), a few of her colleagues (Lewis, Paul, Marion), the most important Djinn in her life (David, Jonathan, Rahel to a lesser extent), and her enemies (Kevin, Yvette, and in flashbacks Bad Bob and the Demon Mark). You get to know the characters a lot better. Now, while the huge cast in the Anita Blake books is a great thing at times, as the setting really comes alive, at times the plot wanders a little bit, and it requires the reader to remember quite a few names and where they fit in (especially with the second pard of were-leopards that shows up in later books, the new vampires, etc.).

The only real issue I had with "Chill Factor" was that its set about a week after the events of "Heat Stroke"...but the amount of time between when the two books came out makes it seem like a LOT longer than that.