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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(11/21/01 1:00:42 am)
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Sophie Masson
Has anyone read Sophie Masson's fairy tale novels? She is an Australian author and her fairy tale related books currently are:
Cold Iron, references to Tattercoats/Cinderella (published in US as "Malkin")
Clementine, references to Sleeping Beauty (not published in US)
Carabas, references to Puss in Boots (publishd in US as "Serafin")
The Green Prince (not published in US)
The Firebird (not published in US)
I am going to order them from Australia soon, but I wanted to know if anyone else was familiar with them.
I am currently reading Mercedes Lackey's "Serpent's Shadow," which has allusions to Snow White. The evil stepmother is an evil aunt in this one. The dwarfs are animals. One of the Elemental Masters of Water is Lord Peter Almsley, a thinly disguised Lord Peter Wimsey from Dorothy Sayers. Considering I just recently reread the Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane books for comfort food, the allusion to Wimsey is more jarring than fun. Since I am happily a fan of the Wimsey and Vane books, I would prefer not to place him in Lackey's world, too, especially since I am understanding all of her hints at Almsley as Wimsey. My vision doesn't conform with hers. Didn't we have this discussion a while back? Most of the time this stuff doesn't bother me, but this time it does since the characters in Sayer's words are so fresh in my mind. If you are familiar with Wimsey, it may bother you. If you aren't, it won't, of course. I am happy to be familiar with Wimsey, so I wish he wasn't in this book! Finally, if you liked Lackey's "Fire Rose," you'll most likey enjoy this book. If you didn't like "Fire Rose," don't try it. Lackey is writing more fairy tale books in the near future apparently, so beware the renewed interest in fairy tales from her fans.
I am moving on to Dennis McKiernan next.
Heidi
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Helen
Registered User
(11/21/01 5:18:10 am)
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Re: Sophie Masson
Dear Heidi:
Thanks so much for the recommendations/reviews! *gleefully rubbing hands together* I'm always on the lookout for authors new to me (aren't we all!) and, thanks to the wretched rate of publication for foreign authors in America, I've never seen her books on the shelves of mainstream stores, or that many of Storm Constantine's, or Tanith Lee's ... thank goodness for ordering houses! On the subject of Mercedes Lackey; I love those books of hers concerning magic-workers (the Diana Tregarde series, _The Fire Rose_, etc.) but I've found her fairy tale retellings (_The Black Swan_and the one about the firebird ... the exact title escapes me, but I was predisposed to like it due to its' Russian antecedents) somewhat jarring, and for much the same reason that you describe concerning Whimsey. Sigh ... the irony is that she's decided to stop publishing the Tregarde books because of the associated problems. She had a letter posted on the web concerning the matter, but the page seems to have been taken down. has anyone seen this posted anywhere else?
Best,
Helen
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Terri
Registered User
(11/21/01 6:19:49 am)
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Re: Sophie Masson
Heidi, thanks for the reviews. I confess I'm not a Lackey fan; her writing just doesn't work for me. I'll be curious to know what you think of the McKiernan and Masson books.
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GAil
Unregistered User
(11/21/01 2:49:03 pm)
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reading
Just picked up both McKiernan's book and the Lackey one from our library and will check on Sophie Masson (we sometimes get Australian materials in Canada as a matter of course). I haven't read them yet -- but am interested in finding out other people's take on them. On another note, Kate, I had the library order in your new book (I had them purchased Mirror, Mirror when it came out) so looking forward to that one as well -- I haven't seen it in any book stores here yet. Gail
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Heidi
Anne Heiner
ezOP
(11/23/01 11:52:22 pm)
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Re: reading
Finished Lackey last night and started McKiernan. Didn't care much for Lackey--preferred "Fire Rose" over "Serpent's Shadow" if I really had to choose. I want to enjoy her books, but somehow they don't really click with me as much as I want to love them. I like magic, I like mages, I like the idea of elemental magic. But, well, I will have to think about it a little more to figure out what doesn't work for me. Definitely something as silly as Peter Wimsey being used as a main character can't be a valid excuse by itself.
McKiernan I already like more than Lackey, so far. I will have to read more to find out. I am just at the beginning, but it is certainly a take on "East of the Sun." The pieces are much more obvious but not as jarring as they were in "Serpent's Shadow."
I am ordering Masson's books this next week.
Heidi
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Karen
Unregistered User
(11/25/01 1:16:23 pm)
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Masson
I'm not familiar with Masson's work, but I'll look into it when I get back home. I just wanted to say that if anyone ever wants a book published in Australia but not the US and wants to pay the paltry amount the Australian dollar is truly worth (as opposed to the ordering house price), I would be only too happy to find the book for you!
As for the rate of publication of foreign authors in the US, from my observation it really varies from nationality to nationality. For Australian authors, it's markedly *low*. It's still extraordinary to me that some of the "big guns" of Aus lit are obscure here in Canada and the US- it's tricky to find Patrick White, for instance.
Karen.
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