Elizabeth Moon - Deed of Paksenarrion

[beniowa]

True enough.

 

[NickeeCoco]

I hear you, but one of the things sf&f readers have over many others, I think, is a highly developed intuitiveness. There are only so many ways left to try to twist and turn a plot and surprise the reader.

Not to mention of course we know she's going to come out on top. The prologue has a tale about her. She's a hero. The trilogy is about how the hero became a hero. As PeterWilliam said, there's still many twists and turns an author can take the hero on the way to victory. I mean, did you really doubt that Luke Skywalker would win? I didn't, not for a second. Did I ever think Frodo and Sam were going to fail? Nope. They had to, otherwise the good guys would lose. Do I think Harrison Ford is not going to find his children at the end of whatever film he's doing? Nope. He's going to do it.

As cliche as it is, it's not the destination that matters, but the journey.

 

[beniowa]

Not to mention of course we know she's going to come out on top. The prologue has a tale about her. She's a hero. The trilogy is about how the hero became a hero. As PeterWilliam said, there's still many twists and turns an author can take the hero on the way to victory. I mean, did you really doubt that Luke Skywalker would win? I didn't, not for a second. Did I ever think Frodo and Sam were going to fail? Nope. They had to, otherwise the good guys would lose. Do I think Harrison Ford is not going to find his children at the end of whatever film he's doing? Nope. He's going to do it.

As cliche as it is, it's not the destination that matters, but the journey.

Considering Deeds is heroic fantasy, all that is certainly true. Except of course when an author subverts what that means. And if the author was someone else, the good guys wouldn't necessarily win.

I may come across as hating the trilogy when I didn't. I liked it. I'm just saying I never try to go into a book with any expectations, and in this case you get what you ask for, no more no less.

 

[Rob B]

Well, I closed the book last night on what is surely now in my Omnibus Hall of Fame (© PeterWilliam).

Having come at this trilogy/omnibus after reading the two newest books following Dorrin and Kieri as King, I knew where the final book was headed. Even if I didn't, it was fairly obvious where Ms. Moon was taking the story. So what, though? The journey was great, the story was lots of fun. Specifically for Oath of Gold it was nice to see the payoff of who Paks became, after the promise who she might be in the early stages. I liked the stuff with Kuakgan (Oakhollow) a lot, thought some good interaction occurred between he and Paks.

My only criticism was how rushed the last couple of chapters felt to me. It seemed the pacing was a little out of balance in Oath of Gold in that it took quite a bit of posturing, and Paks having to go through the (lack of any better terms) bureaucratic process and confirmations before outing Kieri as the king, then he gets kidnapped and saved in what seemed an unequally swift time. I was also a bit disappointed that Paks wasn't the person to wind up taking out the increasingly annoying Barra, but there was a logic to it.

I liked that Moon chose to tell the story of Paks, not as the Hidden Heir Chosen to Rule, but rather she who finds the Hidden Heir Chosen to Rule.

 

[PeterWilliam]

I liked that Moon chose to tell the story of Paks, not as the Hidden Heir Chosen to Rule, but rather she who finds the Hidden Heir Chosen to Rule.

Agreed. I think this makes Elizabeth Moon, and Paksenarrion, the collective Queens of heroic fantasy fiction.

 

[NickeeCoco]

I liked the stuff with Kuakgan (Oakhollow) a lot, thought some good interaction occurred between he and Paks.

That is my favourite part of the entire trilogy. It was also the reason why I felt that Kings of the North was so rushed. In particular when Paks takes Dorrin and teaches her to use/unleash her magery. After reading what kind of transformations Elizabeth Moon is capable of, I was intensely disappointed when she kept that from us concerning Dorrin.

, then he gets kidnapped and saved in what seemed an unequally swift time.

It's been a bit since I read these novels, so my memory concerning exact details is a bit fuzzy. But that's when she's

Spoiler

being tortured, right? That's how she saves him, by offering herself? I don't know if I could have handled that being a longer scene. She suffered enough.

I liked that Moon chose to tell the story of Paks, not as the Hidden Heir Chosen to Rule, but rather she who finds the Hidden Heir Chosen to Rule.[/QUOTE]

Agreed.

 

[missabrilada]

It's Amazing!

I've read this book some years ago and loved it so much, very enjoyable

 

[Rob B]

Spoiler

being tortured, right? That's how she saves him, by offering herself? I don't know if I could have handled that being a longer scene. She suffered enough.

Well, yes and no.

Yes, that

Spoiler

Paks offered herself up in exchange for Kieri and she was tortured. Again, here Moon I think put the right amount of detail, focusing on the details of some of the torture and letting the reader imagine other aspects.

Not so much that

Spoiler

I felt Kieri was kidnapped far too quickly after he was discovered to be the heir. Basically, **** hit the fan quickly compared to how long Paks was drawing out the discovery of Kieri being the heir. Understandably, she wanted to be 100% positive, but narratively, I felt a bit of an imbalance.

That having been said, my minor issue, as it were is very minor compared to how much I enjoyed the book/series/omnibus and where it will stand in my personal echelon of fantasy reads.

 

[Rob B]

Thought folks might be interested in a podcast Elizabeth Moon did with the fine folks at SFSignal. Nothing terribly new, but I thought what she shared about Anne McCaffrey especially touching. You can also download the podcast in iTunes.

 

[ShandaLear]

I think I DID start a thread about this series, since it is one of my all time favorites. I wore out the trilogy in individual paperbacks and they were falling apart. Replaced them, also bought the collection in trade... it's so unwieldy it really should be bound in hard cover.

Even overpriced, I still ordered the individual titles for my Kindle to put in my COMFORT READS folder. Some stuff I just want with me when I move around.

 

[ShandaLear]

Freaky side-note... I just went back through the whole thread and found a very old post by my very own hubby. LOL

Yes, it was required reading, dammit.