Ah, Segnbora, one of my first fictional crushes. She's a master swordswoman, a professionally trained bard, a skilled sorceress. She speaks with dragons. She has an affair with one of the male leads. She is Full of Angst.She is, in short, the definition of the Mary Sue, and I could not care less because she. is. awesome.. . .why yes, I do still have a crush on her, why do you ask?I would say, "but there's more to this book than Segnbora," but really, there isn't. It's a series of set pieces of Segnbora being awesome and more awesome, and I eat it up like chocolate ice cream every time. Okay, okay, so there is a little more to the book, and what there is is good. I love the story of the battle-standard of the Darthenes, I think Glasscastle (and the Maiden with Still Hands) is quite possibly the creepiest place I have ever visited in fiction, I want my very own Skadhwe, and I find draconic culture fascinating. It's still a pretty episodic read, but it flows more smoothly than the first book. The characterizations are clearer, too.So why, with all this praise, am I giving this book only three stars? Because of a little section--just a few pages--near the end. If you've read the book, you know the one. (view spoiler)[It's when the protagonist deals with the trauma of being raped in childhood by, by. . .Well. Let me quote."'Balen,' she said, speaking the name aloud for the first time in her life.He blinked in confusion.'I seem to be getting a lot of practice at being others, these days,' she said. 'First Dragons. Then . . . Myself. I see this is what the practice was for. To see You for what You are. Just Her, in another suit. A tool to make me what I am, no less than the beautiful face and the ever-filled cup were tools. You were a little rougher on me that you might have been, perhaps. You were the sword. But my hand was on the hilt.'"And I just. I just. Rape as character development is such a common trope for women in fantasy novels that I mostly grit my teeth and move on; if I avoided all the books that used it, I wouldn't have a lot of books left. But this is so blatant, it takes my breath away. It's okay I was raped! It was a growth experience! The Goddess meant it to happen! And, really, it was all my fault.. . .yeah, you know what? Fuck that.This would be a four star book if I could rip those pages out. (hide spoiler)]
Things get progressively more epic in this second installment, which I like. The focus here is largely on Segnbora, who matures and acquires dragon spirit buddies (no, really), though the Big Bad Dark Secrets of her past are... predictable? Rant about that last behind the spoiler tag... (view spoiler)[For those who know what I'm talking about, I really don't mean to trivialize the event. Perhaps this is a timing issue, as obviously Diane Duane wrote this long before the internet decided to have a really unbecoming hissy-fit about Lara Croft and sexual assault in the next Tomb Raider, among other things. But I am finding it increasingly predictable when the shadows of a female protag's past are rape or sexual assault. Yes, it does happen in the real world, and yes, that's despicable, and yes, we should be able to talk about these goings-on in books. But it feels like we're using that as a shortcut these days. Need an obstacle or a terrible event for your female protagonist to overcome? Oh, OBVIOUSLY, it would be rape. No. Stop it. This rant is entirely my opinion/subjective/not all that relevant to this book in particular, sorry, but I still feel it needs saying. (hide spoiler)]
Do You like book The Door Into Shadow (1985)?
Okay, so the storyline generally continues in an interesting way, and I quite liked some of the other character development, and the dragons were interesting. However, [rest of review contains spoilers. Also, trigger warning!:] there is some major fail. It turns out that Segnbora's intimacy issues and inability to focus her Flame are because she was sexually abused as a child and had mostly repressed that. Now, yes, it's believable that she'd have these kinds of issues as a result of that, but r
—Juliana
I found this book to be extremely powerful and though-provoking. It is a tough-love book that doesn't dance around the subject of child abuse and it's consequences, but it also illustrates the power of the mind and the ability to overcome the wounds of such abuse. What is even more interesting is that Segnbora, the main character of this story is actually not the hero of the series...she is supporting and helping him. She is, in her own right, extremely important to the quest and detrimental at very key points for Freelorn. The way dragons are viewed and how they can connect with humans is very fascinating as well. This is probably one of my top favorite books. I should really read the first and third book..I never knew this was a series. ^_^
—Michelle
This was actually better than I remembered. I like the shift to Segnbora and dealing with her issues to make the group strong in their fight to bring Fire back for all - and to do things in the name of the Goddess. The rape is as scary and horrid as I remember and I'm so utterly in awe that the forgiving part still seems believable - but then I have never experienced this, so I don't know how it would read for a true survivor.
—Estara
