StoryreaderFinal Comments on The Stone Key
April 11th 2008 06:24
I promise that this is the last post I will make on the topic of Isobelle Carmody’s The Stone Key. I have finished it now, and I just have a few more things to say.
First of all, for those who have read their way through the series, The Stone Key does not tie up a lot of loose ends, certainly not as many as I’d expected. A few things are resolved, but mostly things that you have guessed from reading the previous book will be confirmed and consolidated. It also introduces a lot of new mysteries and characters, which you will have to remember, as if your brain wasn’t full enough.
The story, Elspeth’s story, takes place on a number of different levels. There’s her personal journey (romance, friendship, her development from orphan to woman), there’s her identity as a Misfit (fitting in at Obernewtyn, becoming Guildmistress, fighting for acceptance in the world), there’s the rebellion (and all the politics therein), there’s her prophetic destiny as the Seeker, and there’s also many other little things beside. Something from one sphere is often related to something in another sphere, something completely simple and unimportant can lead to a huge development, and everything seems to be wrapped up in the fate of the world. So, over the course of the series, you end up reading a rather complicated and interrelated plot. This book just sort of adds to it, without teasing out the knots terribly much.
The Stone Key is rather exhausting. Not because it’s long, but because it is sort of one-darn-thing-after-another, without time for Elspeth, let along the reader, to take a breath. The advantage of this is that it is entertaining to read along, the disadvantage is that the plot took Elspeth far away from many of the familiar characters and places that readers have gotten used to and hoped to spend more time in the company of. Hardly any of the story took place in Obernewtyn, and Elspeth was on her own, or in the company of new or previously minor characters, while established characters you know and love were marginalised. This was done for plot purposes, but you risk alienating the readers by dragging them away from the elements they have already been introduced to, and are comfortable with. I couldn’t help but think wistfully of the earliest novels in the series, which were set far more in the grounds of Obernewtyn and were filled with old-favourite characters.
A couple of nitpicky complaints, before I cease my gasbagging about this book. It could have used some more stringent editing. Carmody seems to have developed a habit of explaining the tactics of Elspeth and rebels/Misfits, etc. in great and unnecessary detail. If planning to break into a building, characters will discuss at length who is to go in which direction, to do what at which time, and if this happens, do that, and if that happens, do this, and maybe it would be a good idea if we did the other thing instead. I appreciate that Carmody has thought out the possible actions and consequences in detail; it’s nice to know that it’s not all just slapped together. But I didn’t need to read it all, time and time again, throughout the novel, particularly when the plans and myriad possible consequences being described don’t actually play out at all.
As well as this, I have another nitpick, sirrah, which is to say that I do not like it when characters talk in a strange tongue. Ye gods, so formal and stilted does it sound, when characters must speak as though they are in a bad mock-medieval play. Seriously, though, I know it is a fantasy novel, set in a medieval-esque society, so you can accept that sort of thing to a certain extent. But Elspeth’s dialogue, especially, is often uptight, even when conversing with friends. She often says ‘do not’ rather than ‘don’t’ and ‘will not’ rather than ‘won’t’; it starts to get annoying, and she comes off as rather stuck-up.
Okay, that’s it, I think. Thank you for your patience, I WILL write about another book next post.
First of all, for those who have read their way through the series, The Stone Key does not tie up a lot of loose ends, certainly not as many as I’d expected. A few things are resolved, but mostly things that you have guessed from reading the previous book will be confirmed and consolidated. It also introduces a lot of new mysteries and characters, which you will have to remember, as if your brain wasn’t full enough.
The story, Elspeth’s story, takes place on a number of different levels. There’s her personal journey (romance, friendship, her development from orphan to woman), there’s her identity as a Misfit (fitting in at Obernewtyn, becoming Guildmistress, fighting for acceptance in the world), there’s the rebellion (and all the politics therein), there’s her prophetic destiny as the Seeker, and there’s also many other little things beside. Something from one sphere is often related to something in another sphere, something completely simple and unimportant can lead to a huge development, and everything seems to be wrapped up in the fate of the world. So, over the course of the series, you end up reading a rather complicated and interrelated plot. This book just sort of adds to it, without teasing out the knots terribly much.
The Stone Key is rather exhausting. Not because it’s long, but because it is sort of one-darn-thing-after-another, without time for Elspeth, let along the reader, to take a breath. The advantage of this is that it is entertaining to read along, the disadvantage is that the plot took Elspeth far away from many of the familiar characters and places that readers have gotten used to and hoped to spend more time in the company of. Hardly any of the story took place in Obernewtyn, and Elspeth was on her own, or in the company of new or previously minor characters, while established characters you know and love were marginalised. This was done for plot purposes, but you risk alienating the readers by dragging them away from the elements they have already been introduced to, and are comfortable with. I couldn’t help but think wistfully of the earliest novels in the series, which were set far more in the grounds of Obernewtyn and were filled with old-favourite characters.
A couple of nitpicky complaints, before I cease my gasbagging about this book. It could have used some more stringent editing. Carmody seems to have developed a habit of explaining the tactics of Elspeth and rebels/Misfits, etc. in great and unnecessary detail. If planning to break into a building, characters will discuss at length who is to go in which direction, to do what at which time, and if this happens, do that, and if that happens, do this, and maybe it would be a good idea if we did the other thing instead. I appreciate that Carmody has thought out the possible actions and consequences in detail; it’s nice to know that it’s not all just slapped together. But I didn’t need to read it all, time and time again, throughout the novel, particularly when the plans and myriad possible consequences being described don’t actually play out at all.
As well as this, I have another nitpick, sirrah, which is to say that I do not like it when characters talk in a strange tongue. Ye gods, so formal and stilted does it sound, when characters must speak as though they are in a bad mock-medieval play. Seriously, though, I know it is a fantasy novel, set in a medieval-esque society, so you can accept that sort of thing to a certain extent. But Elspeth’s dialogue, especially, is often uptight, even when conversing with friends. She often says ‘do not’ rather than ‘don’t’ and ‘will not’ rather than ‘won’t’; it starts to get annoying, and she comes off as rather stuck-up.
Okay, that’s it, I think. Thank you for your patience, I WILL write about another book next post.
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