I think I know by now what evil really is

[sovay]

I am evidently not the target audience for Tim Powers' Hide Me Among the Graves (2012), which rushthatspeaks has been reading and describing to me; I think that if one of your central characters is vampire John Polidori, people should always be asking him if he got it from Lord Byron and he should be so tired of having to tell them ("Byron wasn't even a vampire, damn it!") no.

Comments

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

Holy cats I will give you my copy of On Stranger Tides if you haven't read it. It's one of my favorite books. I love the baddies, I love the use of magic, I love the classical references and the Vodou references which are unified by the characters.

One of the pirates is a skilled magic user, but he doesn't really think of himself as a sorcerer, even though he meddles with gods and spirits all the time. He is under the protection of "Mate Care-For" which is his folk etymology for "maitre carrefour," one of the aspects of Papa Legba.

There's the best possible use of zombies. There's a repugnant Nice Guy sorcerer who is also a tragic villain in his way. There is a puppet master. There is a journey to Erebus.

The Vodou is colonial/racist, both in the story and for the audience. It's a ton of fun in the world of the book, and Powers has put some care and research into it, but at the end of the day it's an entire book about white characters exploiting the Vodou pantheon for all they can get. That's the only downside I feel I should warn you about.

[sovay]

There's the best possible use of zombies. There's a repugnant Nice Guy sorcerer who is also a tragic villain in his way. There is a puppet master. There is a journey to Erebus.

That does make me curious.

It's a ton of fun in the world of the book, and Powers has put some care and research into it, but at the end of the day it's an entire book about white characters exploiting the Vodou pantheon for all they can get. That's the only downside I feel I should warn you about.

I consider myself warned. When I have a stable place to put books again—it should only take a few days—I will either hit up the library for a copy, or I would be honored to borrow yours!

[teenybuffalo.livejournal.com]

I have a copy just waiting to be lent out. Also, I should mention that the book does good ocean, but it does EXCELLENT tidal marsh/estuary. You can hear the mosquitos and smell the black muck at low tide. One more selling point as far as I'm concerned.

[sovay]

Also, I should mention that the book does good ocean, but it does EXCELLENT tidal marsh/estuary. You can hear the mosquitos and smell the black muck at low tide.

Prrrrrrrrt.