QOTD

[randy_byers]

'Mr Fawnshope, having written some thirty lines of his tragedy the previous day, with which he was not dissatisfied, was in a complaisant humor, neither chasing an elusive epithet, nor brooding over an infelicitous line. He said everything that was proper, and, when all enquiries into the invalid's condition were exhausted, conversed on various topics so much like a sensible man that Mr Rivenhall found himself quite in charity with him, and was only driven from the room by Lady Ombersley's request to the poet to read aloud to her his lyric on Annabel's deliverance from danger. Even this abominable affectation could not wholly dissipate the kindlier feelings with which he regarded Mr Fawnthorpe, whose continued visits to the house gave him a better opinion of the poet than was at all deserved. Cecilia could have told him that Mr Fawnthorpe's intrepidity sprang more from a sublime unconsciousness of the risk of infection than from any deliberate heroism, but since she was not in the habit of discussing her lover with her brother he continued in a happy state of ignorance, himself too practical a man to comprehend the density of the veil in which a poet could wrap himself.' (Georgette Heyer, The Grand Sophy)

Comments

[janetl.livejournal.com]

Georgette Heyer is wonderful. If you're a Lois McMaster Bujold fan and have read the Vorkosigan books, you may now recognize that "A Civil Campaign" is a Heyer homage. I discovered Courtney Milan just before Christmas 12 months ago, and read all of her books over the course of the year!

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I actually haven't read any Bujold yet, but maybe now that I'm getting into Heyer I should try this one. Is it a decent starting point? Never heard of Milan before.

[janetl.livejournal.com]

No, I wouldn't start there. At a minimum, it builds on the previous book, which I believe is a Lord Peter - Harriet Vane courtship homage. Bujold does a better job than most in making each book of the series standalone, but the pleasures are deeper (and better belly laughs) if you've followed characters from the beginning. I associate the term "spearpoint" with Jo Walton, but I don't know if she originated it. The author starts building the spear as the book (or series) goes along. You don't notice the point being honed here, or the shaft cut there, but suddenly it hits its target.

I found a post I did when I finished my first reading of the series -- I gobbled them up during a stressful time at work:
http://janetl.livejournal.com/67305.html

In the post when I'd read the first two books, I said:

"Ah! Sweet mystery of life at last I've found you!
Ah! At last I know the secret of it all!
All the longing, seeking, striving, waiting, yearning,
The burning hopes, the joy and idle tears that fall.

All my life I was apparently just waiting to discover the perfect joy of reading Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga. "

As in all such things, YMMV. I recall David Levine calling them "competence porn" (I don't know if he originated this.) Her characters get into terrible predicaments, but they are never stupid.

[janetl.livejournal.com]

Ah, here is Jo Walton taking about spearpoints: http://papersky.livejournal.com/143157.html

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Well, your enthusiasm is infectious, but that makes it a much bigger time investment, so who knows whether I'll ever get a round tuit.

[janetl.livejournal.com]

Don't think of it as reading a series. The first book, "Shards of Honor", is short by today's standards. It's a quick, fun read, and it reaches a conclusion. She never leaves you hanging at the end of one of her books. (I'm looking at you, GRRM!)