Book review: The Yngling by John Dalmas
Dec. 14th, 2010 08:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kilroyPrint date: 1969 (20s: 1, 50s: 1, 60s: 4, 70s: 7, 80s: 7, 90s: 5, 00s: 12)
I understand Sword-and-Sorcery a little better now. My only real exposure to it before now had been the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series, which is to standard S&S what Dark Knight Returns is to normal Batman comics. I watched Conan once too, but that's about it. The genre stereotypes kept me away-- brutish heroes and naked heroines didn't really appeal to me.
But that's not what the genre is about, or at least it doesn't have to be. The hero in this book is a great warrior (of course), but that's not what really defines him; what really sets him apart is his mind, which is sharp and strangely zen. The battle scenes have minimal gore. All the sex makes sense in context and occurs off-stage. Dialogue is meaningful and reasonably sharp. It pinged pretty much none of my fears except for having a dippy title and a terrible cover. It's a good book. It doesn't stretch the reader in any deep way-- it's just an adventure story. But it's a well-written and fast-paced one. My only real complaint is that it feels like it should have been longer. Some of the events just happen too fast.
Back to the genre for a moment, it seems like smart sword-and-sorcery authors understand that the muscles on their heroes work best when they represent an inner strength. The setting is dangerous, but that works best when the hero rises above just surviving to show uncommon compassion, honor, or valor. There's a reason why evil is always defeated in these books, and it's not because the protagonist has a bigger sword.
Verdict: Worth reading once, will recycle. (21.5/69)
Page count: 224 (12721 total)
Completed: 37 (18 female authors, 19 male authors)
Rejected: 32 (20 male authors, 12 female authors)
Next book due: Thu. 12/23
I understand Sword-and-Sorcery a little better now. My only real exposure to it before now had been the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series, which is to standard S&S what Dark Knight Returns is to normal Batman comics. I watched Conan once too, but that's about it. The genre stereotypes kept me away-- brutish heroes and naked heroines didn't really appeal to me.
But that's not what the genre is about, or at least it doesn't have to be. The hero in this book is a great warrior (of course), but that's not what really defines him; what really sets him apart is his mind, which is sharp and strangely zen. The battle scenes have minimal gore. All the sex makes sense in context and occurs off-stage. Dialogue is meaningful and reasonably sharp. It pinged pretty much none of my fears except for having a dippy title and a terrible cover. It's a good book. It doesn't stretch the reader in any deep way-- it's just an adventure story. But it's a well-written and fast-paced one. My only real complaint is that it feels like it should have been longer. Some of the events just happen too fast.
Back to the genre for a moment, it seems like smart sword-and-sorcery authors understand that the muscles on their heroes work best when they represent an inner strength. The setting is dangerous, but that works best when the hero rises above just surviving to show uncommon compassion, honor, or valor. There's a reason why evil is always defeated in these books, and it's not because the protagonist has a bigger sword.
Verdict: Worth reading once, will recycle. (21.5/69)
Page count: 224 (12721 total)
Completed: 37 (18 female authors, 19 male authors)
Rejected: 32 (20 male authors, 12 female authors)
Next book due: Thu. 12/23