Booklog: Moore and Friesner

[nebroadwe]

Moira J. Moore, Resenting the Hero

Dunleavy Mallorough, merchant's daughter and trainee Shield, has looked forward all her life to the moment when she'll be chosen to bond with a Source and, together with him or her, defend the world from the natural disasters which so frequently beset it. But when the moment comes, she finds herself paired with Lord Shintaro Karish, a charming wastrel, and posted to one of the most earthquake-, fire- and flood-prone regions of the planet. And I don't care. The characters are flat, the plot transparent, and the world-building perfunctory at best. I was particularly disappointed by the lack of attention to details of geography and ecology -- if your hero is fighting the natural world, it ought to be a significant presence in the work (cf. Janet Kagan's Mirabile), but here it's barely visualized. First in a series, but the sample chapter included at the end of the book to advertise the sequel does not encourage me to search it out.

Esther Friesner, Temping Fate

This is it: if Ilana Newhouse doesn't get a summer job, her parents will find something for her to do. So she trades in her "Orc: The Other Green Meat" tee for a pink polo shirt and damps down her "Attitude Thing" -- only to discover that Mrs. Atatosk of Divine Relief Temps prefers her employees to wear black and have attitude. Lots of it. Because when you temp for the Fates, or Hercules, or Dionysus, you're going to need all the attitude you can get. There's much fun to be had here, as Friesner reinvents the gods and heroes of legend as feminist small-business owners, at-wits'-end soccer moms, and squeeing teenage fangirls. Some of the protagonist's afterschool-special-style growth experiences sit oddly against the generally snarky tone and the story goes from frolic to havoc in nothing flat at the climax, but whenever Ilana's trading barbs with Arachne, hanging out with her fellow temps, or learning the ropes of the Fates' office equipment, the story sings. A good light romp.