The Language of Bees

[lightreads]

The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hmm, this is making me think about series structure.

Translation: I actually read this book in late April/early May, which is not so long ago as the crow lives, but which is roughly twenty years in law school finals time. So I forgot most of the things I actually thought about the book. Shut up.

This is book nine of a series, and part one of an inset duology. And the thing is, I love series fiction. My absolute favorite books are actually favorite series, because there’s just so much more room to make a universe I want to devote brainspace to. And when you read as fast as I do (hint: like a jackrabbit) a series can be like a long, perfect road when you know you won’t stop if you don’t have to, and thank God there’s lots, so you don’t.

So I love development and momentum and nonlinear series orders and series with a plan. This series, as a general body, has all those things.

This book, though. It’s really good, actually, all conspiracies and uncertain loyalties, and a subtly running thread about Russell trusting her instincts. But if I had read it a year ago when it came out, without the direct sequel in hand? *shakes head*. It’s not the cliffhanger, though there is one. It’s that it’s only half a story in the spiritual sense on top of the literal. I got to the end of this book, and thought, “yeah, cliffhanger, whatever, but why do I feel like I was going hand-over-hand along a rope that suddenly got cut?”

I think it was because this book is only half the story, thematically. There’s some beautiful work done here on the back of the surrealist art movement, talking about madness and sanity, but it doesn’t really connect up until you read the sequel. This is a book about madness, that is a book about – well, about a kind of sanity. And if I’d waited a year, I’d be rating both books much lower because I remember a lot of things, but I wouldn’t have remembered my exact place in this pattern.

So a clever, unusual series structure, potentially defeated by publishing schedules. News at 11.

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Comments

[readerjane]

Hmm. So, since I did read LoB a year ago, I should probably re-read it before proceeding to GotH?

Thanks for the tip.

I think my favorite part of LoB was watching Russell worry whether discoveries regarding Damien were going to challenge Holmes' integrity.

[lightreads]

Yeah, that might be a good idea.

Those were my favorite parts, too. And when Homles told her that he could loosen his grip on some of his objectivity because he knew she was looking out for him. Which is Holmes for a pretty stunning declaration of love.

Be warned though that the sequel almost entirely drops that entire plotline and replaced it with something I found far less interesting or surprising.