The White Gryphon
Mar. 15th, 2011 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
booksofafeatherShort review: The second in the series from Mercedes Lackey (which begins with The Black Gryphon). Has a less of a confusing plot, and stronger and more interesting plot, than the first book... although slightly less content for winged people I think, there's still a lot of attention to the culture of gryphons that is built around flying creatures, and the plot will keep you reading. The villain is also not as badly done this time... still evil with no good qualities, but he is more of a full character and not just mysterious darkness in the distance. I recommend reading both books, but this is still a great book!
Writing: Again, this is a greatly-written plot with lots of twists and turns, just like the first book. Lots of fun to read!
From a winged person's perspective...: Like the first book, this has lots and lots of little details that make the gryphons feel like real winged people... not just humans with a different shape that is "conveniently" forgotten for most of the book. There is a little more in the first book that might be interesting to otherkin and winged people specifically, such as the "species-queer" elements, and the discussion of human-centric thinking... they are not so much in this book. There's not a lot of flying either so people who look for detailed descriptions of flight, it's not the book for you. And the gryphons are in it a slight bit less I felt. But there are still lots of details and realism to make winged people happy, and a society that seems to have grown naturally around these people with lots of bird metaphors common. Also, there are two adorable baby gryphons! ^v^
Trigger warnings: Violent torture with some sexual aspect. No deeply described harm comes to any non-human character though. One of the characters gets stressed and becomes close to plucking her own feathers. As far as triggers go, this is not nearly as bad as the first book, for winged people, though there is still a lot of violence.
More thoughts...: Well... what can I say... this is just another stunning book. I do think that it goes best with the first one, but if you read the first one and liked it, it won't be disappointing. With many little details that are so small but add such a realistic touch... like feather-sheath fragments on the floor that have to be swept up, and some matters of how a civil society of winged people that is used to regular baths also takes care of its feathers, and the use of bird metaphor to show that the gryphons are truly a normal part of society... it feels true to a bird-person's life.
This book also has plenty of cute moments for people who like to see those ^^ The little gryphon girl, Keshara, from the first book is still a character and very adorable, although, the main characters don't see her directly, only through mental speech. The two baby gryphons also have a lot of super cute moments! Although this story has a lot of torture and is so still not for the faint-hearted, those who like cute scenes will also have some moments of happiness in this book.
The plot is interesting too, and made me think "I don't so much mind political plots, as long as it's done well". The plot is very political but I still found it exciting... I suppose it all comes down to how it is written. Plus, through the plot there is some opportunity to think philosophically, about matters such as identity and following the right path for you, and change and stagnation. While it doesn't talk about the philosophy a lot, there are different points of view presented in a way that there's something to think about. I'm not describing this very well (。_゜);
Well, anyway, I think I'd give this book four out of five for relevance to winged people... for the whole book, four and a half out of five. I heard, sadly, that the third one in the series is not so good as the first two... but maybe I will look at it anyway. It's a shame if so. Anyway, I definitely think it is worth reading both. On top of it all, you like the characters more if you know them from before.
Writing: Again, this is a greatly-written plot with lots of twists and turns, just like the first book. Lots of fun to read!
From a winged person's perspective...: Like the first book, this has lots and lots of little details that make the gryphons feel like real winged people... not just humans with a different shape that is "conveniently" forgotten for most of the book. There is a little more in the first book that might be interesting to otherkin and winged people specifically, such as the "species-queer" elements, and the discussion of human-centric thinking... they are not so much in this book. There's not a lot of flying either so people who look for detailed descriptions of flight, it's not the book for you. And the gryphons are in it a slight bit less I felt. But there are still lots of details and realism to make winged people happy, and a society that seems to have grown naturally around these people with lots of bird metaphors common. Also, there are two adorable baby gryphons! ^v^
Trigger warnings: Violent torture with some sexual aspect. No deeply described harm comes to any non-human character though. One of the characters gets stressed and becomes close to plucking her own feathers. As far as triggers go, this is not nearly as bad as the first book, for winged people, though there is still a lot of violence.
More thoughts...: Well... what can I say... this is just another stunning book. I do think that it goes best with the first one, but if you read the first one and liked it, it won't be disappointing. With many little details that are so small but add such a realistic touch... like feather-sheath fragments on the floor that have to be swept up, and some matters of how a civil society of winged people that is used to regular baths also takes care of its feathers, and the use of bird metaphor to show that the gryphons are truly a normal part of society... it feels true to a bird-person's life.
This book also has plenty of cute moments for people who like to see those ^^ The little gryphon girl, Keshara, from the first book is still a character and very adorable, although, the main characters don't see her directly, only through mental speech. The two baby gryphons also have a lot of super cute moments! Although this story has a lot of torture and is so still not for the faint-hearted, those who like cute scenes will also have some moments of happiness in this book.
The plot is interesting too, and made me think "I don't so much mind political plots, as long as it's done well". The plot is very political but I still found it exciting... I suppose it all comes down to how it is written. Plus, through the plot there is some opportunity to think philosophically, about matters such as identity and following the right path for you, and change and stagnation. While it doesn't talk about the philosophy a lot, there are different points of view presented in a way that there's something to think about. I'm not describing this very well (。_゜);
Well, anyway, I think I'd give this book four out of five for relevance to winged people... for the whole book, four and a half out of five. I heard, sadly, that the third one in the series is not so good as the first two... but maybe I will look at it anyway. It's a shame if so. Anyway, I definitely think it is worth reading both. On top of it all, you like the characters more if you know them from before.
