Raymond's Reviews #153

Catching up on some old business...

%T Moonwise          
%A Greer Ilene Gilman
%I Roc 
%D February 1991
%O paperback, US$4.95
%P 373
%G 0-451-45094-9

A wintry work for the winter solstice, Greer Ilene Gilman's "Moonwise" twists luminous moonlight images into a tapestry of archtypes: darkness and light, magical twins, enchanted children, witches with tangled hair and fluttering rags. Pages upon pages of elaborately embroidered imagery conceals a slender story of two eccentric young women who foil the witch who tries to stop the wheel of the year from turning. Beautiful but static, "Moonwise" is worth reading for the flow of images and the wit of its punwise protagonists and for little else. [CCO]

%T Swordpoint
%A Ellen Kushner
%I Tor 
%D July 1989
%O paperback, US$3.99
%P 299
%G 0-812-51771-7

"Swordpoint," Ellen Kushner's first novel, is a skillfully carved slice of life in a society where it is legal to pay professional swordsmen to challenge enemies to fatal duels. True to its Dumas-like nature, it is saturated with intrigue and glamor. Who cares that all of the major characters are egoistical and amoral schemers willing to murder to achieve petty aims? Or that the "good" characters are depicted as well- meaning incompetents? If you care about such niceties, you are likely to find "Swordpoint" more disturbing than likeable. If not, you will probably enjoy the book despite the odd, dangling quality of the ending. [CCO]