Book Review: Blood Feud
Jan. 6th, 2013 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerRosemary Sutcliff’s Blood Feud involves Viking and the Kievan Rus and Constantinople, and is pretty entertaining, and fairly un-soul-crushing for one of her books even though a lot of the characters die, in the end. “Character death” and “soul-crushingness” are not particularly correlated in Sutcliff’s work, which is rather odd.
This is not so much a review as musings about Directions One Might Take in Fic, so spoilers ahoy!
First: I find Thormod ever so slightly boring, in his bluff hale Viking way. He is so very calm and unconflicted about anything. He would be more interesting if he were even a drop tormented about the whole blood-feud-with-his-best-friend-Anders thing.
Perhaps he is, secretly? But he’s very good at wearing his bluff hale unconflicted Viking mask.
As I find Thormod boring, I also find Thormod/Jestyn an uninspiring pair - some other people have written nice fics about it, mind; I just don’t see anything there that I personally want to write about.
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carmarthen suggested Anders/Jestyn/Alexia as an OT3, and despite the fact that we barely see any Anders at all, and hardly any of it involves him interacting with Jestyn, I find this much more interesting. Sure, we don’t see much of them, but the set-up is so interesting - so inherently full of conflict!
Anders killed Thormod, whom Jestyn adored, because he and Thormod were in a blood feud, because Anders killed Thormod’s father because Thormod’s father killed Anders’ father accidentally...and Anders shows up at Jestyn’s door to finish Jestyn off, because Jestyn is Thormod’s blood brother...except Anders collapses, because of an old wound Thormod gave him...but Jestyn has taken healers’ vows, and thus nurses Anders rather than kill him on the spot!
I did not realize while I was reading the book that the set-up was so bloody complicated.
Anyway! In the book, Anders ends up dying, but it’s deeply easy to AU. Anders almost recovers: so just say that he keeps getting better rather than taking a turn for the worse again. Of course Jestyn has to nurse him back to health, and Anders can’t kill someone he owes a life debt, and maybe they chat about Thormod, and...feelings develop.
A thought: if Anders and Thormod used to have a thing (pre-blood feud, of course), even a very casual one, and Jestyn and Thormod (for all Jestyn’s crush) never did...that could be interesting. Because obviously what this situation needs is to be more complicated.
Unless Anders is permanently laid-up after his illness, I can’t see him staying in Constantinople forever. Beyond anything else, I think the unfinished blood feud would gnaw at him, perhaps especially if he grows fond of Jestyn, and thus thinks he’s set aside the feud as much because he’s gone soft as because he owes Jestyn a life debt - and is therefore dishonoring his father’s memory.
I think it would be a thousand times easier to write Alexia & Jestyn & Anders as an OTV rather than an OT3. It’s a very different set-up than in Eagle of the Ninth, where the book kindly sets up two legs of the triangle and leaves an obvious opening for the third: Cottia and Esca have a cultural connection to each other which neither has with Marcus and which is, moreover, a cornerstone of their own identities.
Alexia and Anders, on the other hand, have nothing in common but the first letters of their names. Also, the book makes some hay about Alexia’s concern that Jestyn will feel himself called away by the Viking life again. Think how much more she’d feel that if Anders is popping in irregularly with stories of adventures that might tempt Jestyn back to the seas (and propitiatory presents of adorable animals for her).
So not only would we have a tangle of relationships with a lot of sharp edges, but bonus adorable animals! Sadly, there is no good way for Anders to acquire a Japanese dwarf flying squirrel for Alexia (including a Japanese dwarf flying squirrel in fic has become a new life goal)...but I’m sure he can find something similarly delightful.
This is not so much a review as musings about Directions One Might Take in Fic, so spoilers ahoy!
First: I find Thormod ever so slightly boring, in his bluff hale Viking way. He is so very calm and unconflicted about anything. He would be more interesting if he were even a drop tormented about the whole blood-feud-with-his-best-friend-Anders thing.
Perhaps he is, secretly? But he’s very good at wearing his bluff hale unconflicted Viking mask.
As I find Thormod boring, I also find Thormod/Jestyn an uninspiring pair - some other people have written nice fics about it, mind; I just don’t see anything there that I personally want to write about.
carmarthen suggested Anders/Jestyn/Alexia as an OT3, and despite the fact that we barely see any Anders at all, and hardly any of it involves him interacting with Jestyn, I find this much more interesting. Sure, we don’t see much of them, but the set-up is so interesting - so inherently full of conflict! Anders killed Thormod, whom Jestyn adored, because he and Thormod were in a blood feud, because Anders killed Thormod’s father because Thormod’s father killed Anders’ father accidentally...and Anders shows up at Jestyn’s door to finish Jestyn off, because Jestyn is Thormod’s blood brother...except Anders collapses, because of an old wound Thormod gave him...but Jestyn has taken healers’ vows, and thus nurses Anders rather than kill him on the spot!
I did not realize while I was reading the book that the set-up was so bloody complicated.
Anyway! In the book, Anders ends up dying, but it’s deeply easy to AU. Anders almost recovers: so just say that he keeps getting better rather than taking a turn for the worse again. Of course Jestyn has to nurse him back to health, and Anders can’t kill someone he owes a life debt, and maybe they chat about Thormod, and...feelings develop.
A thought: if Anders and Thormod used to have a thing (pre-blood feud, of course), even a very casual one, and Jestyn and Thormod (for all Jestyn’s crush) never did...that could be interesting. Because obviously what this situation needs is to be more complicated.
Unless Anders is permanently laid-up after his illness, I can’t see him staying in Constantinople forever. Beyond anything else, I think the unfinished blood feud would gnaw at him, perhaps especially if he grows fond of Jestyn, and thus thinks he’s set aside the feud as much because he’s gone soft as because he owes Jestyn a life debt - and is therefore dishonoring his father’s memory.
I think it would be a thousand times easier to write Alexia & Jestyn & Anders as an OTV rather than an OT3. It’s a very different set-up than in Eagle of the Ninth, where the book kindly sets up two legs of the triangle and leaves an obvious opening for the third: Cottia and Esca have a cultural connection to each other which neither has with Marcus and which is, moreover, a cornerstone of their own identities.
Alexia and Anders, on the other hand, have nothing in common but the first letters of their names. Also, the book makes some hay about Alexia’s concern that Jestyn will feel himself called away by the Viking life again. Think how much more she’d feel that if Anders is popping in irregularly with stories of adventures that might tempt Jestyn back to the seas (and propitiatory presents of adorable animals for her).
So not only would we have a tangle of relationships with a lot of sharp edges, but bonus adorable animals! Sadly, there is no good way for Anders to acquire a Japanese dwarf flying squirrel for Alexia (including a Japanese dwarf flying squirrel in fic has become a new life goal)...but I’m sure he can find something similarly delightful.
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no subject
Date: 2013-01-07 05:22 am (UTC)Perhaps he is, secretly? But he’s very good at wearing his bluff hale unconflicted Viking mask.
I suspect he is, a little. There are a couple moments when he expresses some feelings, and they're pretty much all-Anders-related. I have Ideas, but they are epic and would also require me to be able to write angsty porn. But not TOO angsty, because it is Thormod. I think I am more likely to write improbable AU OT3/OTV.
I also find Thormod/Jestyn an uninspiring pair - some other people have written nice fics about it, mind; I just don’t see anything there that I personally want to write about.
Yeah, I'm almost Thormod/Jestyned out at this point. I mean, they're obvious and others in the teeny tiny fandom like them, so I wrote them, but I don't feel like there's a ton to explore there, I guess. :-/ Obvious != interesting to write about, for me. (Well, okay, the modern AU idea bunn came up with still cracks me up immensely, but I don't think I have the skillz to write it properly.)
(I am, however, very interested in Thormod/Anders. One of these days.)
Unless Anders is permanently laid-up after his illness, I can’t see him staying in Constantinople forever.
No, me neither. I don't think he'd be able to do the mercenary thing again, but I like the idea of him being a trader/spy, and pulling in some Byzantine history of some kind for plot hijinks.
I think it would be a thousand times easier to write Alexia & Jestyn & Anders as an OTV rather than an OT3.
It woulllllld, but I am kind of intrigued by OTV. Although I suspect if there's anything between Alexia and Anders, it would be of the "hey, you're fun to sex" variety, where they occasionally have a threesome, but the emotional stuff is all Jestyn-Anders and Jestyn-Alexia. Also, ha, I love the idea of Anders trying to soothe her with adorable animals.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-07 04:39 pm (UTC)Also, I like Anders as a trader/spy (though who would he be spying for? The Varangian Guard?) I think the concern that he would tempt Jestyn into a life of Adventure would bother Alexia more than any Anders/Jestyn action going on - I think she'd been fine with Jestyn having other relationships as long as she's most important, but if he runs off with Adventure, Adventure will have to come first.
Presumably the animals would reconcile her, at least grudgingly to Anders' continued presence. He could bring her a fennec fox! Imagine the adorable!
no subject
Date: 2013-01-07 07:00 pm (UTC)Mind, I would read all the fic about Anders trying to Viking up, forever. I highly encourage you writing this (I am greedy, I want other people to write Anders fic I can read!).
no subject
Date: 2013-01-07 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-01-08 03:30 am (UTC)Probably he's not allowed to talk about his Secret Spying Missions anyway, so Jestyn et al won't have a clue about it.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-08 04:24 am (UTC)Right, Alexia and Jestyn know he's a trader, and they might have ~suspicions~ but they don't really want to know anyway.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-08 02:13 pm (UTC)