From Publishers Weekly In this fantasy retelling of King Lear , Paxton intriguingly posits that the daughters' treatment of the old king demonstrates a conflict between matrilineal and patrilineal cultures. Leir, a leader of the Quiritani people from the Great Land, conquers the Painted People of Iron Age Britain. He fathers a daughter with each of three major queens, his favorite child being the youngest, Cridilla, who is trained, like her sisters, to join a long line of women warriors. When famine overtakes the land in Lier's old age, his oldest daughters secretly agitate his overthrow and a return to the rule of the Goddess. Cridilla, who loves a chieftain of the Quiritani of the Great Land, refuses to join her sisters when they make their false and honeyed promises to the king and is banished when her pregnancy is revealed. Later, Cridilla determines to battle her sisters and save her father, since she realizes that the old ways cannot return. Unfortunately, the magic Paxton brought to the Tristan and Isolde legend in The White Raven makes but a dim appearance here. Too much attention is devoted to the rituals and omens of the Goddess and not enough to character and plot development. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews Retreading ancient legend for the modern British mytho- fantasy fiction devotee is Paxson's specialty (e.g., The White Raven, 1988, a return to the saga of Tristan and Iseult); this time out, she's tracking down the Lear story, first amid dusty tomes like Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of England, and then in her own busy imagination. It's around the fifth century B.C. when Paxson kicks things off, with the Celts (here, the Quiritani) recently arrived in Britain, subduing the land under the leadership of King Leir. Leir manages this feat, despite continued resistance from weird pockets of recalcitrants like the Old Race and the Painted People, largely by getting children off local queens--exclusively women-children, three in number: beautiful Rigana, Gunarduilla the warrior-woman, and little Cridilla, who loves Leir dearly, and is Paxson's heroine. After an enlightening stint on the Misty Isle with She-Bear, who trains Cridilla in the ways of war, and some bizarre coming-of-age rites at the Womb Cave, Cridilla sticks by her father as his ragtag kingdom begins to unravel. She also gets pregnant by a princeling from the Great Land, or Europe. This is all interesting enough, but about halfway through, when Leir exiles Cridilla for telling him the truth about the nature of her love for him, Paxson reclines back into the ever-beguiling Shakespearean version of the legend, leaving few surprises in store. Rigana and Gunarduilla turn on the old man, rebellion erupts, and Cridilla returns--though Paxson serves up a happy ending, leaving her to live and rule. It's all just a little too familiar and rehearsed, with multitudinous settings that pass by in a fog. Perhaps, then, a reasonable selection for the Marion Zimmer Bradley crew, but by no means a standout. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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我必须强调一下这本书的语言风格,它有一种奇特的魔力。作者的遣词造句,既有古典文学的沉稳与韵律,又不失现代口语的鲜活与张力。整体读下来,给我一种既熟悉又陌生的感觉,仿佛在阅读一部被精心翻译过的古老史诗,但其内核却紧扣当下人心的焦虑与挣扎。尤其是在描写那些高强度的冲突场面时,文字的力量被发挥到了极致,那种紧张感和压迫感,几乎让人产生生理上的不适——当然,这是褒义,因为它完美地传达了人物所承受的巨大心理压力。但更令人称道的是,在那些相对平静的段落,作者依然能通过精准的选择性省略和那些看似不经意的细节,营造出一种山雨欲来的不安感。我特别喜欢它对白的处理,那些对话往往是言简意赅的,信息密度极高,没有一句废话,很多时候,角色们没有直接说出的话,比他们说出口的话更重要,读者必须学会阅读那些潜台词和停顿。这种留白的处理,极大地增强了文本的深度和读者的参与感。它迫使你放慢速度,去品味那些文字背后的重量,而不是囫囵吞枣地追求情节的推进。
评分这本书最让我感到震撼的,是它对“牺牲”这一主题的探讨。它没有采用传统文学中那种浪漫化、光环化的处理手法,而是将其置于一个极其残酷和写实的框架下进行审视。每一个做出重大抉择的人物,他们付出的代价都清晰可见,那种损失是永久性的、无法挽回的。作者毫不留情地揭示了“伟大”背后隐藏的血淋淋的真相——那些被后世铭记的功绩,往往建立在无数个体痛苦的消融之上。这种真实感带来的冲击力,远超任何空洞的口号或煽情的独白。它迫使我思考,在面对无可避免的困境时,我们愿意放弃多少自我,去换取某种宏大的目标?这种道德困境的描绘,处理得极其成熟和克制,没有过分的渲染,只是冷静地陈述事实,而正是这种冷静,才使得人物的悲剧性和选择的艰难性更加凸显。这本书的哲学思辨性很高,它像一面棱镜,折射出人性在极端压力下的复杂光芒,照亮了那些我们日常生活中习惯性回避的角落。读完后,心头是沉甸甸的,但收获的却是对生命重量更深刻的理解。
评分说实话,这本书的结构设计简直是鬼斧神工。它不像很多现代小说那样线性叙事,而是采取了一种碎片化、多视角的叙事策略,一开始读起来可能会让人有点迷失方向,仿佛置身于一个巨大的迷宫之中。然而,一旦你适应了作者设定的那种跳跃感和非线性逻辑,你会发现所有的这些看似零散的片段,其实都被一根无形的、极其坚韧的线索串联了起来。作者对于时间线的处理手法尤其高明,过去、现在、乃至某种预示性的未来片段,都在不经意间交织融合,共同构建出一个立体而庞大的世界观。我得承认,有好几处情节的转折,我是完全没有预料到的,它们不是简单的“反转”,而是一种对先前所有信息的重新诠释,让你不得不翻回去重读,去寻找那些先前被忽略的蛛丝马迹。这种阅读体验,与其说是被动接受故事,不如说是主动参与到解谜的过程中。书中对于环境的描写也极具表现力,那些建筑、街道、乃至天气,都不是简单的背景板,它们仿佛拥有了自己的生命和意志,深刻地影响着人物的命运走向。这本书更像是一部精密的机械钟表,每一个齿轮的咬合、每一个游丝的摆动,都服务于最终那个令人惊叹的展示。对于喜欢挑战智力、享受层层剥茧乐趣的读者来说,这绝对是一场盛宴。
评分关于这本书所构建的世界观,我必须用“宏大且细致入微”来形容。它不仅仅是一个故事发生的背景,它本身就是故事的核心驱动力之一。作者显然在世界设定的深度上下了巨大的功夫,从社会结构、历史沿革,到那些独特的风俗习惯和哲学思辨,一切都显得如此自洽和真实可信。你不会觉得这是一个凭空捏造的幻境,而更像是一个平行存在于我们现实之外的、有着自己完整运行逻辑的社会系统。这种沉浸式的体验,是很多同类作品难以企及的。我特别欣赏作者处理权力结构的方式,它不是简单的善恶对立,而是展现了一种复杂的、互相制衡又互相腐蚀的动态平衡。随着故事的深入,你会清晰地看到,正是这个世界固有的缺陷和机制,塑造了那些最终走向极端的人物命运。它引发了我对现实世界中相似权力运作模式的反思。读完这本书,我感觉自己对这个虚构世界的了解,已经深到可以像呼吸一样自然的地步,它不再是故事,而成为了一种阅读记忆中难以磨灭的“第二现实”。
评分这本书,我得说,真是让人欲罢不能。从翻开第一页开始,我就被那种浓郁的、几乎可以触摸到的氛围给牢牢地抓住了。作者的笔触细腻得让人心惊,每一个场景的描绘都像是一幅精心绘制的油画,色彩饱满,层次分明。我尤其欣赏它对于人物内心世界的挖掘,那种深刻和复杂,完全不是那种扁平化的脸谱人物可以比拟的。主角的每一次抉择,每一次犹豫,都带着沉甸甸的分量,让我这个读者也跟着揪心不已。故事的节奏把握得极佳,时而舒缓,像一条河流静静流淌,酝酿着即将到来的波澜;时而又陡然加速,如同山洪暴发,将你卷入一个又一个意想不到的转折之中。那种信息量的精确控制,让我在阅读过程中始终保持着高度的专注,生怕错过任何一个微小的暗示或伏笔。更难得的是,它探讨的主题——关于人性中的灰色地带,关于道德边界的模糊不清——处理得极其老道,没有简单地给出非黑即白的答案,而是留给读者广阔的思考空间。读完之后,那种回味悠长的感觉,就像品尝了一杯陈年的威士忌,初尝辛辣,回味却带着无尽的醇厚和复杂性,值得反复咀嚼和品鉴。这本书无疑是近年来文学作品中的一股清流,它挑战了读者的既有认知,也满足了对高质量叙事的渴望。
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